European History Commons^™

Everyday Postsocialism In Eastern Europe: History Doesn't Travel In One Direction, Jill Massino, Markus Wien

Central European Studies

The collapse of state socialism ushered in dramatic political and economic change, producing new freedoms and opportunities, but also new challenges and disappointments. Focusing on laborers, professionals, youth, women, sexual minorities, foreign students, and emigrants, Everyday Postsocialism in Eastern Europe explores these multifaceted changes and people’s varied experiences of them. The featured narratives complicate hegemonic representations of transformation, revealing ruptures and continuities, progress and reversals. Highlighting the multi-directionality of change over the last thirty years, the book reappraises 1989 as an epochal event for all.

Community Engagement: Hungarian Cultural Center, Theresa Colombini, Emily Jesse, Michael Raffelson, Colin Ring, John Granicke, Rae Cohen

Undergraduate Research Symposium

This project outlines the community engagement efforts undertaken within the Pierre Laclede Honors College. Collaborating with the Hungarian Cultural Center at Mary of Victories Church, our class embarked on a multifaceted endeavor. Firstly, we recorded oral histories, transforming them into engaging videos for digital platforms. Secondly, we curated a Hungarian cookbook featuring authentic community recipes for fundraising purposes. Lastly, we crafted a comprehensive poster timeline highlighting significant milestones for the Center. Through these initiatives, we aim to celebrate and preserve the rich cultural heritage of the Hungarian community in St. Louis.

'The President Requests The Pleasure': Irish State Dining, 1922-1940, Elaine Mahon

Books/Book Chapters

This chapter explores dining with Irish heads of state and heads of government based on a chronological scope from the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 to the 1937 Constitution of Ireland. It quickly becomes clear that between 1922 and 1932, the Irish government, led by William T. Cosgrave, undertook a broad range of hospitality, entertaining important persons from around the globe. Between 1932 and 1940, the Fianna Fáil government led by Éamon de Valera built on the foundations of state hospitality put in place by the Cosgrave administration but also implemented significant changes in official entertaining. The 1937 Constitution of Ireland …

Not So Cavalier: Technical Study And Conservation Treatment Of A Potential 17th Century Anglo-Dutch Military Portrait Painting, Josephine Ren

Art Conservation Master's Projects

A potential 17^th century Anglo-Dutch military portrait painting from the Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Rochester in Rochester, New York arrived at the Garman Art Conservation Department at Buffalo State University for conservation research and treatment in 2022. The painting’s title, date, and artist were unknown and the subject was initially referred to as a “17^th Century Dutch Cavalier.” Little information existed on the provenance and history of the artwork. The painting was in a state of structural instability and aesthetic disfigurement and showed evidence of a past restoration campaign. This master’s project attempted to broadly …

Winning The War While Losing Their Souls: The Crisis Of Honor And Discipline Within The French Army In Algeria, Thomas A. Schellhammer

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

From 1939 to 1962, the French military fought in continuous conflicts. In 1961, in the midst of the Algerian War, these wars would result in military coup attempts and mutiny, as well as the formation of a breakaway terrorist group of army officers known as the Organisation de l’Armée Secrete (OAS), dedicated to the political overthrow and assassination of President of France Charles de Gaulle. While both the insurrectionists and the OAS and its adherents were ultimately unsuccessful, for members of a stable, functioning military to even contemplate such dire political action, these events illustrated a profound breach of military …

Singing Petrarch In The Cinquecento: Embodied Reading And The Italian Madrigal, Thomas A. Hedrick Iii

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation examines how composers of sixteenth-century Italian madrigals highlighted poetic line rhythm, repeated vowel sounds (or assonance), and word repetition in figures of speech—all elements of the verse that have been previously overlooked by scholars, who have traditionally focused on musical depictions of the text’s semantics. The analysis in chapters 2, 3, and 4 shows that composers used a consistent set of techniques from the madrigals of Arcadelt to those of Monteverdi, and musical examples draw from large collection of madrigals on Petrarch sonnets. The analytical methodology is built on the premise that Cinquecento encounters with poetry can be …

