Рука пружена преко света: југословенска подршка Бурми у борби против спољне агресије 1952–1954.

Author(s): Jovan Čavoški / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 2/2018

This article intends to present a largely unknown historical episode that clearly depicts how Yugoslavia and Burma, facing tough choices between two antagonistic world camps, opted for the third way in international politics that implied avoiding open afϐiliation with either of the superpower blocs and developing closer coordination with other nations that shared similar aspirations. Both countries ultimately concluded that any strengthening of this bilateral relationship would ultimately have far-reaching consequences not only for their respective positions in Asian affairs, but also for their general standing in world politics. Over the time, Yugoslavia became a role model for Burma, country whose policy of non-alignment and separate road to socialism were emulated by the leadership in Rangoon. Furthermore, direct consequence of the clandestine Western support to the rogue Chinese Nationalist troops in Burma was the outright strengthening of the non-aligned camp and gradual weakening of the grip of containment in Asia. Yugoslav arms shipments to Burma directly contributed to the emergence of such an alternative, acting as an impetus for Rangoon’s active tilt towards the foreign policy strategy of non-alignment, while also opening doors to Yugoslavia’s active involvement in Asian affairs in the years to come. Without the Yugoslav arms, it would have been quite impossible for Burma to initially stave off and ultimately crush the mounting foreign aggression, thus creating conditions for a successful political, military, and economic cooperation between the two countries. In fact, Yugoslav-Burmese military exchanges had a major impact on the strategic plans of both blocs in Southeast Asia, foremost on U.S. and Chinese power projections. The unexpected success of the Yugoslav-Burmese interactions was basically founded on the fact that for both these nations, frequent exchanges never represented a danger to their independence or sovereignty, which could not be claimed for any of the great powers.

ВКЛАД АКАДЕМИКА С. Л. ТИХВИНСКОГО В ИЗУЧЕНИЕ ЭВОЛЮЦИИ ОБРАЗА РОССИИ В КИТАЕ

Author(s): Nikolai Anatolievich Samoylov / Language(s): Russian Issue: 7(176)/2018

The article examined the scientific heritage of an outstanding Russian historian, sinologist and diplomat Sergei Leonidovich Tikhvinsky (1918–2018), whose 100th anniversary is celebrated this year, and analyzed his contribution to the studies of Chinese history and the formation of new research directions in this field. The author pays the closest attention to academician Tikhvinsky’s contribution to the studies of Russia’s image in China. The author of the article believes that it was S. L. Tikhvinsky who was the fi rst among Russian sinologists to show in detail the process of Russia’s image evolution in China throughout the history of Russian-Chinese relations. He proposed a clear and scientifically based periodization of this process, highlighting the main stages of this image evolution. S. L. Tikhvinsky also proved that the majority of the periods he considered were characterized by the ambivalence of Russia’s perceptions in China, and was able to explain the reasons for such a phenomenon in each segment of historical development. Thus, it was Tikhvinsky who should be considered the founder of imagological approach in Chinese studies.Key words: Sergei Leonidovich Tikhvinsky, sinology, imagology, history of China, image of Russia in China, Russian-Chinese Relations

II. András angliai követei

Author(s): Dániel Bácsatyai / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 04/2017

The beginning of the 13th century witnessed a rapid growth of historical records in England. The financial accounts of King John I and the Bishopric of Winchester preserved the memory of a diplomatic mission launched by King Andrew II of Hungary in 1212–1213. In this paper I make an attempt to identify the king’s diplomats and the target of the undertaking, which had gone unnoticed in Hungarian historiography until now. Although it had reasonably been suggested that the focus of the talks was the preparations of the impending Fifth Crusade, other contemporary sources make it more likely that the envoys delivered a wedding proposal.

I PRIMI NEGOZIATI TRA LA ROMANIA E GLI STATI UNITI NEL 1956 NELLA CORRISPONDENZA DIPLOMATICA ITALIANA

Author(s): Şerban Turcuş / Language(s): Italian Issue: 1/2018

The present study refers to the first initiatives of substantive diplomatic discussion between Romania and the USA, at the level of the experts, since the outbreak of the Cold War. In 1956, we are three years after Stalin’s death, with a country that is facing a severe pressure due to the economic demands of the USSR and has difficulties in supporting the impoverished population over the last decade. A saving solution, especially economic and commercial, was the start of talks with the US, where from to get technological and commercial benefits, but also cultural ones. US diplomats have shown openness to the proposals and discussed with the Romanian authorities, but the negotiations have stopped in the context of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution. The study presents the situation of bilateral talks as reflected in unpublished so far Italian diplomatic reports.

