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The article considers the problem of historiography of cultural and artistic life of Rivne 50-60 years of the twentieth century. Work of leading scientists and ethnographers of Ukraine, as well as their achievements in the study of the problem are analyzed outlines the processes that affect the state of scientific research topics are outlined.
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The second half of the twentieth century was mark by a transformation of the relations between countries, their foreign activity becoming more complex. On the one hand, we witness the expansion of cultural diplomacy and scientific-technical contacts. On the other hand, we find a decisive impact of ideology on foreign policy act. The first de-Stalinization policies in Moscow and de-Sovietization in RPR have marked the ideological intensity of cultural activities. In the early years of de-Stalinization, it has been tried the upgrading of national culture, along with the Romanian government's intention to explore their own path of building socialism.The case of MSSR in the Romanian-Soviet cultural relations has not benefited from increased attention on the part of the Party or the cultural agitators. Nevertheless, a few moments have distinguished when we could witness a dynamic of cultural activities and events like „The Decade of MSSR in RPR” (1953) and „The Romanian Cultural Days in MSSR” (1958).
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This article examines Romania’s participation at the preparatory talks for C.S.C.E. and M.B.F.R. in the context of East-West détente. Drawing from declassified documents available at the Archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Romanian National Archives, the article investigates the objectives of Romanian diplomacy, its sources of conduct during the negotiations, and the results it has obtained in accordance with its own views on the European security. The multilateral framework of C.S.C.E. and M.B.F.R. represented for the Romanian diplomacy both an opportunity and an instrument to assert itself on the international arena. Consequently, the officials from Bucharest elaborated an ambitious agenda for the negotiations, reflecting their antihegemonic vision on international politics. They perceived the bipolar hegemony of the Cold War as the main threat for Romania’s security and sovereignty. To hamper the Great Powers’ domination, the leadership in Bucharest promoted an idealistic vision of the European security in which all states should cooperate on an equal basis, regardless of their socio-political system. To overcome the political, military, and economic division of the European continent, a new system of relations between states had to be created in order to assure the peaceful coexistence in Europe and to remove the spheres of influence by simultaneously dissolving the military alliances. Nevertheless, Romania’s objective together with the Soviet and the Western ones were irreconcilable. While the Soviets have promoted détente to legitimize their sphere of influence in Eastern Europe, for the Western countries neither the peaceful coexistence, nor the dissolution of the N.A.T.O. represented real options for the European security. In the West, the détente was a simple stage of the Cold War, not the final aim. The dispute on freer movement and human contacts at Helsinki proved that the Cold War remained primarily an ideological struggle. Thus, the Cold War could not be won through a modus vivendi with the communist system of values. This article concludes by arguing that the counterhegemonic vision of the Romanian communists has imposed serious limitations on Romania’s conduct during the preliminary negotiations for C.S.C.E. and M.B.F.R. The Communist regime defined Romania’s national interest not in connection with the aspirations of its own people, but by taking into account the consequences of the bipolar hegemony for Romania’s sovereignty, and consequently for the survival of the regime itself. Romanian diplomacy considered that its participation represented a real success by achieving a new pattern of negotiation in multilateral diplomacy. However, this view reflects more how the diplomats perceived their role and discards other factors or the perceptions of the other participants.
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The fundamental aim of the article is the review of the radicalism manifestation within the social resistance in Poland in the context of the Czechoslovak 1968 events, their range, forms and intensity. The legislative acts and structures eradicating that type of occurrence are described briefly. The Russian intervention in Czechoslovakia in summer 1968, and also the escalation of social resistance in Poland since the beginning of the year, increased the radicalisation of protests. The so-called „Poronin operation” or the act of self-immolation of Ryszard Siwiec during the harvest festival in 1968 were the well known sings of protest of that period. The article outlines the radical forms of resistance in Poland in 1968 and, at the same time, it is an attempt at a careful reconstruction of the discussed matter. It was written on the basis of the archive records (MSW PRL Ministry of Interior and Administration documentation from Warsaw Institute of National Remembrance), literature, press and other sources.
