Ustrój, administracja i podziały terytorialne pomorskich prowincji Prus w latach 1918–1939

Author(s): Paweł Gut / Language(s): Polish Issue: 3/2016

As a result of WWI Prussia as an element of united Germany lost part of its Baltic provinces for the benefit of the restored Polish and Lithuanian states. Within the boundaries of the German federation there remained the following Baltic provinces: Pomerania, East Prussia and the Frontier March. The organization of the general and local administration in the provinces constituted the continuation of the hitherto applied structures stemming from the reforms by Stein-Hardenberg. The most important change, along with the introduction of the republican political system was the implementation of the democratic election procedures to the local authorities and the elimination of courtly districts in 1928. Moreover, there took place changes in the special administration, e.g fiscal administration, which became the prerogative of the central authorities in Germany. In the provinces new structures were created for it. Important modifications of the organization of the administration started in 1933 when the Nazis took over the power. The administration underwent the so called Gleichschachtung and was subjugated to the authority of Hitler’s party. The most far reaching changes were introduced in the political system of rural and municipal communes, which dated back to the beginning of the 19th century. It was replaced by the new legal rules of the organization of rural and municipal communes in the years 1933 and 1935. WWII did not change much in the structures. During the war Hitler’s authorities underlined the hegemony of the Nazi party over the German state and society including the Baltic provinces.

Cserkészliliom és kőtábla

Author(s): Eszter Gombocz / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2019

Numerus clausustól a numerus nullusig

Author(s): Kata Vörös / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 2/2019

1931: DEBT, CRISIS, AND THE RISE OF HITLER

Author(s): Perica Hadži-Jovančić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 1/2021

Tobias Straumann, 1931: Debt, Crisis and the Rise of Hitler, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2019. (241–242)

Отношения между историографиeй и политикой памяти. Тезисы в зеркaле cпорoв об оценке советско-германского пакта о ненападении. Кто несет ответственность за войну?

Author(s): Tamás Krausz / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/2019

This essay discusses the historiography and some aspects of memory politics (Erinnerungskultur) concerning the outbreak of World War II. In the European Union and the United States the dominant interpretation of history is that the outbreak of World War II was the consequence of the Soviet-German Treaty of Non-Aggression (Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact) concluded on 23 August 1939, by the leading circles of the two ‘totalitarian dictatorships’. Today in Eastern Europe some politicians and historians go even further and transfer major responsibility for the outbreak of the war to Stalin. The most important historiographical trend, however, also focuses on the antecedents of the Soviet-German Treaty of Non-Aggression. The followers of this approach simultaneously stress the responsibility of the other great powers whose leaders concluded a treaty with Hitler in September 1938 (the Munich Pact, which was the consequence of the policy of appeasement) and also leaders of certain small states, who made separate ‘deals’ and agreements with Hitler. For example, even prior to the outbreak of the war, the Polish establishment perceived the Soviet Union and not Germany as Poland’s major enemy. Unfortunately, there are always historians, who cannot resist the pressure of power elites, who – with ever increasing apparatuses and capital – appropriate and falsify history for the sake of (geo)political interests. The author of this article argues that the Soviet-German Treaty of Non-Aggression was signed by the Soviet Union as it did not want to bear alone all the burdens of a war with Nazi Germany.

Венгры в ГУЛАГе (по воспоминаниям инженера-конструктора И. А. Маханова)

Author(s): Igor’ Olegovich Tyumentsev,Alexander L. Kleitman / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/2020

The fragment of the memoirs written by I. A. Makhanov, the chief designer of artillery weapons of the Kirov plant, allows us to trace the fate of the Hungarian communist community in the USSR. The memoirist reports many interesting facts and details on some Hungarian communists during the Great Terror. The author of the memoirs, I. A. Makhanov supposed that I. V. Stalin physically destroyed the leaders of the Hungarian communist movement, and drove the Russian proletariat and peasantry to slavery and serfdom – a severe blow to the communist movement, from which it could not recover.

