ISTRAŽIVANJA, Јournal of Historical Researches

MENTIONS OF THE DANUBE IN THE POETRY OF CLAUDIUS CLAUDIANUS

2022-12-28T06:56:53+00:00

Claudian (Claudius Claudianus fl. 395 CE–404 CE) was a late antique poet from the Hellenised East, who rose to fame as the court poet for the western Roman emperor Honorius (393– 423). He came to Rome around 395 CE, and there he began using his talent as a classically trained poet to write panegyrics for wealthy and influential aristocrats and politicians. Claudian is considered one of the best authors of late Roman literature, even though he directed his talents toward propaganda primarily celebrating the well-known military commander Stilicho and writing invectives against Stilicho’s enemies at the court of the eastern Roman emperor Arcadius (395–408). Claudian’s poetry is one of the most valuable sources for the history of this period. In his rich poetic images, he mentions many toponyms, oronyms, and hydronyms, and his knowledge of Balkan geography seems truly enviable. One of the most frequently mentioned hydronyms in Claudian’s poetry are those referring to the river Danube, which he mentions thirty-eight times. In this paper the authors cite and analyse Claudian’s references to the Danube as a river that was a very important natural, political, and cultural border for the ancient world.

GRAND KNEZ STEPHEN VUKANOVIĆ AND THE MORAČ A MONASTERY

2022-12-28T06:57:49+00:00

The Morača Monastery was built in the mid-13th century by Grand knez (prince) Stephen Vukanović, a member of a cadet branch of the Nemanjić dynasty (1166–1371), as his burial place. Interpreting the actions its founder reveals interesting details about the relationship of the center of power with the political periphery, ruling ideology, and the monk’s place in society. The completion of the frescoes and other ornamentation at this monastic church of the Dormition of the Mother of God and Stephen’s withdrawal from his political life to take monastic vows partially coincides with the action of King Uroš I (1243–1276), who consolidated his royal power during this time by eliminating the principalities in the Serbian coastal regions. Prince Stephen’s transition to life as a hermit may have gone through two stages that included tonsuring and then admission into the Great Schema. These actions were motivated by his personal piety and his age or by a desire to emulate the Nemanjić dynasty’s model of sanctity–which was a key feature of the ruling dynasty’s political ideology–or were possibly the result of political upheaval.

ASȂKİR-İ SERHAD – GUARDIANS OF THE EMPIRE IN AN AGE OF UNCERTAINTY: THE OTTOMAN FRONTIER ON THE SAVA AND THE MIDDLE DANUBE IN THE 18th CENTURY

2022-12-28T06:58:43+00:00

After the establishment of the border with the Habsburg Empire, the defense of the Ottoman Empire along the Danube and Sava rivers necessitated the establishment of new mechanisms. This study presents a structuralist attempt to systematize the incoherent military organization at the border in various border provinces; define the structure, means, and forms of administration; and, most importantly, to trace the changes in military organization throughout the 18th century. The frontier was divided into separate sectors in accordance with information collected from archival sources along with minor historiographical additions in accordance with consideration of the longue durée. The institutions of the kapudan and the muhafız, how they were related to one another, and their position within the military organization will be more closely investigated and new interpretations will be given. The question of how the military capacity was organized will be meticulously examined, and lists of fortress garrisons will be presented with a focus on differences between times of war and peace. These will establish frameworks for further research.

NAPOLEON I, KARADJORDJE, AND THE GLORY OF THE GREATEST MILITARY LEADER

2022-12-28T07:12:18+00:00

This article addresses a statement allegedly made by the French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, in which he says that Karadjordje (“Black George”), the leader of the First Serbian Uprising, was a great war leader who was even greater than he himself. Every effort has been made to analyze all relevant sources for this anecdote. The purpose to systematically prove or disprove this academically neglected but publicly influential rumor.

