1 lutego 1933 r. doszło do przedterminowego rozwiązania przez prezydenta Paula von Hindenburga Reichstagu VII kadencji. Stało się to pod wyraźną presją Adolfa Hitlera, dążącego do uzyskania upragnionej większości konstytucyjnej. Kanclerz Rzeszy przedstawił swoje cele polityczne w swoim przemówieniu, wygłoszonym 10 lutego 1933 r. w berlińskim Sportpalast. Wystąpieniem tym zainaugurował również oficjalnie kampanię wyborczą NSDAP. Szef niemieckiego rządu zaatakował w ostrych słowach system polityczny Republiki Weimarskiej.Niecały tydzień przed wyborami doszło do wydarzenia, które miało stanowić symboliczne pożegnanie Niemiec z systemem demokratycznym. 27 lutego 1933 r. po godz. 21.00 w płomieniach stanął gmach Reichstagu. Następnego dnia prezydent Rzeszy zdecydował się na skorzystanie z zapisu art. 48 konstytucji o „stanach nadzwyczajnych”, składając podpis pod dekretem „O ochronie narodu i państwa” (Verordnung zum Schutz von Volk und Staat) i „Rozporządzeniem Prezydenta Rzeszy przeciwko zdradzie narodu niemieckiego i przygotowaniu zdrady głównej” (Die Verordnung des Reichpräsidenten gegen Verrat am Deutschen Volke und hochverräterische Umtriebe). Decyzja głowy państwa o „zawieszeniu praw obywatelskich” stworzyła podstawę do dalszego demontażu niemieckiej demokracji.Ostateczne pożegnanie Niemiec z systemem demokracji parlamentarnej nastąpiło wraz z uchwaleniem 24 marca 1933 r. ustawy o specjalnych pełnomocnictwach. Jej najpoważniejsze następstwa prawne wynikały z faktu dopuszczenia możliwości stanowienia przez rząd ustaw z pominięciem konstytucji. Do tego typu kwestii zaliczone zostały decyzje dotyczące się spraw budżetowych. Trudno się nie zgodzić z ówczesnym stwierdzeniem Hitlera na zakończenie debaty nad ustawą: „Dajcie mi cztery lata a nie poznacie Niemiec”.Uzyskanie przez NSDAP hegemonistycznej dominującej pozycji w Niemczech nie oznaczało bynajmniej końca działalności Reichstagu. Odtąd, miał się on jednak stać się instytucją czysto fasadową. Począwszy od listopada 1933 r. wszystkie kolejne wybory parlamentarne miały wyłącznie kadłubowy charakter. Obywatele Rzeszy mogli oddawać swoje głosy wyłącznie na jedną listę NSDAP. Wszystkie pozostałe partie polityczne zostały zdelegalizowane. Aż do swojego ostatniego posiedzenia w kwietniu 1942 r. Reichstag służył Hitlerowi wyłącznie do wygłaszania kolejnych przemówień, przepełnionych narodowosocjalistycznymi sloganami propagandowymi.
History of Central Europe, History of Balkan Peninsula
Ivan O. Nekhaev, Anel A. Ishayeva, Amina M. Omarova
et al.
The dwarf pond snail Galba truncatula (O.F. Müller, 1774) is a widespread freshwater species and a key intermediate host of Fasciola spp. Despite its ecological and medical significance, the evolutionary structure of its populations remains incompletely resolved. Using 78 mitochondrial COI sequences, including newly obtained material from Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Caucasus, we reconstructed the phylogeographic pattern of Galba truncatula across Western Palearctic. Our analyses reveal the presence of three distinct phylogenetic lineages. A deeply divergent group, represented by a small number of sequences, occurs sympatrically with the main clade in Western Europe. The main clade, comprising the majority of sequences, is split into two geographically structured subclades: a western lineage (Western Europe and North Africa) and an eastern lineage (Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia). Both major lineages are represented in South America, suggesting at least two independent colonization events. We propose that the initial divergence between the eastern and western lineages likely began in the early Pleistocene, whereas their present-day distribution may have been shaped by isolation during the Last Glacial Maximum. Highlights We reconstructed the phylogeographic structure of Galba truncatula using COI sequences from Eurasia and South America. Three distinct lineages were identified, including a deeply divergent group occurring sympatrically in Western Europe. The main lineage is split into eastern and western clades, likely diverging in the early Pleistocene. Both clades are represented in South America, indicating at least two independent colonization events. Our findings challenge the hypothesis of a South American origin and highlight the role of glacial history in shaping current diversity.
