VIEW OVER THE BALKAN PENINSULA
Thessaly in Medieval Bulgarian History
Absract. The article examines the Bulgarian political and ethnic presence in Thessaly during the Middle Ages. Thessaly is part of the early medieval Bulgarian Tsardom for short periods yet this helps to establish Bulgarian ethnic consciousness among part of Slavic population in the area. There are data in various sources for Bulgarians in Thessaly in
the 11th – 15th centuries, who participate in local riots and internecine struggles.
Keywords: Thessaly; Bulgarian tsardom; tsar Simeon; tsar Samuil; Larissa
Dr. Tervel Popov
Sofia University
The Balkan Policy of “Hôtel Lambert” and the Establishment of the Eastern Agency in Istanbul (1831 – 1842)
Absract. The article dwells into the ideological development and evolution of the Balkan policies of Adam Czartoryski’s Hôtel Lambert – one of the Polish political camps in exile, represented by the conservative-liberal and monarchic ideas. The geopolitical changes in Europe at the end of 1830’s forced Czartoryski and his émigré camp in Paris to shift their political concepts. As a culmination of that new course, Hôtel Lambert established a permanent Eastern Agency in the Ottoman capital, which was headed by the Polish agent Michał Czajkowski. And it is no coincidence, since after the second Ottoman-Egyptian Crisis the East was no doubtfully established as a focal geopolitical point.
Keywords: Hôtel Lambert; Balkan Policy; Eastern Agency; French Policy; Ottoman Empire; Adam Czartoryski; Michał Czajkowski; Polish agents
Dr. Aleksandar Zlatanov
Sofia University
The Ottoman Heritage over the Street Names in Plovdiv from the Liberation to the Present Day
Absract.This work traces the Ottoman urban toponymy and Turkish language influence over the street names in Plovdiv. This heritage is evident from the all periods of the contemporary Bulgarian history till the present. The Turkish local names are widely accepted in contemporary Bulgarian language and space mentality.
Keywords: Ottoman heritage; Street names; Plovdiv; toponymy
Dr. Vidin Sukarev
Plovdiv Regional Historical Museum
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
DISCUSSIONS
Resume and Perspective of the Research on the Collective Profile of the Victims of the Katyn Massacre
Absract. The article describes the community of victims of the Katyn massacre, executed pursuant to the decision of the BP KC WKP (b) of 5 March 1940 The camp list was dominated by military and police officers and the prisons list was mostly civilian prisoners. The most important elaborations of the collective lists of victims were presented and also selected parts of the community were described, among others, in terms of profession or origin from a specific area of Poland. The author presented the state of research regarding the national composition of the community, and after having compared the information with Soviet documents, presented his view of the problem. The article emphasized that most of the victims of the 1940 murders were officers of the Polish Army and officers of the State Police and members of smaller uniformed formations. The fact that they belonged to these groups was determined as sufficient criterion qualifying them for extermination. The author provided statistics on the number of victims from individual uniformed formations and put forward the demand for further research regarding the various groups of those killed. Finally, he outlined a group portrait of the victims of the 1940 crimes, in terms of the most important criteria from the point of view of the Soviet authorities and historical sociology. In conclusion, it was found that the collective profile of the victims of the Katyn massacre were strongly defined by two distinctive features: service to the Polish state and attachment to Polish character.
Keywords: Historical sociology; World War II; Katyn massacre; victims of the Katyn massacre; Poland; Polish Army; Polish police
Dr. Witold Wasilewski
Institute of National Remembrance
Warsaw, Poland
CIVILIZATION BOUNDARIES
Image of the Other in Teaching History: Humanistic Potential of the Intersubjective Approach
Abstract. Understanding the socio-cultural significance of the experience of the past in solving the problems of the present causes a growing interest in historical education and focuses on finding effective methodological approaches to translating knowledge about the past through education. One such approach is an intersubjective approach. The paper deals with the humanistic potential of an intersubjective approach to understanding the Other and fostering the ability to compromise through historical education. A well-considered attitude towards the Other, an inner interest and understanding of the significance of the other presence implies that in the social deprivation of hostility, the inadmissibility of domination and oppression in my Self of the world of the Other Being will be deprived. Both are understood as correlates of intersubjective constitution of reality. In dialogue interaction Otherness is not subordinated, it is assigned to my Self, it remains an “insoluble” individuality. Content analysis of history books of Ukraine has shown that they are conceptually sustained, lacking stereotyped and impartial assessments of the racial, ethnic, cultural nature of the Other. However, ambiguous historical events involving different peoples and states are not alternatively presented. The narrative in the textbook undoubtedly should be the Ukrainian ethnic group as the core of national history. At the same time, using the anthropological and territorial principles as the core of the story, the textbook should strive for Ukraine to be perceived as space where other ethnic communities whose existence is an integral part of Ukrainian history reside alongside Ukrainians. Relevant in overcoming the false image of historical education is the development of the ability to think critically about historical facts, to give them their own judgment. Understanding of the historical process from the point of view of an intersubjective approach will contribute to the formation of a person’s tendency to cultural tolerance, tolerance and dialogue with the Other, the realization that the Other is also entitled to a mistake or his own ratio, the ability to see the world in all its diversity and uniqueness.
Keywords: the Other; intersubjective approach; historical education; tolerance; critical thinking; dialogue; humanistic potential
Svitlana Hanaba
National Academy of the State Border Guard Service Named
after Bohdan Khmelnytskyi (Ukraine)
