Всеобщая история

After ending of WWI the question about the position of national minorities in Europe became especially acute because of serious changes of the states’ borders. The article analyzes the problem of German minority in German-Yugoslavian relations of 1920–1933. Status of German population, its role in economical, political and cultural life SCS Kingdom (Yugoslavia) is examined. Special attention is devoted to defining Berlin’s and Belgrade’s positions about this problem and connection of these positions with strategic goals of the states.

Traditional views on the role of the army and difficult situation in the country in the 1920s and early 1930s largely contributed to stagnation of the British army. As a result, land forces did not meet the requirements of modern warfare. In response to changes in the European context, the Army General Staff developed a plan for “limited modernization,” but military issues remained in the shadow of Air Force and Navy.

The article is devoted to the study of the social aspect of the life of Tudor London. On the material of the wills the author shows that the majority of the testators are artisans, small traders and merchants of the «Twelve Great Livery Companies» of London. Also, there are representatives of the service sector, gentry and the emerging intelligentsia. Among the recipients of the inheritance numerous church institutions of the city are mentioned. Some wills belong to women: wives or widows of merchants and artisans.

The article discusses the causes of the spread of the Magdeburg city law in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the 12th-18th centuries. It is concluded that at different stages of the historical development of some countries  and regions different factors which were determined by the peculiarities of their socio-economic and political systems were operating.

The article gives a detailed analysis of cosmological visions of Cosmas Indicopleustes, as reflected in his work «The Christian topography». In the context of the analysis of a new view of the world of Cosmas Indicopleustes the article reviews his visions about the shape of the Universe and the nature of flora and fauna of the countries that he had visited before he became a priest.

The article is an attempt to analyze the English type of Enlightenment, using the historical views of H. Walpole, an 18th century English intellectual. Horace Walpole was a typical dilettante with wide interests. His views on history and historians, as well as his own historical works demonstrate many peculiarities of the “enlightenmental” approach to history.

The author explores the problem of interaction between Napoleon and King Joseph in Spain on the basis of a wide range of published and unpublished sources such as memoirs, correspondence, reports. The article shows that Napoleon’s plan, whose goal was joining Spain to the Federal system was influenced by the growth of people’s movement that England helped and disappointment in the political course of the Spanish king. The studied sources allow to conclude that a clear division of brothers’ approaches on the line: reform and force is incorrect.

In the history of Eastern Europe during the Second World War the problem of German Minorities was of special importance, meanwhile the ideas of revisionism and irredentism were popular among them in the interwar years. In order to understand the nature of these phenomena this article presents an analysis of the claims of the Germans to the conditions of their life in the interwar Eastern Europe.

This article reveals the peculiarities of presenting the history of creation of the Order of the Brothers of the Sword in the oldest relic of Teutonic literary tradition – the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle. The article describes historical-political conditions prevailing in the early stages of peasant’s conquest of the South-East Baltics, mutual relations between the sword bearers and Livonian bishops.

In the article the question of position of English country towns in the sphere of economy and social relations is considered. Based on materials of the documents of York processes which occurred in trade and city craft, occurrence of new modes of production and attempt of the city authorities to keep medieval privileges are traced.