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The Bohemian broadside on St Ivan of 1688 : the exception that proves the rule?

Author(s): Marie Škarpová / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: broadside; hagiography; legend; pilgrimage book; St Ivan; St John under the Rock; monastery literature; Czech literature; 17th century

The goal of the paper is to present the broadside on St Ivan printed in Prague in 1688 as important evidence of the existence of vernacular illustrated broadsides in Bohemia in the late 17th century. The broadsheet, which is related to the Benedictine monastery St John under the Rock, near Prague, whose church also serves as a pilgrimage site devoted to St Ivan, obviously aims at shaping the multiple identities and affiliations of the Benedictine community. It clearly belongs to a kind of print production that was costly, and it seems to have been distributed as a gift, with the obvious purpose of providing the monastery with a means for creating and strengthening social ties. In addition, the intertextual connections of the broadside to a pilgrimage book of 1691 relating to the same monastery show how fluid the contemporary boundary was between broadsides and printed booklets. The use of vernacular language and genres typical of pilgrimage books indicates that, despite its graphical and literary ambitions, the broadside of 1688 was not intended exclusively for social and intellectual elites but was designed to offer multiple levels of reception for different kinds of readers.

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Znojmo chapbooks with false imprints and tools for their detection

Author(s): Martin Drozda / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: chapbook; broadside ballad; false imprints; Znojmo; Martin Hoffmann; Jaroslav Vobr's collection

In the first half of the 19th century, one can relatively often encounter the phenomenon of false imprints in Czech chapbooks. In such cases, a different place of printing is indicated in the imprint than was the case in reality. Uncritical acceptance of data about the place of printing can then lead to completely erroneous conclusions in subsequent analyses. Using the example of a number of Znojmo chapbooks, the aim of this text to demonstrate ways to identify chapbooks which have a false imprint. By analysing specific model chapbooks, we have been able to derive the tools that can be used for identification. A comparison of woodcuts turned out to be the main tool for identifying these prints. The study also shows that the Znojmo print shop produced a large number of chapbooks with a false imprint in the 1840s under Martin Hoffmann. The stated conclusions raise significant questions regarding any future evaluation of chapbook output at individual print shops on Czech territory.

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Unauthorised printing is forbidden : a contribution on the authorship of texts appearing in 19th-century pilgrimage chapbooks dedicated to the Virgin Mary of Svatá Hora

Author(s): Markéta Holubová / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: pilgrimage broadside ballads; pilgrimage chapbooks; pilgrimage sites; Virgin Mary; Svatá Hora; Příbram; 19th-century authors

Within the wide range of printed books focusing on religious themes, an important role was played by pilgrimage chapbooks. Their primary task was to increase the prestige and popularity of pilgrimage sites and strengthen the promotion of pilgrimage cults among believers. Pilgrimage chapbooks, as a period medium, played an important role, since they mainly addressed the lower strata of the population. In the presented study we will try to analyse the results of research concerning questions of motivation and the social origin of their creators, and the way in which texts of pilgrimage chapbooks were created in the 19th century. Our attention will therefore be focused on issues that have so far stood outside the professional interest of experts. The basis of this analysis are the pilgrimage chapbooks dedicated to Panna Marie Svatohorská, i.e. the Virgin Mary of Svatá Hora (in English: "Holy Mountain"), one of the most revered pilgrimage cults in the Czech lands.

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Peter of Provence and fair Maguelonne : from a French mediaeval romance to a Czech broadside ballad

Author(s): Alena Kotšmídová / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: broadside ballad; comparison; Peter of Provence and fair Maguelonne; reworking; romance; translation

This paper deals with the Czech broadside ballad about fair Maguelonne and Peter of Provence and its origins in a late mediaeval French prose romance, subsequently translated into German and Czech. Some basic information about the romance and an outline of its most important features, and those of the two translations, help put the broadside ballad into its literary and historical context. The main focus is, of course, on the broadside ballad itself, i.e., on presenting the preserved copies, describing the formal aspects of the work, and comparing the plot of the ballad with the plot of the Czech translation of the romance. Keeping in mind the previous versions of the story permits us not only better to understand the specificity of the broadside ballad, but, at the same time, to identify some of the modifications made by the author of the ballad as expressions of wider ongoing processes.

