Suchergebnisse

"The negotiations between Countess Margareta of Flanders and representatives of the merchants' association of 1252 - and the results of those negotiations - form an informative source for research on the early organisational structures of the Hanse: The Gotland merchants of Lübeck founded a settlement in the west and conceived of themselves from then on as an universitas of the merchants of the Roman Empire. This event was originally presumed to have provided the Hanseatic League with lasting stability. This view of the matter demands critical review and revision, for the negotiations were initially not concerned with the affairs of the Gotland seafarers at all, but aimed at establishing customs regulations for Bruges and its outer port Damme to the benefit of the Rhenish-Westphalian merchants. The negotiations were not continued until the following year, at which time the plans for the universitas mercatorum were submitted on behalf of the Gotland merchants. These plans revolved around the foundation of a town and trading rights. At this second round of negotiations, however, no results were attained, due not least to the lack of interest on the part of the Lübeck town council in supporting the endeavours of the merchants of Lübeck who maintained trade relationships with Gotland, some of them even settling there: In reality, neither the cooperative merchants' settlement in Flanders nor the universitas of merchants of the Roman Empire, extending from Gotland to Flanders, ever existed." (author's abstract)

In the Iiterature concerning maritime history it is taken for granted that for many centuries, a seaman's leaving his ship was regarded as desertion and harshly punished. This article points out that, on the contrary, until weil into the last century the abandonment of ship duty was treated as a mere violation of trust and only taken to court (as offense against property) when wages paid in advance had not been worked off. In other words this violation first came to be treated as a criminal offense against the private employment contract in the course of the 19th century. The change in status as a result of the shipowners' success in gaining the support of governmental authorities. The subjection of sailors to the demands of modern sea transport was achieved not least of all through establishing the "tradition" of desertion as a legal remedy that was unique for civil law cases.

Der historische Vergleich dient in diesem Werk als neue Methode, um die Fragestellung zu beantworten, wie vor Kriegsausbruch das Potenzial der Hilfskreuzer und Armed Merchant Cruisers beurteilt wurde und welche Vorbereitungen daraufhin erfolgten. Ausgehend von der Situation der Kriegsmarine und der Marinen des Empires zu Kriegsbeginn, werden die personelle und materielle Aufstellung sowie der facettenreiche Einsatz und die geografischen Dimensionen bei der Nutzung beider Schiffstypen aufgezeigt. Detailliert werden Schiffsverluste und Gründe des vorzeitigen Nutzungsendes beider Waffensysteme geschildert. Neben theoretischen Ausführungen zur Seekriegsstrategie und der erfolgten Kreuzerkriegsführung werden rechtliche Besonderheiten aber auch Verfehlungen sowie Aspekte der angewandten Menschenführung erläutert