Academic literature on the topic 'Prussia (Germany) – History, Military – 18th century'

In the end of the 19th century, five Lithuanian folklore pieces describing the so-called Wild Hunt were recorded. In these narratives, the images of the hunt and the sounds made by the ranging souls are described. These texts, having been recorded in the territory inhabited by the so-called lietuvininkai (the Lithuania Minor) are truly unique. This land belonged to the Eastern Prussia at the time and having been for the long period separated from the major Lithuania and experiencing considerable German cultural influence, it acquired singular features.So far the Lithuanian folklorists tended to interpret the legends in question as results of the German cultural influence. Yet the available folklore data only partly supports such opinion. The Lithuanian legends of the Wild Hunt are analyzed in the article by using the contextual information from the Baltic mythology, folklore, history and archeology. The motifs of the Wild Hunt are popular in the oral tradition of the European peoples, comprising specific imagery depicting a ghostlike hunting party ranging across the sky. Connections of this image with the cult of the deceased and the visions of the afterlife have been repeatedly established by the researchers.The current analysis reveals that Lithuanian legends of the Wild Hunt are related to the German narratives of the Wilde Jagd not only in the name of this phenomenon. The Germanic influence can also be traced in the fact that the Wild Hunt is observed on high, since similar images are hard to find in the Lithuanian material. Other aspects of the phenomenon in question have parallels in the traditional Lithuanian worldview and can be deciphered on the grounds of the local folklore. Yet the origins of this image should perhaps be sought in the earlier layers of the Baltic culture.The territory of the Lithuania Minor has for a long time been the native land of the western Baltic tribes – Prussians. Because of the assimilation processes and in result of a large number of the local population perishing in the plague, the ancient Prussian language became extinct as early as the beginning of the 18th century. Still the persistence of the Wild Hunt image in the worldview of the local Lithuanians of the 19th century can well be related to this cultural layer.In striking correlation with the historical cultural facts recorded in the chronicles, the Prussian archeological data allows for assuming that local inhabitants used to imagine the afterlife journey of the deceased as a ride on a horseback, while endowed with all the military attributes. Yet this is valid only for the society members of the highest rank or the militants. Nevertheless in case of the Prussians, who used to live under the circumstances of almost ceaseless military campaigns, quite a number of mythical images could have incorporated the military thematic, thus forming distinct manifestations of the warriors’ mythology: the journey of the deceased to the afterworld on a horseback and with military equipment, the ghostlike army seen in the sky as an omen of the imminent war, etc. In L ithuanian mythology, such manifestations of the military worldview used to be best discerned in the 13th–14th centuries, when tensions caused by the threats to the safety and integrity of the land were most acutely experienced and the retaliatory military raids were frequently organized. This was also revealed in the contemporary pattern of the state gods, which reflected the ideology of the military layer of the society, while considerably lacking in representation of the lower rank of the deities (e. g. those in charge of the economic sphere). Such reflections of the military mythology could have well survived among the Lithuanian-speaking inhabitants of in the Lithuania Minor in the 19th century, when folklore collector Vilius Kalvaitis recorded the five legends in question there. It is reasonable to assume that such images used to become more prominent whenever fear and foreboding of the imminent war were felt, while persistence of such imagery was likewise supported by the existing similar Germanic notion of the Wilde Jagd.

The article reveals the peculiarities of the eastern policy of France in the second half of the 17th — second half of the 18th century. During the reign of Kings Louis XIV and Louis XV, the eastern policy of France underwent significant changes. At the beginning of this period, the main goal of the “eastern barrier” was to confront the Austrian Habsburgs. To this end, the government of Louis XVI used, first of all, the alliance with the Principality of Transylvania. Problems in the east distracted the Habsburgs from the wars in Europe. During the reign of Louis XV, France's foreign policy became much less consistent. At the beginning of the reign of this monarch, the policy of the “eastern barrier” continued, only now it was directed primarily against Russia, since France was very concerned about the Austro-Russian military alliance. Later, the so-called “reversal of alliances” took place, which eventually led to the Seven Years' War, during which France was on the same side with Austria and Russia, and the policy of the “eastern barrier” was temporarily forgotten. After the turn of Russian policy towards an alliance with Prussia, France is also returning to its traditional policy of containing Russia. This was reflected in the support of the Bar Confederation in Poland and pushing the Ottoman Empire and the Crimean Khanate to war with Russia. However, this policy has not led to any significant results. Apparently, the traditional alliance with the Ottoman Empire for France already at that moment did not seem so attractive to some French politicians. The weakening of the Ottoman Empire was presented to them as a possible reason for the seizure of its territories in the Eastern Mediterranean, Egypt for example.

