Books by Michal Kšiňan
Milan Rastislav Štefánik Muž, který si povídal s hvězdami, 2024
V českém prostředí je Milan Rastislav Štefánik nahlížen téměř výhradně v souvislosti s jeho podíl... more V českém prostředí je Milan Rastislav Štefánik nahlížen téměř výhradně v souvislosti s jeho podílem na vzniku Československa v roce 1918. Ve skutečnosti byl ale jeho život mnohem bohatší. V biograficky pojaté monografii se Michal Kšiňan snaží postihnout všechny aspekty Štefánikovy osobnosti. První velký Štefánikův životopis je založen na zevrubném studiu dochovaných pramenů, včetně dobového tisku, fotografií i intimních egodokumentů. Na rozdíl od většiny politiků přelomu 19. a 20. století získal M. R. Štefánik kvalitní technické vzdělání, které si následně doplnil všestranným studiem fyziky a astronomie. Díky nim mohl před první světovou válkou navštívit téměř všechny světadíly. Jako skutečný světoběžník získal ohromné zkušenosti, jež uplatnil jak během první světové války, tak především při poválečných vyjednáváních ve prospěch nově se rodícího Československa.
Autor v této souvislosti ukazuje, v čem se Štefánikovy politické názory lišily od představ Masarykových a Benešových. Oproti Benešovi byl ale Štefánik skutečně charizmatickým mužem, jenž dokázal okouzlit nejen nejvýznamnější evropské politiky, ale i jejich manželky. Vedle politických aktivit ale Kšiňan věnuje nemenší pozornost i Štefánikovu podílu na utváření se slovenské národní identity na konci 19. století, resp. v prvních desetiletích století následujícího. Stranou přitom nenechává ani Štefánikův druhý život v podobě zneužívání jeho osobnosti v ideologických střetech předválečného i poválečného Československa, jež v mnoha ohledech zatemnily jeho pravou tvář.
Bratislava: Slovart, 2021.
Kniha Milan Rastislav Štefánik – Muž, ktorý sa rozprával s hviezdami je prvá vedecká biografia te... more Kniha Milan Rastislav Štefánik – Muž, ktorý sa rozprával s hviezdami je prvá vedecká biografia tejto významnej osobnosti slovenských dejín. Historik Michal Kšiňan v nej pútavo približuje Štefánikov život na základe dlhodobého výskumu v archívoch deviatich krajín. Autor nás zavedie na pozemský raj na Tahiti, do exotického Ekvádoru, na nehostinnú Sibír, alebo do najvýznamnejších rímskych a parížskych salónov v snahe nájsť odpoveď na otázku, ako sa zrodil národný hrdina. Štefánik očaril mnohých ľudí vo svojich časoch, no stále v tom pokračuje...
This is the first scientific biography of Milan Rastislav Štefánik (1880–1919) that is focused o... more This is the first scientific biography of Milan Rastislav Štefánik (1880–1919) that is focused on analysing the process of how he became the Slovak national hero.
Although he is relatively unknown internationally, his contemporaries compared him “to Choderlos de Laclos for the use of military tactics in love affairs, to Lawrence of Arabia for vision, to Bonaparte for ambition ... and to one of apostles for conviction”. He played the key role in founding an independent Czechoslovakia in 1918 through his relentless worldwide travels during the First World War in order to create the Czechoslovak Army: he visited Serbia and Romania on the eve of invasion by the Central Powers, Russia before the February revolution, the United States after it declared war on Germany, Italy dealing with the consequences of defeat in the Caporetto battle, and again when Russia plunged into Civil War.
Several historical methods are used to analyse the aforementioned central research question of this biography such as social capital to explain his rise in French society, the charismatic leader to understand how he convinced and won over a relatively large number of people; more traditional political, military, and diplomatic history to show his contribution to the founding of Czechoslovakia, and memory studies to analyse his extraordinary popularity in Slovakia. By mapping his intriguing life, the book will be of interest to scholars in a broad range of areas including history of Central Europe, especially Czechoslovakia, international relations, social history, French society at the beginning of the 20th century and biographical research.