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Song of a deaf-mute shepherd : a Czech broadside ballad between the oral and printed tradition : an interdisciplinary case study

Author(s): Věra Frolcová,Pavel Kosek,Hana Bočková,Markéta Holubová,Tomáš Slavický / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: Czech Broadside Ballads; scriptuality and orality; reception; unconfirmed apparition of the Virgin Mary; miracle of hearing; prayer of the Rosary; historical regional and local variants; popular cultu

This is a case study of a critical edition and an analysis of one song from a collection of Czech broadside ballads published in the monograph To a Familiar Melody. The following text is an example of an interdisciplinary approach to Czech broadside ballads, combining insights from ethnology, ethnomusicology, linguistics, and literary history. Methodologically, it takes its starting point in twentieth century oral tradition accounts and historical retrospectives. The historical retrospective methodology traces the reception and variation of songs, the tradition of tunes, motifs, or elements of language in different social, territorial and media settings.

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Four Yiddish songs – one melody

Author(s): Oren Cohen Roman / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: Yiddish literature; chapbooks; expulsion; martyrdom; plague; the Binding of Isaac; the Sacrifice of Isaac

This article discusses four early modern Yiddish booklets containing songs that were to be sung to the same melody: one concerns the expulsion of the Jews from Vienna in 1670 (n.p., n.d.); the second describes two Jews who were executed for theft in Prostějov in 1684 and refused the offer to convert in return for a pardon (Wilmhersdorf 1684); the third depicts the effects of a plague epidemic on the Jewish community of Prague in 1713 (1st edition n.p., n.d., 2nd edition Amsterdam 1714); and the fourth (two editions, both n.p., n.d.) is a rhymed prayer, asking God to eliminate all misfortunes and evil decrees, including an ongoing plague epidemic, apparently composed in Prague in 1680. According to all four, the melody to be used when singing them was niggun akeda, a melody strongly associated with the Binding of Isaac (Gen. 22). It was originally used in the synagogue to accompany liturgical poems relating the biblical narrative and other cases of Jewish martyrdom. In addition to contextualizing the four texts within Yiddish literature, this article explores the relationship between text and melody in general, and the particular significance of niggun akeda.

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A few notes on the spread of the song "Vímť já jeden stromeček jest krásná oliva" in Slovakia

Author(s): Peter Ruščin / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: broadside ballad; hymnal; manuscript source; Slovak Lutheran Hymn

During the Baroque period in Bohemia, Moravia, and Slovakia there was a significant development in the creation of spiritual love lyrics. This includes the anonymous song "Vímť já jeden stromeček" ("I know a little tree"), probably of Bohemian origin, which was also spread as a broadside ballad as early as the 17th century. While in Bohemia and Moravia the song entered the folk singing tradition, in Slovakia it was mainly known as a hymn in the church tradition of Slovak Lutherans. This study is devoted to variants of the hymn and its setting in Lutheran manuscript and printed sources in Slovakia from the second half of the 17th century. The analysis of manuscript sources shows that the song spread on the territory of Slovakia at least from the 1660s, earlier than we had previously assumed.

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Biden’s Soft Power vs. Coercive Diplomacy and Responding to Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine

Author(s): Andrzej Demczuk / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: Joe Biden; Ukraine; Russia; military buildup; the United States of America; hard power; soft power; coercive diplomacy;

The article examines Russia’s military attack on Ukraine, and proposes actions to solve the crisis. It starts with an analysis of America’s relations with Ukraine prior to 2021–2022, and explains why we have to deal with Ukraine case to begin with. Next, it describes the primary drivers of Russia’s continued interest in invading Ukrainian territory. Finally, the author analyses Biden’s foreign policies and determines what type of strategy should be executed to bring peace and stability back to the region.

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Legitimacy in the Context of the Global Institutions of Power and the Contemporary Determinants of International Politics

Author(s): Ryszard Ficek / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2022

Keywords: legitimacy of power; fragile states; globalization; “Third World” states; international relations;

This article presents the issues of legitimacy, particularly concerning the global reality of the institution of power in the context of present-day conditions of international politics, with particular emphasis on fragile states functioning mainly in the area of the contemporary “Third World”. The legality and legitimacy of power analyzed here undoubtedly have significant implications for the internal politics of fragile states, regional good neighborly relations, and international politics, particularly in the context of the global security strategy. This article examines the above issues primarily in the context of policy theory. As a result, several research questions arise: to what extent and how does legitimacy affect the effectiveness of the political strategies used by the authorities? Are other factors and stimulators of political commitment also taken into account? What is the importance of legitimacy in the context of the complex conditions of the politically and economically ineffective fragile state? Is legitimacy, apart from the moral and ideological dimension, significant in the destabilized reality of the weak political and economic structures of a failing state? The analysis, in this way, makes it possible to interpret and present many important factors for which the concept of the legitimacy of power plays a significant role in reflecting on the geopolitical determinants of fragile states in contemporary international relations.