Слепой свидетель. Американский посол Джозеф Э. Дэвис в Москве, 1936–1938

Author(s): Tibor Frank / Language(s): Russian Issue: 1/2020

Joseph Edward Davies (1876‒1956) was U.S. ambassador to Moscow between 1936 and 1938. Davies was a lawyer who joined the Democrats and contributed to the success of the presidential election of Woodrow Wilson whom he supported in various capacities during his two terms 1912–1920. He was a close companion of Wilson before he became an international lawyer between the U.S. and Mexico, Peru, The Netherlands, Greece and the Dominican Republic. He was mainly involved in anti-trust cases representing Seagrams, National Dairy, Copley Publishing, Anglo-Swiss, Nestlé and Fox Films. Joseph E. Davies supported the presidency of Franklin Delano Roosevelt who sent him in 1936 with his newly wed wife, the former Mrs. Post, as a U.S. ambassador to Moscow. Amb. Davies was led astray by his Soviet hosts, probably through the valuable art gifts he received for his personal art collection. He became as it were blindfolded while studying the Soviet Union and, especially, during the showtrials when he was called upon to watch closely and serve as a witness. The ambassador seemed to believe all the horrible crimes the victims of these trials accused of and showed no doubts whatsoever as to the trials. He sent his reports to Secretary of State Cordell Hull and President Roosevelt, published in his book Mission to Moscow which served as the basis of his 1943 Hollywood film, a great contribution to Soviet propaganda efforts as it came from an authoritative eyewitness who was present at these trials in the critical years in and after 1936, and up to 1938. Mission to Moscow was translated into several languages after World War Two, particularly in Eastern Europe, as it did excellent political service to the Soviet Union and to Joseph Stalin personally. Amb. Davies continued his career as a diplomat throughout and right after World War II.

Orosz és örmény menekültek és a menekültügy az I. világháborút követően Kelet-Európában, különös tekintettel Magyarországra

Author(s): Péter Pál Kránitz / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/2015

The article depicts the first steps of the emergence of an international refugee law and institutions of refugee affairs in the contexts of Russian and Armenian refugees – fleeing war, persecution and genocide in Turkey and Russia – taking refuge in Northern-, Southeast- and East-Central Europe. It shows how the concept of the so called “repatriation” dominated the refugee policies of Bulgaria and Greece when it came to international (not Greek or Bulgarian) refugees. Through the 1920s, some 50 000 (later only 15 000) Armenian refugees were to be replaced in Soviet Armenia, and although such a mass deportation of refugees was not implemented, displacement of refugees in fact occurred. In terms of Armenian refugees, Romania had the most radical plan for a solution: the establishment of an allied military force defending Armenian territories. As for Russian refugees, the article demonstrates the numbers and general conditions of those taking refuge in Scandinavia, Finland, the Baltic states, Poland and Czechoslovakia, highlighting the falseness of a wide-spread topos of historical science, namely that the Russian refugees were a community of aristocrats, magnates and officers of administration or military. The article clearly demonstrates that an overwhelming majority of the Russian refugees were in fact laborers, workmen and peasants. Concerning Hungarian refugee affairs, a consequently adopted refugee policy can be drawn, as representatives of Hungary, over decades, maintained their distinct standpoints on one hand, on the possible lowest fee of identity certificates provided to Russian and Armenian refugees, and on the other hand, on the right of the refugees to return to the state that issued his/her certificate.

Úton a katasztrófa felé

Author(s): Péter Hevő / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2019

Székely Gábor: Hitler – Sztálin – Chamberlain. Az elkerülhetetlen II. világháború. Budapest: Volos Kiadó, 2019. 482 oldal

Intellectuals and Fascism in Interwar Romania

Author(s): Valentin Săndulescu / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2020

Intellectuals and Fascism in Interwar Romania: The Criterion Association. By Cristina A. Bejan. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. xxix + 323 pp

Забытые открытия Эски-Керменских экспедиций 1930—1933 гг. при участии Ф.И. Шмита

Author(s): Lidiya Alekseyevna Sychenkova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 12/2020

The article is devoted to little-known moments in the history of the study of the “cave city” Eski-Kermen in 1930—1933, or rather to the contribution of F.I. Schmit in his study. The figure of this scientist, the picture of expeditions with his participation, revealed through letters and memoirs, has not yet been the subject of research by historians of archeology. The recommendations proposed in F.I. Schmit's articles on the development of agriculture in the region have not lost their scientific and practical significance to this day. The archaeological discoveries of the expeditions of the 1930—1933 were not in demand, and the lost economic benefits for the development of the Crimea are not meaningful. Publications By F.I. Schmit's account of the Eski-Kermen expeditions suggest that he made a significant contribution to the beginning of the systematic study of the medieval Crimea. Expedition materials and forgotten publications by F. Schmit can become an important part of a generalizing study of the history of Eski-Kermen.

Stanowisko rządu brytyjskiego wobec reformy Ligi Narodów w 1936 roku

Author(s): Dariusz Jeziorny / Language(s): English,Polish Issue: 03/2020

In the first months of 1936 Great Britain lost both its prestige in the international arena (unsuccessful measures undertaken in response to Italian aggression in Abyssinia) as well as real guarantees of security (remilitarization of the Rhineland, which was a violation of the Treaty of Versailles and the Locarno Treaties). No wonder then that the government of Stanley Baldwin endeavored to take over initiative and in March 1936 declared willingness to reform the League of Nations and the entire system of collective security. The article answers the following questions: Who in the British government presented London’s proposals in this context? How did London intend to implement them? To what extent did British diplomacy plan to act as leader in the process of working out the reform of the League of Nations? Anthony Eden’s address at the meeting of the Assembly of the League of Nations on 25th September 1936 supplied answers to the above questions. It communicated the attitude of British diplomacy to the League of Nations and the idea of collective security. However, many observers found the address bland and signaling British passivity. The article explains why the head of British diplomacy presented such wishy-washy proposals. The basic research method was analysis of the documents of the British government and Foreign Office.

