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Approaches to the history of class relations in Germany as elsewhere have changed dramatically over the past two decades or so. Historical class analysis, which once pointed to the clear significance of class as a social marker, a cultural and political identity, in short, as a force of history, has became dulled in the wake of the collapse of socialism, the decline of organized labor, and the intellectual challenges associated with postmodernism, feminism, and race theory. As one student remarked in a recent seminar on the history and historiography of class relations in Europe, class has become the unexamined third pillar of the race, class, gender triad. Historians do not deny the significance of class relations; it has just that figuring out how to theorize and document the history of class is much more complicated than it used to be.

Isabel Vincent, Hitler's Silent Partners. Swiss Banks, Nazi Gold, and the Pursuit of Justice (New York: W. Morrow, 1997), 351 pp., $25.00, ISBN 0688154255.Angelo M. Codevilla, Between the Alps and a Hard Place. Switzerland in World War II and the Rewriting of History (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2000), 248 pp., $27.95, ISBN 089526238X.Walther Hofer and Herbert R. Reginbogin, Hitler, der Westen und die Schweiz, 1936–1945 (Zürich: Verlag Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 2001), 690 pp., €45.00, ISBN 3858239925.Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland – Second World War, Switzerland, National Socialism and the Second World War (Zürich: Pendo, 2002), 600 pp., €29.90, ISBN 3858426032.Jakob Tanner and Sigrid Weigel, eds., Gedächtnis, Geld und Gesetz. Vom Umgang mit der Vergangenheit des Zweiten Weltkrieges (Zürich: Vdf Hochschulverlag, 2002), 380 pp., €29.90, ISBN 3728126586.Neville Wylie, Britain, Switzerland, and the Second World War (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003), 394 pp., £55.00, ISBN 0198206909.

The reform of state socialism came relatively late to Qinghai Province in the Northwest of the People's Republic of China. One of Qinghai's most dynamic groups in the social leadership of reform has been the Salar. The Salar were one of the officially recognized nationalities identified in the People's Republic of China during the 1950s. A relatively small group of some 100,000 currently live along the upper reaches of the Yellow River, on the borders of Qinghai and Gansu Provinces. The Salar are characterised by their commitment to both Islam and China, and by their belief that they live in permanent exile, though there is considerable uncertainty about their origins. The evidence of recent research in Qinghai suggests the perspective of being Chinese citizens, yet a people in exile, significantly shapes recent Salar social and economic activism.

Victor Davis Hanson, California farmer & war historian, helps to understand how America today thinks about war. He explains the neoconservative strategy of democratization as the only remaining opportunity after all the other political attempts have failed, & draws in the other US policies. One of the most radical democratizers in the US today, he does not blindly believe, & draws on the concepts of total war from the antique & WWII. The legacy of National Socialism & communism overshadows the political culture of Europe & America. A comparison of Hitler & Stalin leads to the conclusion that one must fear not only great evil but also absolute good. Communism remains a black hole, which is problematic for Europe in its eastern expansion & its search for an identity. The history of the ideology & the divided memories are of significant importance. Adapted from the source document.

This article describes Ernst Forsthoff (1902-1974) & his concept of public services [Daseinsvorsorge]. According to the author, Forsthoff's academic life was defined by the question of stability & social order. Forsthoff was born in the German Empire, which was followed by the Weimar Republic, which in turn gave way to National Socialism. Even though Forsthoff accepted the stable order created after 1945, he remained cool to its social & political conditions. According to the article, the continuities & breaks of this development are highlighted in Forsthoff's works. The article describes: 1) public services between pluralistic constitution & authoritarian vision in the 1920s; 2) public services in a totalitarian state in the 1930s; 3) public services in its optimal form in the 1940s; 4) public services & the constitution of the 1950s; 5) public services in an industrial society of 1960s, & 6) public services & revolt in the 1970s. References. A. Kallioinen

Ce mémoire démontre que, contrairement à ce qu'avancent certains commentateurs, le philosophe Friedrich Nietzsche n'a pas a être tenu responsable de l'avènement du nazisme. C'est à tort que les idéologues du national-socialisme se sont réclamés de sa pensée afin de l'utiliser à des fins de propagande. Ceux-ci ont poursuivi l'entreprise de falsification amorcée par la soeur du philosophe, Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche, de manière à le faire passer pour un nationaliste allemand, raciste et militariste. Or, comme l'ont démontré des auteurs tels que Georges Bataille et Martin Heidegger, Nietzsche n'était rien de tout cela. L'auteur d'Ainsi parlait Zarathoustra ne peut être associé au nazisme essentiellement pour deux raisons. Tout d'abord, il dénonçait les antisémites avec virulence et admirait le peuple juif. Ensuite, il critiquait le nationalisme allemand, en lequel il voyait un frein à l'unification de l'Europe.