QUANDO IL TOTALITARISMO VUOLE CAMBIARE LA LINGUA E LA STORIA. UN RAPPORTO DIPLOMATICO ITALIANO SULLA RIFORMA ORTOGRAFICA DELLA LINGUA ROMENA (1954)

Author(s): Veronica Turcuş / Language(s): Italian Issue: 1/2018

The study discusses an unpublished report of the Italian Embassy in Bucharest in 1954, which highlights the manner in which the communist authorities in Romania, in the purest totalitarian style, are trying to reform the Romanian language in the sense of falsifying Romanian linguistics and Romanian history. Practically, from up to down, is imposed an untrue vision of Romanian language and history that highlights the inaccurate importance of the Slav element in the Romanian nation in order to stabilize the idea that Romania is naturally part of the Slav (Soviet) world, despite of the historical evidences. Diplomatic correspondence highlights the drama of the situation and the attempt to divert historical truth.

On the Attack of the Hungarian King Bela III on Serbia in Light of the Letter of Emperor Isaac II to Pope Celestine III

Author(s): Ivana Komatina / Language(s): English Issue: 02/2018

The relationship between Serbia and Hungary during the 12th century can be characterized as allied and peaceful. However, at the end of the 12th century, Hungary attacked the Serbian territory. The paper analyzes the letter sent by the emperor Isaac II to Pope Celestine III regarding the Hungarian attack on Serbia. We learn from it that the Byzantine Empire protected Serbia in such circumstances, with the claim that Serbia has been “under Romania from ancient times”. Also, since the letter was not dated, by internal analysis of the text we can conclude that it was composed in 1193, so the Hungarian attack could be dated from the end of 1192 until the middle of 1193.

Mitrydates VI Eupator, jego potomkowie i Sarmaci. Wpływy świata irańskiego na Królestwo Bosporańskie

Author(s): Michał Halamus / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2018

The aim of this paper is to investigate the influences of the Iranian world on the Bosporan Kingdom form the times of Mithridates VI Eupator onwards. From the end of the second c. BC, the Bosporan Kingdom was influenced by the two major and independ¬ent factors related with the Iranian world. Initially there were no special links between Mithridates VI Eupator and the Sarmatian peoples inhabiting the northern Black Sea area. However, his alliances and the further actions of his descendants lead to the creation of ties between the royal house and the indigenous societies of non-Greek descent. These bonds were of great significance for mutual relations with Rome, as the Bosporan Kingdom remained her client for ca. four centuries, and also for the internal situation of the state, whose ethnic composition in the first and second centuries AD changed drastically in favour of the non-Greek peoples.

Theories and Concepts in International Relations – from Idealism to Realism

Author(s): Ionuț ȘERBAN / Language(s): English Issue: 40/2013

International Relations, as a field of social life, refers to world politics, influence factor of the contemporary world, to everything that surrounds us. As a practice of world politics, International Relation is an old occupation but modern era was the one in which this practice has become conceptualized by the emergence of concepts on which it is based. Idealism was the first current or theory in International Relations that arouse at the end of the First World War as famous historians and scholars in response to the need to know and understand the drama of the most devastating global conflict to date, tried to find a way to prevent in the future such a human and material catastrophe. The new principles in International Relations were based on the collective security system and the renunciation of the balance of powers. In contradiction with Idealism, the Realistic theory focused on the balance of power and its distribution in the world as the collective security embraced after The Paris Conference from 1919-1920 and shaped in the League of Nations failed in its mission and allowed the Second World War to start. The arena of International Relations is a very complicated and complex one, hard to decipher and understand and only by looking and learning from the past, from history, we can understand the present and maybe, maybe predict what can happen in the future regarding international politics and world’s evolution.