ECCLESIASTICAL VISITATIONS OF SLOVAK EVANGELICAL CONGREGATIONS IN BAČKA, SREM, AND BANAT IN 1835 AND 1836

2022-12-28T07:13:12+00:00

The first ecclesiastical visitation of Evangelicals in Bačka-Srem and Banat Seniorates took place in 1798, after which followed visitations in 1810 and in 1818. This paper will focus on subsequent visitations of Slovak Evangelical congregations in these regions conducted by superintendent Ján Seberíni during the years 1835 and 1836. These two Evangelical seniorates were part of the Banský dištrikt/superintendature based in Banská Bystrica and had approximately the same number of Slovak and German congregations. The visitation returns provide a great deal of information that has not been fully made use of in the historiography. This paper will analyze only Slovak Evangelical congregations.

THE CHILDHOOD OF MILAN OBRENOVIĆ, THE FIRST KING OF THE SERBIAN RESTORATION: CONTRIBUTIONS TO HIS BIOGRAPHY

2022-12-28T07:13:50+00:00

This paper deals with establishing basic biographical information about the Serbian prince and king Milan Obrenović, (1854–1901), which has been very arbitrarily cited in popular and academic publications. The aim is to direct the public to first-rate historical sources that provide information about where he was born, his childhood and education, and the people he encountered before he ascended Serbian throne in 1868. He is an important modern Serbian monarch whose views and actions have become controversial, so it is thus of the utmost importance to ascertain the circumstances surrounding his upbringing and coming-of-age. This is compounded by an ongoing tendency to create myths around his early life based on the content of numerous pamphlets published in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

FROM RENAISSANCE TO A PRECIPICE OVER THE ACHE PATRIARCH LUKIJAN BOGDANOVIĆ

2022-12-28T07:14:28+00:00

Patriarch Lukijan Bogdanović was the last head of the Patriarchate of Karlovci, which had existed for two centuries, first as a metropolitanate and later a patriarchate. He was elected Bishop of Buda when he was very young, and he proved to be a highly capable at running the diocese/bishopric. From 1908 on, as a young patriarch, he faced unresolvable difficulties and issues related to religious and educational autonomy, the Patriarchate itself, and relations between Austria- Hungary and Serbia. Attacked, defamed, and misunderstood by the Serbian public, he soon began falling victim to poor health. His tragic death, which many years later again became an object of public interest, made him seem more sensational than he actually was, and his educational and ecclesiastical work remained in the background.

THE ALBANIAN GOVERNMENT’S EFFORTS TO SECURE A FINANCIAL ADVISOR TO ALBANIA FROM THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS (1921–1922)

2022-12-28T07:15:32+00:00

This paper presents the economic and financial situation in Albania during 1921– 1922, the difficulties faced by the Albanian government overcoming issues related to this and the efforts made to fulfill the Albanian government’s request to the League of Nations for an appointment of an outside financial advisor. It will also present the circumstances around the possibility being raised once again for the League to appoint a British financial. It addresses the motivations behind the Albanian government turning to the League of Nations for support, and the reasons why it could not seek help in this matter from Italy or the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovens (SCS). This paper also reflects on the potential candidates discussed at the League of Nations and considers the discussions that took place regarding the procedures, competencies and criteria for selecting candidates for this task. The position held by the British and Italian governments regarding Albania’s request for assistance and the arguments on which their political lines were based. The paper considers in detail the position held by the British Foreign Office regarding the candidates submitted for this position in Albania.

AGRARIAN REFORM IN YUGOSLAVIA 1945–1948: THE AGRO-POLITICAL ASPECT

2022-12-28T07:16:21+00:00

This paper presents a general overview of agrarian reform implemented in Yugoslavia between 1945 and 1948. It also lays out the norms and agrarian policies on which it was based. Agrarian reform was enacted in Yugoslavia in harmony with the specific nature of the Yugoslav context and the lauded union of workers and peasants. This context widely differed from that of the USSR, which is why the nationalization of arable land was not considered in Yugoslavia. In fact, at the beginning of the reform process, private property was given stronger protections. This included issuing deeds of ownership in the names of individuals but with certain limitations, of which the most significant was a twenty-year moratorium on the alienation of property obtained from the reforms.

