Kategoria BISAC: History >> Europe - General

On August 1, 1984, a group of Polish Carmelite nuns, with the approval of both church and government authorities, but apparently without any dialogue with members of the Polish or international Jewish community, moved into a building at the site of Auschwitz I. This establishment of a Roman Catholic convent in what was once a storehouse for the poisonous Zyklon B used in the gas chambers of the Nazi extermination center has sparked intense controversy between Jews and Christians. Memory Offended is as definitive a survey of the Auschwitz convent controversy as could be hoped for. But even...

Adolf Hitler declared war on Christianity when he silenced the Catholic Church with a diplomatic treaty and arranged for a Nazi Army chaplain to become supreme bishop over the Protestants of Germany. The Confessing Church resisted. Pastors were muzzled, put under house arrest, jailed, and held for years in concentration camps. Thousands were drafted and sent to the war to die, while others were murdered outright. The result was a lack of man-power. Women stepped in. Pastors' wives replaced their absent husbands in the pulpits, and Theologinnen--theologically trained women--preached and...

Based on original research using official documents, this illuminating account of the role of the police in the rise to power of Mussolini reveals the internal workings of the Italian Liberal policing system, the tensions between its different branches, and problems related to the shifting demands of its wheeler-dealer political masters. Explanations of the support that the Italian police gave to the fascist movement are to be found not only in the profound social, economic, and political transformations characterizing the years immediately following the First World War, but also in...

This book is a scholarly, comprehensive, and critical biography of Nicholas II from his birth in 1868 to his execution in 1918. It features a chronological narrative emphasizing the political aspects of the Tsar's reign rather than details from his personal life--although new information about his life is revealed. Nicholas II is portrayed as a conscientious and reasonably intelligent ruler whose reign was marred by inept statesmanship and a stubborn determination to uphold the autocratic tradition of the Romanov dynasty even though he was forced to grant major political concessions in...

This work explores the early diplomatic career of Robert Morier, the British Foreign Office's foremost expert on German affairs in the period leading up to German unification in 1871. As the subject of an intellectual biography, Morier provides valuable insights into the effects of German events and ideas upon the changing character of mid-Victorian liberalism. Morier is an important figure in understanding the dynamics of Anglo-German relations during this period, not only because of his unrivalled knowledge of German affairs, but also because of his broad connections to prominent liberal...

The French Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars raged in Italy for 23 years. In that time, no fewer than eight campaigns involving hundred of thousands of troops were mounted in the Italian peninsula, as France and Austria struggled over this secondary, but still vitally important theater of war. As Frederick Schneid demonstrates in this groundbreaking work, control of Italy was rightly seen by Napoleon as an important means of applying strategic pressure on the Austrians, while simultaneously providing security for France's vulnerable southern flank. As the first in-depth consideration of...

This vivid biography is a study of the life and times of the Italian poet-activist, Lauro de Bosis. Remarkably productive as a poet, cultural diplomat, and political subversive, de Bosis founded and lead an underground resistance group, the National Alliance for Liberty. His actions culminated in a dramatic solo flight over Rome in October 1931, showering the city with protest leaflets against the Fascist dictatorship before plunging to his death. This feat brought world attention to the existence of anti-Fascism, much to Mussolini's chagrin and rage.

De Bosis's story, told against the...

During the Great War, books and stories for young men were frequently used as unofficial propaganda for recruitment and to sell the war to British youth as a moral crusade. Until now, this literature has been neglected by academics, but the image of the war these fictions created was remarkably enduring and, despite the appearance of post-war literature of disillusioned veterans, continued to shape the attitudes of the young well into the 1930s. This is the first detailed account of how adventure fiction represented the Great War for British boys between 1914 and the end of the war....

Born after 1940 and finishing higher education between 1965 and 1982, a generation of Russia's best, brightest, and most privileged came of age in the Brezhnev era. Using recently declassified archival material to uncover bother personal and professional beliefs, this study explores the formative experiences of this group, who now hold key positions in all parts of the government and society. Comparison of these official documents with letters, petitions, and complaints published in the Soviet press provides new insight into the dynamic interaction between the Brezhnev regime and Soviet...

A supporter of the American rebellion and advocate of radical ideas on religion, philosophy, education, law, medicine, and politics, John Jebb (1736-1786) provides an ideal case to examine the nature of radicalism in 18th-century Britain. Jebb began his career as a clergyman and academic at Cambridge in the 1760s and died as a doctor and leading figure among political reformers in Enlightenment London. Profoundly influenced by David Hartley's attempt to combine a Christian theology of universal salvation with a materialist and determinist account of the mind, Jebb's philosophical and...

Drawing on oral narratives and archival sources gathered in Berlin, this study explores how some 35 Berliners have woven personal memories, their city's divided past, and their nation's complex historical legacy into cohesive life narratives and collective identities. Redding argues that daily experience during the final years of World War II inadvertently prepared German youth for defeat and occupation. While postwar officials lamented youth's apparent apathy, young Berliners were in fact applying lessons in pragmatism and self-reliance learned as National Socialist society crumbled in...

In June 1942 the Indian Army suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Japanese Army and subsequently endured its longest retreat ever. The Japanese forces had proved more mobile in tactics and more motivated and seasoned in warfare. As a result, the Indian Army assessed its mistakes to determine what changes were needed to rebuild itself into a more capable fighting force. Marston looks at the Indian Army as a reform-minded organization, one that was able to take lessons from this major defeat, implement the necessary reforms, and ultimately defeat the Japanese soundly in...

The Lands of Partitioned Poland, 1795-1918 comprehensively covers an important, complex, and controversial period in the history of Poland and East Central Europe, beginning in 1795 when the remnanst of the Polish Commonwealth were distributed among Prussia, Austria, and Russia, and culminating in 1918 with the re-establishment of an independent Polish state. Until this thorough and authoritative study, literature on the subject in English has been limited to a few chapters in multiauthored works.

Chronologically, Wandycz traces the histories of the lands under Prussian,...

"A History of Fascism is an invaluable sourcebook, offering a rare combination of detailed information and thoughtful analysis. It is a masterpiece of comparative history, for the comparisons enhance our understanding of each part of the whole. The term 'fascist, ' used so freely these days as a pejorative epithet that has nearly lost its meaning, is precisely defined, carefully applied and skillfully explained. The analysis effectively restores the dimension of evil."--Susan Zuccotti, The Nation
"A magisterial, wholly accessible, engaging study. . . . Payne defines...