It is always very interesting to read the German history, which sheds light on a nation which has been built in less than two centuries and hit almost the top of Human Development Index. The origins of its economic and political dominance can be traced back to the beginning of the German Empire’s formation. In Blood and Iron, Katja Hoyer delves into the rise of German Empire and its eventual fall, leading to the First World War, a pivotal event that reshaped the European map.
In the first chapter of the book, Hoyer covers the period between 1815-1871, beginning with the Vienna Congress in 1815, where Austria-Hungary and Prussia started their competition on the hegemony over the German states – which ultimately resolved in favor of Prussia. After defeating Napoleon, Prussia gained Rhineland and Ruhr coalfields during this period hinting at their burgeoning industrial and economic power.
Although the German Confederation created at that time was led by Austria, the balance of power began to shift with the rise of Otto von Bismarck in the politics. Bismarck was a junker, landowner nobility, who became a member of the Prussian Parliament in 1847. Following his terms as Ambassador in France and Russia, he was recalled to Berlin by Wilhelm I in 1862 to support passing the military budget. This was the beginning of a relationship between Wilhelm I and Bismarck that will have a defining impact in history, a relationship Hojeremphasizes as having a profound impact on German politics. Starting from this point in the book, Hoyer frequently reminds the reader of the famous “blood and iron” speech of Bismarck, in which he emphasizes that Germany's fate would be determined through decisive military and industrial strength. This speech becomes a recurring theme in Hoyer's analysis.
Bismarck’s Reich, the second chapter of the book, focuses on the years when Bismarck and Kaiser Wilhelm ruled as the Chancellor and Emperor of the German Empire respectively, from 1871 to 1888. It begins with Wilhelm, the King of Prussia, becoming the Emperor of the German Empire, and getting the title of Kaiser Wilhelm on 18 January 1871 in Versailles Place after the defeat of France in the Franco-German was of 1870-71. The chapter introduces the governmental structure of the Reich, which consisted of the Kaiser, Imperial Chancellor, the Bundesrat (the upper of parliament), and Reichstag (the parliament). Hoyer meticulously examines how Bismarck ensures the central role given to Prussia, and how he uses his power and position to create a German national identity. She explores how Bismarck implements a cultural strategy, Kulturkampf, to suppress the religious identities, especially of Catholic minorities under Protestant Prussian rule. Kulturkampf also aimed at the secularization of education and this has been a milestone in the creation of young generations with German identity. Despite resistance and the rise of pro-Catholic Centre Party (Deutsche Zentrumspartei) in politics, Hojer argues the enduring impact of this through the end of the book when discussing the First World War. In this chapter, the writer also briefly mentions the Jewish Question, as it was a significant debate around the same time. She emphasizes events like financial crisis or migration of Polish Jews taking over jobs of Germans which increased anti-Semitism. However, both Kaiser and the Chancellor viewed the Jewish issue as a matter of religion, rather than one of race. Through careful analysis, Hoyer captures the complexities of governance, cultural strategies, and social tensions during this formative period of the German Empire. In this chapter, Hoyer also underlines diplomatic skills of Bismarck. While she doesn’t mention the Concert of Europe when discussing Bismarck’s foreign policy, she clearly indicates how carefully he keeps a balance between all European powers. She criticizes him, in the following parts of the book, for building all his foreign policy around himself, which was doomed to fail after his resignation.
The writer kept the third chapter of the book, Three Emperors and a Chancellor, covering the period between 1888 and 1890 notably brief, as this was a transition period. The chapter succinctly outlines key events such as the death of Kaiser Wilhelm, the brief reign of his son Freidrich III, wo passed away in just 99 days after his coronation, and the ascension of son Wilhelm II as the last Kaiser. Bismarck continues to be the Chancellor, counselling three successive emperors. However, the rising tensions and disagreements with Kaiser Wilhelm II ultimately leads to his resignation in 1890.
The fourth chapter, Wilhelm’s Reich, serves as the second major segment of the book following Bismarck’s Reich. Hoyer portraits Wilhelm II as a young, ambitious, brave and visionary Emperor, unlike his grandfather’s, more modest and humbler demeanor. Due to his powerful character, Wilhelm II prefers Chancellors that he can easily control, and who can maintain a low profile in the politics. Under Wilhelm II’s leadership, he encourages further technological and industrial development, paving the way to German Empire to get a unique place in global trade with its specialization. While these developments increase the national wealth, but this was not reflected in people’s purchasing power. The working class becomes poorer, despite bankers, mostly Jews, becomes richer. The developing technology causes a decline in the need for workforce, exacerbating the challenges faced by a growing population. Developments in chemistry, resulted in new fertilizers, causes the food prices to decrease and leads the farmers into poverty, who eventually migrate to urban areas to seek jobs.