Second International Marxism And The Finnish Revolution, Luke Brodersen

University Honors Theses

This paper will consider the Finnish revolution of 1917-1918 as it was understood by Second International Marxists--not because these Marxists were right, but because the revolution was led by Marxists of a socialist party formed in the Second International. By dint of the constraints of time, of resources, and of a language barrier, this paper cannot be an exhaustive historical account of the activities of the Finnish socialists, nor a comprehensive explanation of Marxism, nor would it assume to provide a proper 'Marxist' analysis of this history. Of the two 20th century English language histories of this revolution--the work of …

From Schmelt Camp To “Little Auschwitz”: Blechhammer’S Role In The Holocaust, Susanne Barth

Purdue University Press Books

From Schmelt Camp to “Little Auschwitz”: Blechhammer’s Role in the Holocaust is the first in-depth study of the second largest Auschwitz subcamp, Blechhammer (Blachownia Śląska), and its lesser known yet significant prehistory as a so-called Schmelt camp, a forced labor camp for Jews operating outside the concentration camp system. Drawing on previously untapped archival documents and a wide array of survivor testimonies, the book provides novel findings on Blechhammer’s role in the Holocaust in Eastern Upper Silesia, a formerly Polish territory annexed to Nazi Germany in the fall of 1939, where 120,000 Jews lived.

Established in the spring of 1942 …

Spending The Peace Dividend: Nato And The Failures Of American Diplomacy, Caleb Batman

Theses and Dissertations

Recent years have seen a massive increase in available resources pertaining to US-Russian diplomacy in the years immediately following the collapse of the Soviet Union. Using these newly available resources including diplomatic cables, declassified transcripts, and personal correspondence between President Clinton of the United States and President Yeltsin of the Russian Federation the author attempts to illustrate how the White House missed a chance for reconciliation with Russia during the first Clinton term. Additionally, this paper illustrates how it was not merely bad diplomacy that led to a resumption of Cold War hostilities, but willful policy in Washington that sought …

Female Criminal Agency In Early Fourteenth-Century Norfolk, Anna K. Davis

Masters Theses

Medieval women who were on the wrong side of the law expressed agency in a specific and unusual manner. Criminal agency, as it were, was a way for them to express their wants and desires in a way that is no less valid a subject of study than actions that were legally permissible. However, this agency was constrained by medieval notions of women’s capability. This thesis examines women and their crimes found in an early fourteenth-century Norfolk gaol delivery roll to further understand how the men who ran gaol delivery “allowed” women to be criminal. As gaol delivery rolls were …

Imperial Nostalgia: The War For The Kievan Rus Legacy., Jacob Wolfe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the deep-seated historical, cultural, and religious narratives fueling the modern conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Central to this dispute is the legacy of the Kievan Rus, a medieval East Slavic state. The research examines historical claims over the Kievan Rus legacy, Russia's perception as the heir to the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the impact of the Soviet Union's dissolution. It also delves into the Varangian Guard's role in establishing Kievan Rus-Byzantine relations, the mistrust instilled by the Crusades, and the shared linguistic and cultural influences between Russia and Ukraine. Additionally, the thesis analyzes the Normanist Controversy, Russian …

The Architect Of The Past: Heinrich Himmler's Remaking Of Germany's History., Chad M. White

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis explores the complex interplay between historical narratives, ideological manipulation, and cultural artifacts in Heinrich Himmler’s efforts to reshape Germany’s history during the Nazi regime. The study shows how Himmler used historical revisionism to mythologize Germanic history to support Nazi ideology. Himmler used the Ahnenerbe, an SS organization, to research and propagate distorted narratives, fabricating artifacts to legitimize the Aryan myth and assert Germanic superiority. Influenced by movements like the Völkisch Movement, Himmler's ideology relied on pseudo-historical narratives to shape public perception and Nazi policies. The study analyzes Himmler's writings and the spatial transformation of sites like Wewelsburg Castle …

The Anatomy Of Inequality: Medicine, Mourning, And Socioeconomic Status In Victorian England, Molly G. Decker

LSU Master's Theses

"The Anatomy of Inequality: Medicine, Mourning, and Socioeconomic Status in Victorian England," examines the historic relationships between socioeconomic inequality, death, and medical practice during the Victorian period, with specific ttention on London and surrounding areas. I argue that the extreme socioeconomic disparities of the time were deeply intertwined with the practices surrounding death, mourning, and medical care. The first chapter, "The Price of Sorrow," explores the elaborate mourning rituals and displays of status among the wealthy and upper to middle-class Victorians, detailing how these practices were not only expressions of grief but also conspicuous displays of social status and wealth. …

