Aufsätze
Bedrich Loewenstein Der unpolitische Politiker Tomáš G. Masaryk In contrast to the national-political interpretation of Masaryk, this essay seeks to get to the meta-political core of his personality and his career. Time and again, even after the 1890s, Masaryk advocated the primacy of the ethical and the cultural over the problems of day-today politics, and he accepted the Imperial and Royal monarchy as a natural framework. His eventual decision against Austria derived from the wartime constellation, and then his moralism turned into a militant rejection of the other side and an exaggerated optimism as to what a new order would bring. Masaryk viewed the purpose of Czech statehood as a moral responsibility, but his concept of national policy as subordinated to higher-ranking principles was seldom taken seriously and disappeared altogether in the current of the fateful developments after his death.
Steffen Höhne Mitteleuropa. Zur konzeptuellen Karriere eines kulturpolitischen Begriffs Topic of this contribution is the present usage of the catchword "Central Europe" in East Central European transformation societies. The author attempts, from a linguistic-historic and pragmatic perspective, to deduce the different meanings ascribed to "Central Europe" from the historical usage of this term, and from the extent of its exploitation in the name of ideology. Today’s notion of Central Europe refers to Germanic (not necessarily Pan-Germanic) historico-political conceptions of the 19th and early 20th century, conceptions related to the decline and eventual destruction of the Habsburg monarchy, and lastly to the dissident debates of the 80s. The aim is to prove that present (post-1989) usage of "Central Europe" is determined by semantic content of all those three conceptions, thus illustrating the principal semantic vagueness of the term.
Christian Rühmkorf "Volkswerdung durch Mythos und Geschichte": Die deutsch-slawischen Beziehungen bei Friedrich Naumann und T. G. Masaryk This contributions examines two concepts for a new order in Europe after World War I: "Nová Evropa" (The New Europe) published in 1917 by the Czech T.G. Masaryk and "Mitteleuropa" (Central Europe) published in 1915 by the German Friedrich Naumann. Both these books, having an effect that reaches far beyond the period, set forth positions which have formed the two main tendencies in the debate about a European union up to this very day. On one hand, there is the formation of supranational political entities, on the other, protection of small peoples’ identities and their right to self-determination. With the help of illustrative quotations from both books, the author extracts facets of stereotypical perceptions of the own and the alien and demonstrates how, by means of stereotypically ascribing certain qualities (and aspirations) to certain peoples, old anxieties and old notions of superiority were reactivated and utilized, in the wartime situation, for the attainment of national goals. Of specific interest is what role, in fostering a sense of purpose and identity, Naumann and Masaryk ascribe to history. There is, that conclusion may be drawn, a paradigm of how historical stereotypes amalgamate the past and the present, with long-term and often fatal consequences.
Tadeusz Kopys Die Einstellung der tschechischen und polnischen politischen Eliten gegenüber der Mitteleuropakonzeption Friedrich Naumanns Czech and Polish political élites reacted in very different ways to Friedrich Naumann’s book, "Mitteleuropa"(Central Europe), owing to the differing situation of both peoples during World War I and their differing national and economic aspirations for the time after. With the Czechs, Naumann met with almost universal rejection: Even during the Word War they viewed their nation’s future within the framework of Austria. Here, "Central Europe" caused fears of "Germanization", authoritarian rule and powerful economic competition. Thus it became the focus of Czech propaganda addressed at the Western powers in the struggle for a Czechoslovak state. As far as political élites in Poland are concerned, the picture is more heterogeneous. Proponents of the Austro-Polish solution supported "Central Europe", as well as did some economists. Decidedly against Naumann were the Polish national democrats. The main difference between Poles and Czechs was the view on Russia: Whereas many Poles saw "Central Europe" as offering a degree of protection against Russia and Pan-Slavism, all Czech concepts were primarily aimed at establishing safeguards against Germany; Russia here enjoyed a positive role.