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THE SIGNS OF THE SECOND KARABAKH WAR TYPICAL OF THE 5TH GENERATION WAR

Author(s): Zafar Najafov,Piotr Gawliczek / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: conventional war; the concept of war generations; kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities; UAVs and high-precision weapons; modern wars;

This article discusses the great performance of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces in the Second Karabakh War, clarifies the features of Azerbaijan’s military operations typical of modern wars and explains the reasons for the victory from different perspectives and prisms. The article analyzes the military operations of the Azerbaijani Army in the Second Karabakh War through the spectrum of generational war theory and makes the case that it is a 5th generation war in the context of Western military history and a 6th generation war in the military history of Russia. According to the author, Azerbaijan’s victory was achieved due to the professional use of kinetic and non-kinetic capabilities. At the same time, the impact of this war on military tactics, operational art, military strategies, armaments programs and defense spending is undeniable.

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SOCIAL POLICY TOWARDS DEMOGRAPHIC CHANGES IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES – EXAMPLES OF SOLUTIONS AND AN ASSESSMENT OF THEIR EFFECTIVENESS

Author(s): Krystyna Kacprowska / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: demographic changes; fertility; mortality; life expectancy; social policy tools; European countries;

According to David Gill, social policies are courses of action aimed at influencing the general quality of life in a society, the circumstances of life of individuals and groups in this society, as well as the nature of intra-social relations between individuals, groups, and society. Antoni Rajkiewicz defines social policy as “the sphere of activity of the state and other public bodies and social forces that deals with shaping the living conditions of the population and interpersonal relations (especially in the living and working environment)”. The term “demographic change” describes the age structure of the population adapting to changes in living conditions. Consequently, changes in the composition of the age structure of society are the result of social changes. When analyzing the EU population pyramids, we can see that the first two decades after World War II were characterized by a particularly high birth rate. Since the 1970s, demographers have noted negative trends in the structure of Europe’s population. The lower birth rate in the recent past and present is associated with an increase in the life expectancy of Europeans. Persistently low birth rates lead to an aging population if mortality rates remain low. Consequently, half of the population growth in Europe between 2005 and 2050 will not be due to births, but to more people living longer. The work was written to present and evaluate social policy instruments implemented as a response to the ongoing demographic changes in European countries.

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THE MODEL OF THE ADAPTATION MECHANISM OF THE DISCHARGED MILITARY FROM THE ARMED FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF AZERBAIJAN

Author(s): Khayal Ibrahim Iskandarov,Piotr Gawliczek,Rashad IbrahImov / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2023

Keywords: 10.31648/cetl.8995

A serviceman discharged from the Army faces various concerns and problems while integrating into civilian society. The integration of people belonging to this category into society and making their lives easier has become a priority. While the transition from military to civilian life works out well for many, for some the transition is extremely difficult. The development of a complex model of the social adaptation process of personnel discharged from military is considered one of the most important issues in the process of integrating people who change their profession and lifestyle into a new environment. The article reviews all possible elements involved in the process of social adaptation of servicemen released from the Armed Forces of the Republic of Azerbaijan and presents a structural scheme (model) for the development of the mechanism of this process.

