Hasil untuk "History of Eastern Europe"

Maria Ananias

Jose María Lozano Jiménez

This article aims to examine, through a historiographical review of the issue of foreignness in the early modern period, the paradoxical situation of the Spanish population residing in Palermo, Sicily, between the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Although subjects of the same Monarchy, they belonged to different kingdoms with their own legal and cultural traditions, and were thus perceived in Palermo as a kind of “recognizable” foreigner. Through textual analysis of primary sources and their integration into contemporary theoretical frameworks, this article seeks to explore the capacity of individuals to adapt to foreign institutions and environments.

Barbara Lomagistro

This paper aims to recall some of the most important aspects of Vatroslav Jagić’s philological opus on the occasion of the one hundredth anniversary of his death. It consists of three sections: the first provides a short outline of his life and notable works to highlight his most outstanding achievements, with particular attention to his innovative conception of Slavic philology. The second section considers his understanding of textual criticism applied to medieval Slavic texts, emphasizing his innovative approach in combining codicological analysis with the study of text traditions. The third section analyzes how he addressed the political implications of certain linguistic and philological questions through his letters and memorial remarks.

Valeriy Bortnikov, Alla Bortnikova

The purpose of the study: The purpose of the study is to analyze the consequences of the urban reform of 1892 in Volyn province in the context of the elections to the Lutsk City Council in 1894 and subsequent years.          Research methodology. The study uses a set of principles, approaches and methods of cognition determined by the specifics of the research problem. They are based on the universal scientific principles of objectivity, historicism, comprehensiveness, systematicity and complexity. The article uses problematic and chronological, political and legal, biographical, retrospective, and other methods.          The scientific novelty. The reorganization of municipal public administration in Volyn falls within the period of the “great reforms” associated with the enactment of the city regulations of 1870 and 1892, the implementation of which, unlike in other provinces, had its own specifics. Within the boundaries of the Volyn province, the urban reform started later than in the Kyiv or Podil provinces, as a preventive measure of the central government against the perceived regional separatism of the Volyn nobility. However, studying the process of the elections to the Lutsk City Duma at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th centuries remains practically outside the attention of researchers.          Conclusions. The socio-political direction of the reform of 1892 was to change the social composition of the city administration apparatus, to reduce the range of powers of the city public administration bodies, while at the same time strengthening the rights of the provincial administration. The new law was intended to weaken the position of the merchants, commercial and industrial bourgeoisie and to increase the role of the nobility as the social support of tsarism. Instead, the increase in the specific weight of large real estate owners in cities contributed to the fact that the number of vocal intellectual professions − persons with secondary and higher education − also increased, which, in the conditions of the growth of social and revolutionary uplift, could not but affect the opposition of city councils to the central government.

Olena Pavlova, Iryna Kuchynska, Volodymyr Gorbalinskiy et al.

The war that Russia started against Ukraine in 2022 shook the whole world. However, it is worth noting that the conflict has been going on since 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and supported terrorist groups in eastern Ukraine. The study of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is relevant for several reasons. Firstly, it is an acute political problem that affects the state of affairs in the region and relations between the two states. It not only threatens the stability in Europe, but also threatens to destroy the entire modern system of international law. Secondly, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict has deep historical roots that need to be understood in order to find ways to resolve it. Studying the history and culture of these two nations, as well as their relationship, can help us understand the causes of the conflict and how to hold Russia accountable. Thirdly, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is an example of the relationship between two states with different political, economic, and cultural systems. The study of the conflict can help to better understand these systems and their interactions. The study of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict is a relevant and important task for politicians, scholars, and the public, as it can help find ways to achieve Ukraine’s victory, punish Russia, establish stability in the region, and prevent future conflicts. The purpose of the article is to analyze the historical retrospective of the development of Russian-Ukrainian relations and Russia’s oppression of the Ukrainian people. In addition, the author examines the current preconditions of the conflict. The article also reveals the reaction of the international community to the current conflict and all the illegal acts committed by Russia. The article also aims to suggest ways to overcome the civilizational conflict between the countries.

Alessandro Niero

The paper discusses the Italian reception of Russian language poetry taking into account translations carried out between 1987 and 2022. The survey deals mainly with anthologies, journal issues devoted entirely or partially (but significantly) to Russian poetry, and single volumes of Russian poets translated into Italian entirely devoted to poets writing in Russian. With more than four hundred publications, it is clear Russian poetry has found a place in the Italian language. This is shown by the amount of poets who have appeared in Italian (and have been included in the table attached to the paper), and by the extensive bibliography placed in the repository of the journal “Studi Slavistici”.

