Eradicating the Distinctness of the Silesian Political System in the Period of the First Silesian War (1740–1742)
Jakub Pokoj
The annexation of a part of Silesia by Prussia as the result of the First Silesian War (1740–1742) constitutes a milestone in the history of Silesia. Despite the fact that by the time Silesia was a politically separate part of the Kingdom of Bohemia, as early as during the war campaign Frederick began to reorganize the Silesian political system. The Prussian king acted in two ways. Some of the previous institutions were abolished by legal acts issued by Frederick as the conqueror, whereas others were being cancelled per factam concludentiam, without the use of any legal instruments. Frederician reforms ultimately removed all of the previous feudal reminiscences of the Silesian political system, making Silesia similar to other parts of the Prussian state.
Broadside Ballads from the Collections of the Petr Bezruč Memorial in Opava
Martina Dragonová – Monika Szturcová
The study focuses on the broadside ballads from the Silesian area which are part of the collections of the Petr Bezruč Memorial in Opava. The collection is complexly characterized in terms of represented genres, content, dating and the provenance of prints and represented languages. Attention is also paid to broadside ballads collectors in Silesia.
František Kahlik and Czech Culture in Moravia and Czech Part Silesia at the end of the 19th Century
Pavel Šopák
František Kahlik is introduced as a type of a high school professor on the periphery, where he coped with, in the framework of Czech-German antagonism, tasks beyond the mere pedagogical activity. Kahlik was active in clubs and was known as an impassioned speaker and as an exhibition organizer. The study presents, in detail, Kahlik‘s texts, which are divided into texts from the field of history, geography and fiction. The most important publication is the anthology of translations named „Kytice z luhů slovanských“ (Bouquet from the Slavic Meadows), which was published in two editions, in 1893 and 1898. The study refers to the abundant news reports about František Kahlik showing that the defiance of the Czech cultural centres (Opava, Zábřeh) was also known in Prague or in Brno. The text was written on the occasion of the 110th anniversary of Kahlik‘s death; but it is more than a jubilee reminder of this teacher and association worker, as it reveals some connections in meaning and the context in which Kahlik‘s intellectual profile was formed.
The Miller and his Guilt: Věstník české menšiny by Vilém Stanovský
Václav Velčovský
Vilém Stanovský published in 1938–1940 in Nový Jičín the Czech Minority Journal (Věstník české menšiny), the only one Czech-language periodical in the Sudetenland. The newspapers indifferently oscillated between collaboration, retardation and resistance. After the war, Stanovský was judged by the Extraordinary People’s Court. Although he was recognized as guilty, it was dropped from the punishment. The aim of this paper is to introduce the Journal, published articles and journalistic writing strategies for the Czechs in the Sudetenland on the background of the transitional justice. An indirect aim is the problem-making of the concept of collaboration, guilt and punishment of the Sudetenland inhabitants in the post-war Czechoslovakia.
Feldgrau and Battledress: Men from Hlučín Region in Czechoslovak Exile Army
Jiří Neminář
It is not a well-known fact that in the Czechoslovak foreign army served German prisoners of war who were former members of the Nazi armed forces. These men came predominantly from frontier areas of the Sileasian districts. The interesting and very specific group of people was created by those who were native inhabitants of the Hlučínsko region. This research paper gives an idea about their participation in the Czechoslovak foreign resistance. Moreover, the reseach paper tries to answer basic questions about the resistance because this issue has not been elaborated so far. Authenticated numbers of people from Hlučín who served in the foreign army, or allied division are presented in this paper for the first time ever. Furthermore, specifics between soldiers´ participation in the West and in the East have been outlined as well.
Silesia – Oblivion: Territory and its Past in Contemporary Lower Silesians´ Identity Constructions
Rafał Riedel
This study focuses on explaining an important element of identity constructions – that is the history of the inhabited place, in this case of Lower Silesia. Time and space continuity constitutes a fundamental component of any identity concept – at the same time they remain problematic in the case of Wrocław and the region of Lower Silesia. Relying on fresh qualitative and quantitative data from an extensive research project this paper evaluates the multiple dimensions and contexts of this regional identity. Although it does not cover all components and aspects of the Lower Silesians identity (which is determined by the scale of the paper), the author believes that this text improves the understanding of Lower Silesians’ attitudes towards their territory and its past as identity building components. The territorial – administrative reform undertaken in Poland in late 1990. stimulated the rediscovery of regional (and local) specificities within the national space supposedly homogenous – according to the almost half-a-century long communist regime propaganda. In the region like Lower Silesia, which for centuries remained outside of the Polish territory and culture it became a double challenge. But one cannot understand the region without its history – however today’s inhabitants of Lower Silesia try hard to do so, focusing much more on other (then space) components of their identity building, localising the gravity point of their identifications in a secure (from the Polish point of view) ethnic and negative identity concepts.
Libuše SPÁČILOVÁ – Vladimír SPÁČIL (edd.), Nejstarší matrika olomoucké univerzity z let (1576) 1590–1651. Die älteste Matrikel der Olmützer Universität aus den Jahren (1576) 1590–1651. (Karel Müller)
Tomáš Řeha (ed.), Edice topograficko-statistického popisu Moravy a Slezska Albína Heinricha. (Janusz Spyra)