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Silenus of Kale Akte and the propaganda process of building Hannibal’s image

Author(s): Miron Wolny / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: Carthage; Hannibal; Silenus; Hellenistic historiography; Roman historiography; political propaganda;

The article examines the role of Greek historian Silenus in building a strategic narrative about the Second Punic War (218–201 BCE) and Hannibal’s image for the needs of political propaganda. His- torical annals composed by Lucius Coelius Antipater, a Roman jurist and historian, provide an interesting framework for drawing conclusions about Silenus’ work. An analysis of formal and substantive principles in Coelius’ annals supports the identification of similarities in both authors’ works and the modifications introduced by the Roman historian. Silenus was tasked with building a historical narrative in support of Carthage, and he resorted to various literary devices to paint a positive image of the Carthaginian general. These propaganda measures incorporated religious elements, as evidenced by two events described inCicero’s De divinatione: Hannibal’s dream at the beginning of the invasion in the Apennine Mountains, and the general’s stay in Capo Colonna towards the end of the Italian campaign. These episodes were clearly derived from Silenus’ works, which suggests that Hannibal resorted to various tools to build his political image. In addition to formal references to Hellenic literature, Hannibal’s propagandist relied also on the language of communication derived from a “hieratic” approach to glorifying own achievements and Middle Eastern traditions. The aim of these literary manipulations was to convince the readers that the worlds of gods and humans are entangled, and that political and military leaders are endowed with miraculous powers that enable them to rise to victory. Coelius introduced some modifications to Silenus’ original work, possibly with the intent of concealing his attempts at portraying Hannibal as a Carthaginian leader with divine status.

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Place names commemorating Hadrian – an attempt to approximate the scale of the phenomenon

Author(s): Marek Jurkowski / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: Hadrian; place names; colonies; municipalities; peregrine towns; Roman Empire;

According to Historia Augusta (Vita Hadriani 20, 4), many cities in the Roman Empire were named Hadrianopolis after the emperor Hadrian. The aim of this article is to approximate the number of localities named after Hadrian (not only Hadrianopoleis mentioned). Cities were named after Roman emp- erors to commemorate the rulers’ role as the founders or benefactors of localities. This practice deserves special attention. The extent to which Hadrian had been commemorated in place names has not been re- searched extensively to date, but the approximate number of cities and towns named or possibly named after the emperor was relatively high. The exact number of localities named after Hadrian cannot be de- termined based on historical sources for a number of reasons, as discussed on the examples of localities such as Turris Tamalleni or Bisica Lucana. However, regardless of these difficulties, research suggests that Hadrian could have been commemorated in the names of up to 15 colonies, 20 municipalities (municipia), 4 localities that were most likely colonies or municipalities, and 43 other localities (mainly peregrine towns), which gives a total of more than 80 place names (the colonies and municipalities whose names commemorate the emperor should be distinguished from those that had been founded by Hadrian). In this article, the localities named after Hadrian were classified based on their legal status and are pre- sented in tables. Particular attention has been paid to the controversies surrounding some of the cities thought to have been named after Hadrian (such as the colonial titulature of Avennio, the modern-day Avignon). The estimated number of localities named or possibly named after Hadrian indicates that these toponyms may have played a significant role in shaping the emperor’s public image.

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Kaunas city register of 1561–1564 as a source of information about the management and sale of forest commodities

Author(s): Krzysztof Łożyński / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: Grand Duchy of Lithuania; Kaunas; city register; commerce; forest produce; forest exploitation;

In historical sources describing 16th century Lithuania, extensive forests are mentioned as a distinctive feature of the region. Forest played a significant role in the development of silviculture and professional groups that exploited forest commodities. Above all, forests were a source of timber for local inhabitants, including builders and craftsmen, but they also offered shelter and provided local com- munities with food. Forest products such as timber, planks, charcoal, and wood tar were traded on the domestic market and exported to Western Europe. Rapid economic growth and a high demand for Lith- uanian forest products enabled domestic and foreign merchants to exploit primeval forests surrounding the city of Kaunas.

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The checks and balances system – the evolution of public governance in a historical and theoretical context

Author(s): Khrystyna Zabavs’ka,Yaryna Zavada / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: checks and balances system; democratic transformation; division of powers; historical development;

The article deals with the main historical periods marking the evolution of the checks and balances system. The separation of powers and the functioning of the checks and balances system in the light of various schools of legal and political thought were emphasized.A periodization approach was proposed for analyzing the ideas and views that had emerged throughout human history. It was emphasized that the basic principles for the establishment of government and dividing the powers between the branches of government had been laid down in the era of Antiquity. The characteristic features of the checks and balances system in modern democracies were described.

