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“Jewish Prague” is one of the most remarkable urban narratives of European modernism. It can be analyzed both as history and as a story – of the complex national and cultural interplay between cultural contacts and cultural conflicts. The focus here is on the story and thereby the imagination, narration, and figuration of this “Jewish Prague.” This construct emerged around 1900 in a specific context: its protagonists were mostly sons of assimilated German as well as Czech Jews, whose promise of integration was unfulfilled, not least due to the nationalist movement. This environment resulted in a reinvention of “Jewish Prague” as a secular, i.e. less religious and instead cultural and political, self-narrative in the midst of modernism around 1900.
More...Federative ideology and statehood claims of the Hungarian political emigrants (1848-1867)
The article approaches the transformation of mobile elite’s political imagination, linking the emergence of a federative ideology to the impossibility of accommodating minorities. While referring to the case of the Hungarian revolutionary emigration in the middle of the 19th century as an example, the paper examines the categories of “inclusion in” or “exclusion from” a “core-group” as elements determined by the shared imperial legacies and a “minority” status of the public actors. Addressing Harris Mylonas’s scheme of accommodation of minorities within nation-states and combining it with the concept of “Imperial biographies”, the paper claims that the projects for a Danubian confederation were the results of an inability to address non-homogeneity by a none-core group on a quest for building a nation-state. Driven into exile, Hungarian intellectuals preferred to opt for the incorporation of the other none-core groups of the Habsburg Empire and their neighbors into a possible confederation that could allow not only to satisfy their aspirations for a national emancipation, but to turn “minorities” into “majorities”.
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This article aims to investigate the viewpoint of the Austro-German liberal movement – both ideologically and practically – towards the arguments for Bohemian state rights made by the conservative Bohemian Great Landowners and Czech political parties in the period from 1861 to 1879. The February Patent of 1861 is a convenient starting point because it reintroduced representative bodies to the Habsburg Monarchy and facilitated the development of modern democratic politics. The 1879 parliamentary election is this article’s end point since it constituted a significant turning point in Austrian and Bohemian politics. The Austro-German liberals lost the majority in central parliament while the conservative Bohemian Great Landowners and Czech parties attended parliament after a sixteen-year absence, joining the conservative-Slav coalition supporting the government. The principal argument is that while the Austro-German liberals (particularly the Bohemian-German faction) were generally opposed to Bohemian state rights, this must be qualified by the genuine desire for compromise (under certain conditions), considerable tactical flexibility and the wider Imperial context. Chronologically, the article focuses on key parliamentary debates to illustrate the changing relations: the fluid 1860s, the crucial period from 1867 to 1871 (when there was a real possibility of Bohemian state rights) through to the turning point of 1879.
More...Das Böhmische Staatsrecht als politischer Leitbegriff im 19. Jahrhundert
Historical state rights are characteristics of a few empires. Legally, they drew on the tradition of former estates’ orders and contained privileges estates or a County with regard to the Emperor. In the second half of the 19th century, however, this legal argument gave way for interpretations that were genuinely political. Historiography has often interpreted this shift as an exclusively nationalist one. Taking the Austrian Bohemian Lands and Czech nationalism as an example, this paper shows how the more complex the discourse was, in which history was transformed into political claims. In the realm of the Habsburg Monarchy, state rights legitimized so different ideas as feudal-estates’ orders, historic federalism or nation states. These political programs had conservative, national-liberal and even democratic implications combined with integrationist or separationist policies.
More...Die Kreisverfassung als Alternative zum historischen Staatsrecht?
When the nationalities of the multiethnic Austrian Empire began to demand national self-determination „on their own territory“, they started the struggle for the national „Besitzstand“. Th e great nations like the Magyars, Czechs, Poles and Croats claimed for their historical „Staatsrecht“. Th e Austrian governments answered with the concept of national autonomy in national homogeneous districts on the basis of the existing historical „Kreise“. Palacky on the Krensierer Reichstag, Stadion in the Reichsverfassung of 1849, Ernest von Körber in the context of his deliberations to solve the „Bohemian question“ presented concepts for realization. When the governments of Stürgkh, Clam Martinic and Seidler/Hussarek declarated the „Kreisordnung“ for Bohemia, there was no chance for acceptance, because the question of the settlement of a Czechoslovak State was decided.
