To assess the impact the church had in the GDR this article will argue that people’s reaction to ... more To assess the impact the church had in the GDR this article will argue that people’s reaction to the state correlated to the impact of the Church. It will try to illustrate why the Church failed to impact the majority in the first two decades of the GDR; partly due to the social costs of non-compliance and flexibility within the communist party but why it still played an important role for non-conformists. After 1971 the impact of the church was felt more wide-scale. Under a ‘totalitarian’ party the church retained its autonomy and could employ 4,000 clergymen and 15,000 administrators, teachers and social workers. The church’s compromise with the state gave it a legitimate public space and many found themselves regularly at the doors of the church for personal entertainment, access to information and political discussions.
The commercialization of culture paved the way for the increasingly literate masses to engage wit... more The commercialization of culture paved the way for the increasingly literate masses to engage with, and influence, mass-produced products. Yet, there is much debate on the concrete impact this had in the demise of Nicholas II. The unreformed bureaucracy, the Tsar’s weakness as a ruler and the First World War are seen as major factors in his downfall , while others have shifted the focus to the role of ‘popular’ culture and its influential impact on the social and political order. This paper focuses on the changing nature of society, cultural organizations and the ‘pluralistic reading culture’ to assess how it undermined traditional forms of identity.
This dissertation aims to look at the how far Moldovans identified themselves nationally in order... more This dissertation aims to look at the how far Moldovans identified themselves nationally in order to explore how far Bessarabia’s place in Greater Romania was completely artificial. Primary sources used in the analysis were consulted from the University College London SSEES library, the University of Babes Bolyai (Cluj-Napoca) library and electric versions of primary sources were found on dacoromania.net and some were kindly sent to me by Professor Oleg Gromescu at the University Of Moldova. These texts were translated from Romanian/Moldovan into English. The imagined, fragmented or actual identity that came from Bessarabia will be assessed using Miroslav Hroch’s model of preconditions of national movements. He identifies three key phases that occur in the formation of a nationalist identity which will be discussed in further detail below. While Bessarabia did not have a ‘fully-fledged nationalist movement,’ his microscopic approach to the formations of such movements help to illuminate the complexity of identity formations in an agrarian society. Another important influence in the development of a nationalist identity was the role played by Tsarist policies. It will be argued that these policies indirectly enabled the progression of the first phase of a nationalist movement among the Moldovans but insecurities of the Empire prevented progression of the next two stages vital for a nationalist movement. Lastly, it will be discussed how the international atmosphere provided opportunities in the absence of a developed nationalist movement. The seeds planted by a small few under the Russian Empire became an important platform in legitimizing what became for many, although not all, an imposition of a ‘nationalist’ identity following the First World War.
To assess the impact the church had in the GDR this article will argue that people’s reaction to ... more To assess the impact the church had in the GDR this article will argue that people’s reaction to the state correlated to the impact of the Church. It will try to illustrate why the Church failed to impact the majority in the first two decades of the GDR; partly due to the social costs of non-compliance and flexibility within the communist party but why it still played an important role for non-conformists. After 1971 the impact of the church was felt more wide-scale. Under a ‘totalitarian’ party the church retained its autonomy and could employ 4,000 clergymen and 15,000 administrators, teachers and social workers. The church’s compromise with the state gave it a legitimate public space and many found themselves regularly at the doors of the church for personal entertainment, access to information and political discussions.
The commercialization of culture paved the way for the increasingly literate masses to engage wit... more The commercialization of culture paved the way for the increasingly literate masses to engage with, and influence, mass-produced products. Yet, there is much debate on the concrete impact this had in the demise of Nicholas II. The unreformed bureaucracy, the Tsar’s weakness as a ruler and the First World War are seen as major factors in his downfall , while others have shifted the focus to the role of ‘popular’ culture and its influential impact on the social and political order. This paper focuses on the changing nature of society, cultural organizations and the ‘pluralistic reading culture’ to assess how it undermined traditional forms of identity.
This dissertation aims to look at the how far Moldovans identified themselves nationally in order... more This dissertation aims to look at the how far Moldovans identified themselves nationally in order to explore how far Bessarabia’s place in Greater Romania was completely artificial. Primary sources used in the analysis were consulted from the University College London SSEES library, the University of Babes Bolyai (Cluj-Napoca) library and electric versions of primary sources were found on dacoromania.net and some were kindly sent to me by Professor Oleg Gromescu at the University Of Moldova. These texts were translated from Romanian/Moldovan into English. The imagined, fragmented or actual identity that came from Bessarabia will be assessed using Miroslav Hroch’s model of preconditions of national movements. He identifies three key phases that occur in the formation of a nationalist identity which will be discussed in further detail below. While Bessarabia did not have a ‘fully-fledged nationalist movement,’ his microscopic approach to the formations of such movements help to illuminate the complexity of identity formations in an agrarian society. Another important influence in the development of a nationalist identity was the role played by Tsarist policies. It will be argued that these policies indirectly enabled the progression of the first phase of a nationalist movement among the Moldovans but insecurities of the Empire prevented progression of the next two stages vital for a nationalist movement. Lastly, it will be discussed how the international atmosphere provided opportunities in the absence of a developed nationalist movement. The seeds planted by a small few under the Russian Empire became an important platform in legitimizing what became for many, although not all, an imposition of a ‘nationalist’ identity following the First World War.
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