ANKARA ELÇİSİ RAUF FİCO’NUN GÜNLÜKLERİ IŞIĞINDA KRALLIK İLANI ÖNCESİ TÜRKİYE-ARNAVUTLUK İLİŞKİLERİNE ATATÜRK’ÜN YAKLAŞIMI

Author(s): Halil Özcan / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 2/2018

The diaries of Rauf Fico, Albanian Minister Plenipotentiary to Ankara, gives a lot of useful information about Albania-Turkey relations that had not been stumbled across in the literature until today. The aim of this study is to point out Atatürk’s views on relations between Albania and Turkey, Albania and Italy, as well as his suggestions to Albanian envoy in Ankara about how to overcome the Albanian dependency on Italy. The research is based on the diaries of Fico, Albanian Minister Plenipotentiary to Ankara. The study is limited with focusing on the Italian factor in Albania’s relations with Turkey rather than examining all aspects of the relationship between the two independent countries.Fico had had formal education in the Ottoman Empire and occupied bureaucratic posts such as being provincial governor and following independence of Albania started to work for Albanian government as an important diplomat. Therefore, his diaries provide us a plenty of information on the question of Albania’s relations with Turkey as well as with Italy, particularly between 1925 and 1928 during which there had been a Republican regime in Albania.In fact, Fico’s diaries give perfect information about close relations between Turkey and Albania and the importance given by Mustafa Kemal Atatürk on these relations at bilateral level, at least until the destruction of the Republican regime by Ahmet Zogu who would proclaim himself as the King of Albania in 1928. The content of the Fico’s diaries are very rich in a way that they consist problems of Orthodox Albanians in Istanbul, positions of Albanians in Kosovo, the exchange of Albanian Chams, reforms in Turkey, assassination attempt to Atatürk in İzmir and main themes in Nutuk. It should be kept in mind that the scope of this study is confined, first, to suggestions of Ataturk to the Albanian government regarding getting rid of dependency on Italy, and second, to his foresight about Italy’s position towards Albania and Turkey.In this respect, the Fico’s diaries give invaluable information on all these subjects elaborated in this paper.

Maria Follia, a Court Lady of the Hungarian Queen Elizabeth Łokietek, Accompanying Her Mistress on a Journey to Italy

Author(s): Đura Hardi / Language(s): English Issue: 29/2018

The journey and stay of the Hungarian queen Elizabeth Łokietek, mother of King Lajos the Great and widow of King Charles Robert, to the Kingdoms of Naples and Rome from June 1343 until May 1344, is a well-researched topic in historiography. On that journey the queen was accompanied, as a Hungarian chronicler noted, by her court, numerous ladies-in-waiting, girls of noble origin, Hungarian barons, knights and servants. Yet, of all the women accompanying the queen, only the identity of one of her court ladies is known, that of aristocrat Maria Follia. Her presence in the (closest) surrounding of the queen is testified by two diplomatic sources, one of Hungarian and another of Naples provenance. Maria was the widow of a recently deceased Hungarian palatine William Drugeth (who died in September 1342). The author in this paper investigates the causes and complex circumstances under which Maria Follia participated in the Italian journey of her mistress. The issue is all the more interesting since it is known that, after the death of palatine William, the Drugeth family, until then the most powerful Hungarian baron family, lost their wealth, fortune and positions in the royal court. One of the possible answers to this question is a conclusion that the palatine’s widow, independent of her husband’s family, stayed in good relations with Queen Elizabeth and kept her positions in the royal court.

Anthony J. Drexel Biddle on the international situation of Poland from 1937 to 1939

Author(s): Krzysztof Siwek / Language(s): English,Polish Issue: 03/2018

The purpose of this article is to present the views of Anthony J. Drexel Biddle, the United States’ Ambassador in Warsaw, concerning the international situation of the Second Republic of Poland from 1937 to 1939. This subject, scarcely represented in Polish historiography, shows the perspective of the American Ambassador on the role of Poland in Europe and reveales his assessment of the „balance of power” policy conducted by minister Józef Beck in the period preceding the outbreak of the Second World War. It appears that Biddle basically shared the Polish perspective on the threat posed by Hitler’s Germany and the Soviet Union while emphasizing the crucial role of Poland in further political-military developments in Europe. Accordingly, he supported the Polish will to resist the imminent German aggression since Warsaw’s attitude was in his eyes a peculiar „barometer” of British and French readiness to contain German expansion. Although Biddle’s position in late 1930s could not influence the policies of the U.S. and European powers toward Poland, it sheds an interesting light on Polish foreign policy and its reception by Western powers, contributing to better understanding of this decisive period of Poland’s history. This article was based on analysis of diplomatic papers and the correspondence of Ambassador Biddle from 1937 to 1939.