AbstractOriginally a charitable monastic institution devoted to the care of Christian pilgrims in the Holy Land, the Hospitallers of St. John became a military order during the twelfth century. The arrival of the Order of St. John in Malta in 1530 brought this island to the attention of European leaders and their subjects; indeed, the number of visitors who wrote about their sojourns on the island in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries is remarkable. At this time private military tours to Malta came to be integrated into what was called the Cavalier's Tour. The famous caravans of the fleet of the Order of St. John played a special role in this development, since participation in the caravans-usually involving naval engagements against the infidel-was considered an integral part of a gentleman's education. The survival of the chivalric Order of St. John seems to testify to the spiritual and cultural continuity of the Crusades up through the period of the Counter Reformation. But closer examination of individual European travelers suggests a rather pragmatic and quite "tolerant" approach to the foreign world. This essay concentratcs on Northern European sources, as it was mainly the Northerners who made the Cavalier's Tour a regular ritual, often entailing the compilation of a detailed travel diary. The accounts of the travelers from Prussia, the Scandinavian countries and central and south Germany show that both Catholics and Protestants alike came to Malta, mainly for reasons of fame, career and the acquisition of military and nautical experience. By the middle of the eighteenth century the Order and its fleet had degenerated to an ornamental show. This decline coincided with the end of the phenomenon dealt with here. In the so-called "Grand Tour" of the second half of the eighteenth century-mostly undertaken by rich Englishmen-there was no space for a trip "adversus infideles." This new type of tour was meant for private pleasure and cultural education. The Ottoman empire was no longer seen as a threat. In contrast to the old emnity, there was a new vogue for things "oriental." The island of Malta and the state of the Knights became an object of curiosity and romantic chivalry.

Olomouc, nowadays a city with 100,000 inhabitants, has always been considered as one of the most prominent Czech cities. It is a social and economical centre, which history started just about the 11th century. The present appearance of the city has its roots in the 18th century, when the city was almost razed to the ground after the Thirty years’ war and a great fire in 1709. After that, the city was rebuilt to a baroque military fortress against Prussia army. At the beginning of the 20th century the majority of the fortress was demolished. Character of the town is dominated by the large number of churches, burgher’s houses and other architecturally significant buildings, like a Holy Trinity Column, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Aim of this project was to state the most suitable methods of visualization of spatial-temporal change in historical build-up area from the tourist’s point of view, and to design and evaluate possibilities of spatial data acquisition. There are many methods of 2D and 3D visualization which are suitable for depiction of historical and contemporary situation. In the article four approaches are discussed comparison of historical and recent pictures or photos, overlaying historical maps over the orthophoto, enhanced visualization of historical map in large scale using the third dimension and photorealistic 3D models of the same area in different ages. All mentioned methods were geolocalizated using the Google Earth environment and multimedia features were added to enhance the impression of perception. Possibilities of visualization, which were outlined above, were realized on a case study of the Olomouc city. As a source of historical data were used rapport plans of the bastion fortress from the 17th century. The accuracy of historical maps was confirmed by cartometric methods with use of the MapAnalyst software. Registration of the spatial-temporal changes information has a great potential in urban planning or realization of reconstruction and particularly in the propagation of the region and increasing the knowledge of citizens about the history of Olomouc.

