Introduction. The article examines the slowdown in cooperation and subsequent crisis in Soviet-Hungarian trade and economic relations in the 1980s. Materials and Methods. The study is based on interdisciplinary approaches, integrating economics and political history. The historicism principle stipulates the reference to various sources (historical research, statistical materials, statements and speeches by party and government leaders, analytical materials from the Institute of Economic Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences, and archival documents relating to negotiations between party leaders and academic circles in the Hungarian People’s Republic and the USSR in the second half of the 1980s). Analysis. The article analyzes the role of Hungary in the international socialist division of labor in the 1970s and 1980s, which was initially beneficial for the country. The influence of economic reforms and the construction of market socialism on economic relations of Hungary with other Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (CMEA) member countries is examined. The article concludes that participation of Hungary in the international socialist division of labor in the 1970s had a positive impact, resulting in a significant increase in the well-being of the Hungarian population. At the same time, the article analyzes the growth of Hungarian imports from developed capitalist countries, which led to significant dependence of the country on Western financial institutions in the 1980s. It also cites materials from negotiations between Hungarian party and economic delegations at the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Institute of Economic Studies of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the possibility of enhancing trade and economic relations with the USSR. Results. According to the author, the slowdown and decline of trade and economic relations between Hungary and the USSR were influenced by such factors as the absence of a socialist market, the outdated pricing mechanism within CMEA, and the growing role of hydrocarbon exports in Soviet international trade. The relevance of the study is due to the possibility of using historical experience to develop a strategy for cooperation between Russia and other states within the Eurasian Economic Community (EAEC) and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).
Introduction. In 1293, the “Statutes of Justice” were adopted in Florence, a semblance of a democratic constitution that legitimized the predominance of the popolani – simple artisans and merchants – in governing the city-state. This political regime essentially persisted until the end of 1532, when the Republic of Florence ceased to exist as an independent state. Despite wide access to government posts, the people who came to power did not achieve social unity, dividing themselves into the poor – the “lean people” – and the rich – the “fat people”. Materials and Methods. The article is written using traditional historical research methods. The analysis shows that three generations of the Medici family, descended from the popolani strata, although they introduced certain elements of oligarchic rule into the society of the city-state, especially noticeable under Lorenzo de’ Medici, nevertheless did not overthrow or dismantle the republican system. It was destroyed by foreign troops. Results. The study concluded that by the end of the 14th century, Florence was a republic with clear signs of a democratic structure.
Introduction. The history of the peoples of the Balkan Peninsula still occupies a central place in global and domestic historiography. The rise of nationalism among “small” peoples in the region, coupled with the political ambitions of the great powers, led Europe to catastrophe in 1914. The mechanisms used by Austria-Hungary, Russia, Germany, Great Britain, France, and Italy to strengthen their positions in the Balkans continue to be of significant research interest today. Particular attention is paid in this regard to the recognition by European political leaders of the importance of combining military-strategic and economic approaches to consolidate their influence in the Balkans. Austria-Hungary was one of the first to understand the importance of intensifying foreign economic ties with the states of the region, including Serbia, whose ambitions posed a threat to the stability of the Habsburg Empire. Materials and Methods. The primary historical source is the reports of Russian diplomats serving in the embassies and consulates of Serbia and Austria-Hungary. The author utilizes historical-genetic, historical comparative, and historical-typological methods, as well as economic history approaches. Analysis. At the turn of the 20th century, Austria-Hungary, using the terms of the 1881 trade agreement with Serbia, controlled most of its foreign economic relations. Germany and other European states, particularly Russia, were significantly inferior to the Habsburg Empire in this regard. The Austro-Hungarian monarchy repeatedly used restrictions on Serbian exports to achieve its own objectives. On the one hand, this factor was explained by the desire of Hungarian farmers to limit the position of Serbian competitors in the empire’s domestic market, and on the other, it was explained by the desire to exert pressure on Belgrade in the event of disputes. This factor forced Serbia to address the issue of diversifying its own exports and developing its processing industry. Results. Austria-Hungary experience in developing economic ties with Serbia demonstrates the importance of this process for ensuring more stable political relations between Vienna and Belgrade. However, this arrangement only had long-term prospects when cooperation between the partners was based on mutual benefit, something that Austria-Hungary and Serbia periodically encountered problems with.