Personnalité hors du commun, Milan Rastislav Štefánik (1880-1919), a parcouru le monde, avant de ... more Personnalité hors du commun, Milan Rastislav Štefánik (1880-1919), a parcouru le monde, avant de devenir le héros national slovaque. Peu connu en France, qui est
pourtant sa seconde patrie, sa trajectoire n’en a pas moins impressionné ses contemporains, et continue de frapper les esprits. Dès le début du XXe siècle, avant la guerre, il se distingue dans le domaine scientifique. Son ascension politique s’accélère au cours de la Première Guerre mondiale, lorsqu’il devient l’un des dirigeants du mouvement national tchécoslovaque dont l’objectif est de créer un État tchécoslovaque après le démembrement de l’Autriche-Hongrie. Fasciné par les inventions technologiques, Štefánik s’engage dans l’aviation en tant que simple soldat et combat sur les fronts occidental et serbe. Il finira la guerre comme général à titre temporaire.
Doué d’un esprit visionnaire en sciences comme en politique, fort de ses multiples expériences, de son éloquence et surtout de son charme, il séduit dans les salons parisiens ou romains ses interlocuteurs ; il les sensibilise à la cause tchécoslovaque dont ils deviennent souvent des partisans en le mettant en contact avec des hommes politiques de premier rang. Štefánik, l’un des pères-fondateurs de la Tchécoslovaquie née en octobre 1918, meurt dans un accident d’avion en rentrant dans son pays natal, en mai 1919. Sa mort prématurée, dont les causes restent objet de polémiques, n’a fait que renforcer sa légende naissante. Cette première biographie scientifique de Štefánik procède en considérant sous plusieurs angles ce personnage excpetionnel, afin de comprendre comment s’est construit son statut de héros, et d’analyser le mythe qui l’entoure.
Commander : http://institut-etudes-slaves.fr/products-page/domaine-culturel/lhomme-qui-parlait-avec-les-etoiles/
Slovenský preklad autentických dokumentov s uvedením miesta pôvodu a uloženia dokumentu bol vydan... more Slovenský preklad autentických dokumentov s uvedením miesta pôvodu a uloženia dokumentu bol vydaný pri príležitosti 90. výročia leteckej havárie M. R. Štefánika. Dokumenty obsiahnuté v tejto edícii predstavujú celok stotridsiatich textov, listov, poznámok, sprievodných listov, telegramov, správ, cestovných príkazov, služobných rozkazov a zápisov týkajúcich sa vojenskej kariéry a vojenskej činnosti Štefánika, identifikovaných v archívoch Historickej služby francúzskeho ministerstva obrany. Dokumenty sú usporiadané chronologic-ky, prekladatelia rešpektovali ich pôvodnú formu a syntaktické a pravopisné zásahy boli robené len v prípade potreby obsahovej zrozumiteľnosti. Mnohé dokumenty sú publikované po prvý raz a sú unikátnym dokladom toho, že Štefánik bol lojálnym francúzskym občanom a vojakom, ale zároveň sa usiloval o postavenie československej armády ako symbolu a záruky národných ašpirácií Slovákov a Čechov. Obidve edície – francúzska aj slovenská – sú vybavené registrom dokumentov a fotografickou prílohou.
Výpravná publikácia venovaná jednej z najvýznamnejších postav slovenských dejín vychádza v edícii... more Výpravná publikácia venovaná jednej z najvýznamnejších postav slovenských dejín vychádza v edícii Múzeum v knihe, vďaka ktorej môže čitateľ vziať do rúk 25 vložených dokumentov a bližšie poznať život tejto osobnosti. Kniha predstavuje jednotlivé etapy Štefánikova života, jeho priatelia, lásky, profesionálny život i osloboditeľskou činnosť až po spôsoby, akými sa narábalo s jeho odkazom.
The aim of this book is to analyse the celebrations and commemorations of antifascist uprisings i... more The aim of this book is to analyse the celebrations and commemorations of antifascist uprisings in the Central Europe in the years 1945 – 1960. Specifically, we dealt with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (1943), the Warsaw Rising (1944), the Slovak National Uprising (1944) and the Prague Uprising (1945). The research of commemoration and forgetting individual uprisings can also serve as an instrument for investigation of the communist regimes as such in Czechoslovakia and Poland. In this book we focused on three types of problems: 1. the attitude of official historiography or journalism of that time to the uprisings; 2. analysis of official or unofficial memory places of uprisings; 3. celebrations of the uprisings.
Cieľom predkladanej publikácie je analyzovať oslavy a pripomínanie si protifašistických povstaní v strednej Európe v rokoch 1945 – 1960. Konkrétne sme sa venovali povstaniu vo varšavskom gete (1943), Varšavskému povstaniu (1944), Slovenskému národnému povstaniu (1944) a pražskému povstaniu (1945). Výskum pripomínania si jednotlivých povstaní a zabúdania na ne slúži aj ako nástroj na skúmanie samotných režimov v Československu a Poľsku. V knihe sme sa zamerali na tri okruhy problémov: 1. prístup oficiálnej historickej spisby či dobovej publicistiky k povstaniam; 2. analýzu oficiálnych, ale aj neoficiálnych miest pamäti povstaní; 3. oslavy povstaní.