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A discourse on Copernicus’ nationality in the first half of the 19th century – a monographic article

Author(s): Danuta Kasparek,Norbert Kasparek / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: nationality; opinion journalism; Polish-German relations; historiography;

History has a social dimension, which is why historians search for patterns in past events, and historical debates are often discussions about the present. Nicolaus Copernicus’ nationality stirred heated controversy for more than a century. The Polish-German discourse about Copernicus’ nationality was in fact a discussion about history. Dominik Szulc admitted that he felt compelled to study Prussia’s past because much harm had been done to “the scientific prowess of our country by including the Trans- former of the Heavens among the geniuses of the Teutonic lineage”. Prominent Polish thinkers and writ- ers joined the debate in defense of the famous astronomer’s Polish roots. Highly emotional arguments were exchanged during this stormy discourse.

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Communism and communists towards the intelligentsia in interwar Poland. An outline of the issue

Author(s): Karol Sacewicz / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: Communism; communists; intelligentsia; Lenin; Trotsky; Stefan Wyszyński; revolution; crypto-communists; united-fronters; poputchiki;

As a section of the Comintern and a de facto Soviet agent, the Communist Workers’ Party of Poland (CWPP), and subsequently the Communist Party of Poland (CPP), aimed to effect a revolt of the masses – a revolution – which would culminate in making the dictatorship of the proletariat a real- ity. Holding hegemonic power, the Communists would thus be able to carry out Moscow’s imperial plans in the guise of Communist slogans and ideals. In that struggle, the communist party active on the territory of the Second Republic of Poland, as well as all sections of the Comintern, relied primar- ily on the working masses, on the proletariat, and with time found support among the landless and rural smallholders: groups which were susceptible to the most extreme revolutionary slogans. Or was there a place for another force, namely the intelligentsia? What positions with regard to the latter were adopted by the Bolsheviks in Russia, the principal ideologists of the Soviet mir and, by virtue of the CWPP/CPP’s subordination to Moscow, by the communist parties in Poland? This is precisely what this text is concerned with: the varying, fairly flexible policy of the communists towards the intelligen- tsia, which nonetheless was always calculated to serve the interests and goals of Moscow. One rather important detail should be noted here. The intelligentsia in question was neither a homogeneous group in terms of its social, political or economic views nor was it a national or religious monolith; on the contrary, it was characterized by numerous dividing lines, which is why applying a uniform yardstick to assess its attitudes towards communism and vice versa would be erroneous. Hence, this study only outlines and critically discusses the chief directions adopted by the communist party in its treatment of the intelligentsia, as well as the selected modalities of the latter’s approach to communism: from negation, through conformist subservience, to total subordination. All the same, it is merely a voice in the scholarly debate that should continue.

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Soviet sources of the economic policy in Poland in 1947–1956

Author(s): Radosław Gross / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: industrialization; Stalinism; economic policy; armaments; Poland;

The economic policy implemented in Poland between 1947 and 1956 emulated its Soviet equiv- alent, as it was constrained to do. Along with other countries which had fallen into the Soviet sphere of influence, Poland became part of a larger economic organism controlled by Moscow. As the so-called Cold War and arms race intensified, Poland became engaged in arming the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc countries. This resulted in intensive industrialization and militarization of the Polish economy. However, that particular direction of economic development brought about a decline in the standard of living in Poland.

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An unfortunate ally of the United Arab Republic. The People’s National Army of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war

Author(s): Przemysław Benken / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: Arab-Israeli war 1967; People’s National Army of Algeria; decolonization;

This paper discusses the combat potential of the People’s National Army of the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria in the 1960s, with a particular focus on its operations during the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict and the consequences of that war for the further development of the Algerian armed forces. In view of the language barrier and the impossibility of conducting queries in the Algerian archives, the author relied on briefing notes prepared by the military attaché office at the Embassy of the People’s Republic of Poland in Algiers in 1964–1967. Although the military attaché did not engage in any intelli- gence activities against the host country and was confined to gathering information by legal means, he was nevertheless able to obtain valuable data on the PNA. That information adds to the knowledge of the Algerian armed forces and coincides with the relevant literature in English, offering a valuable supplement to the latter. The analysis of the source material demonstrates that although the PNA presented itself as one of the three strongest armies on the African continent on paper, its combat potential was seriously undermined by the country’s backwardness and internal instability, which adversely affected the organi- zational structure of the armed forces and deprived them of sufficiently numerous, trained reserves. This became acutely apparent in June 1967.

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