THE SELF-IMAGE OF THE ROMANIANS IN THE INTERWAR PERIOD

Author(s): Luminiţa Ignat-Coman / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

The Self-Image of the Romanians in the Interwar Period. In the interwar period an important number of authors investigated identity in terms of national character and what define us from this point of view. The first author analyzed in this study is Dumitru Drăghicescu, but the national specificity was also a key concept in the work of Mihail Ralea. Another author interesting in elaborating a Romanian ontological model in the interwar years was Mircea Vulcănescu, and the most representative and best-known author of the national ontology, who encapsulated the nation in the so-called stylistic matrix, was Lucian Blaga. The reflections on the national specificity are, in this period, focused on how Romanians are and why they are the way they are. The inventory of traits, the promotion of certain symbols (‘mioritic space’), and the allegorical descriptions as parodies of contemporary theories of the national specificity, all these are ways in which the Romanian national character was outlined in the most prolific and productive stage, the interwar years.

DEATH AS AN OCCASION TO CELEBRATE LIFE. COMMEMORATIVE SPEECHES AT FUNERALS OF SIBIU PERSONALITIES IN THE INTERWAR PERIOD

Author(s): Mihaela Grancea / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2019

Death as an Occasion to Celebrate Life. Commemorative Speeches at Funerals of Sibiu Personalities in the Interwar Period. The aim of this study is to unveil the emotional topographies stirred by burials of Sibiu personalities as they appear in memorial speeches and articles published in the interwar press of Sibiu. Following the research direction opened by Lucien Febvre we highlight the employed discursive strategies and techniques to trigger public’s emotion and sense of loss. The interwar press reports conferred a bigger dimension to leaders’ funerals, fuelling the collective emotion. Our case studies focus on the rhetoric of death at the burial of Saxon personalities Adolf Schullerus (1864-1928), Carl Wolff (1849-1929) and Friedrich Teutsch (1852-1933). Referring to some attitudes of public opinion in Transylvania we offer some details on the eulogies of some personalities involved in the emancipation process of Transylvanian Romanians, such as I. G. Duca and Vasile Goldiş.

„s hirdessed helyettem is a szót” – Emlékezés Dobai István vargyasi unitárius lelkészre, 1938. április 20-án Szent-Iványi Sándornak írt levele közreadásával

Author(s): Tamás Kálnoki Kis / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2021

Rev. István Dobai (1899–1938) served the Vargyas community from 1930 until 1938. The article publishes his last known letter, written to his friend, Sándor Szent-Iványi (1902–1983). Dobai attended high schools in Székelyudvarhely (Odorheiu Secuiesc), Székelykeresztúr (Cristuru Secuiesc) and Kolozsvár (Cluj-Napoca). In the latter city he obtained a diploma from the Unitarian Theological Institute and the Kolozsvár university, Faculty of Letters. At the Unitarian Theological Institute he befriended Ferenc Balázs (1901–1937), László Iván (Jancsi) (1900–1938) and Sándor Szent-Iványi. They were well known for their work ethic, and, being poor they tutored other students. Dobai, along with Balázs and Szent-Iványi, were prominent members of The Eleven. His first published volume, Your Messiah (Messiásod), appeared in 1922. Dobai’s last letter offers a glimpse into his last years: his intellectual curiosity, his scientific plans, his opinion about the turmoils in the church, and his medical history.

“Memory, Though, is as Strong as Hope”. Queen Marie of Romania and her War Literature