Journal Papers by Michal Kšiňan
14-18 online encyclopedia, 2022
Slovakia has a double memory of World War I: the one of former Austro-Hungarian soldiers' sufferi... more Slovakia has a double memory of World War I: the one of former Austro-Hungarian soldiers' suffering that was more underlined in 2014 and the victorious/heroic one of the Czechoslovak legionnaires and the establishment of Czechoslovakia that was more emphasised in 2018. In the official memory, the latter is incorporated into the great narrative of the Slovak nation that culminated in 1993 with the establishment of the Slovak Republic. However, after four years of centenary commemoration, the "suffering" memory also obtained an important position in the public space. From a general point of view, the typology of events and commemorations of the centenary of World War I was no different from other countries.
Forum Historiae, 2021, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 92-109.
The collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918 led to a rupture in Central-European geopolitics and in t... more The collapse of Austria-Hungary in 1918 led to a rupture in Central-European geopolitics and in the aftermath,
having a hand in the establishment of Czechoslovakia became an important source of political capital, which
individual actors utilized to increase their influence and reputation. In this paper, we discuss two dimensions of
the memorialisation of Italian-Czechoslovak military cooperation in 1918–1919 that contributed to the creation
and stabilisation of Czechoslovakia: one pertaining to ceremonies and the formal aspects of remembrance, and
the other centred on the effects of international politics—specifically the often-turbulent Italian-Czechoslovak
relations—on commemorative practices. Italy sought to limit these ceremonies to only a military dimension,
though both countries emphasized the “glorious” aspects and persons of their military cooperation, leaving out
“unsuccessful” symbols of the time. Special attention was paid to executed Czechoslovak soldiers, who were
remembered as both heroes and martyrs at the same time.
Slovakia, vol. XLV, 2021, no. 84–85, pp. 7–26.
WEST – EAST, no. 10, 2017, pp. 104-118.
In the article the author deals with the mission of Milan Rastislav Štefánik In Russia in the yea... more In the article the author deals with the mission of Milan Rastislav Štefánik In Russia in the years 1916–1917; its main aim was to get a permission of the Russian Government to recruit Czech and Slovak prisoners of war into the emerging Czechoslovak Army in France and later also for Czechoslovak Army In Russia. During the mission, Štefánik was to collaborate with a Reichs-Member of Parliament and a president of the Czechoslovak National Council Josef Dürich. However, he got into arguments with him soon, because Dürich got under an influence of the
Russian Government what was in contrary with the principles of the Czechoslovak National Council: this body stressed its own independence. In the end, it was mainly the February Revolution In Russia (1917), which tipped the balance in Štefánik´s favour. It’s understandable that it was not an argument of two persons only but
whole groups. In the article, it is in detail described, how Štefánik made use of his social capital in order to discredit persons from the Dürich´s environment; in this respect, he was relatively successful. In this argument, he could lean on the General Maurice Janin, the chief of the French military mission In Russia, but also on French diplomats, Czech and Slovak collaborators or Russian military representatives. In the article the author deals with common practices used to discredit one´s political adversaries.
Slovak Studies 1-2/2017, s. 161-181.
Buletin AFTS, août 2018/2, p.
Michal Kšiňan : Premeny a vývoj Štefánikovho svetonázoru. In Forum Historiae, 2015, roč. 9, č. 1. ISSN 1337-6861.
he author is using the personality of Milan Rastislav Štefánik to show how secular ideas permeate... more he author is using the personality of Milan Rastislav Štefánik to show how secular ideas permeated into Slovak society at the turn of 19th century. Štefánik came from a family of an evangelic priest and until his university studies in Prague, he was a devout believer. However, in the Czech metropolis, he met new modern views on faith and religion which were in stark contrast with his traditional perception of the role of the Church and creed. An important turning point stemmed from this and he decided to devote himself to science and astronomy. It also provoked a serious dispute with his father. But one cannot say that his world-view was definitely formed at the time. In fact, he got into a state of permanent development, being strongly influenced by the French environment where he was living after having finished his studies in Prague. He inclined to positivism, which was then popular in science at that time, nevertheless he did not renounce his faith in God or metaphysics.