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Very early in the Cold War, NATO was confronted with the necessity of a first enlargement, in 1952, with Turkey and Greece admission. Our paper is focused on the Turkey’s case, interesting, first of all, because of geographic and geostrategic position of this country. Turkey admission was a result of an prolonged process, which started with a firm denial (some NATO countries doubted that Turkey shared, with the new Alliance, same values and goals, and its approach to the Middle East problems was seen as an additional obstacle in the possibility of admission, even when that solution was quite obvious), continued with Turkey’s projects and ideas to bring NATO closer and, in the context of Korean War, ended with Ottawa decision to admit this country (and Greece, too) into North Atlantic Organisation. For Turkey, this achievement wasn’t important only for diplomatic and military purposes. It was perceived also as a recognition of a nation with the same values and goals as those of Western Europe and USA.
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Papp Gábor (szerk.): Értelmiségi válaszutak 1945 után. Kossuth Kiadó, Bp., 2017.
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Analysing the Polish People’s Republic with reference to republican and patriot virtues, the country governed by communists appears as a completely artificial formation, based on utopian principles, holding its position thanks to terror, propagan¬da and remaining dependent on powerful overlord. Some warped features of republicanism inside the structure controlling the machinę of power interspersed merely with inner system of communist party and the nomenklatura, not raising any hopes that those features could evolve in the direction of the rules of classic republic. Attacking by means of patriotism, which apart from the law should be the main constituent of republicanism, was communists’ opportunistic approach to make use of Polish citizens’ emotions in order to achieve their goals: the legitimization of commu¬nist rule first, then frightening into submission, orienting their job and, finally, pro-viding themselves and maintaining leadership and privileges. Evolution of propagated patriotism in the successive stages of the existence of The Polish People’s Republic indicated merely how it would be used to maintain political status quo. It was changing along with the changing form of communist rule, assuming an adeąuate form to current condition of counter-revolutionary Polish society. That is why patriotism promoted by communists in the years 1944-1989 was similar to their predecessors belonging to Communist Party of Poland and appealing to it in turn played a part of a tool used to exercise power.
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The article presents the way in which the famous "Solidarity” movement was laying grounds for its activities abroad. Since the beginning of its existence it attracted attention and curiosity of the world. It came into relations with many western labor movements, who supported it in all different manners. "Solidarity” members had to deal with a number of problems in order to cooperate with their foreign counterparts. Trying to run its own foreign politics was not an easy task given the geopolitical situation. Nevertheless, starting with gathering special teams, through organizing a Foreign Department and ending up with publishing a set of a certain rules and guidelines, the movement was preparing itself for entering the International arena with its own visions and ideas. The movements' goals much exceeded Poland's borders. "Solidarity” declared to fight for law, peace and justice in all states of the world. Trying not to push the line with the Poland's authorities too far, it made an attempt to be active in the labor world on both sides of the Iron Curtain. By the end of 1981 the movement could already present its successes in this field. The martial law forced "Solidarity” under¬ground, however, it did not manage to destroy its achievements regarding foreign contacts.
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The article considers the phenomenon of one of the most intellectually active, anticommunist opposition group in Poland. The Young Poland Movement organization was established in 1979 and ended its activity after ten years. Furthermore, the magazine "Bratniak” constituted the main press measure in presenting the ideas of its members.The author presents the peculiarity of creating the Young Poland Movement, especially the significance of the group connected with magazine "Bratniak”. Moreover, the author analyses the ideological declaration of Young Poland Movement and out-lines principal values acknowledged by the group.The article also emphasizes the importance of obstacles that the group was facing during the political transformation in Poland. The finał outcome of the events at the turn of the 1989 and 1990 was particularly visible in termination of Young Poland Movement activity. In order to such occurrence its members joined various political groups. It could be caused by two different views of political action that were noticeable among the Young Poland Movement members.
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The political ‘Thaw’ of 1956–7 was in Poland a period of thorough political as well as cultural and social change. While the political liberalisation came to an end rather soon, the team of Władysław Gomułka, the newly-appointed First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers’ Party [PZPR], in power since October 1956, cared much for maintaining and reinforcing their pro-social and reformatory image. The leadership team’s assent for a more sophisticated consumption, part of which was owning a car, helped alleviate social tensions. The models were drawn from the West of Europe and from the United States, which for the Polish society were the major points of reference, as well as from the other socialist countries – particularly, East Germany (the GDR) and Czechoslovakia, where the political and societal significance of motorisation had already been appreciated. On the other hand, offering private individuals an opportunity to purchase a car was meant to be a remarkable tool used to draw the ‘hot money’ down from the market, thus preventing inflation. Cars, imported or Polish-made, began being (relatively) freely traded, at very high prices. This did not limit the demand, as acquiescence for private business operations contributed to the growing of the group of affluent people. While this incited the citizens to develop their own strategies of acquiring cars – not infrequently colliding with the law; the authorities began gradually reinstating the rationing. All the same, the number of private cars quickly increased, to 58,600 as of 1958, up from some 24,750 in 1956. Public discussion started around popular low-capacity (small-engine) cars – whether licensed (Renault, Simca, Fiat) or (to be) made in Poland. However, in spite of the raised expectations the authorities decided that it was still too early for a mass motorisation: this was made possible only in the early 1970s.