Despite economic turmoil, Wilhelm II sought budget approval from the Reichstag to modernize the army. His ambitions to expand military power, however, intensified with the introduction of Weltpolitik, which was the imperialist foreign policy to make German Empire a world power. The book underlines that Wilhelm II saw Weltpolitik to bring all Germans’ together, including liberals, conservatives, social democrats, proving the power of iron in blood in German politics.
Initially the writer expresses her hesitations about the character of Wilhelm II, questioning whether he was intelligent and proactive, or merely ignorant and easily influenced by a small circle of advisors. By the end of the fourth chapter, however, she clearly indicates how easily he was influenced by others, a vulnerability which ultimately leads him to take the decisions that brought his country into the First World War.
In the fifth chapter, Catastrophe, Hojer summarizes the First World War and how Germany’s plans failed after the war began. Because of Weltpolitik, Great Britain, France and Russia allies against Germany, culminatinginto a war of attrition where both sides face with heavy loses. By the end of the war, Germany faced inevitable military defeat, widespread poverty among its population, with the British naval blockade worsening the situation. These aspects led to end of the war with armistice negotiations, which forced Kaiser Wilhelm II’s abdication and declaration of Germany as a republic.
In the final chapter, Hoyer concludes by highlighting the flawed foundations of the German nation, “blood and iron”, and how it destroyed borders, empire and military of Germany. But she also emphasizes Bismarck’s legacy and its enduring influence, and that it will survive with the rise of defensive nationalism after the defeat in the First World War.
Hoyer summarizes the history of German Empire by touching upon education, literacy, education, religion, economy and socio-cultural changes of the time. She provides a clear picture of the nation-building process that lead to small German states into Germany we know today. Details she focused on, indeed, helps the reader to understand the German society, industry and economy today.
Hoyer’s book can be seen as portraying Bismarck as the person who built the German nation -and national identity-, and Wilhelm II as the one who lead to the collapse of the Empire. While this seems a plausible approach initially, the details she provides explain the context of the time. It was the time when the collapse of Ottoman Empire has started, the European powers’ competition over its territory was already risking the Concert of Europe, and there was little chance for small German states to survive without a confederation. She also emphasizes how naturally these states stick to Germany even after the First World War. In other words, while she underlines the top-down nature of policies and transformation of German nation, she also gives hints about how inevitable this change was by focusing on the industrial and economic dynamics of the time.
Although Europe was not a primary centre of cattle domestication, its expansion from the Middle East and subsequent development created a complex pattern of cattle breed diversity. Many isolated populations of local historical breeds still carry the message about the physical and genetic traits of ancient populations. Since the way of life of human communities starting from the eleventh millennium BP was strongly determined by livestock husbandry, the knowledge of cattle diversity through the ages is helpful in the interpretation of many archaeological findings. Historical cattle diversity is currently at the intersection of two leading directions of genetic research. Firstly, it is archaeogenetics attempting to recover and interpret the preserved genetic information directly from archaeological finds. The advanced archaeogenetic approaches meet with the population genomics of extant cattle populations. The immense amount of genetic information collected from living cattle, due to its key economic role, allows for reconstructing the genetic profiles of the ancient populations backwards. The present paper aims to place selected archaeogenetic, genetic, and genomic findings in the picture of cattle history in Central Europe, as suggested by archaeozoological and historical records. Perspectives of the methodical connection between the genetic approaches and the approaches of traditional archaeozoology, such as osteomorphology and osteometry, are discussed. The importance, actuality, and effectiveness of combining different approaches to each archaeological find, such as morphological characterization, interpretation of the historical context, and molecular data, are stressed.
The apple is the most common and culturally important fruit crop of temperate areas. The elucidation of its origin and domestication history is therefore of great interest. The wild Central Asian species Malus sieversii has previously been identified as the main contributor to the genome of the cultivated apple (Malus domestica), on the basis of morphological, molecular, and historical evidence. The possible contribution of other wild species present along the Silk Route running from Asia to Western Europe remains a matter of debate, particularly with respect to the contribution of the European wild apple. We used microsatellite markers and an unprecedented large sampling of five Malus species throughout Eurasia (839 accessions from China to Spain) to show that multiple species have contributed to the genetic makeup of domesticated apples. The wild European crabapple M. sylvestris, in particular, was a major secondary contributor. Bidirectional gene flow between the domesticated apple and the European crabapple resulted in the current M. domestica being genetically more closely related to this species than to its Central Asian progenitor, M. sieversii. We found no evidence of a domestication bottleneck or clonal population structure in apples, despite the use of vegetative propagation by grafting. We show that the evolution of domesticated apples occurred over a long time period and involved more than one wild species. Our results support the view that self-incompatibility, a long lifespan, and cultural practices such as selection from open-pollinated seeds have facilitated introgression from wild relatives and the maintenance of genetic variation during domestication. This combination of processes may account for the diversification of several long-lived perennial crops, yielding domestication patterns different from those observed for annual species.