Matériaux pour l’histoire de notre temps. N° 113-114, 2014, p. 15-24.
La mémoire de la Grande Guerre en ex-Tchécoslovaquie n’est
pas univoque et dépend, selon les pér... more La mémoire de la Grande Guerre en ex-Tchécoslovaquie n’est
pas univoque et dépend, selon les périodes, de considérations
ethniques et idéologiques. Les auteurs montrent en analysant
cinq thèmes (les mémoriaux de guerre, les cimetières militaires,
le cinéma, le roman, les clubs d’histoire) que la Première
Guerre ne s’est pas constituée en point d’ancrage de la mémoire
tchécoslovaque de ces trente dernières années. La mémoire de
la Grande Guerre est devenue de plus en plus l’affaire des amateurs
et des membres de clubs d’histoire. C’est plutôt le centenaire
de son déclenchement qui polarise l’attention d’un large
public.
In former Czechoslovakia, the memory of the Wold War I is
not unequivocal and depends on ethnical and ideological
understanding. The authors are demonstrating in five
examples (war memorials, military cemeteries, cinematography,
fiction, and military history clubs) that the World
War I was not in the spotlight in former Czechoslovakia
during the last three decades. The memory of the World War
has been becoming, more and more, a matter of amateurs,
members of the military history clubs; it is rather the 100th
anniversary of the outbreak of the World War I which
attracts the attention of the large public.
Kšiňan, Michal. Politika vs. história ? : diskusie v slovenskej historiografii (Politics versus History ?: Discussions in Slovak Historiography). Historický časopis, 62, 2014/1, p. 91-113.
The study analyses historiographic discussions about themes which attract a lot of interest in th... more The study analyses historiographic discussions about themes which attract a lot of interest in the wider Slovak society. It is especially concerned with the use of the term “Old Slovaks”, the Act Honouring A. Hlinka and various so-called acts on memory. It points to gaps in argumentation, when historians did not use the same arguments in relation to similar problems. Although freedom of speech was frequently mentioned in relation to the Act Honouring A. Hlinka, it was forgotten or less strongly emphasized in the case of other similar legislation, some of it repressive. Similarly, use of the term “Old Slovaks” for the 10th century was said to show eternalization and premordialism, but this argument was not heard, when the term “Slovak” was used for the 12th century. The author explains this by the long-term polarization in Slovak historiography between the “main stream” and “nationally oriented” historians, which appears especially in public polemics concerned with national history. Although mainly younger historians are striving to get away from this bipolar division, their positions in public discussions give it more confirmation. In conclusion, he formulates the view that there is a difference between the political and scientific statements of historians, which could be useful in similar discussions.
Buletin AFTS, November 2013/6, p. 2-10
Kšiňan, Michal. “Jedinec v spoločnosti. Úvaha o biografickom prístupe na príklade M. R. Štefánika (An Individual in the Society. Reflection about Biographical Approach on the Example of M. R. Štefánik).” Forum historiae 4, on-line revue, 2010/1, 14 p.
The author deals with the methodology of biographical genre what is an absolutely ignored theme i... more The author deals with the methodology of biographical genre what is an absolutely ignored theme in Slovakia. He tries to answer the question in what way is the performance of an individual socially conditioned. His article is based on an analysis of the book of Lucien Febvre Le problème de l´incroyance au 16e siècle, La religion de Rabelais; the Pierre Bourdieu's article L´illusion Biographique; the book Saint Louis by Jacques le Goff; as well as methodology of approach of Jean Lacouture's. Then author analyses a specific case – how the home environment influenced development of political views of M. R. Štefánik which can be considered rather conservative. Štefánik's attitude to democracy was to a big extent determined by his home environment what means that it did not depend on his autonomous decision only. In the end of his article, the author points out to the ambiguous attitude of Štefánik's collaborators from the Czecho–Slovak resistance as for his cult. On the one hand they strongly supported it but on the other they conducted a whispering campaign against him and as a matter of fact, in favour of themselves.
Kšiňan, Michal. “Sloboda pre históriu alebo história pre slobodu? (Freedom for History or History for Freedom?)” Forum historiae, on-line revue, fórum, 2009, 15 p.
