Hichem Karoui…Papers

By Milton Gustafson

On December 13, 1952, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were transferred to the National Archives. Joining the Bill of Rights, which had been in the Archives’ care since 1938, they became collectively known as the Charters of Freedom, the most precious documents in our heritage. Two days later, at 10:15 a.m., on Monday, December 15, 1952 (Bill of Rights Day), the formal enshrining ceremony was held, presided over by Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson, and with President Harry Truman and other dignitaries in attendance. Read more

Matthew Lloyd Adams

Abstract Poland, recreated after the armistice of 1918, was confronted at its rebirth with four very severe challenges: welding together the separate sections of the dissected country, which for many decades had been under the rule of Prussia-Germany, Austria and Russia; creating a functioning administration and military force for the country; ensuring the recovery of agriculture, which, during World War I, had seriously declined; and restarting industries destroyed or closed during foreign military occupation. Even under the valuable leadership of the first Prime Minister of the new Polish Republic Ignacy Paderewski and Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, the Poles could not accomplish the goal of rebuilding a strong Poland without outside help. The American Relief Administration (ARA), founded and led by Herbert Hoover, offered their help. The ARA, with its food aid and provision of economic assistance and expertise, played an important role in bringing about stability in the newly independent state of Poland. This paper examines the many steps Herbert Hoover had to take to arrange food relief in Poland and will outline the organization of the ARA, including the establishment of the Polish relief organization and the introduction of young Polish-American women, called the Grey Samaritans, into the field.

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Suraiya N. Faroqhi

Volume 3 traces the history of the later Ottoman Empire from the death of Mehmed III in 1603 to the proclamation of the Tanzimat, the administrative reconstruction of the Ottoman state, in 1839. Thiswas a period of alternating stability and instabilitywhen trade between the empire and Europe flourished and, wartime apart, merchants and pilgrims could travel in relative security. However, despite the emphasis on the sultan’s role as defender of the faithful and of social order, tensions did exist between the ruling elite in Istanbul and their subjects in the provinces, not least Read more

History

*     Milestones in Recent Czech History (1938-1989)

*     Coming to Terms With the 20th Century Totalitarian Past

Introduction

*     Inception and International Cooperation of the Institute and Archive

*     Highlights of Institute Activities

*     Formation and Priorities of the Security Services Archive Read more

The international conference European Conscience and Communism, held on June 2-3, 2008, was organized by the Committee on Education, Science, Culture, Human Rights and Petitions of the Senate, Parliament of the Czech Republic; its organizers were Martin Mejstřík, Senator, and Jana Hybášková, Member of the European Parliament.

During the course of the conference, Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes Director, Pavel Žáček, and First Deputy Director, Miroslav Lehký, both made presentations, the texts of which are included in the attached proceedings.

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The Origins of the British Secularist Movement 1791-1866

Edward Royle

Victorian Britain was a Christian country. That is, its laws and institutions, supported by the courts and public opinion, aided by a variety of Churches and sects, upheld and declared the Christian religion. The whole tone of Victorian middle-class life was religious, and the Churches enjoyed a great period of prosperity and success. But contemporaries were well aware that the foundations of religion in society were precarious: intellectual doubt threatened the very basis of biblical Christianity on the one hand, and mass infidelity among the lower orders disturbed and challenged pious consciences on the other.
The growth of industrial society in the nineteenth century, with its increasingly urban, class-conscious and secular outlook, was the background to the development of an all-out radical attack on the political and religious establishment of the country. The origins of this establishment can be traced to the Restoration, when the political and religious clock had been put back in an effort on the part of the governing class to suppress the memory and achievements of the Commonwealth period. Read more