After the Second World War, Henryk Batowski became deeply involved in fostering post- -war cooperation among the Slavic nations. From 1945 to 1952, he served as an activist and a member of the governing body of the Polish Slavic Committee, which was responsible for promoting the idea of Slavic unity to a wide audience. For many years, he also worked as an editor for “Życie Słowiańskie” [“Slavic Life”], the primary publication of the association. He perceived the emergent Slavic movement as non-political and non-ideological, a stance that often conflicted with the communist authorities. This research aims to shed light on Henryk Batowski’s contributions to the Slavic Committee and evaluate the significant role this distinguished scholar played in advancing the aforementioned concept amidst the socio-political landscape of post-war Poland.
History of Central Europe, History of Balkan Peninsula
A gyűjteményünkben található dokumentumok nélkülözhetetlen forrásai a helytörténeti kutatásnak. Célunk a kutatás során jelentkező igények kielégítése. Törekszünk arra, hogy a használóinkat minél sokoldalúbban tájékoztassuk Hajdú-Bihar megye, a történelmi Bihar, Hajdú vármegye és Debrecen múltjáról és jelenéről. Gyűjtjük, feldolgozzuk a történelmi Bihar vármegyével, Hajdú-Bihar megyével, Debrecennel és a megye településeivel kapcsolatos dokumentumokat. A teljesség igényére törekszünk. Nagy figyelmet szentelünk a helyi tartalmú, helyi kiadású, helyi nyomda által előállított, valamint helyi személy által alkotott kiadványok beszerzésére. 1968 óta végzünk helyismereti sajtófigyelést országos és helyi lapokból, 1990-től számítógépen folyik. 2013-tól a „JADOX Hajdú-Bihar Megyei Közös Helyismereti Gyűjtemény” elnevezésű adatbázisunk elérhető a honlapunkról. Helyi vonatkozású könyvbemutatókat, filmbemutatókat, kiállításokat, előadásokat szervezünk. Helytörténeti kutatók számára lehetőséget biztosítunk kutatási eredményeik bemutatására.
History of Central Europe, Social sciences (General)
Significance The ancient topography of the Tibetan Plateau and its role in biotic evolution are still poorly understood, mostly due to a lack of fossil evidence. Our discovery of ∼47-Mya plant fossils from a present elevation of 4,850 m in central Tibet, diminishes, significantly, that lack of knowledge. The fossils represent a humid subtropical vegetation and some of the 70 different plant forms show affinity to Early-Middle Eocene floras in both North America and Europe. Using leaf architecture, we calculate that the forest grew at ∼1,500-m elevation within an east–west trending valley under a monsoonal climate. Our findings highlight the complexity of Tibet’s ancient landscape and emphasize the importance of Tibet in the history of global biodiversity. Tibet’s ancient topography and its role in climatic and biotic evolution remain speculative due to a paucity of quantitative surface-height measurements through time and space, and sparse fossil records. However, newly discovered fossils from a present elevation of ∼4,850 m in central Tibet improve substantially our knowledge of the ancient Tibetan environment. The 70 plant fossil taxa so far recovered include the first occurrences of several modern Asian lineages and represent a Middle Eocene (∼47 Mya) humid subtropical ecosystem. The fossils not only record the diverse composition of the ancient Tibetan biota, but also allow us to constrain the Middle Eocene land surface height in central Tibet to ∼1,500 ± 900 m, and quantify the prevailing thermal and hydrological regime. This “Shangri-La”–like ecosystem experienced monsoon seasonality with a mean annual temperature of ∼19 °C, and frosts were rare. It contained few Gondwanan taxa, yet was compositionally similar to contemporaneous floras in both North America and Europe. Our discovery quantifies a key part of Tibetan Paleogene topography and climate, and highlights the importance of Tibet in regard to the origin of modern Asian plant species and the evolution of global biodiversity.
Zhi-Zhong Li, Samuli Lehtonen, Andrew W. Gichira
et al.