The issue of the journal opens with an article dedicated to the formation of metrology as government regulated activity in France. The article has discussed the historical process of development of metrological activity in France. It was revealed that the history of metrology is considered as an auxiliary historical and ethnographic discipline from a social and philosophical point of view as the evolution of scientific approaches to the definition of individual units of physical quantities and branches of metrology. However, in the scientific literature, the little attention is paid to the process of a development of a centralized institutional metrology system that is the organizational basis for ensuring the uniformity of measurements. The article by Irena Grebtsova and Maryna Kovalska is devoted to the of the development of the source criticism’s knowledge in the Imperial Novorossiya University which was founded in the second half of the XIX century in Odesa. Grounding on a large complex of general scientific methods, and a historical method and source criticism, the authors identified the stages of the formation of source criticism in the process of teaching historical disciplines at the university, what they based on an analysis of the teaching activities of professors and associate professors of the Faculty of History and Philology. In the article, the development of the foundations of source criticism is considered as a complex process, which in Western European and Russian science was the result of the development of the theory and practice of everyday dialogue between scientists and historical sources. This process had a great influence on the advancement of a historical education in university, which was one of the important factors in the formation of source studies as a scientific discipline. The article by Tetiana Malovichko is devoted to the study of what changes the course of the probability theory has undergone from the end of the 19th century to our time based on the analysis of The Theory of Probabilities textbook by Vasyl P. Ermakov published in 1878. The paper contains a comparative analysis of The Probability Theory textbook and modern educational literature. The birth of children after infertility treatment of married couples with the help of assisted reproductive technologies has become a reality after many years of basic research on the physiology of reproductive system, development of oocyte’s in vitro fertilization methods and cultivation of embryos at pre-implantation stages. Given the widespread use of assisted reproductive technologies in modern medical practice and the great interest of society to this problem, the aim of the study authors from the Institute for Problems of Cryobiology and Cryomedicine of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine was to trace the main stages and key events of assisted reproductive technologies in the world and in Ukraine, as well as to highlight the activities of outstanding scientists of domestic and world science who were at the origins of the development of this area. As a result of the work, it has been shown that despite certain ethical and social biases, the discovery of individual predecessor scientists became the basis for the efforts of Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe to ensure birth of the world's first child, whose conception occurred outside the mother's body. There are also historical facts and unique photos from our own archive, which confirm the fact of the first successful oocyte in vitro fertilization and the birth of a child after the use of assisted reproductive technologies in Ukraine. In the next article, the authors tried to consider and structure the stages of development and creation of the “Yermak”, the world's first Arctic icebreaker, and analyzed the stages of preparation and the results of its first expeditions to explore the Arctic. Systematic analysis of historical sources and biographical material allowed to separate and comprehensively consider the conditions and prehistory for the development and creation of “Yermak” icebreaker. Also, the authors gave an assessment to the role of Vice Admiral Stepan Osypovych Makarov in those events, and analyzed the role of Sergei Yulyevich Witte, Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev and Pyotr Petrovich Semenov-Tian-Shansky in the preparation and implementation of the first Arctic expeditions of the “Yermak”icebreaker. The authors of the following article considered the historical aspects of construction and operation of train ferry routes. The article deals with the analysis and systematization of the data on the historical development of train ferry routes and describes the background for the construction of train ferry routes and their advantages over other combined transport types. It also deals with the basic features of the train ferries operating on the main international train ferry routes. The study is concerned with both sea routes and routes across rivers and lakes. The article shows the role of train ferry routes in the improvement of a national economy, and in the provision of the military defense. An analysis of numerous artefacts of the first third of the 20th century suggests that the production of many varieties of art-and-industrial ceramics developed in Halychyna, in particular architectural ceramic plastics, a variety of functional ceramics, decorative tiles, ceramic tiles, facing tiles, etc. The artistic features of Halychyna art ceramics, the richness of methods for decorating and shaping it, stylistic features, as well as numerous art societies, scientific and professional associations, groups, plants and factories specializing in the production of ceramics reflect the general development of this industry in the first half of the century and represent the prerequisites the emergence of the school of professional ceramics in Halychyna at the beginning of the 20th century. The purpose of the next paper is to analyze the formation and development of scientific and professional schools of art-and-industrial ceramics of Halychyna in the late 19th – early 20th centuries. During the environmental crisis, electric transport (e-transport) is becoming a matter for scientific inquiry, a subject of discussion in politics and among public figures. In the program for developing the municipal services of Ukraine, priorities are given to the development of the infrastructure of ecological transport: trolleybuses, electric buses, electric cars. The increased attention to e-transport on the part of the scientific community, politicians, and the public actualizes the study of its history, development, features of operation, etc. The aim of the next study is to highlight little-known facts of the history of production and operation of MAN trolleybuses in Ukrainian cities, as well as to introduce their technical characteristics into scientific circulation. The types, specific design solutions of the first MAN trolleybus generation and the prerequisites for their appearance in Chernivtsi have been determined. Particular attention has been paid to trolleybuses that were in operation in Germany and other Western European countries from the first half of the 1930s to the early 1950s. The paper traces the stages of operation of the MAN trolleybuses in Chernivtsi, where they worked during 1939–1944 and after the end of the Second World War, they were transferred to Kyiv. After two years of operation in the Ukrainian capital, the trolleybuses entered the routes in Dnipropetrovsk during 1947–1951. The purpose of the article by authors from the State University of Infrastructure and Technologies of Ukraine is to thoroughly analyze unpaved roads of the late 18th – early 19th century, as well as the project of the first wooden trackway as the forerunner of the Bukovyna railways. To achieve this purpose, the authors first reviewed how railways were constructed in the Austrian Empire during 1830s – 1850s. Then, in contrast with the first railway networks that emerged and developed in the Austrian Empire, the authors made an analysis of the condition and characteristics of unpaved roads in Bukovyna. In addition, the authors considered the first attempt to create a wooden trackway as a prototype and predecessor of the Bukovyna railway.