Laurent Béghin

Book Review

Reymond Njingti Budi

Women in the Bamenda Grassland have always been involved in different aspects of economic activities notably agriculture, local industry, and trade to sustain their households. Time and circumstances inevitably presented situations compelling them to take economic responsibility by complimenting men’s efforts and supplementing family income. This study examines women’s involvement in informal trade activities, particularly the petrol (commonly known as fingue or zoa-zoa) trade in Bamenda City. The article draws attention not only to the circumstances and contexts of women’s involvement in the informal petrol trade but also to the cutting-edge role they played in the business. The study makes use of written, oral as well as online sources to sustain its thesis.

Ismet Zaatov

The process of the formation of the Crimean Tatar musical culture can be divided into post-Byzantine-Golden Horde, Tatar-Seljuk and Nogai Kypchak (Nogai) – Ottoman periods of the cultural genesis of the Crimean Tatar people. The fact that the ancestors of the steppe Crimean Tatars are the Turkic tribes of the Kypchaks and the ancestors of the southern coastal Crimean Tatars are the Turkic tribes of the Oghuz, from the earliest centuries of their history were ethnic groups with a developed musical culture, written evidence from ancient Turkic authors and, in particular, the dictionary “Divan Lugat ata” – Turk “Mahmud al-Kashgari”. This article attempts to determine, based on the lexical analysis of the text of the vocabulary, the direct connection between the semantics of musical terminology in the language of modern Crimean Tatars with the semantics of the musical vocabulary of their Oguz and Kipchak ancestors, as well as identifying patterns of Oguz and Kipchak musical vocabulary in lexicon of the Crimean Tatars by the time of Mahmud Al-Kashgari has written his creation.

György Széll

Monika Kujawska, Ingvar Svanberg

Abstract Introduction White bryony, Bryonia alba L., is a relatively little known plant in the history of folk medicine and folk botany in eastern and northern Europe. The main aim of this article is to bring together data about Bryonia alba and to summarise its cultural history and folk botanical importance in eastern and northern Europe. Nowadays, this species is considered at best as an ornamental plant, and at worst as a noxious weed. However, ethnographic and historical sources show that it used to be of magical, medicinal and ritual importance in our part of Europe. Methods A diachronic perspective was chosen in order to outline and analyse the devolution and changes in the use of B. alba, in the course of which we take into account the social, ecological and chemical aspects of the usage of this plant. We have therefore traced down and analysed published sources such as ethnographical descriptions, floras, linguistic records and topographical descriptions from northern and central-eastern Europe, particularly Scandinavia, Baltic States, Germany, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine and the Balkan Peninsula. The analysed material is presented and discussed within the biocultural domains that developed in the interaction between human societies and Bryonia alba. Results and discussion Bryonia alba has many folk names in northern and central-eastern parts of Europe: some of them refer to its medicinal properties, life form, odour, or toxicity; others to its possession by the devil. As we learn, Bryonia alba was an inexpensive surrogate for mandrake (Mandragora officinarum L.) and sold as such in the discussed parts of Europe. The folklore and medicinal properties ascribed to mandrake were passed on to white bryony due to an apparent resemblance of the roots. In ethnographic descriptions, we find a mixture of booklore, i.e. written traditions, and oral traditions concerning this species. Some of this folklore must have been an alternative stories spread by swindlers who wished to sell fake mandrake roots to people. Conclusions Plant monographs and reviews of particular species tend to concentrate on the botanicals, which might have great useful potential. White bryony presents a precisely opposite example, being a plant that used to be of medicinal relevance and was furnished with symbolical meaning, and has nowadays preserved only its ornamental value among some urban and rural dwellers of northern Europe. Nonetheless, it might be considered as a part of the biocultural heritage in old, well-preserved gardens. It is still used as a medicine in some parts of the Balkan Peninsula.

Justin Ngambu Wanki, Carol C. Ngang

In this article, we discuss the need to dispose of colonial paradigms that hold back progress in Africa. Fundamentally challenging is the fact that Africa is not only lacking an operational model for governance and development but has remained stuck to colonial paradigms, which by their paternalistic nature defeat the purpose for which independence was achieved. We identify that the right to development has evolved in the course of African history as an alternative model to the ‘civilization paradigm’ that laid the foundation for imperial domination. In substitution, we propose the right to development governance as a framework model by which to constructively remodel African constitutionalism and set the parameters for advancing the continent towards effective governance and self-reliant sustainable development.

