Historical Reflections On Central Europe (selected Papers From The Fifth World Congress Of Central And East European Studies, Warsaw, 1995)

This valuable collection of essays makes a scholarly contribution to our knowledge of Central and Eastern European history. With ground-breaking contributions from international scholars such as Philip Longworth and Piotr Gorecki, this volume is an essential text for anyone studying or generally interested in understanding the development of the post-Communist world. Front Matter....Pages i-xiii Introduction....Pages 1-4 Legitimacy and Myth in Central and Eastern Europe....Pages 5-14 Community, Memory and Law in Medieval Poland....Pages 15-26 Boundary Delimitation in Medieval Poland....Pages 27-36 The Construction and Deconstruction of Nineteenth-Century Polish Liberalism....Pages 37-64 T.G. Masaryk’s Nová Evropa: A Reinterpretation....Pages 65-73 Czechoslovakia and the Anti-Hitler Emigrants, 1933–39....Pages 74-90 Polonia and Polish Emigration in Polish Communist Propaganda....Pages 91-99 The Communist ‘Polonia’ Society and Polish Communities in the West....Pages 100-115 Václav Havel and the Ideal of Democracy....Pages 116-137 The Social and Political Contributions of Theatre to the Czechoslovak Revolution of 1989....Pages 138-161 Trade Union Configurations Transformation Policies in Poland Hungary....Pages 162-190 Tripartism in Slovakia: Actors and Strategies....Pages 191-206 Social Partnership in the Czech Republic....Pages 207-218 Federalism and Nationalism in Yugoslavia....Pages 219-236 Back Matter....Pages 237-245 Understandably it is the social, political and cconomic upheavals in the former USSR and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe that have attracted the lion's share of attention from the academic community and the general public alike during the last decade. It is, however, also necessary to take note of the important linguistic changes that have accompanied these upheavals. Most of the papers in this volume deal with Russian which, as one of the languages exposed longest to 'Sovietization', has undergone a particularly complex process of readjustment. If it is still carly to draw definitive conclusions, each contribution from its own individual standpoint helps to provide a preliminary understanding of the new language situation of post-Soviet Russia. The remaining papers examine the Russian and Ukrainian languages, the position of Komi-Permiak, and ask fundamental questions about language and society. "The transformation of Central and Eastern Europe from communist rule has opened the countries concerned to renewed assessment of their historical identity. These essays record and contribute to that reassessment, reminding us of the diversity of experience, largely ignored after the Second World War."--BOOK JACKET "Post-communist developments in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union do not follow any predetermined pattern. The authors, all of whom are leading experts in their respective fields, analyse the diversity of the experience of democratisation in a number of different settings and contexts."--Jacket Edited By Stanislav J. Kirschbaum. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Edited By Sue Bridger. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.