Abstract: There is no tradition nor genus of historiography within writing on university history in German historical research. In the Middle Ages there was no historiography of the institutionalized schools and the early universities. It began in the early modern period. From the beginning in the 17th century onwards, historiography of university mostly meant to tell about the own university and to underline its academic brilliance and, first of all, its political value for the government. In later 18th century the influence of enlightenment changed the argumentation and the politically enforced difference between academies and universities made the “identity” of universities more evident. Universities from then on did not understand themselves no longer primarily as instruments of government, but as places of scientific liberty and insofar partly of legal independence. There were conflicts and quarrels about in how far universities should just help to create educated officers for the government or open a field of independence for a “Freedom of science”. All conflict parties published their declarations, which can be used for the historiography of universities nowadays but did not intend to be understood as such. In the beginning of the 19th century the innovation of the modern university, founded by the ideas of Wilhelm of Humboldt in Prussia, and the promotion by the government, but as well the dependence from political support, set new conditions for the development of the universities and it made possible the beginning of an official historiography of university history. Until 1900 the discussion on the liberty of science and universities and their newly defined importance for the beginning nation-states as well as on the growing difference between historical and philosophical disciplines on the one hand, natural-scientific and even technical disciplines on the other hand became more and more important. Historiography of universities and their history was created, but from the beginning on focused on controversies. Rectorate-speeches became a new genus of historiography of universities and it was of great influence. It developed a comparative, modern approach on the history of universities, but was in the same time exploited as political argument in national politics and international conflicts and wartimes. Finally, the end of free discussion and academic discourse on the historiography of universities came with the beginning of the Nazi period in Germany. Modern learned and academic historiography of the history of universities from the middle of the 20th century onwards has got the chance to reestablish discussions on the history of universities from the Middle Ages to contemporary times and even in an international context, but did not yet find to a specific genus of historiography. Resumen: No hay tradición ni género de la historiografía dentro de la escritura de la historia de la universidad en la investigación histórica alemana. En la Edad Media no hay ninguna historiografía de los colegios institucionalizados ni de las primeras universidades. Esto comenzó en época moderna. Desde el principio en el siglo XVII en adelante, la historiografía de la universidad en su mayoría significaba relatar la historia de la propia universidad para subrayar su brillantez académica y, sobre todo, su valor político para el gobierno. A finales del siglo XVIII la influencia de la Ilustración cambia la argumentación y la diferencia impuesta políticamente entre academias y universidades hizo la “identidad” de las universidades más evidente. Universidades que, a partir de entonces, no se entienden a sí mismas ya primariamente como instrumentos de gobierno, sino como lugares de libertad científica y, en parte, de independencia legal. Hubo conflictos y disputas sobre si las universidades debían ayudar a crear los oficiales educados para el gobierno o abrir un campo independiente para la “libertad de la ciencia”. Todas las partes en conflicto publicaron sus declaraciones, que pueden ser utilizados por la historiografía de las universidades hoy en día, pero que no tienen la intención de entenderse como tal. En el comienzo del siglo XIX la innovación de la universidad moderna, fundada por las ideas de Guillermo de Humboldt en Prusia, y la promoción por parte del gobierno, pero a su vez, la dependencia del apoyo político, establecen nuevas condiciones para el desarrollo de las universidades que hicieron posible el inicio de una historiografía oficial de la historia de la universidad. Hasta 1900, el debate sobre la libertad de la ciencia y de las universidades y su importancia recientemente definida para el inicio de los Estados-nación, así como la creciente diferencia entre disciplinas históricas y filosóficas por un lado y científico-naturales e incluso técnicas por otro se volvió cada vez más importante. Una historia e historiografía de las universidades que desde el principio se ha centrado en las controversias. Los discursos de los rectores pasaron a ser un nuevo género muy influyente de la historiografía de las universidades. Se desarrolló un enfoque comparativo, versión moderna de la historia de las universidades, pero que fue al mismo tiempo explotado como argumento político en la política nacional y en los conflictos y tiempos de guerras internacionales. Por último, el final de la discusión libre y del discurso académico sobre la historiografía de las universidades vino con el inicio del período Nazi en Alemania. La historiografía sobre las universidades de mediados del siglo 20 en adelante ha tenido la oportunidad de restablecer los debates sobre la historia de las universidades de la Edad Media hasta la época contemporánea e incluso en el contexto internacional, pero aún no ha encontrado un género historiográfico específico.Keywords: scholarship and politics, confessionalization of universities, conflict of disciplines, utility of scholarship, primacy of disciplines.Palabras clave: universidad y políticas, confesionalidad de las universidades, conflicto de disciplinas, utilidad de la universidad, primacía de disciplinas.