More...Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi a jeho idea Pan-Evropy na stránkách Prager Presse 1921–1926
The submitted article reconstructs the interactions between Richard Nikolaus Coudenhove-Kalergi as the originator of the Pan-Europe idea, and the Prague newspaper Prager Presse, during the time from August 1921 until autumn 1926. The account notes and comments not only upon Coudenhove-Kalergi writings published in the paper, but also the reviews of his books and reports on his public appearances. Thus the article traces, how the philosopher, who comes up with a particular interpretation of the situation in Europe after the World War I, becomes a leader of the international movement, a politician and a diplomat striving to gain support for a specific model of European organisation. The final section of this article deals with how the Czech translation of Coudenhove’s book Pan-Europa originated and the circumstances it was accompanied by.
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Die sprachliche Situation in Böhmen war im langen 19. Jahrhundert u. a. auch von der deutsch-tschechischen Mehrsprachigkeit geprägt. Diese Mehrsprachigkeit verwandelte sich im Laufe des langen 19. Jahrhunderts. Bei diesem Wandel ging es aber nicht so sehr um die horizontalen Verschiebungen der sog. inneren (deutsch-tschechischen) Sprachgrenze innerhalb des böhmischen und mährischen Territoriums, die – abgesehen von den Sprachinseln – zwischen deutschen Grenzgebieten und dem tschechischen Landesinneren verlief und in sprachlich und national durchwachsenen Mischgebieten durchaus unscharf war, sondern vielmehr um die Etablierung, Festigung, Verteidigung und am Ende doch auch Verlegung der funktionalen Sprachgrenze, die durch ihre Vertikalität auch eine soziale Grenze war.
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The contribution is focused on the history of the Benešov brewing industry after 1872. It seeks a context for the failure of the joint-stock company which in Benešov in 1872 established a large malting plant that was later partially converted into a brewery. Its operation is viewed from the broader perspectives of the transformation of society in the second half of the 19th century, including development of the brewing sector. The first aspect to be described is the origin of the joint-stock company, the mechanisms of its operation and a breakdown of the motivation behind its management’s actions. Also examined is the context of the local characteristics given by the development of the relationship between the once servile Benešov and the nobility at the nearby Konopiště Castle, including the complicated relationship between the city’s elites and the lord of Konopiště. In the second part, the background of the personnel and institutional linkages between the company and the local Civic Credit Union is revealed in detail. The credit union’s operation in the period under review is immediately connected with the operation of the joint-stock company and, in the end, led to its definitive downfall. The contribution does not end with the decision to sell the failing enterprise to the new lord of Konopiště, Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, 1887, but it rather focuses on the subsequent years, when the definitive bankruptcy of the Civic Credit Union and the joint-stock company itself occurred.
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The study analyses the influence of Wilhelm II, German Emperor on the personnel policy in thearmed forces between 1888–1918. It also describes the most crucial events in connection with thelevel of institutions of the Empire and highest Prussian institutions. The study looks for main actorsof individual appointments and examines who was instrumental in key personnel appointments.The study’s conclusions are primarily based on analysing non-published sources from the GeheimesStaatsarchiv Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin-Dahlem, namely the Brandenburg-Preußisches Hausarchiv, Repositur 53, Kaiser Wilhelm II. und Familie. It is also based on reports of Austrian-Hungarian ambassadors in Berlin saved in the Haus-, Hof- und Staatsarchiv, Wien, namely Abteilung III.(Preußen). The author concludes that Wilhelm II’s personnel policy had three stages of development.At the beginning of his rule, he excitedly grasped the chance to “rejuvenate” the corps of generals ofthe armed forces and to surround himself with people who suited him — people who admired him,did not criticize him, and did not argue with him. From this perspective, he negatively influencedthe state of the armed forces because (unlike his predecessors) he focused more on subjective factorsrather than objective criteria when assessing the abilities of the members of the armed forces. After1900, the second stage began, during which the Emperor accepted suggestions for promotions. Thethird stage — the significant decline of the Emperor’s influence on the personnel policy of armedforces — started after the scandals in 1907 and after the beginning of World War I. Wilhelm II’s influence on the personnel policy of armed forces can be (similarly to his influence on foreign and internal policies) described as chaotic, unsystematic, and in some instances even destructive, whichis why he is partly responsible for the developments during World War I, including the takeover ofpolitical decisions by the leaders of the armed forces.