Wars Of Position: The Construction Of An Antifascist Public Sphere In Spain, 1931-1939, Carter David Barnwell

History ETDs

This dissertation explores antifascist culture in Spain during the decade of the 1930s, and the ways in which it was developed and disseminated by a host of intellectuals and activists under the Second Republic from 1931-1939. In considering parliamentary addresses, performative speech acts, election propaganda, public demonstrations, newspaper and journal articles, multi-media art, and photographs, the study demonstrates how political and cultural leaders came to define and understand “antifascism” and what they hoped to achieve by embracing this term. An antifascist culture developed amongst broad elements of the Spanish political left and center under the Second Republic, which came to …

À Propos Decolonization: The “Affaire D’Amour” Between The Renault Factory Strikes Of 1947 And French Malagasy Discrimination, Grace E. Wurzer

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

In 1947, The Monnet Plan was introduced in France to reinvigorate the economy, which was still feeble after World War II. Its high demands of factory workers soon led to strikes, which quickly gained the support of the French Communist Party. Concurrently, the French government was rapidly decolonizing Madagascar. Newly independent Africans found themselves financially strained in the wake of decolonization and were enticed to immigrate to France in the hopes of attaining economic freedom and citizenship in exchange for labor. These laborers, who were employed by the stricken factories, also garnered the support of the PCF, much to the …

Two Houses Divided? The Parallel Histories Of The Casa De Contratación And The Casa Da Índia, 1500-1580, Gustavo L. Romero

Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal

This paper seeks to investigate the histories of the Spanish Casa de Contratación and the Portuguese Casa da Índia in relation to one another, identifying possible ways in which each drew inspiration, or imitated the other during the period from 1500 to 1580. Though there is existing research into the individual Casas, comparative approaches have generally been avoided. This work synthesizes the literature and tracks interactions or trends between the Iberian empires from both an institutional and interpersonal perspective. Through analysis of bureaucratic charters, letters, and other documents, it outlines the time periods, possible reasons, and results of this …

Fernando Picó. One Frenchman, Four Revolutions: General Ferrand And The Peoples Of The Caribbean. Markus Wiener, 2011., Christian Lebron Lebron

Vernacular: New Connections in Language, Literature, & Culture

Fernando Picó, One Frenchman, Four Revolutions: General Ferrand and the Peoples of the Caribbean (Princeton, NJ: Markus Wiener, 2011).

Word Count: 2,689

The book "One Frenchman, Four Revolutions: General Ferrand and the Peoples of the Caribbean" by Fernando Picó delves into the life of General Jean-Louis Ferrand and its connection to the four revolutions unfolding in the Caribbean between 1803 and 1808. Employing an intriguing literary technique, Picó initiates the narrative with the general's death, paving the way to explore the events surrounding the political landscape of the time. Drawing inspiration from Voltaire, the author employs a methodology that reflects …

Review Of Repression, Resistance And Collaboration In Stalinist Romania, 1944–1964: Post-Communist Remembering, By Monica Ciobanu, Stefan Cristian Ionescu

History Faculty Articles and Research

A review of Repression, Resistance and Collaboration in Stalinist Romania, 1944–1964: Post-communist Remembering by Monica Ciobanu.

Interviews In Global Catholic Studies: Kamila Baraniecka-Olszewska, Mathew Schmalz, Kamila Baraniecka-Olszewska

Journal of Global Catholicism

No abstract provided.

The Secrets Of Christian Others: Hungarian Catholic Intellectuals Debate Ecumenism At A Transylvanian Pilgrimage Site, Marc Roscoe Loustau

Journal of Global Catholicism

Claims about a shared Christian tradition animate European debates about religious otherness, but more remains to be known about how Catholics on Europe’s near-margins understand ecumenical unity among churches. I analyze contemporary Hungarian Catholic intellectuals’ publications about a controversy at the Hungarian national shrine, Our Lady of Csíksomlyó, in Transylvania. When a priest wrote that Csíksomlyó’s annual pilgrimage commemorated sixteenth-century Catholics’ victory over an invading Unitarian army, Transylvania’s Unitarian bishop denounced the origin as an undocumented myth. Prominent Catholic ethnologists, historians, and theologians agreed that, in the name of ecumenism, intellectuals should not publicly mention the origin narrative. But they …