Political Trials in Poland 1981-1986

Political Trials in Poland 1981-1986
Author: Andrzej Swidlicki
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2024-04-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1040011845

First published in 1988, Political Trials in Poland 1981-1986 describes the major political trials which took place in Poland between 1981 and 1986. Based on extensive original research using both official and unofficial information from Poland and interviews with Solidarity activists, it shows how the trials constituted an attempt by the Jaruzelski regime to break the back of the independent Solidarity movement by judicial and penal measures. It discusses how the authorities abused the law and how the law itself leaves much to be desired and it charts the different human rights that were violated in each case. It considers the implications of the abuse of law in this way for the rule of law and the image of the state in communist countries. This book will be of interest to students of history and political science.

The Routledge History Handbook of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century

The Routledge History Handbook of Central and Eastern Europe in the Twentieth Century
Author: Jochen Böhler
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 524
Release: 2022-02-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1000538044

Violence analyzes both the violence exerted on the societies of Central and Eastern Europe during the twentieth century by belligerent powers and authoritarian and/or totalitarian regimes and armed conflicts between ethnic, social and national groups, as well as the interaction between these two phenomena. Throughout the twentieth century, Central and Eastern Europe was hit particularly hard by war, violence and repression, with armed conflicts in the Balkans at the start and end of the period and two world wars in between. In the shadow of these full-scale wars, ethnic, social and national conflicts were intensified, found new forms and were violently played out. The interwar period witnessed the emergence of authoritarian states who enforced their claim to power through continued violence against political opponents, stigmatized ethnic, national and social groups, and were themselves fought with subversive or terrorist techniques. This volume focuses specifically on physical violence: war and civil war, ethnic cleansing, systematic starvation policies, deportations and expulsions, forced labour and prison camps, persecution by state security – such as intensive surveillance, which had an enormous impact on the lives of those it affected – and other forms of government oppression and militant resistance. Geographically, it considers the western regions of Belarus and Ukraine as sites of extreme violence that had a noticeable impact on neighbouring Central and Eastern European countries as well. The concluding volume in a four-volume set on Central and Eastern Europe in the twentieth century, it is the go-to resource for those interested in violence in this complex region.

The Sword and the Shield

The Sword and the Shield
Author: Christopher Andrew
Publisher: Basic Books
Total Pages: 717
Release: 2000-08-29
Genre: History
ISBN: 0465010032

The Sword and the Shield is based on one of the most extraordinary intelligence coups of recent times: a secret archive of top-level KGB documents smuggled out of the Soviet Union which the FBI has described, after close examination, as the "most complete and extensive intelligence ever received from any source." Its presence in the West represents a catastrophic hemorrhage of the KGB's secrets and reveals for the first time the full extent of its worldwide network. Vasili Mitrokhin, a secret dissident who worked in the KGB archive, smuggled out copies of its most highly classified files every day for twelve years. In 1992, a U.S. ally succeeded in exfiltrating the KGB officer and his entire archive out of Moscow. The archive covers the entire period from the Bolshevik Revolution to the 1980s and includes revelations concerning almost every country in the world. But the KGB's main target, of course, was the United States. Though there is top-secret material on almost every country in the world, the United States is at the top of the list. As well as containing many fascinating revelations, this is a major contribution to the secret history of the twentieth century. Among the topics and revelations explored are: The KGB's covert operations in the United States and throughout the West, some of which remain dangerous today. KGB files on Oswald and the JFK assassination that Boris Yeltsin almost certainly has no intention of showing President Clinton. The KGB's attempts to discredit civil rights leader in the 1960s, including its infiltration of the inner circle of a key leader. The KGB's use of radio intercept posts in New York and Washington, D.C., in the 1970s to intercept high-level U.S. government communications. The KGB's attempts to steal technological secrets from major U.S. aerospace and technology corporations. KGB covert operations against former President Ronald Reagan, which began five years before he became president. KGB spies who successfully posed as U.S. citizens under a series of ingenious disguises, including several who attained access to the upper echelons of New York society.

Central and South-Eastern Europe 2003

Central and South-Eastern Europe 2003
Author: Europa Publications
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 816
Release: 2002
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9781857431360

An in-depth survey of the region presenting the latest economic and political developments. It includes expert comment on issues of regional importance, up-to-date statistics, a directory of institutes and companies and political profiles.

Intermarium

Intermarium
Author: Marek Jan Chodakiewicz
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 577
Release: 2017-09-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 1351511955

History and collective memories influence a nation, its culture, and institutions; hence, its domestic politics and foreign policy. That is the case in the Intermarium, the land between the Baltic and Black Seas in Eastern Europe. The area is the last unabashed rampart of Western Civilization in the East, and a point of convergence of disparate cultures. Marek Jan Chodakiewicz focuses on the Intermarium for several reasons. Most importantly because, as the inheritor of the freedom and rights stemming from the legacy of the Polish-Lithuanian/Ruthenian Commonwealth, it is culturally and ideologically compatible with American national interests. It is also a gateway to both East and West. Since the Intermarium is the most stable part of the post-Soviet area, Chodakiewicz argues that the United States should focus on solidifying its influence there. The ongoing political and economic success of the Intermarium states under American sponsorship undermines the totalitarian enemies of freedom all over the world. As such, the area can act as a springboard to addressing the rest of the successor states, including those in the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Russian Federation. Intermarium has operated successfully for several centuries. It is the most inclusive political concept within the framework of the Commonwealth. By reintroducing the concept of the Intermarium into intellectual discourse the author highlights the autonomous and independent nature of the area. This is a brilliant and innovative addition to European Studies and World Culture.