Uploads
Books by Michal Kšiňan
Autor v této souvislosti ukazuje, v čem se Štefánikovy politické názory lišily od představ Masarykových a Benešových. Oproti Benešovi byl ale Štefánik skutečně charizmatickým mužem, jenž dokázal okouzlit nejen nejvýznamnější evropské politiky, ale i jejich manželky. Vedle politických aktivit ale Kšiňan věnuje nemenší pozornost i Štefánikovu podílu na utváření se slovenské národní identity na konci 19. století, resp. v prvních desetiletích století následujícího. Stranou přitom nenechává ani Štefánikův druhý život v podobě zneužívání jeho osobnosti v ideologických střetech předválečného i poválečného Československa, jež v mnoha ohledech zatemnily jeho pravou tvář.
Although he is relatively unknown internationally, his contemporaries compared him “to Choderlos de Laclos for the use of military tactics in love affairs, to Lawrence of Arabia for vision, to Bonaparte for ambition ... and to one of apostles for conviction”. He played the key role in founding an independent Czechoslovakia in 1918 through his relentless worldwide travels during the First World War in order to create the Czechoslovak Army: he visited Serbia and Romania on the eve of invasion by the Central Powers, Russia before the February revolution, the United States after it declared war on Germany, Italy dealing with the consequences of defeat in the Caporetto battle, and again when Russia plunged into Civil War.
Several historical methods are used to analyse the aforementioned central research question of this biography such as social capital to explain his rise in French society, the charismatic leader to understand how he convinced and won over a relatively large number of people; more traditional political, military, and diplomatic history to show his contribution to the founding of Czechoslovakia, and memory studies to analyse his extraordinary popularity in Slovakia. By mapping his intriguing life, the book will be of interest to scholars in a broad range of areas including history of Central Europe, especially Czechoslovakia, international relations, social history, French society at the beginning of the 20th century and biographical research.
pourtant sa seconde patrie, sa trajectoire n’en a pas moins impressionné ses contemporains, et continue de frapper les esprits. Dès le début du XXe siècle, avant la guerre, il se distingue dans le domaine scientifique. Son ascension politique s’accélère au cours de la Première Guerre mondiale, lorsqu’il devient l’un des dirigeants du mouvement national tchécoslovaque dont l’objectif est de créer un État tchécoslovaque après le démembrement de l’Autriche-Hongrie. Fasciné par les inventions technologiques, Štefánik s’engage dans l’aviation en tant que simple soldat et combat sur les fronts occidental et serbe. Il finira la guerre comme général à titre temporaire.
Doué d’un esprit visionnaire en sciences comme en politique, fort de ses multiples expériences, de son éloquence et surtout de son charme, il séduit dans les salons parisiens ou romains ses interlocuteurs ; il les sensibilise à la cause tchécoslovaque dont ils deviennent souvent des partisans en le mettant en contact avec des hommes politiques de premier rang. Štefánik, l’un des pères-fondateurs de la Tchécoslovaquie née en octobre 1918, meurt dans un accident d’avion en rentrant dans son pays natal, en mai 1919. Sa mort prématurée, dont les causes restent objet de polémiques, n’a fait que renforcer sa légende naissante. Cette première biographie scientifique de Štefánik procède en considérant sous plusieurs angles ce personnage excpetionnel, afin de comprendre comment s’est construit son statut de héros, et d’analyser le mythe qui l’entoure.
Commander : http://institut-etudes-slaves.fr/products-page/domaine-culturel/lhomme-qui-parlait-avec-les-etoiles/
Cieľom predkladanej publikácie je analyzovať oslavy a pripomínanie si protifašistických povstaní v strednej Európe v rokoch 1945 – 1960. Konkrétne sme sa venovali povstaniu vo varšavskom gete (1943), Varšavskému povstaniu (1944), Slovenskému národnému povstaniu (1944) a pražskému povstaniu (1945). Výskum pripomínania si jednotlivých povstaní a zabúdania na ne slúži aj ako nástroj na skúmanie samotných režimov v Československu a Poľsku. V knihe sme sa zamerali na tri okruhy problémov: 1. prístup oficiálnej historickej spisby či dobovej publicistiky k povstaniam; 2. analýzu oficiálnych, ale aj neoficiálnych miest pamäti povstaní; 3. oslavy povstaní.
Journal Papers by Michal Kšiňan
having a hand in the establishment of Czechoslovakia became an important source of political capital, which
individual actors utilized to increase their influence and reputation. In this paper, we discuss two dimensions of
the memorialisation of Italian-Czechoslovak military cooperation in 1918–1919 that contributed to the creation
and stabilisation of Czechoslovakia: one pertaining to ceremonies and the formal aspects of remembrance, and
the other centred on the effects of international politics—specifically the often-turbulent Italian-Czechoslovak
relations—on commemorative practices. Italy sought to limit these ceremonies to only a military dimension,
though both countries emphasized the “glorious” aspects and persons of their military cooperation, leaving out
“unsuccessful” symbols of the time. Special attention was paid to executed Czechoslovak soldiers, who were
remembered as both heroes and martyrs at the same time.