Introduction. During the First World War, Swiss multicultural society was polarized between supporters of the Central Powers and supporters of the Entente. In the final stages of the “Great War,” the need to engage citizens in political decision-making emerged. In particular, the referendum on Switzerland’s membership in the League of Nations, held in May 1920, is worth noting. The press served as one of the institutions that engaged the Swiss in political processes. The disintegration processes that unfolded in the Central European empires in the final year of the First World War acted as a catalyst for foreign policy activity and the domestic political unity of the Swiss Confederation as a republic. Materials and Methods. The study is based on periodicals published in Switzerland in 1918. Newspapers representing German-speaking liberals (Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Der Bund), French-speaking socialists (La Sentinelle), and independents (L’Impartial) were selected using a retrospective method. A discourse analysis of texts from daily Swiss newspapers, applied alongside a historical-typological method, enabled an analysis of the system of stimulating political activity among the Swiss. The nature of the sources justified the use of a comparative method. The political spectrum under consideration allowed for the identification of the specific methods of including various social groups in the decision-making process. Karl Deutsch’s communication theory served as the paradigm of the study. Within its framework, the authors consider the press as one of the institutions used by Swiss society to come up with political decisions regarding the structure of Switzerland in particular and Europe as a whole during the final stages of the First World War. Analysis. The upheavals that occurred during the final stages of the “Great War” forced publishers of the widely distributed press to define the role of various political subjects – citizens and classes – in the emerging post-war order. In early 1918, the central issue shaping public discourse was the right of nations to self-determination. In the summer and autumn of 1918, the food crisis in Austria-Hungary was in the focus of the Swiss newspapers. The proclamations of new-founded national states in October-November 1918 – Czechoslovakia, the State of the Slovenes, Croats and Serbs, Hungary, and German Austria – were followed by the refusal of Emperor-King Charles I (IV) to participate in the affairs of state in Austria (November 11) and Hungary (November 13). Under these circumstances, Swiss society had to formulate a position regarding the dissolution of Austria-Hungary and the nation-states emerging from the fragments of the Habsburg monarchy and to redefine its own place in changing European politics. Results. The study demonstrates the role of the press in the nation-building processes that unfolded in Europe at the beginning of the 20th century.
Introduction. The article is devoted to the history of the development of theatre criticism in the North Caucasus. One of the main sources of theatre criticism in the North Caucasus province is the local periodical press. The author has analyzed articles on theatre activities in the North Caucasus published in regional newspapers. The research period covers the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, which is due to the founding of the first newspaper in the North Caucasus (1850) and the beginning of the revolutionary events (1917). Materials and methods. The study is based on of objectivity and historicism principles, using the methods of traditional historical research: the retrospective, the chronological and the comparative historical ones. The newspapers of the North Caucasus, which paid attention to the theatrical issue in every issue, were the main source for the study of theater criticism in the North Caucasus. Analysis. The author analyzed articles on theatrical activities in the North Caucasus published in regional newspapers. The analysis showed that with the advent of the periodical press, theatrical criticism originated and developed in the North Caucasus. The reviews of the theater on the newspaper pages were, on the one hand, the end product of a theatrical production, on the other hand, they were a powerful impetus to the development of theatrical business in the city. Thanks to theater criticism, today there is an opportunity to find out what the creators of the plays wanted to put into their work, how the audience perceived them, thereby analyzing the socio-cultural space of the city of that era. Results. Based on the results of the conducted research, it can be concluded that the emergence of theatre criticism in the provinces occurred precisely on the pages of the periodical press.