Jens Breder Die Rolle Rußlands in den Europa-Konzeptionen von Friedrich Naumann und Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk In his book "Mitteleuropa" (Central Europe, 1915), Friedrich Naumann sketched a postwar order dominated by Germany. This was confronted by Tomáš G. Masaryk’s political treatise "Nová Evropa "(Das neue Europa), advocating a "Slav standpoint". Both authors declined to accord Russia an active, creative role in the postwar order in central Europe. This essay uses textual analysis to determine to what extent Naumann and Masaryk harboured the notion of a looming "Russian danger" and used common anti-Russian stereotypes. The conclusions, however, which the two of them drew from the all-embracing antagonism between Russia and Europe, as they perceived it, differed: Whereas Naumann demanded that Russia be isolated under all circumstances, Masaryk stressed the necessity of peaceful coexistence and a policy of alliances.
Carsten Kretschmann Monarchie oder Libertät: Die Kaiserwahl Ferdinands II. und der Versuch einer römischen Königswahl vivente imperatore auf dem Regensburger Kurfürstentag 1630 A comparison between the election of Emperor Ferdinand II in 1619 and the attempt at electing his son, vivente imperatore, in 1630 clearly demonstrates the constant effect on the electors’ behaviour of anxiety about absolute imperial power. On one hand, the 1619 election proves the presumption that the House of Habsburg enjoyed, in the electors’ eyes, a special relationship to the highest office in the empire. On the other hand, it followed the tactic of electing an emperor who would be able to hold his own in the empire, but would be far from enjoying the sort of power which could jeopardize the elector’s interests. A similar calculation governed the Regensburg convention of 1630. As the Vienna court miscalculated its own freedom of action, Ferdinand II did not succeed in linking either the Wallenstein problem or the negotiations about the Mantuan war to his son’s election. Even in the confessional era and despite all religious differences, the electors managed to combine forces against the emperor. The Regensburg convention of electors therefore is an important milestone in the struggle between the empire and its constituent principalities, where the electors, seeking to strengthen their own position, put up with a weakening of the empire in the emerging concert of powers.
Marginalien
K. Erik Franzen Eine vergessene Perspektive? Anmerkungen zu Migrationsprozessen in Deutschland anhand ausgewählter Publikationen Germany is an immigration country with a past. Persons of German origin displaced in connection with World War II, labour-seeking migrants mostly from east and southeast Europe, and most recently the so-called "Spätaussiedler" (descendants of German settlers in east and southeast Europe only now or fairly recently returning to the country of their forebears) as well as those seeking political asylum, have always put to the test the nation’s ability to integrate. Whereas interaction between scholars of several fields of knowledge meanwhile succeeded – as is demonstrated quoting from selected recent publications – to perform a comparative analysis of difficulties and opportunities of those migration processes, discussion among the broader public has often failed to relate the differing patterns of migration, each with its own development and consequences, to each other. As it is, looking back is worthwhile when seeking practicable solutions for problems relating to the administration of migration. To ignore, from the very start, the experience with more or less successful attempts at directing integration processes among inhabitants and immigrants in the aftermath of World War II is a missed opportunity, if one really wants to redress Germanys precarious position as an immigration country without an immigration law.
Chronik
Stephanie Weiss Kongreß der Politologen der Tschechischen Republik Martin Zückert Nationales Selbstverständnis und der Umgang mit den "Anderen". Die Deutschen in der Slowakei Helena Pavlícková/Zdenek Radvanovský Perspektiven der jungen Generation: Deutsch-tschechische Beziehungen in studentischen Arbeiten Stephan Wendehorst Europäische Staatsangehörigkeitsstandards und nationale Rechtskulturen Ostmitteleuropas im 20. Jahrhundert Zdenka Stoklásková Mährische Juden in der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie Ferdinand Seibt Die "Böhmische Devotio Moderna" im Kontext Stefan Samerski Stand und Perspektiven der böhmischen Kirchen- und Religionsgeschichte Franz Machilek Die Kirchenverwaltung und ihr Schriftgut an der Wende von Mittelalter und Neuzeit Ferdinand Seibt Deutsch-jüdische Wechselbeziehungen in Ostmittel- und Südosteuropa Jörg Osterloh Die "Arisierung" jüdischen Vermögens in Böhmen und Mähren Jennifer Schevardo Phasen und Formen der Transformation in der Tschechoslowakei Klaus Buchenau Nationalisierung der Religion und Sakralisierung der Nation in Ostmittel-, Südost- und Osteuropa Susanne Fritz Literatur unter dem Hakenkreuz. Böhmen und Mähren 1938-1945
Neue Literatur
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