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The paper deals with the foundation, organization and activity of the national protective association, which existed in the eastern Moravia in the period of 1885–1948. It was the National Association of Eastern Moravia and it protected the so-called “border guards” against the growing German population. The association performed economic, social and cultural activities. For instance, the members of the association participated in the censuses, helped with the organization of elections and financially supported the Czech industry. Among other things, the association provided various types of loans, was involved in education and cultural lives of the people who lived in the border regions.
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List of reviewed publications: ENGELBERT DEUSCH, Die effektiven KonsulnÖsterreich(-Ungarns) von 1825–1918. Ihre Ausbildung,Arbeitsverhältnisse und Biografien, Köln –Weimar – Wien:Vandenhoeck u. Ruprecht Verlage 2017 TOMÁŠ W. PAVLÍČEK, Výchova kněží v Čechách a jejich rolev náboženské kultuře (1848–1914), Praha: Academia 2017 ROBERT PEJŠA, Vztahy Československa a Maďarska v letech1918–1939, Praha: Nakladatelství Karolinum 2017 MARCIN JARZĄBEK, Legioniści i inni. Pamięć zbiorowaweteranów I wojny światowej w Polsce i Czechosłowacjiokresu międzywojennego. Kraków: Universitas 2017 GÜNTER BISCHOF, Rakousko v první studené válce, 1945–1955. I slabí mají sílu, Praha: Academia 2017 MARTIN SCHULZE WESSEL, Pražské jaro. Průlom do novéhosvěta, Praha: Argo 2018
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The study examines the relationship between law and medicine on the example of the autopsies of suicides in the Litoměřice and Mladá Boleslav region, a case in point being suicide investigations from the first half of the 19th century pointing to an ever closer relationship between the state and medicine in relation to the dead bodies. This ‘medicalisation’ of (voluntary) death influenced the posthumous treatment of the suicide’s body (with more frequent burials in sanctified land) and, as a result, contributed to its decriminalisation.
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The article’s goal is to introduce the thesis that not only the constitutional and socio-economic agendas of states but also international affairs strongly influence the formation of various human communities and their political programmes, and that this interaction was often no less important than these other factors in the rise of 19th century nationalism. By combining the history of international politics, international law, social history and ethics the article reveals a completely new story of the Italians’ reception of and response to diplomatic affairs in the 1840s. At that time a considerable number of them felt that the heritage of the Congress of Vienna was being eroded and that the world was becoming increasingly insecure. This conviction was primarily caused by the abuse of power by the most powerful states at the expense of weaker ones in Europe as well as the former’s imperialist policies in more remote regions. The increasing mistrust in the great powers’ policies and in the stability of the whole structure of the post-Napoleonic states system gave rise to a conviction that the security of their own countries in the world where the rule of force dominated was to be best preserved by material strength, which also made the Italians more willing to accept whatsoever kind of political unity based upon the concept of nationality.
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List of reviewed publications: PETR KOURA, Swingaři a potápky v protektorátní noci: česká swingová mládež a její hořkej svět (Jan Lomíček) VLADAN HANULÍK, Historie nekonvenčních léčebných praktik v době profesionalizace medicíny. Vznik a vývoj lázní Gräfenberg v 1. polovině 19. století (Martin Franc) PHILIPP THER, Die Außenseiter: Flucht, Flüchtlinge und Integration im modernen Europa (Michal Frankl) DAGMAR HÁJKOVÁ, PAVEL HORÁK (edd.), Republika československá: 1918–1938 (Jakub Vrba) KRISTEN GHODSEE, Second World, Second Sex: Socialist Women’s Activism and Global Solidarity during the Cold War (Adéla Gjuričová) ZSÓFIA LÓRÁND, The Feminist Challenge to the Socialist State in Yugoslavia (Boris Mosković) .