Russian Government what was in contrary with the principles of the Czechoslovak National Council: this body stressed its own independence. In the end, it was mainly the February Revolution In Russia (1917), which tipped the balance in Štefánik´s favour. It’s understandable that it was not an argument of two persons only but
whole groups. In the article, it is in detail described, how Štefánik made use of his social capital in order to discredit persons from the Dürich´s environment; in this respect, he was relatively successful. In this argument, he could lean on the General Maurice Janin, the chief of the French military mission In Russia, but also on French diplomats, Czech and Slovak collaborators or Russian military representatives. In the article the author deals with common practices used to discredit one´s political adversaries.
pas univoque et dépend, selon les périodes, de considérations
ethniques et idéologiques. Les auteurs montrent en analysant
cinq thèmes (les mémoriaux de guerre, les cimetières militaires,
le cinéma, le roman, les clubs d’histoire) que la Première
Guerre ne s’est pas constituée en point d’ancrage de la mémoire
tchécoslovaque de ces trente dernières années. La mémoire de
la Grande Guerre est devenue de plus en plus l’affaire des amateurs
et des membres de clubs d’histoire. C’est plutôt le centenaire
de son déclenchement qui polarise l’attention d’un large
public.
In former Czechoslovakia, the memory of the Wold War I is
not unequivocal and depends on ethnical and ideological
understanding. The authors are demonstrating in five
examples (war memorials, military cemeteries, cinematography,
fiction, and military history clubs) that the World
War I was not in the spotlight in former Czechoslovakia
during the last three decades. The memory of the World War
has been becoming, more and more, a matter of amateurs,
members of the military history clubs; it is rather the 100th
anniversary of the outbreak of the World War I which
attracts the attention of the large public.
Autor v této souvislosti ukazuje, v čem se Štefánikovy politické názory lišily od představ Masarykových a Benešových. Oproti Benešovi byl ale Štefánik skutečně charizmatickým mužem, jenž dokázal okouzlit nejen nejvýznamnější evropské politiky, ale i jejich manželky. Vedle politických aktivit ale Kšiňan věnuje nemenší pozornost i Štefánikovu podílu na utváření se slovenské národní identity na konci 19. století, resp. v prvních desetiletích století následujícího. Stranou přitom nenechává ani Štefánikův druhý život v podobě zneužívání jeho osobnosti v ideologických střetech předválečného i poválečného Československa, jež v mnoha ohledech zatemnily jeho pravou tvář.
Although he is relatively unknown internationally, his contemporaries compared him “to Choderlos de Laclos for the use of military tactics in love affairs, to Lawrence of Arabia for vision, to Bonaparte for ambition ... and to one of apostles for conviction”. He played the key role in founding an independent Czechoslovakia in 1918 through his relentless worldwide travels during the First World War in order to create the Czechoslovak Army: he visited Serbia and Romania on the eve of invasion by the Central Powers, Russia before the February revolution, the United States after it declared war on Germany, Italy dealing with the consequences of defeat in the Caporetto battle, and again when Russia plunged into Civil War.
Several historical methods are used to analyse the aforementioned central research question of this biography such as social capital to explain his rise in French society, the charismatic leader to understand how he convinced and won over a relatively large number of people; more traditional political, military, and diplomatic history to show his contribution to the founding of Czechoslovakia, and memory studies to analyse his extraordinary popularity in Slovakia. By mapping his intriguing life, the book will be of interest to scholars in a broad range of areas including history of Central Europe, especially Czechoslovakia, international relations, social history, French society at the beginning of the 20th century and biographical research.
pourtant sa seconde patrie, sa trajectoire n’en a pas moins impressionné ses contemporains, et continue de frapper les esprits. Dès le début du XXe siècle, avant la guerre, il se distingue dans le domaine scientifique. Son ascension politique s’accélère au cours de la Première Guerre mondiale, lorsqu’il devient l’un des dirigeants du mouvement national tchécoslovaque dont l’objectif est de créer un État tchécoslovaque après le démembrement de l’Autriche-Hongrie. Fasciné par les inventions technologiques, Štefánik s’engage dans l’aviation en tant que simple soldat et combat sur les fronts occidental et serbe. Il finira la guerre comme général à titre temporaire.
