DNA analysis of the last Brazilian unknown soldier’s remains buried in Pistoia (Italy)

During World War II, many nations took part in the war. Among the supporters of the Alliance there was also Brazil. In August 1944, under the leadership of President Getúlio Vargas, Brazil declared war on Nazi Germany and took part in the Italian campaign by sending many troops to support the Allies in the Central Italy. Once the conflict was over, the deceased Brazilian soldiers were buried in Pistoia, a few kilometers from Florence. But only in 1960 the Brazilian government authorized the transfer of the dead soldiers to their homeland. Five years later, during the building of the Brazilian Military Votive Monument, still in the Pistoia cemetery, a last body was found but could not be identified: so he was buried as an “unknown soldier”. In December 2012, the Brazilian Embassy in Italy asked for performing forensic genetics analysis for identification purposes on the remains of this last unknown Brazilian soldier. After almost 70 years a complete short tandem repeats (STR) profile was obtained, useful for any relatives searching.Key points:

• Identification of the last Brazilian Unknown Soldier buried in Italy.
• DNA analysis on 70 years old skeletal remains.
• Brazilian soldier’s history during World War II.

     

文化冷战与华侨华人:美国对东南亚华侨华人的宣传渗透

美国在冷战时期对华侨华人的文化冷战是冷战国际史学界最新的一个研究领域,是美国对外宣传史、华侨华人史、中美关系史三个领域交叉的产物。美国对华侨华人的文化冷战经历了从中国政策向东南亚政策的转变,以香港美国新闻处为核心宣传机构实行遥控指挥,并把《今日世界》杂志为代表的书刊纸媒作为主要传媒手段。美国对华侨华人文化冷战的主题和项目主要集中在四个方面:利用传统文化促进台湾声誉,利用文学作品进行反共宣传,用华裔美国人的形象宣传美国价值观,和台湾合作与中国大陆争夺侨生教育。美国对华侨华人的宣传主要并不集中在对政治、外交事件和美国政策的报道和阐释上,而是把重点投注在意识形态、价值观和情感的塑造上,其根本观念以及核心的宣传思路是直接诉诸塑造华人身份认同,把冷战意识形态建构为华侨华人身份认同的一部分,此举于今仍有影响。研究美国对华侨华人的文化冷战,对认识和理解当前的中美关系和大国竞争态势可以提供一定的镜鉴。     

Inhabiting Death in the Presence of the Body: Challenges of Exhumation in the Case of the Malvinas War

This article explores how a group of relatives of fallen soldiers of the Malvinas War inhabited death from the immediate aftermath of the conflict to the identification of the bodies in 2017. From a perspective borrowed from the anthropology of death and the body, it discusses how the status of these bodies shaped their relatives' representations of these deaths, understood as holy, heroic and sacrificial and inhabited through the performance of various mourning rituals. Finally, it demonstrates how the prospect of exhumation provoked resistance and fear, due to the unpredictable agency of the ‘corporeality of the dead’ in social life.     

The International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania: successes,challenges, perspectives

The article summarizes the history of the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania and outlines the work it has accomplished to date. The author reviews the problems and controversies surrounding the Commission’s research into the post-1940 period of Lithuania’s history and describes the clashing perspectives inherent in the starkly different Lithuanian, Jewish, Western and Soviet wartime narratives.     

Discordant Allies: Trans-Tasman Relations in the Aftermath of the ANZUS Treaty, 1951–1955

Contrary to popular belief, the conclusion of the 1951 ANZUS Treaty did little to encourage an immediate closer political relationship between Australia and New Zealand. The Tasman powers disagreed on major strategic issues and cooperation was minimal (and in some cases entirely absent). Focusing on the development of trans-Tasman relations between 1951 and 1955, this article examines Australian and New Zealand views pertaining to the scope and implementation of the ANZUS Treaty, proposals for the Five Power Staff Agency in Southeast Asia, the “United Action” proposal during the 1954 Indochina Crisis and the “Operation Oracle” project during the 1954–1955 Quemoy–Matsu Crisis. This article advances the conclusion that Australia and New Zealand mainly disagreed on these issues due to competing views about their respective political relationships with the United States and Britain. In other words, in the immediate post-treaty period, closer trans-Tasman political relations were ultimately hindered by strong divisions over accepting the United States instead of Britain as the cornerstone of their respective foreign policies.     

抗日战争时期陕甘宁边区廉政建设经验之借鉴

抗日战争时期,陕甘宁边区政府在艰苦的条件下,加强廉政建设,培养了艰苦奋斗、无私奉献、"只见公仆不见官"等优良作风,为党的廉政建设积累了丰富经验。这些经验不仅是取得抗日战争乃至新民主主义革命胜利的重要保证,而且对我们今天特别是"十七大"之后的党风廉政建设和中国特色社会主义事业仍具有巨大的借鉴意义。     

Fighting for Fame: The ‘Heroines of Pervyse’ and the Disputed Construction of a Public Image

Abstract: This investigative analysis bases itself on an array of documentary material from the archives of the Imperial War Museum in its effort to recover the intricate story behind the two British volunteer nurses who made their name during the First World War with the first-aid station they set up in Pervyse, a mere stone's throw away from the Belgian firing line. The essay juxtaposes a variety of documentary sources—the unpublished diaries of the two women, Geraldine Mitton's reconstruction of the story out of the nurses' journals and letters in The Cellar-House of Pervyse (1916), and two photograph albums, ‘The Women of Pervyse’, bequeathed to the Imperial War Museum—in a quest to understand how the two nurses came to acquire their status of national heroines. Sifting through the source material, this investigation reveals the numerous inconsistencies and gaps that exist between the published and the unpublished accounts of the dressing station, whose true genesis is obscured by several competing narratives. A close reading of Mitton's account and the photographic portraitures discloses that neither of these documents ought to be taken at their face value. They need to be understood as valuable tools in the nurses' own battle for authority, public recognition and their opportunity to feature as genuine protagonists in the arena of war.     

中央苏区反“围剿”战略方针的探索与确立

中央苏区反＂围剿＂战争的战略方针是在总结革命战争经验基础上逐步形成的,是从实际斗争中不断探索的结果,它有一个不断认识的过程,也存在不同意见的争论和探索中的反复。＂左＂的一套战略方针也不能完全归因于共产国际,需要寻找内部的原因。正确的战略方针,是总结正反两方面经验教训后才最终形成,到遵义会议后才确立。反＂围剿＂战略方针后来得到总结和升华并运用到抗日战争和解放战争战场。     

从9·11事件到伊拉克战争泥潭——布什政府言论的历史

围绕美国在伊拉克战争受挫过程描述布什政府危机言论的历史。布什总统9·11之后发表了煽情的夸大危机的言论,反恐备战和占领伊拉克过程中将此类言论充分展开,美国陷入战争泥潭后此类言论一度达到高潮,布什第二届总统任期中,他的"立场坚定"的美名就已失去了修辞的魅力。