Books reviewed:Bat‐Ami Bar On, The Subject of Violence: Arendtian Exercises in UnderstandingJackie Smith and Hank Johnston, eds, Globalization and Resistance: Transnational Dimensions of Social MovementsLynn Eden, Whole World on Fire: Organizations, Knowledge, and Nuclear Weapons DevastationJacqui True, Gender, Globalization, and Post‐Socialism: The Czech Republic after CommunismHenryk J. Sokalski, An Ounce of Prevention: Macedonia and the UN Experience in Preventive DiplomacyMichael D. Pierson, Free Hearts and Homes: Gender and American Antislavery PoliticsStephanie A. Carpenter, On the Farm Front: The Women's Land Army in World War IIRobert Rodgers Korstad, Civil Rights Unionism: Tobacco Workers and the Struggle for Democracy in the Mid‐Twentieth‐Century SouthRichard Delgado, Justice at War: Civil Liberties and Civil Rights during Times of CrisisDevon Abbott Mihesuah, Indigenous American Women: Decolonization, Empowerment, ActivismPriscilla B. Hayner, Unspeakable Truths: Facing the Challenge of Truth Commissions

Stalinism in Czechoslovakia. The State of the Research and Social-Historical Observations Using the Example of Industrial Workers Different forms of institutionalized terror are central themes of research about the socialist period of communist Czechoslovakia. The analytical concepts of the exercise of power and the idea of the ubiquitous control of the communist party over society obscure one's view of the «flexible management» of the government administration. Using the example of industrial workers, this article indicates that, under the pressure of the needs of an industrial society, the party and labor unions already early on were forced to channel «divergent» industrial situations through regulations that adapted to their particular contexts. State socialism was not successful in forming in the long run an industrial labor force through the disciplinary project of «terror» and rigid demands for integration in the institutional system.

The question of whether Schmitt's occupation during the first years of National Socialism is rooted in his thought patterns during the Weimar era is evaluated in comparison to the example of Estonian Kliimann. Jurists in several countries under communistic rule or occupation experienced a comparable shift from parliamentarian to dictatorship, standing before similar ethical dilemmas & political perspectives. Kliimann was a strong proponent throughout Estonia's independence & development, saw positive aspects in the ideological battle between dictatorship & modern democracy, & criticized Schmitt's theories in 1939, at a time when such criticism was not the norm & in spite of their connection through his teacher Kelsen. Yet he radically altered his positions in his published works after the USSR occupied Estonia & he was promoted at the university. While this may have been self-serving or self-preservation, unlike Schmitt, there is no apparent continuity with his previous positions. L. Kehl

Why did Soviet foreign policy change during 1985–1991 from viewing conflict between capitalism and socialism as inevitable to favoring cooperation between states in solving global problems? Neither materialist analyses nor ideational accounts explain why Gorbachev adopted the radical new thinking instead of more conventional reform alternatives. We argue that the new thinking offered a means to enhance Soviet status despite retrenchment and accommodation of the West. By promoting principles underlying a new world order, the Soviet Union could achieve greatness based on the exercise of soft power. This explanation draws on social identity theory, which maintains that people are motivated for their social group to have a distinctive, positive identity. Lower status groups may enhance their perceived standing by finding a new domain for comparison or reevaluating an undesirable trait.

AbstractIn this chapter, I explore the impact of the post-Soviet political and socioeconomic transitions on women in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus. I review the impact of Soviet policies on gender roles and relations in order to contextualize post-Soviet developments. The central segment, which examines gender roles and relations after socialism, is divided into two sections. In the first section, I examine the impact of local political and socioeconomic transitions on gender relations and local responses to those transitions. In the second section, I discuss the impact of regional/global events and interactions on gender roles and relations. Throughout the chapter, I consider the similarities and differences of the transitions and the responses to those transitions in the post-Soviet republics of Central Asia and the Caucasus.