Doué d’un esprit visionnaire en sciences comme en politique, fort de ses multiples expériences, de son éloquence et surtout de son charme, il séduit dans les salons parisiens ou romains ses interlocuteurs ; il les sensibilise à la cause tchécoslovaque dont ils deviennent souvent des partisans en le mettant en contact avec des hommes politiques de premier rang. Štefánik, l’un des pères-fondateurs de la Tchécoslovaquie née en octobre 1918, meurt dans un accident d’avion en rentrant dans son pays natal, en mai 1919. Sa mort prématurée, dont les causes restent objet de polémiques, n’a fait que renforcer sa légende naissante. Cette première biographie scientifique de Štefánik procède en considérant sous plusieurs angles ce personnage excpetionnel, afin de comprendre comment s’est construit son statut de héros, et d’analyser le mythe qui l’entoure.
Commander : http://institut-etudes-slaves.fr/products-page/domaine-culturel/lhomme-qui-parlait-avec-les-etoiles/
Cieľom predkladanej publikácie je analyzovať oslavy a pripomínanie si protifašistických povstaní v strednej Európe v rokoch 1945 – 1960. Konkrétne sme sa venovali povstaniu vo varšavskom gete (1943), Varšavskému povstaniu (1944), Slovenskému národnému povstaniu (1944) a pražskému povstaniu (1945). Výskum pripomínania si jednotlivých povstaní a zabúdania na ne slúži aj ako nástroj na skúmanie samotných režimov v Československu a Poľsku. V knihe sme sa zamerali na tri okruhy problémov: 1. prístup oficiálnej historickej spisby či dobovej publicistiky k povstaniam; 2. analýzu oficiálnych, ale aj neoficiálnych miest pamäti povstaní; 3. oslavy povstaní.
having a hand in the establishment of Czechoslovakia became an important source of political capital, which
individual actors utilized to increase their influence and reputation. In this paper, we discuss two dimensions of
the memorialisation of Italian-Czechoslovak military cooperation in 1918–1919 that contributed to the creation
and stabilisation of Czechoslovakia: one pertaining to ceremonies and the formal aspects of remembrance, and
the other centred on the effects of international politics—specifically the often-turbulent Italian-Czechoslovak
relations—on commemorative practices. Italy sought to limit these ceremonies to only a military dimension,
though both countries emphasized the “glorious” aspects and persons of their military cooperation, leaving out
“unsuccessful” symbols of the time. Special attention was paid to executed Czechoslovak soldiers, who were
remembered as both heroes and martyrs at the same time.
Russian Government what was in contrary with the principles of the Czechoslovak National Council: this body stressed its own independence. In the end, it was mainly the February Revolution In Russia (1917), which tipped the balance in Štefánik´s favour. It’s understandable that it was not an argument of two persons only but
whole groups. In the article, it is in detail described, how Štefánik made use of his social capital in order to discredit persons from the Dürich´s environment; in this respect, he was relatively successful. In this argument, he could lean on the General Maurice Janin, the chief of the French military mission In Russia, but also on French diplomats, Czech and Slovak collaborators or Russian military representatives. In the article the author deals with common practices used to discredit one´s political adversaries.
pas univoque et dépend, selon les périodes, de considérations
ethniques et idéologiques. Les auteurs montrent en analysant
cinq thèmes (les mémoriaux de guerre, les cimetières militaires,
le cinéma, le roman, les clubs d’histoire) que la Première
Guerre ne s’est pas constituée en point d’ancrage de la mémoire
tchécoslovaque de ces trente dernières années. La mémoire de
la Grande Guerre est devenue de plus en plus l’affaire des amateurs
et des membres de clubs d’histoire. C’est plutôt le centenaire
de son déclenchement qui polarise l’attention d’un large
public.
In former Czechoslovakia, the memory of the Wold War I is
not unequivocal and depends on ethnical and ideological
understanding. The authors are demonstrating in five
examples (war memorials, military cemeteries, cinematography,
fiction, and military history clubs) that the World
War I was not in the spotlight in former Czechoslovakia
during the last three decades. The memory of the World War
has been becoming, more and more, a matter of amateurs,
members of the military history clubs; it is rather the 100th
anniversary of the outbreak of the World War I which
attracts the attention of the large public.