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The term “cultural war” (Kulturkampf ) became known at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries as the clash between Catholics and Protestants. However, cultural wars are taking on a new form today. In his book titled The Clash of Civilizations, Harvard political scientist Samuel Huntington described the fateful struggle between the world’s civilizations. He claims that after the fall of the Iron Curtain, the most important role is not played by ideological, political or economic differences between nations but by cultural differences. As John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge argue in their book God is Back (2009), we have been experiencing unexpected global revival of faith in recent years. The current political clash on the national and international levels is of cultural origin. Religion can be useful because it supports social stability. However, it can also be abused to wage wars, which seemed long forgotten.
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Review of: Martin Klečacký — Pavel Fabini — Luboš Velek (eds.), Deníky Josefa Kalouska II., Prague: Masarykův ústav a Archiv AV ČR; Nakladatelství Lidové noviny 2016, 332 pp.
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The Archeological Committee was set up as one of the special Czech Academy of Sciences and Arts standing commissions in 1893 out of a need to bolster heritage conservation at a provincial level. Its establishment matched the increasing interest in heritage at the end of the 1880s and the 1890s. The committee became the expert supervisor for heritage conservation and a research institute whose three sections established the foundations of archeology, ethnography and the history of art in Bohemia. Its plenum gave rise to the ideas and plan behind the most successful publishing project in the entire academy: the Historical and Artistic Heritage Catalogue, a work of art historical topography used to this day, which in over fifty volumes, maps out in detail the heritage in practically one half of Bohemia. The author of this plan was Karel Chytil, a leading figure in Czech art history at the end of the 19th century. In addition to the undoubted importance that the Heritage Catalogue was to have for conservation, Chytil and other Czech art historians at the time (Bohumil Matějka, Karel Boromejský Mádl, František Xaver Borovský and Jan Koula) understood very well that it would also form the basis for their systematic research and thus a keystone for art history. The inventorization of heritage items precisely mirrored the attempts in this field, as in other humanities disciplines at that time, to “scientify” its methods, to cease being “writing about art” and to achieve the status of a true science. At the end of the 19th century and at the beginning of the new century, the significance of the Catalogue was also seen at another important level. It was meant to be inspiration for creative artists at that time, for whom a thorough knowledge of domestic art was of crucial importance for their efforts to create a “national” artistic style. The Committee can be said to have set out a project that was unprecedentedly modern and fully comparable with contemporary European art history topographies, and yet at the same time it was enormously challenging, particularly in view of the personnel situation in the Czech history of art. However, a team that handled the project launch was successfully created in the Archeological Committee.
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In this paper, the author links the 1862 Kanlica Conference with the demographic changes in Northeast Bosnia that occurred during the 1860s. The author claims that there was a direct link between these two, or in other words, that the Kanlica Conference was a major factor that contributed to changing the demographics — more precisely, switching the majority between the Christians and Muslims in favor of the latter. It’s important to note it here that the Conference itself wasn’t the only reason for the changes, but the factor which, intentionally or not, caused them.
More...einige Bemerkungen zu einem alten Thema
Masaryk’s attitudes changed during his life. At the same time, however, it is also possible to observe certain constants of his thinking and political attitudes on this issue. The interpretive perspectives in historiography are very different: on the one hand, there is the view that the Czech nationalist was betraying the declared humanist ideals; on the other hand, he is portrayed as an scholar exalted above nationalist animosities. It must be acknowledged that he was not always completely coherent in his attitudes and changed accents depending on political circumstances throughout his life. To emphasize these differences, Masaryk’s life is divided into three phases. As a pre-war politician, he understood Czech historical state law as a fact in which he tried to propose a compromise solution for the coexistence of both nationalities based on a high degree of district self-government, which he did not owe to any of the unmatched national camps. During the war, his arguments were dominated by international aspects and the formation of Czechoslovakia as a nation state with the status of the Germans as a minority with equal individual rights. The third part about Masaryk as an interwar president deals mainly with the reasons for the failure to build a «political» nation that would overlap ethnic differences.
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