Evgeni N. Kemaev

The article analyzes the role of the Oka and Sura River valleys in the ethnopolitical system of Eastern Europe in the latter half of the 1st - first third of the 2nd millennia AD. With evidence from summarized written sources available, materials of archaeological surveys and historiographic works, the paper highlights the periods in the history of the Mordvins when relatively stable relations in political, economic and ethnocultural spheres prevailed which determined the ways of historical process in the region under consideration. The Oka and Sura River valleys are historical homelands of the Mordvins. It has been discovered that during the considered period, the Mordvinic tribes were directly or indirectly influenced by most significant political processes of that time. The main events of the Migration Period (up to the 7th-8th centuries AD) took place relatively far away, but the bulk of massive relocations of ancient populations affected trade and economic relations, boosting minor interregional migrations. The analysis of materials of archaeological surveys concludes that there was some activation of migration processes in the Oka-Sura Interfluve. In the 8th-10th cc. AD, the crucial impact on the life of the region was being made by the Khazar Khaganate, and the Mordvinic tribes were politically subjugated by the state. That was reflected in trade, ethnocultural and supposedly political relations which is confirmed by multiple archaeological data, such as adornments, amulets, weapons, and horse accessories found in Mordvinic burial sites. In the 11th-13th cc. AD, the Oka-Sura Interfluve became a battlefield for the two major states with opposing political orientations - Russian principalities and Volga Bulgaria - that proved a key factor in the formation of the two Mordvinic sub-ethnic groups - Moksha and Erzya. In view of frequent armed hostilities in the territory of the region, there appeared regular military units and defensive fortifications, but no independent state with corresponding administrative mechanisms of coercion was developed.

Predrag J. Marković

In Serbian historiography history of sexuality developed within (or together with) gender history. Along with several rare exemptions, both disciplines emerged during the 1990’s. As for history of sexuality, the first wave of studies dealt with medical and legal issues, such as abortion, divorce and prostitution. The similar development could be traced in other historiographies. This thematic disbalance derived partly from the nature of the first discovered sources (public health institutions, courts, police documentation). In the 21st century, history of sexuality flourished, as well as gender history, and for that matter, all other kinds of social history. Especially after 2010, relatively many published works dwelled on the LGBTQ topics. However, synthetic works such monographs are still missing.

Dragomir Bondžić

Pavle Savić, distinguished Serbian scientist, Communist and Partisan, was twice in Moscow since 1944 to 1946: since April to October 1944, and since July 1945 to autumn 1946. Both times he dealt with scientific research in the Institute of physical problems, but during his second staying he paid special attention on providing funds, and financial and personnel assistance for the establishment of the Institute of Physics in Yugoslavia. Together with Soviet scientists led by academician Pyotr Leonidovich Kapitsa, Savić has compiled a detailed project for construction of institute of Physics, and predicted that necessary professional staff should be trained, and necessary material, instruments and apparatus should be purchased in Soviet Union. The project and plans were presented to Josip Broz Tito, and it was proposed to him to formally request help of Soviet government in realization of project, during his visit to Moscow in June 1946. In later memoirs it is mentioned that Tito was first to put forward the idea of building the institute of Physics in Yugoslavia during his visit to Moscow. But, the archival sources clearly indicates that Pavle Savić went to Moscow with a clear assignment to examine possibilities, to design the project and to win support for the construction of the institute. In autumn 1946 Savić came back to Belgrade, and since autumn 1947 he worked intensively on building of Institute of Physics in Vinča, but without the assistance of the Soviet Union, with which the Yugoslav leadership was on the threshold of bitter conflict.

Alexandr Voronovici

Book review - Olga Velikanova, Popular Perceptions of Soviet Politics in the 1920s: Disenchantment of the Dreamers, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013

Rimantas Zizas

This article presents the history of the armed local self–defence units formed by the Soviet partisans and the armed local self–defence units formed with the permission of the German occupation authorities. Dargužiai was undoubtedly among the first villages in south–eastern Lithuania that tried to arm themselves and resist the red partisans.

Peter A. Rolland

Alain Bertrand

This combination of three short papers discusses afforestation, land tenure, and environmnetal legislation in Madagascar. The final paper outlines in detail the GELOSE legislation and program, which aims to devolve management of renewable resources to local communities. This program is funded by the World Bank, French Aid, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Moving beyond a participatory approach to conservation, GELOSE focuses on a contractual approach whereby local communities gain the rights and responsibilities of local resource management through formal legal contracts with the national government and other stakeholders.

Robert P. Uttaro

This paper examines two decisions farmers in southern Malawi make every planting season: whether or not to acquire increasingly expensive chemical fertilizers and whether or not to buy and plant equally expensive hybrid maize seed.   Both choices are interrelated.  Maize is the staple food crop in Malawi and the key to food security; and traditionally, 95 percent of the total land area cultivated in maize has been planted to local open-pollinated varieties instead of the newer semi-flint hybrids.  Local maize is very popular with smallholder subsistence farmers as is hybrid maize, that when fertilized, intensifies production improving food security at both household and national levels.  In the current economic environment, however, planting hybrid maize has two drawbacks.  The first is the high price of seed and the second is its high requirements of fertilizer. With fertilizer unaffordable to many farmers, especially to women farmers of poorer female-headed households, planting hybrid maize is impractical.  This paper disaggregates Malawi’s farmers into subgroups of men, married women, and female headed households, describes the decision processes they make, and examines whether small bags of fertilizer will make any difference to the dilemma they now face.