Poland in the Period of Partitions 1795–1914

The present book “Poland – History, Culture and Society. Selected Readings” is the third edition of a collection of academic texts written with the intention to accompany the module by providing incoming students with teaching materials that will assist them in their studies of the course module and encourage further search for relevant information and data. The papers collected in the book have been authored by academic teachers from the University of Łódź, specialists in such fields as history, geography, literature, sociology, ethnology, cultural studies, and political science. Each author presents one chapter related to a topic included in the module or extending its contents. The book contains the extensive bibliograph

The linguistic position of the Prussian second catechism

Elsewhere I have argued that the three Old Prussian catechisms reflect consecutive stages in the development of a moribund language (1998a, 1998b, 2001a). After first eliminating the orthographical differences between the three versions of parallel texts while maintaining the distinction between linguistic variants and then assigning separate phonemic interpretations to the three versions on the basis of the historical evidence I listed the following phonological differences between the three catechisms

Issues in Balto-Slavic accentology

After the very well-organized Leiden conference for which we must be grateful to Tijmen Pronk, it seems appropriate for me to review some of the papers, as I did after the previous conferences in Zagreb and Copenhagen. The aim of this review is merely to point out some of the differences of opinion which require further debate

The political economy of the Prussian three-class franchise

How did the Prussian three-class franchise, which politically over-represented the economic elite, affect policies? Contrary to the predominant and simplistic view that the system allowed the landed elites to capture most political rents, we find that members of parliament from constituencies with a higher vote inequality support more liberal policies, gauging their political orientation from the universe of roll call votes cast in parliament during Prussia’s rapid industrialization (1867–1903). Consistent with the characteristics of German liberalism that aligned with economic interests of business, the link between vote inequality and liberal voting is stronger in regions with large-scale industry

Lawrence's people : levels of character in three of the Prussian officer stories : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University

This thesis examines D.H. Lawrence's presentation of character in three stories from his first published collection, The Prussian Officer and Other Stories. Chapter One provides a brief historical survey of the criticism of Lawrence's work, and relates past misunderstandings of Lawrence's methods of characterization to present ones. It also attempts to explain what it is about Lawrence's art that provokes these misunderstandings. Chapters Two, Three, and Four, through contextualised analyses of, respectively, "The Prussian Officer," "Daughters of the Vicar," and "The White Stocking," attempt to do justice to the detached, subtle, and discriminating intelligence that Lawrence demonstrates in his presentation of different levels of character. In particular, I draw attention to those distinctions he makes at the deeper levels, which critics have often ignored. Throughout, I consider the stories as firmly belonging to the body of Lawrence's great creative art. Concluding the thesis is a brief afterword, which defends my particular method of approach to the stories. Such a method of contextualised interpretation is considered necessary to a sensitive appreciation of Lawrence's varied presentation of character

Battle of Vellinghausen: Lessons Learnt? A Study of the British army in the closing stages of the Seven Years War in Western Europe as studied through the Battle of Vellinghausen

This is a study of the British military actions in Western Germany during the Seven Years War, investigating the army’s ability in combat and analysing its improvements through the case study of the Battle of Vellinghausen. This will provide a more concentrated scope of the conflict centred on the Western theatre, rather than the general study upon the British army in America or the academic’s attraction with the Battle of Minden. With this in mind the research will be significant as it will open up discussions on how the British army fought in the European style during the mid-eighteenth century, as well as aiming to explore whether the British army learnt from its lessons early in the war to become an efficient fighting machine. The purpose of this thesis is to identify the actions of the British army during the Seven Years War in Western Germany, breaking the army down into its component parts to highlight how the army fought on a European battlefield. By addressing the campaigns during 1758-61, this gives me several key battles with which to analyse whether the army improved its performance. The mid-eighteenth century was a period of shifting tactics in the way European war was fought, with new tactics and doctrine altering warfare, such as the adoption of irregular forces, or the advancement in artillery science. This thesis will identify any changes that were absorbed and whether these improved the army. It is to be noted that Western Europe is important to study, as the historiography studied within the Seven Years War focuses on other theatres of the conflict, chiefly America and Frederick the Greats campaigns in Central Europe. This lack of interest by British historians could possibly be due to the fact that the army in Western Europe was not chiefly a British one; nor was the theatre considered particularly important by the British government or featured any monumental battles such as Leuthen, Kolin or Kunersdorf. These features could be contributing to the lack of academic study within this area, a situation I would like to address. Coupled with this is the fact that enough has already been written on the analyses of the political, social and economic areas of this period in the Age of Enlightenment. Thus I believe it is necessary to return to traditional military history, which has long been neglected, and bring to light the successful actions of the British Army in Western Europe back into study

Balto-Slavic accentual mobility

Thomas Olander’s dissertation (2006) offers a useful introduction to the history of Balto-Slavic accentuation supported by an impressive command of the scholarly literature

Power and law in enlightened absolutism : Carl Gottlieb Svarez' theoretical and practical approach

The term Enlightened Absolutism reflects a certain tension between its two components. This tension is in a way a continuation of the dichotomy between power on one hand and law on the other. The present paper shall provide an analysis of these two concepts from the perspective of Carl Gottlieb Svarez, who, in his position as a high-ranking Prussian civil servant and legal reformist, has had unparalleled influence on the legislative history of the Prussian states towards the end of the 18th century. Working side-by-side with Johann Heinrich Casimir von Carmer, who held the post of Prussian minister of justice from 1779 to 1798, Svarez was able to make use of his talent for reforming and legislating. From 1780 to 1794 he was primarily responsible for the elaboration of the codification of the Prussian private law – the “Allgemeines Landrecht für die Preußischen Staaten” in 1794. In the present paper, Svarez’ approach to the relation between law and power shall be analysed on two different levels. Firstly, on a theoretical level, the reformist’s thoughts and reflections as laid down in his numerous works, papers and memorandums, shall be discussed. Secondly, on a practical level, the question of the extent to which he implemented his ideas in Prussian legal reality shall be explored