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This article analyses the political, scientific, and social circumstances of the beginning of infrastructural globalism in Eastern Europe, using the example of the International Geophysical Year (1957–8). This research programme led to the establishment of the first large global infrastructures operating in Eastern Europe, i.e. behind the Iron Curtain, under the auspices of international organizations (UNESCO, ICSU). Following the Geneva conference in 1955, large infrastructures and ‘big data’ science were supposed to become part of Soviet science diplomacy. The paper shows that while the Soviet Union and East-European countries accepted the challenge and became part of the global scientific community, nevertheless specific features of data and information control remained under the strict surveillance of the USSR.
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This essay seeks to show the Polish household in the communist time as a space of modernity and modernisation activities. The chronological framework is set between 1957 – the date the Home Economics Committee affiliated to the League of Women was set up to contribute to, and be a mouthpiece of, the everyday life modernisation policy – and 1980, being the symbolic borderline between the modernity discourse and the Polish 1980–1 crisis discourse about household. In this context, the article reconstructs both the activities of social actors who created the ‘scenarios of modernity’ for the household and the reception of the messages in question in the village of Bogate in the District (powiat) of Przasnysz.
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The article presents the story of the underground Solidarity radio, a less known chapter of dissident media activism, whose emblematic form was the “extra Gutenberg” phenomenon of underground print culture, or samizdat. It proposes an approach, influenced by media archeology, in which both can be studied as part and parcel of the same communication environment in order to better understand the particular articulation of dissent, media and modernity which both represented. It proposes that in addition to being a certain media form, samizdat was a “social media fantasy” – a shared cultural matrix which embodied political expectations and passions about liberating effects on horizontal communication, attainable here and now through means at disposal of an average person. Underground broadcasting developed in the shadow of the samizdat materialization of this emancipatory media fantasy, despite the fact that radio activists mastered a unique craft of intrusion into the public airwaves, which gave broadcasting an aura of spectacularity that underground publishing had lost as it expanded.
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On the example of Kłodzko Land the author presents one of the fundamental aspects of operations of the repression apparatus in the Stalinist period in Poland, that is the border control. From 1949 on, when the Border Guard was incorporated into the structures of the Ministry of Public Security, and a migration policy was tightened in general, the Ministry began to place a strong emphasis on the security of the state border. It applied both to all the border voivodeships (provinces), and districts. The author has analysed and emphasised several main tasks of the Security Office vis-à-vis a closure of the state border and their protection. He focuses on the presentation of counterintelligence characteristics of the terrain and systematic analyses of the border situation in 1949–1956. He described the organisation and development of the network of agents active on the border, detecting and constant surveillance of persons who wanted to illegally cross the border, liquidation of trafficking channels undertaken by the secret political police, and cooperation with the units of Border Guard and Citizen’s Militia. In a concise way he also presented consequences imposed on illegal crossers, among other things, on the example of sentences passed by the municipal court at Kłodzko and district court in Wrocław, he described the most frequent verdicts. After an analysis of the documents issued by the Special Commission for the Struggle against Abuses and Economic Sabotage, he answered the question whether the Commission was more repressive in this regard, and imposed more severe punishments. In conclusions, he was able to say whether the border of the Polish state during the Stalinist period was as tight and impossible to force as the communist authorities wanted it to be.
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The article describes the reality of people of culture in the Tri-City after the imposition of martial law. It presents an analysis of everyday creativities of actors, writers, artists, and photographers, in order to answer the question whether the martial law in Poland influenced in any way the creative freedom of the community. It compares actions undertaken by official institutions with those forms of independent culture that developed under martial law only within the Catholic Church. This is supplemented with a presentation of individual people forced by martial law to enter a new stage of actions.
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