Историјата на Дубровник отсликана преку семејството Соркочевиќ

Author(s): Katja Bakija,Renata Roman / Language(s): English Issue: 17/2018

Влогот на семејството Соркочевиќ во културното наследство на Дубровник има огромно значење и вредност. Тоа наследство може да се согледа во неколку рамки: преку придонесот кон дипломатијата, која денес не е иста со поранешната дипломатија на Дубровник, но сепак се потпира врз нејзините темели, потоа преку монументалното наследство на вредни споменици на архитектурата и палатите, како и преку преписката која овозможува да се толкуваат културата и политичките тензии на минатото. И, се разбира, преку музиката, односно богатиот опус што го има оставено Соркочевиќ. Активностите на семејството Соркочевиќ се анализирани во контекст на Дубровничката Република. Придонесот на трите клучни фигури: Лука, Антун и Јелена Пучиќ Соркочевиќ се исклучително важни не само за Дубровничката Република туку и за Дубровник и Хрватска денес.

Promocija knjige: Crna Gora i Njemački Rajh. Dokumenti iz Političkog arhiva službe inostranih poslova u Berlinu 1906-1914. (Tom I 1905-1910)

Author(s): Miljan Gogić / Language(s): Slavic (Other) Issue: 3-4/2017

dr Senka Raspopović, dr Konrad Clewing i dr Radoslav Raspopović, Crna Gora i Njemački Rajh- dokumenti iz politi čkog arhiva službe inostranih poslova u Berlinu 1906-1914

Author(s): Saša Knežević / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 3-4/2017

„ЈУГОСЛОВЕНСКИ ФАКТОР” У СОВЈЕТСКО ВИЈЕТНАМСКИМ ОДНОСИМА 1948–1956

Author(s): Igor Selivanov / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2018

The issue of the «Yugoslav factor» influence over the development of the relations between the Soviet Union and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam has been revealed in the article. The events, happened from the beginning of Soviet­Yugoslavian conflict till the reestablishment of the normal relations between the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, have been investigated. In 1948­ 1953 none of the communist leaders took the risk to sin against the Soviet leader in spite of the absurdness of accusing the Yugoslavian leaders. Vietnam did not fail to accuse Tito due to his attitude to Stalin. While investigating the problem of the split between Yugoslavia and other socialist countries including Vietnam, the data taken from the Russian archives have been used. The article describes how Vietnamese oppositionists, being communist party members, tried to use Stalin’s accuse regarding Tito to draw an analogy between Tito and Ho Chi Minh. It was done to exacerbate the intraparty struggle within the Vietnamese liberation movement. These attempts were not successful as Stalin chose Ho Chi Minh and invited him to the Soviet Union in February 1950. Afterwards Ho Chi Minh started criticizing Yugoslavian political regime basing on the conclusions having done by the Soviet Union authorities. After the condemnation of Stalin’s personality cult in 1956, the possibilities for Yugoslavian and the North­Vietnamese rapprochement basing on «socialist values» appeared. It was in favor of Moscow which wished to keep the unity among the states having declared their «socialist choice».

МОСКВА–ХАНОЈ–БЕОГРАД: ОСОБЕНОСТИ ИЗГРАДЊЕ ОДНОСА У УСЛОВИМА САЗРЕВАЊА ДРУГОГ РАСКОЛА СВЕТСКОГ СОЦИЈАЛИСТИЧКОГ СИСТЕМА (1957–1964)

Author(s): Igor Selivanov / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2018

