Suchergebnisse

Der Autor untersucht die Aufteilung des europäischen Territoriums nach geomorphologischen, genetisch-ethnischen, ethnisch-nationalen, sprachlichen, kulturgeschichtlichen, religösen, konfessionellen und zivilisatorischen Gesichtspunkten, und zwar zunächst im Rückblick auf die gesamte Geschichte dieses Subkontinents. Anschließend skizziert er die Aufteilung Europas der jüngsten sechzig Jahre nach geographischen, ethnischen, religiösen, ökonomischen und politischen Kriterien. Besondere Aufmerksamkeit widmet er den Beziehungen zwischen Tschechen und Deutschen sowie dem spezifischen Gewicht der Tschechen für die Gestaltung der mitteleuropäischen Zivilisation. (BIOst-Hrs)

Der Verfasser skizziert die Geschichte der Währungsproblematik seit der Gründung der Europäischen Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft. Die Hauptaufmerksamkeit widmet er zum einenm den Bestimmungen des Vertrags von Maastricht (1992), die die Basis für die Schaffung der Europäischen Währungsunion gelegt haben, zum anderen der recht komplizierten Problematik der Einführung einer einheitlichen Währung und der Gewährleistung deren Funktionierens. Zum Schluß befaßt er sich mit anzunehmenden Folgen der Errichtung der Europäischen Währungsunion für die Tschechische Republik. (BIOst-Hsr)

In dem Schlußteil seiner geschichtlichen Betrachtungen befaßt sich der Autor zunächst mit der Revolution 1989 und ihrer psychologischen Reflexion im tschechischen Volk. Daraufhin versucht er, aus der Gesamtheit des von ihm gezeichneten historischen Bildes einige allgemeinere Schußfolgerungen zu ziehen. Im Hinblick auf die Frage nach der tschechischen Identität: Die gesamte historische Entwicklung der tschechischen Nation und des tschechischen Staates weist auf drei Grundideen hin - Integration, Humanität und Glauben. Im Hinblick auf die Problematik des Nationalismus und Internationalismus: Eine der stärksten Treibkräfte der geschichtlichen Entwicklung ist die Integration. Sie beruhe in der Vereinigung (nicht aber der Unifizierung!) von Individuen, Familien, Stämmen, Ethniken, Staaten und Kontinenten mit dem Ziel einer Harmonisierung der menschlichen Gattung mit der sie umgebenden Natur, mit dem Weltall und - wenn man so will - mit Gott. Diese Optik sei in den übrigen Interpretationen der Geschichte vernachläßigt bzw. ganz eliminiert. (BIOst-Hrs)

According to the 1867 constitution the Habsburg Monarchy's armed forces consisted
of the common army, the navy, the Austrian Landwehr and the Landsturm. The armed forces
had authority over three ministries and were themselves subject to the rule of three parliamentary
institutions. From the beginning the growth of the armed forces had not kept pace
with that of the population as a whole. There was a low volume of conscripts and poor training
of reservists. This resulted in a relatively small army both in peace time and during war and
meant that by the spring of 1918 Austria-Hungary had practically exhausted its available human
resources. This was exacerbated by the high number of losses, both through death and capture.
On the battlefield the number of deaths is thought to have been between 905,000 and 1,200,000
with 1.8 million injured. At the same time the number of deaths and illness in the hinterland
increased while the rate of fertility dropped. In order to resolve this the government applied
a number of measures: the upper age limit of conscription increased, the necessary standards
for recruitment were lowered, training period was shortened, more use of weapons, factory
workers were replaced with women, prisoners of war and workers from the occupied territories.
However at this time the importance of the "war economy" was also growing which resulted in
an increase in firms requesting the release of their employees from military service. In 1918 the
Habsburg Monarchy had not only exhausted its human resources but was also on the brink of
economic collapse.

This article is an attempt to present further results in the author's continuing qualitative
field work among the historical war re-enactment societies of the fortress towns of Josefstadt and
Theresienstadt (from 2010). Michael Foucaults Heterotopic theory of places is used to shed light
on a wide range of ritualised social behaviour, centred around key symbols from the monarchical
military culture of the Enlightenment. New categories for the analysis of local context have been
created which are clearly compatible with Braudel's theory of longue-duree, that is isophenomenological
historic-social objects, maintaining and transferring the original meaning of heterotopic
social-disciplination.

This historical essay describes Emperor Franz Joseph's visits to the Czech lands. Both the Monarch's image and the people's attitude to his stays in Bohemia and Moravia during his long reign (1848–1916) were prone to change. Following his coronation the young ruler dissolved the Constituent Assembly and returned Austria to Absolute Rule. His popularity declined sharply even though the Czechs supported the Habsburgs during the 1848/49 revolutionary uprising. He was welcomed in Bohemia after his wedding in 1854 but this was fuelled by the hope that the current harsh rule would grow more lenient. Once constitutional rule was reinstated, Czech politicians attempted to entice Franz Joseph to hold his coronation ceremony in Bohemia. In this they did not succeed. During the final decades of his rule the emperor acquired the benign image of an "Old Monarch" and this despite the fact that Czech attachment to the monarchy had weakened considerably over time. Nevertheless the Czech people sincerely liked their Emperor and his visits were always occasions for national celebration. During these visits the aged Monarch would address old war veterans and young children and these meticulously recorded conversations formed an integral part of his official cult.

The outbreak of the First World War in 1914 was accompanied by mass enthusiasm. This
wave of enthusiasm (Kriegsbegeisterung) was particularly high in Austro-Hungary. In the regions
where the German population was significantly large crowds thronged the streets singing patriotic
songs such as "Wacht am Rhein", "Heil Dir im Siegeskranz", "The Radecky Marsch", "Prince
Eugene Marsch". They also arranged tributes in front of monuments, state buildings and military
headquarters. Despite the fact that the operation to mobilise the Czech military went smoothly
the German public noticed the lack of enthusiasm amidst the Czech soldiers and consequently the
Czechs were seen as indifferent and even hostile. There was an attempt to promote demonstrations
in Prague as an expression of Czech-German reconciliation. However as these were organised by
the German minority in Prague the Czechs continued in their lack of fervour and viewed the war
as a German one rather than Czech.

The featured observations represent selected viewpoints of World War I, highlighting
background events that led to the war. They present the situation in Austro-Hungary for whom the
war was a tool to solve its political problems and further demonstrate how the war actually made
the aforementioned country's relations with national groups more complicated. The observations
also focus on the image of the war, distorted by propaganda, and the situation on both the front
line and in the hinterland. Last but not least they deal with the war from the Czech viewpoint,
unique for many reasons including the fact that at this time the Czechs were escalating their
attempts at creating their own state.