Abstract Background Hydrocharis L. and Limnobium Rich. are small aquatic genera, including three and two species, respectively. The taxonomic status, phylogenetic relationships and biogeographical history of these genera have remained unclear, owing to the lack of Central African endemic H. chevalieri from all previous studies. We sequenced and assembled plastomes of all three Hydrocharis species and Limnobium laevigatum to explore the phylogenetic and biogeographical history of these aquatic plants. Results All four newly generated plastomes were conserved in genome structure, gene content, and gene order. However, they differed in size, the number of repeat sequences, and inverted repeat borders. Our phylogenomic analyses recovered non-monophyletic Hydrocharis. The African species H. chevalieri was fully supported as sister to the rest of the species, and L. laevigatum was nested in Hydrocharis as a sister to H. dubia. Hydrocharis-Limnobium initially diverged from the remaining genera at ca. 53.3 Ma, then began to diversify at ca. 30.9 Ma. The biogeographic analysis suggested that Hydrocharis probably originated in Europe and Central Africa. Conclusion Based on the phylogenetic results, morphological similarity and small size of the genera, the most reasonable taxonomic solution to the non-monophyly of Hydrocharis is to treat Limnobium as its synonym. The African endemic H. chevalieri is fully supported as a sister to the remaining species. Hydrocharis mainly diversified in the Miocene, during which rapid climate change may have contributed to the speciation and extinctions. The American species of former Limnobium probably dispersed to America through the Bering Land Bridge during the Miocene.
Slunj se prvi puta spominje krajem 14. st., sa svojim burgom knezova Krčkih – Frankopana, više crkava i franjevačkim samostanom. Osmanlijska ugroza tijekom 16. i 17. st. promijenila je slunjski kraj, a crkve su većinom stradale. Nakon oslobođenja od Osmanlija i mira u Srijemskim Karlovcima 1699. godine Slunj je postao značajna utvrda na Krajini. Krajiški su inženjeri rješavali utvrđivanje Krajine, ostavivši više veduta, situacija i tlocrta Slunja i okolice. Na ovim grafikama i planovima prikazane su i stare slunjske crkve iako se prvenstveno željelo prikazati vojne građevine. Stare su slunjske crkve bile ruševine ili pak prilagođene potrebama obrane: bile su to crkve sv. Marije Magdalene, franjevačka crkva sv. Bernardina, crkva Svih svetih, župna crkva sv. Nikole u Cvitoviću (u srednjem vijeku to je Ladihović) te vjerojatno dvorska kapela u slunjskom burgu.
Language and Literature, History of Central Europe
OBJECTIVES To describe and analyse the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of imported human angiostrongyliasis in Europe. METHODS We performed a systematic literature review of cases of human angiostrongyliasis in Europe. We searched seven databases, extracted epidemiological and clinical characteristics from included records and performed simple summary statistics on extracted data. RESULTS We identified 22 cases reported between 1988-2019 mainly from French Polynesia, Southeast Asia and The Caribbean Islands. The dominant suspected mode of transmission was ingestion of prawns, shrimp or salad. For patients with data, 90% had a history of headache, often lasting, and half had paresthesia. 89% had eosinophilia, 93% had cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) eosinophilia and 92% had elevated CSF protein. Central nervous system (CNS) imaging was normal in most cases. Two thirds received albendazole or mebendazole treatment, although this is not currently recommended. CONCLUSIONS We have increased previous numbers to 22 reported cases in total since 1988. Angiostrongyliasis should generally be suspected in patients with a lasting headache who have returned from Southeast Asia, China, The Caribbean Islands, Australia or French Polynesia, as well as parts of North America and Tenerife, Spain, though one autochtonous case from mainland Europe has also been reported. A dietary history should focus on prawns, shrimp and salad, whilst also including slugs and snails, and other paratenic hosts where relevant. The clinical diagnosis is supported by the presence of blood eosinophilia, CSF eosinophilia and elevated CSF protein. Definitive laboratory diagnosis should be sought out, and CNS imaging should be used to support, not to rule out the diagnosis. The most up to date evidence should always be consulted before initiating treatment. Current recommendations include analgesics, corticosteroids and periodic removal of CSF for symptom relief, while antihelminthic treatment is debated.
This article deals with the topic of the problematic legal status of the town of Prachatice and its variable legal and property relation to the Lords of Rosenberg during the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th century. It inquires into the ways the Rosenbergs repeatedly gained the pledge of the town of Prachatice, how they acted there as the holders and what their intentions were in connection with the legal status of the town. The brief analysis of the charters, which Oldřich II and Petr IV of Rosenberg issued for the burghers of Prachatice, is integral to the article.