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Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2008

Switzerland

Articles 1 - 6 of 6

Full-Text Articles in European Languages and Societies

Book Review: Lenin In Zurich, Axel Fair-Schulz, Katherine French Nov 2008

Book Review: Lenin In Zurich, Axel Fair-Schulz, Katherine French

Swiss American Historical Society Review

The recent death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn on August 3rd of this year might prompt a fresh look at that writer's oeuvre. While Solzhenitsyn is mainly associated with well known works, such as One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The Gulag Archipelago, one should not neglect his less widely known books. Among those is his Lenin in Zurich. This volume should be of particular interest to readers engaged with all things Swiss, given its overt subject matter. One learns much about Switzerland in the early years of the last century as a major locus for Russian emigres. Solzhenitsyn …


The Battle Of Morgarten In 1315: An Essential Incident In The Founding Of The Swiss State, Albert Winkler Nov 2008

The Battle Of Morgarten In 1315: An Essential Incident In The Founding Of The Swiss State, Albert Winkler

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Political realities in the German Empire at the beginning of the fourteenth century were harsh, and communities that wanted to gain or maintain their autonomy had to deal with serious external threats. Most frequently, this meant that military success was essential for survival. Many forces vied for authority, influence, and domination over the regions that formed the Swiss Confederation, which later developed into the modem state of Switzerland. The largest threat to Swiss sovereignty in this period was factions of nobles, most importantly the house of Habsburg, which were expanding their control over the region. By the early fourteenth century, …


Book Review: The Boat Is Full: Swiss Asylum Denied, Richard Hacken Nov 2008

Book Review: The Boat Is Full: Swiss Asylum Denied, Richard Hacken

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Das Boot ist voll (sometimes translated as "The Lifeboat is Full"), directed by Markus Imhoof, is a notable accomplishment in Swiss cinema of the late 20th century. It received the Silver Berlin Bear for Outstanding Single Achievement in 1981 at the Berlin International Film Festival, and the following year it was nominated for an Academy A ward in the category of Best Foreign Film. These honors presumably sprang not merely from recognition of Imhoof' s courage in recalibrating the past, in putting an alternate face on the Holocaust, and in documenting Swiss refugee policies during the Second World War. These …


Book Review: Switzerland, National Socialism And The Second World War: Final Report, Joy Laudie Nov 2008

Book Review: Switzerland, National Socialism And The Second World War: Final Report, Joy Laudie

Swiss American Historical Society Review

In December of 1996, bowing to foreign pressure and criticism concerning the Swiss handling of dormant World War Two financial accounts, the Swiss government mandated an investigation. The Independent Commission of Experts Switzerland - Second World War (ICE) was given broad power to look into the scope and fate of assets acquired during the Nazi dictatorship of Europe. This was an unprecedented move that allowed private records to be viewed with scrutiny. Swiss companies that had operated during the period in question were required to allow access of their archives and banned from destroying any relevant documents. After five years …


Book Review: James Joyce: The Last Journey, Robert Means Nov 2008

Book Review: James Joyce: The Last Journey, Robert Means

Swiss American Historical Society Review

Although, James Joyce once had to make a large deposit in a Swiss bank to ensure that he and his family would not become welfare cases of the Swiss government (Edel 33) - this was in 1940 when Joyce and his family fled Paris for Zurich - it's not the city's financial reputation that is the most important connection that Zurich has to the life and work of the author of Ulysses and Finnegans Wake. Zurich, with its deserved reputation as a cosmopolitan haven for exiles, as a center of medicine, and as the birthplace of psychoanalysis, provided Joyce with …


Book Review: School For Genius - The Story Of The Eth, The Swiss Federal Institute Oftechnology,From 1855 To The Present, Heinrich Medicus Nov 2008

Book Review: School For Genius - The Story Of The Eth, The Swiss Federal Institute Oftechnology,From 1855 To The Present, Heinrich Medicus

Swiss American Historical Society Review

In various rank listings of the world's universities most of the top places are occupied by institutions in the English speaking world. The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich is one of the few breaking into these prestigious positions. (The sister institute in Lausanne is much younger and smaller, hence did not yet have time enough to grow to fame.) However, in many people's view, ETH in Zurich is not as well known in the United States as it should deserve.