Štefánik’s death is the most discussed matter in connection with his person. However, the question is no longer how did Štefánik die but what are the uses and misuses of the explanation of his death? There are two main visions of Štefánik’s death: Slovak and Czechoslovak. The Czechoslovak interpretation argues that Štefánik’s death was an accident by stressing the sincere friendship of two “icons” of the first Republic, Beneš and Masaryk, with Štefánik. In this way, this interpretation can be used as a symbolical proof of the perfect relationship between Czechs and Slovaks. According to the Slovak interpretation, the disagreements of both Beneš and Masaryk with Štefánik led to Štefánik’s murder. In contrast, the Slovak interpretation of Štefánik’s death is used as a negative identification mark towards the Czechs, since the Czechs “assassinated” him. Analyses of presentations of Štefánik’s death could help us to understand challenges of the creation of Slovak and Czechoslovak identities. Štefánik’s death was not used only for these two mentioned conceptions although they are the most widespread. His death also became a kind of arm used to attack political opponents.
http://forumhistoriae.sk/en/archiv
In historiography, there are exceedingly contradictory evaluations of the "long 19th century" with regard to the development of religiosity, the relationship between the state and the churches as well as mutual relations between individual religious communities. Was it the most ecclesiastical century or did the French Revolution began an unstoppable process of retreat of religion from the "theatre" of history? Can we agree with the opinion that the 19th century brought about the onset of the second confessionalisation in Europe? Forcing religion from the public sphere and complicating its relationship with the state triggered more vigorous activity from the religious elite, the innovation of pastoral forms, the use of new media and a relatively successful restoration of ecclesiastical discipline. On the other hand, throughout this "more than one hundred years long century", while shaping the collective as well as personal identity, a relativisation of the confessional principle at the expense of the ethnic or civil state occurred.
Od napoleonských vojen po druhú svetovú vojnu
Vo Francúzsku od roku 2014 v historiografii dominuje pripomínanie si storočnice prvej svetovej vojny. V roku 2017 sa francúzski, slovenskí a českí historici rozhodli, že sa na svojom pravidelnom stretnutí, ktoré sa tohto roku koná v Bratislave za účasti historikov z Poľska a Maďarska, zamyslia nad jej ukončením. A tiež nad ukončením iných vojen, ktoré pustošili strednú Európu od čias Napoleona Bonaparta až po koniec druhej svetovej vojny. Prominentní francúzski historici, univerzitní profesori Antoine Marès, Marie Pierre Rey, Robert Frank, Stéphane Audoin-Rouzeau a Étienne Boisserie sa s nami podelia o výsledky svojich výskumov na túto tému.
I keď sa podpísanie prímeria často považuje za koniec vojny, novšie výskumy obdobia, ktoré po nej bezprostredne nasleduje, svedčia o priepustnosti hraníc medzi vojnou a mierom. Ukončiť vojnu neznamená len zastaviť vojenské operácie. Spoločnosť sa zväčša tak zaangažovala do vojnového úsilia, že nebolo možné okamžite ho zastaviť. Bolo potrebné vyrovnať sa so zármutkom zo straty blízkych, postarať sa o invalidov a siroty, zastaviť vojenskú propagandu, v prípade dlhých vojen rekonvertovať hospodárstvo, atď. Stredoeurópsky i francúzsky priestor za posledných dvesto rokov prešiel týmto procesom viackrát. Cieľom našej konferencie je analyzovať tieto prechodné obdobia a zistiť dopad týchto „tranzícií“ na individuálnej aj spoločenskej úrovni. Bude potrebné brať na zreteľ zmenu spoločenských a intelektuálnych paradigiem, ktoré v týchto spoločnostiach spôsobila nedávno ukončená vojna.
Konferencia sa bude konať 18. a 19. mája 2017 v budove Univerzity Komenského na Šafárikovom nám. 6, v Auditóriu maximum. Budete na nej všetci vítaní.
In: Forum historiae : odborný internetový časopis pre históriu a príbuzné spoločenské vedy, 2018, roč. 12, č. 2, s. 50-73. ISSN 1337-6861
This article is an introduction to the thematic issue of Forum historiae 2/2018 dedicated to the subject of exiting wars in France and Central European countries in 19th and 20th centuries. In addition to introducing the main research questions and hypotheses, which the authors of the issue worked with, and to the outline of their main conclusions, the editors also provide a brief comparison of exiting wars in East-Central Europe in 20th Century.
Key words: Exiting wars, France, East-Central Europe, World War I, World War II, Napoleonic wars
Panel Discussion in Budapest mid October 2021
on invitatin of Gabor Egry/ERC Nepostrans, with Rok Stergar, and Mihal Ksinan