The issue of relationship among the Soviet Union, communist Vietnam and Yugoslavia after the 20th Communist Party Congress to the overthrow of Nikita Khrushchev in the fall of 1964 has been revealed in the article. While studying the theme of the investigation, the author has used the data taken from the Russian and Serbian archives. The Soviet authorities was interested in strengthening all‐round relationship among the socialist countries but the past experience still influenced greatly the opinion on Yugoslavia in the socialist world, it caused a new step in opposition between Moscow and Belgrade. In that situation Hanoi preferred to sit on the fence which was determined, firstly, by its leaders’ short‐time interests wishing to unite Vietnam under communist reign regardless of the cost. This task was formulated as the prior one. Moscow’s interests were ignored, but Moscow wished to continue weakening the sharpness with West which would have been practically impossible due to entanglement of the USSR into a new conflict concerning Indo‐China. The overthrow of Nikita Khrushchev in the fall of 1964 in the Soviet Union drew a line under ideological side of disputes between Moscow, Hanoi and Belgrade, the relationship inside this triangle broke new ground. Ho Chi Minh needed financial and moral support from the USSR and Yugoslavia during the Indo‐Chinese War II, and he got it. Ideological side gave place to pragmatic interests which were different in every country. In the article we show development of Soviet‐Chinese conflict which is directly connected with different estimations of the decisions taken at the 20th and 22nd Communist Party Congresses, the estimations which were given in Moscow and Beijing. Belgrade took the Soviet Union’s position on this question, and Hanoi tried „to swim” between the USSR and China.

Knjiga o njemačko-crnogorskim istorijskim vezama predstavljena u Berlinu

Author(s): Konrad Clewing / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 1-2/2018

Podpułkownik Mieczysław hr. Poniński – attaché wojskowy Rzeczypospolitej w Rzymie (1920–1921)

Author(s): Robert Majzner / Language(s): Polish Issue: 103/2019

In May 1919, the Military Attachat was established at the Polish Legation in Rome, obliging him to observe the Italian armed forces, economy, foreign policy, coordinate purchases of military equipment and organize repatriation to the country of Poles – former soldiers of the Austro Hungarian army, staying in POW camps in Italy. The first military attaché was Gen. Eugeniusz Kątkowski, who, however, did not speak Italian. In October 1920 he was replaced by Maj. Mieczysław, hr. Poniński, who knew Italian language and Italian culture. In 1921, however, it turned out that by joining the Polish Army in 1919, he concealed the fact that he was removed from the Italian army in 1893 and demoted from the rank of lieutenant to the sergeant. Because, he received the rank of captain (captain) in the Polish Army. In addition, his assistant Maj. Jan Pogorski developed 12 military reports claiming that he obtained them from a secret informer for a total of 2,500 lire, while he rewrote them from the Italian military press. Lt.-Col. Mieczysław Poniński was dismissed from Rome and placed before the Officer’s Honorary Court, and then before the Criminal Court. Thanks to his connections he avoided the punishment. He was the only one of nearly 100 Polish military attachés in the years 1919–1939, who committed such an offense.

Via terrestris: o dificilă coabitare moldo-genoveză din timpul lui Ștefan cel Mare

Author(s): Alessandro Flavio Dumitraşcu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2018

Since 1453, Via Terrestris, or the land route used by the Genoese to travel from Genoa to Caffa, in Crimeea, begins to appear more frequently in the written sources. Without substituting the traditional sea route, or the Via Maritima, this land route represented a much safer alternative especially for the transport of correspondence between the two medieval citadels. Next to this function, another one was added, of a diplomatic nature, since these couriers turned aside from their fixed destinations and visited kingly and princely courts in the region. Sometimes the route could even have an economical or military role. Last but not least, an important version of this route, which was not invented but institutionalized by the Genoese, passed through the Moldavian territory of Stephen the Great, thus constituting another element of Moldo-Genoese coexistence, not without incidents.

Observații în legătură cu roza din stema lui Ștefan cel Mare și contextul de după victoria de la Vaslui

Author(s): Liviu Pilat / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 2/2018

The present study was prompted by a heraldic element from the coat of arms of Stephen the Great. It analyses the possibility that the pope conferred the golden rose to the prince of Moldavia. The research focuses on the way the news about Vaslui victory reached Rome. The messenger of the victory was Nicholas of Ilok, a Hungarian nobleman, dubbed, at Rome, king of Bosnia and Wallachia. He is the one who also distributed in Italy copies of the victory letter of Stephen the Great, in which the voivode was called captain of the king of Hungary. The victory was exploited by the king of Hungary as a notable result of his in the crusade against the Turks, which explains the special reception of Nicholas of Ilok at Rome. Regarding scene no. 34 from Corsia Sistina, the author considers that it combines the speech of Ladislaus Vetesi and the reception of the king of Bosnia, expressing Pope Sixtus’ support for the anti-Ottoman crusade. It could be a depiction of the offering of the golden rose, but this cannot be fully ascertained due to the present state of conservation and to the restoration from the end of the 16th century, which may have altered some of the details.