Author(s): Raluca Dună / Language(s): English Issue: 1 (33)/2021

This study aims to reconsider the literature of Queen Marie of Romania, a personality acknowledged nowadays for the major role she played during First World War in Romania. I start from the assumption advanced by Romanian historians that the literature of the Queen played an important part in her political commitment to the national ideal. Apart from its ideological and moral value during the war, her literature deserves a fresh view from the perspective of literary studies. Her work, comprising fiction, memories, an autobiography and a private diary of over two decades proves a complex corpus of literary texts that needs to be re-examined. Marie of Romania was a successful writer for a contemporary international and national public and I tried first to outline a short history of her reception pointing to a few important moments and names. Her autobiography was appreciated by Virginia Woolf in a 1934 review totally unknown to Romanian criticism, while in The United States Marie was probably our most famous writer during the 1930s. In Romania, Marie’s biographical literature was one of the pioneers of the genre, perceived as such by an independent critic like Octav Șuluțiu. She actually encouraged a whole trend in feminine diary and memorial writing which also needs researching within Romanian literary studies. She was perceived by women and by the whole Romanian society as a model during the war, but I approach her literature as her special means to construct this model and pursue her public mission. Her literature continued her many charity, social and political activities, it created a “bridge” of communication between herself and her people. Literature made her voice sound in the ears of the “broken ones” to bring them a message of resilience and hope during hard times. My aim was to reconsider her literature diachronically, with a focus on the literature she published with the advent of the war: My Country, with its English and Romanian successive editions (until the 1925 edition The Country that I love. An exile’s memories), the “personal” articles published in the Army’s newspaper and gathered in the volume From my heart to theirs (1917) and finally her autobiography. The Story of my Life fulfilled her memorial project and offered an image of herself from her childhood until the end of the war. Her literature as a whole was intended to express her own search of identity, her (re)readings of herself and of her life. The theme of identity is infused in all her literature, as she put it openly in the foreword to The Story of My life: her private and her public identity are profoundly related one to another. She continually searched within her memory and displayed images and narratives of herself, in her private and public works, fictional or non-fictional. Her writing is defined by recurrent memorial leitmotifs, by the circulation of texts from private to public and by their continuous rewriting. This overview on Marie of Romania’s literature tried to grasp the meaning of her war literature, its evolution and functions during the war and after. My aim was also to enhance the literary virtues of an autobiographical writing which captured the author’s self and her sensitive experience of life.

A francia gyarmati uralom megrendülése a Közel-Keleten. Az 1925–1927-i szíriai felkelés

Author(s): Péter Ákos Ferwagner / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2017

The nationalist insurrection broke out in 1925 was the most violent episode of the long struggle the Syrian people fought against the French mandatory power in the period between 1920 and 1946. In the middle of the 1920s this devastating uprising pointed out the dissatisfaction with the French rule and caused very serious problems for Paris. Among its causes one has to mention the grievances of the Arab nationalists in Syria and the dissatisfaction of the Druze tribal aristocracy with the methods of the French mandatory administration. The bloody uprising from the Druze Mountains spread to Damascus and other big cities (Hama, Aleppo). In August and September 1925, the French lost their battles against the Druze tribal warriors who made an alliance with the Damascus nationalist leaders. The aim was to expel the French administration and establish the independent Syrian nation-state. Because the insurgents broke into Damascus and caused serious security problems in the city, the capital was bombed on the order of chief commissioner Sarrail, causing enormous damage. The French gained reinforcement and eventually managed to defeat the uprising. This was facilitated by the fact that the alliance between the Druze tribes and the urban middle classes did not prove to be lasting. The last centres of armed resistance were only overcome in the summer of 1927. As a result of the uprising, the French were forced to introduce political concessions in their Middle East mandates.

A „háború utáni háború” 1919–1933

Author(s): András Bakó / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 1/2018

Fischer Ferenc: A „háború utáni háború” 1919–1933. A versailles-i szerződés kijátszása. A weimari Németország haditengerészeti, légi és katonai aktivitása Ibero-Amerika országaiban. Bp.–Pécs, Dialóg Campus Kiadó, 2014. 576 p. (Studia Historiae.)

Eszmélés és közösségépítés

Author(s): László Bíró / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 3/2019

Veremidő. Magyarok a királyi Jugoszláviában (1918–1941). Cikkek, tudósítások, helyzetjelentések a kisebbségi életről. Vál., jegyz., bevez. tanulmány Mák Ferenc. Zenta, Vajdasági Magyar Művelődési Intézet, 2018. 645 p. (Délvidéki Soroló, 8.)

Konvergáló új nacionalizmusok? A magyar és az olasz nacionalizmusról

Author(s): Gábor Egry / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 4/2019

For a long time since 1945, the Horthy-era was defined as fascism, a notion that lost all its credibility with the change of regime in 1989. As a reaction to Communist politics of history, its association with radical right was almost impossible, even though the new wave of fascist studies around the millennium could have provided new impetus for the study of the ideological landscape of interwar Hungary. The growing number of works dedicated to the radical right of this period remained cautious with labelling those lines of thoughts within Hungarian politics. My article argues based on this recent literature and the turn in fascist studies inspired by Roger Griffin, that the new nationalism of the post-WWI period was rather generic Fascism in the form of the „fajvédő” ideas, present in Hungary from very early, since 1919. Thus, it developed parallel with Italian new nationalism, even predated Mussolini’s takeover, it was no imitation as the discredited literature claimed. Furthermore, from the thirties its important tenets regarding a new, harmonious, hierarchical and markedly corporatist society based on the preservation of the dominance of the traditional middle-class, became mainstream, even appearing in government programs too.