The Saracens of the Baltic: Pagan and Christian Lithuanians in the Perception of English and French Crusaders to Late Medieval Prussia

This paper investigates the use of the term ‘Saracens’ to describe the Lithuanian opponents of the Western crusaders who took part in expeditions launched from Prussia by the Teutonic Order against the grand duchy of Lithuania in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. It presents a variety of evidence from narrative and documentary sources to demonstrate that this usage was derived from existing images of Muslim opponents and was reinforced by epic and romance literature. The use of the term Saracens, which by the fourteenth century had become a generic designation for pagans, was both a convenient way for Western crusaders to imbue the Prussian crusades with a value commensurate with campaigns in the Holy Land, but also to blacken their Lithuanian opponents even when they had abandoned paganism.     

18世纪虔敬主义和理性主义对美国思想形成的影响

本文的任务是说明美国人心灵深处的一个令人迷惑的矛盾 :它使美国人在显示出强烈的宗教色彩的同时 ,也表现得非常世俗。人们常常注意到 :一方面 ,美国显然处于全球现代化领头羊的位置 ;另一方面 ,它在宗教上依然相当传统 ,表示信仰上帝和承担某一宗教义务的民众在人口中所占比例均高于其他任何一个西方工业化国家。这一现象在现任美国总统身上更加清晰可见 :一方面 ,他似乎是美国自基辛格以来实力政治 (realpolitik)的最露骨和最不含糊的倡导者 ;另一方面 ,他的讲话充满了个人深深的宗教信念 ,并隐晦地提及像是中世纪而非现代的巨大善恶势力…     

Liberals and nationalism: E. H. Carr,Walter Lippmann and the Baltic States from 1918 to 1944

The Baltic states were among the ‘new’ states that were created after the First World War; they were the only states to lose their sovereignty during the Second World War. Most historians explain the birth and demise of the Baltic states in terms of their relative strength vis-à-vis the great powers. This article places the short-lived independence of the Baltic states into the perspective of intellectual history by focusing on two Western thinkers: E. H. Carr and Walter Lippmann. The analysis assumes that ideas matter in international politics. It adds to our understanding of the forces that led to the creation and later to the extinction of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in the period of the two world wars.     

Economic Conditions and the Vote for Incumbent Parties in Russia,Poland, Hungary,Slovakia, and the Czech Republic from 1990 to 1996

An American political scientist employs regional electoral, economic, and demographic data across several transition countries—Hungary, Slovakia, Poland, Czech Republic, and Russia—to examine the effects of economic conditions on the electoral fortunes of thirty-two incumbent political parties in ten parliamentary elections. “Primary Incumbents” and “Other Incumbents” are distinguished in order to analyze how the “Degree of Incumbency” affects the relationship between economic conditions and election results for these two different types of incumbents in post-communist countries. The article points to new questions and methods for examining multiparty elections as well as for the relationship between economic conditions and voting outcomes.     

Assisted Emigration from Northern Germany to South Australia in the Nineteenth Century

Between 1848 and 1854, the Kingdom of Hanover financed emigration from the Harz mountains to South Australia. The scheme employed was exceptional; emigrants received interest-free loans and only those with a "good character" were eligible, not the destitute, criminal or "undesirable". Emigration was voluntary. The decision of the Hanoverian government to assist emigration was influenced by socio-economic developments in the Harz. Most emigrants were young, employed in mining, and of limited means. In Australia the Harz emigrants constituted about fifteen per cent of all German immigrants in the mid-nineteenth century. They settled throughout South Australia and Victoria but few joined German communities. The settlement and naturalisation patterns, occupations and marriage patterns of the Harz immigrants in Australia indicate that, as a group, they differed from other nineteenth century German immigrants.     

十四至十八世纪欧亚的西洋布贸易

元代,中国、东南亚和印度之间存在着一个贩卖西洋布即印度棉布的贸易圈.明代东南亚一些国家把西洋布作为贡品带入中国.十六世纪开始,东来的西方殖民者不但垄断了原产印度西洋布的贸易,并使之成为香料贸易的补充,同时也带来了产自西欧的西洋布.西洋布一经传入中国,就成为人们喜爱的奢侈品.     

Economic crisis,families, and family policy in the Baltic states, 2009–2014

ABSTRACT

The three Baltic countries experienced the most rapid population decline throughout the 1990s and 2000s in Europe. The resulting critical demographic situation motivated the governments of the Baltic states to pay more political attention to family policy issues than in the rest of Europe. The aim of the paper is to analyze the development of family policy in Baltic countries and factors that influenced it during the 2009 economic crisis. Also, the outcomes in terms of child poverty and fertility are highlighted. Results show that the economic resources and fertility level had an essential impact on family policy in the Baltic states. Economic support to families, in turn, directly alleviate the poverty level of families and indirectly influence fertility.     

The Baltic states,Finland, and British economic expectations in the early 1920s

Abstract

After the First World War, the Baltic states — not Finland — attracted the British as a bridge to Russian markets. The article deals with the rank of these states in British economic expectations. It is shown that whereas the Baltic states were highly prioritized, in 1920, by 1926 the British preferred Finland as a more trusworthy trading partner than Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The article thus shows how the rank of the Baltic states and Finland changed in British expectations when all of these states were seen as markets in and of themselves.     

The Baltic miracle? The economic crisis and its consequences for young people in the labor market of the Baltic states, 2007–2017

ABSTRACT

The financial crisis (2008–2009) resulted in significant deterioration of the youth labor market in the Baltic states. In 2017, however, the Baltic states were among the countries with the highest employment-to-population ratio in Europe (the ‘Baltic Miracle’). This article shows that the observed progress is mostly due to the demographic changes in the three countries. Isolating the demographic effect demonstrated that it played crucial role in mitigating the negative effects of the crisis, especially in Latvia and Lithuania. The results of the study show that in 2017 only in Estonia had the youth labor market returned to its precrisis conditions.     

略论17-19世纪望加锡在马来群岛的贸易角色

16世纪后国际贸易的不断扩大、殖民者东来及马六甲的陷落,促进了望加锡等新港口的诞生.本文主要阐述17-19世纪望加锡在马来群岛贸易角色的嬗变,剖析其兴衰的内外因素,并探讨这一时期马来群岛各贸易势力之间的利害冲突.     

Taiwan’s Economic Diplomacy in Vietnam from the 1990s to the Early Twenty-First Century

In Vietnam, Taiwanese (In this article, 'Taiwanese' refer to all the citizens in Taiwan, although Taiwanese may not be a perfect usage for all the inhabitants in Taiwan. For example, some 400,000 natives of JinMen County live and work in Taiwan Province who might not identify with Taiwan Province. Also, many Vietnamese women in the ROC marry 'Taiwanese.' Perhaps it will take a few decades, if not longer, for all the inhabitants in Taiwan to identify with "Taiwanese.") businesses have led the Taipei government in the movement to ??Go South.?? They have served as pioneers, surrogates and middlemen for Taiwan??s economic diplomacy in Vietnam. Vietnam's 'Doi Moi' (Open Door) policy, inaugurated in December 1986, encouraged greater openness to economic investment from abroad. Compared with China, Vietnam enjoys the privilege of better access to the European market. Vietnam has become the only country in Southeast Asia that can parallel China in terms of trade and investment at the turn of the century.