YUGOSLAVIA AND DE GAULLE’S REVISION OF THE COLD WAR

2022-12-28T07:17:25+00:00

This paper will analyze France’s attempted foreign policy strategy in Yugoslavia and in Eastern Europe during the 1960s, beginning with the various positions of de Gaulle’s France and Tito’s Yugoslavia and the numerous similarities in how the two countries’ diplomacy functioned. In both countries, the course of foreign policy was determined according to the authoritarian characteristics of their systems and of their central figure–the president. Both countries were also interested in transcending the Cold War division of Europe, and they based their strategies on attempts to marginalize the United States and pacify the Soviet regime. De Gaulle’s attempt at a détente, which Yugoslavia was very sympathetic toward and had also committed itself to similar goals, failed due to unrealistic illusions of overcoming this bipolarity by forging a middle way between the two opposing Cold War blocs. Faced with an overestimation of their own influence, along with the Warsaw Pact’s aggression toward Czechoslovakia, Moscow’s complete lack of interest in pacification, and the US’s unwillingness to withdraw, end of de Gaulle’s attempts at détente, in which Yugoslavia would play an important role, came to an end. Nevertheless, similar European and global policy goals brought France and Yugoslavia closer together, and this established the principles on which a cooling down period in the mid-1970s became possible.

HUNGARIAN DIPLOMACY AND THE DISINTEGRATION OF YUGOSLAVIA 1990–1991

2022-12-28T07:18:12+00:00

This study aims to explore Hungarian–Yugoslav diplomatic relations in the first phase of the disintegration of the second Yugoslav state through relevant documents from the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and accounts from the contemporary Hungarian press. The study mainly focuses on relations between the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Except for Serbia, diplomatic relations between Hungary and the other Yugoslav republics were not taken into consideration due to length constraints. The study also examines Budapest’s diplomatic activities with the great powers regarding the Yugoslav question. The documents used this study can be found in XIX-J-1-j records at the Department of Political Government and Party Authorities of the Hungarian National Archives after 1945 (Magyar Nemzeti Levéltár Országos Levéltára 1945 utáni Politikai Kormányszervek és Pártiratok Főosztálya, MNL OL).

EFFECTIVENESS OF USING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN DEVELOPING MUSEUM EXHIBITIONS: THE CASE O F THE SHARJAH MUSEUMS

2022-12-28T07:18:55+00:00

Museums are increasingly embracing information and communication technology (ICT) to promote cultural tourism and to keep pace with changes in society. Cultural values, legacies, and customs are transmitted through museums, connecting current generations with their past. ICTs are used in almost all museum operations, both within and outside their walls, and especially for exhibitions and preservation. Prior research indicates that museums utilize a variety of ICTs to further modernize displays and artifacts and improve the visitor experience. Museums also use various digital communication tools to enrich the visitor experience. Many of the functions performed by ICTs used to create interactive processes in museum displays are the subject of ongoing research among museum scholars. This study investigates how experts and museum scholars view the effectiveness of using ICTs in creating a trend in the development of museum exhibitions in the Emirate of Sharjah. It will also discuss which available ICT applications museums can apply to improve technology services for their visitors. The study was conducted at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, one of the largest museums in the Emirate of Sharjah. Both qualitative and quantitative data were collected, with questionnaires being the main method of data collection. A questionnaire was distributed to learn the views of experts about the application of ICTs in museum exhibitions. The results of the study indicate that ICTs should be designed with physical surroundings in mind. Physical distance can be bridged using “mixed interfaces” or mobile devices.

Ognjen Krešić, The Hilandar Monastery and the Eastern Balkans in the 18th Century: Cultural and Economic Ties, Belgrade: Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Institute for Balkan Studies, 2021, 251 pp.

2022-12-22T15:29:18+00:00

Radoš Ljušić, Prince Miloš Obrenović I of Serbia: the State-building Monarch, Pravoslavna reč, Novi Sad, 2021, 923 pp.

2022-12-22T15:29:18+00:00

Aleksandra Ilić Rajković and Sanja Petrović Todosijević (eds.), What Would We Do Without School?!: Essays on the History of Education in Serbia and Yugoslavia from the 19th Century to the Present Day. Belgrade: The Institute for Recent History of Serbia,

2022-12-22T15:29:17+00:00

DEJAN MIKAVICA (1964–2022)

2022-12-22T15:29:16+00:00

KARL KASER (1964–2022)

2022-12-22T15:29:16+00:00