Defence date: 9 December 2002
Examining board: Prof. Étienne Balibar, Université Paris-X, Nanterre ; Prof. Peter Becker, European University Institute, Florence ; Prof. Annie Crépin, Université d'Artois, Arras ; Prof. Bo Stråth, European University Institute, Florence (Supervisor)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017
Le service militaire obligatoire repose sur une contradiction. En tant que mode privilégié de la participation du citoyen aux affaires de la cité, il est à la fois élément et garant de sa liberté politique. En tant qu'institution disciplinaire, il le soumet à un système coercitif et l'isole de la société civile. La nationalisation de la force armée par la conscription introduit donc une tension irréductible entre citoyenneté et discipline, et pose concrètement le problème de la liberté politique. Egalitaire dans son principe, le service militaire ne concerne pourtant que la frange masculine de la population, l'absence des femmes dans l'armée répondant à leur exclusion des droits civiques. L'universalité de l'obligation se trouve par ailleurs contrecarrée par les stratégies de certains groupes sociaux pour négocier des conditions favorables. Plutôt que d'opposer le modèle de conscription républicaine à la française au militarisme prussien, cet ouvrage s'attache à montrer comment la Prusse a répondu de manière dialectique à l'institution révolutionnaire de la violence de masse. La Révolution française et la Réforme prussienne sont ainsi appréhendées comme deux moments d'un processus intrinsèquement transnational. Cet ouvrage entend mettre à l'épreuve de l'Histoire le problème politique tel que l'ont formulé Rousseau et Kant, en s'appuyant sur des sources officielles, des autobiographies, lettres, chansons, conçues comme des articulations subjectives de la modernité politique.

Defence date: 25 June 2014
Examining Board: Professor Sebastian Conrad, Freie Universität Berlin Professor Dirk Moses, EUI Professor Ulrike von Hirschhausen, Universität Rostock Professor Robert Gerwarth, University College Dublin.
Die vorliegende Arbeit untersucht einen lange Zeit unhinterfragten Gemeinplatz in der deutschen Militär- und Kolonialgeschichte: die späte Verwirklichung eines geeinten Nationalstaates habe nicht nur die deutsche Zivilgesellschaft, sondern auch das deutsche Militär bis in das späte 19. Jahrhundert von der Entdeckung aussereuropäischer Gebiete als mögliche professionelle Einsatzfelder abgehalten und so das deutsche Offizierkorps lange Zeit von imperialen Phantasien unberührt und unerfahren in den Herausforderungen kolonialer Kriegführung belassen. Tatsächlich reichte die Beteiligung deutscher Soldaten an imperialen Auseinandersetzungen jedoch bis in die Zeit der amerikanischen Revolution zurück. Der Wunsch nach Gleichberechtigung mit anderen expandierenden Ländern wie Grossbritannien, Frankreich oder Russland war seitdem nicht nur in kleineren deutschen Staaten mit einer Tradition imperialen Kriegsdienstes "unter fremden Fahnen" weit verbreitet. Auch in Preussen zirkulierten Phantasien eines deutschen Kriegszuges nach Indien bereits in der Zeit der napoleonischen Besatzung. Seitdem entwickelten Generationen deutscher Offiziere immer wieder Visionen eines deutschen Kolonialreiches, ein Wunsch, der insbesondere in längeren Friedensperioden in Europa virulent wurde. Besondere jüngere, gebildete und ambitionierte Offiziere aus elitären Regimentern sahen in imperialen Unternehmungen ihre Chance auf ruhmreiche Bewährung im Krieg. Bei einer Reihe von bisher weitgehend unbekannten Gelegenheiten nahmen diese auch aktiv an den kolonialen Kampagnen anderer Mächte teil. Die Arbeit untersucht daneben auch die Gründe, warum dieser Strang militärischen Denkens und Handelns lange Zeit marginalisiert wurde: die Verwirklichung imperialer Projekte schien gerade aus militärischen Gründen einen vereinigten Nationalstaat zu erfordern, eine Forderung, die Offiziere politisch verdächtig machte und die imperiale Fraktion innerhalb des deutschen Offizierkorps lange Zeit isolierte und in den Untergrund trieb. Als das deutsche Kaiserreich gegen Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts jedoch schliesslich tatsächlich in den Kreis der Kolonialmächte eintrat, war dessen Militär keineswegs vollständig unvorbereitet, sondern konnte auf ein zwar wechselhaftes, jedoch lange zurückreichendes und bisweilen intensives theoretisches und praktisches imperiales Engagement zurückblicken.