State Collapse as Business: The Role of Conflict Trade and the Emerging Control Agenda

This article examines the role played by conflict trade in the process of state collapse. Conflict trade is defined here as the trade in non–military goods such as diamonds, timber and drugs that finances war. Such trade includes both the export and import of goods to a war zone as well as extra–territorial trade undertaken by supporters of a warring faction. It is argued that the decline of superpower military aid coupled with the broader effects of centre–periphery exploitation mediated through a neo–liberal and western imposed version of globalization has meant such trade has a particular salience both in contemporary conflict and the process of state collapse. Equally, though, the reliance of warring factions on conflict trade means they are also susceptible to changes in the market for their goods, creating a vulnerability that can (and to some extent has been) exploited to promote peace. The emerging control agenda on conflict trade is currently characterized by a number of problems — most notably, the risk that the control of conflict trade might become a substitute for action on arms exports; that international action has largely been undertaken within an inappropriate statist paradigm; that control has sometimes taken second place to economic or strategic interests and that policy has become hostage to a ‘drugs and thugs’ agenda which risks undermining its effectiveness.     

新中国成立初期的劳资协商会议制度——以郑州市为例

劳资协商会议是党和政府调解劳资关系的重要制度,它以“发展生产,繁荣经济,公私兼顾,劳资两利”为基本原则,对调解劳资关系、恢复发展经济起到了积极作用。根据中央和河南省的指示精神,1950年,郑州市积极设立劳资协商会议,为私营工商业发展做出了贡献。“五反”运动后,郑州市的劳资协商会议对缓和劳资关系、恢复生产、稳定社会秩序起到了一定的作用。     

Engineering Contractors in the Chemical Industry. The Development of Ammonia Processes, 1910–1940

Ammonia is the crucial intermediate for the production of nitrogen fertilisers. BASF, today still one of the largest chemical companies in the world, was the first company to develop a process for the synthesis of ammonia from its compounds hydrogen and nitrogen: the well‐known Haber–Bosch process. Other processes were developed as well in the 1910s and ’20s but these technologies have often been classified as ‘imitations’, neglecting the crucial role they played in the take‐off of the fertiliser industry in the late 1920s and neglecting engineering contractors, companies that specialised in the design and construction of plants for the process industries. Engineering contractors diffused ammonia synthesis across the world and enabled the take‐off of the fertiliser industry. This paper attempts to show the role engineering contractors can play in the chemical industry and attempts to give a more balanced account of the history of ammonia synthesis by focusing on the fertiliser industry instead of BASF.     

Politicians,Merchants, and Colonial Maritime War: The Political and Economic Background of the American Act of 1708

During the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–13), there were attempts to support colonial maritime war by legislation, and the American Act of 1708 can be seen as their culmination. Historians who study privateering or colonial history have referred to this act in several contexts, such as reform in prize administration, naval impressment in American colonies, and Spanish‐American trade. However, the political and economic interests behind this act have not been fully investigated. By examining the process of the enactment of the American Act together with antecedent attempts to promote colonial maritime war in parliament, this article reveals the political and vested interests involved in the act, the relations between them, and the influence they had on the content of the act. This analysis will show the complex interaction between politics, trade, and colonial maritime war in the early‐18th‐century American colonies.     

THE SHOVEL IS OUR WEAPON

There are many functional, organizational and ideational similarities between the labour services in Germany, the Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD) and in Norway, Arbeidstjenesten (AT). There were numerous conduits for transnational transfers of ideas and practices, especially as the RAD oversaw the creation of the Norwegian obligatory service during the occupation. Although the German conception of labour service inevitably influenced the development of the AT, the AT was not simply a copy of a German model. Norway had its own history of voluntary labour services and the labour service idea resonated with existing structures in Norwegian society and politics. This article discusses what elements of the model were adopted and rejected. Contingencies, context and continuities also played a decisive role in shaping the Norwegian service, for which the German RAD served as an example of what a labour service should look like, but also what it should not look like.     

The War Munitions Supply Company of Western Australia and the Popular Movement to Manufacture Artillery Ammunition in the British Empire in the First World War

Among the nations that comprised the British Empire, the First World War has generally either been forgotten, as in India, as irrelevant to the achievement of political independence, or remembered, as in Canada, as the catalyst for developing a separate national identity. This article argues that both these historical interpretations ignore the extent to which the First World War was a shared British Empire experience. The article examines the establishment of the War Munitions Supply Company of Western Australia as an example of the popular movement to make artillery ammunition that swept many parts of the British Empire in 1915. The munitions movement provided an outlet for the patriotic surge that occurred in April–May 1915 in reaction to the German use of poison gas and the sinking of the Lusitania. It was also an attempt to overcome wartime economic disruption by creating a new local industry. The practicalities of cost and shipping meant that by 1917 artillery ammunition production was continued only in Britain, Ireland, and Canada, but in 1915 the Western Australian company was part of an Empire-wide movement to make munitions and support the war.     

抗战时期浙江省的人口迁移与地域分布

抗战时期浙江省的人口迁移总数约有 5 0 0万人 ,其迁移情况极为复杂。其中 2 0 0余万人迁至省外 ,主要分布于闽、赣、皖、沪和华中、西南各省。大部分移民是在省内迁移。战时浙省移民迁移持续时间较短 ,最终转化为移民的只是少数。由于种种原因 ,战争期间即有部分移民回迁。战争结束后 ,绝大部分移民均回迁原住地。难民迁移的最根本最内在的动力来自经济和政治因素 ,尤其是经济因素     

THE VIETNAM WAR

This article investigates the role of the Vietnam War in Danish and Norwegian politics. We argue that Danish and Norwegian membership in NATO and an unstable parliamentary situation may explain why these countries, unlike Sweden, did not take on the lead in the international protest against the war. Non‐socialistic coalitions came to power in Norway and Denmark in the latter half of the 1960s which to an extent explains why the social democratic parties in both countries became more critical of the US. By the end of the 1960s, foreign policy as well as public attitudes towards the war converged in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, and in all three countries powerful protest movements emerged that were remarkably similar. The Vietnam War strengthened the left in general and promoted a leftist politics of solidarity that influenced Swedish, Danish and Norwegian foreign policy‐making of the 1970s.     

Build for the Living: Stone Buildings of the Yuan Dynasty

It is easy to find an association between stone architecture and the afterlife in pre-modern China, given that most architecture of brick and stone was used only for mortuary monuments. People in pre-modern China may have believed that timber architecture was for the living while stone architecture was for the deceased. The fact that stone architecture often was designed to imitate timber architecture further buttresses the dominance of timber, both structurally and aesthetically, in the architectural history of pre-modern China. This article focuses on several stone buildings that were built during the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368) for daily religious activities and were rare exceptions to the normative association of stone architecture with the afterlife. Through the study of the structure, decorative motifs and history of these stone buildings, I determine whether they were built to reflect the tradition of imitation timber architecture or were an exception to the dominance of timber architecture. I investigate how these stone buildings should be contextualized in the history of Yuan as well as the history of Chinese architecture.     

The American war: Italian culture and Hollywood movies on the Second World War

Abstract

This article deals with the reception of American narratives on the Second World War in Italy, assuming the key role that myths and memories about the conflict played in post-war Europe and the importance of transcultural exchanges in the mass-media age. Such narratives were not imported to Italy by official US propaganda, but were mainly conveyed by Hollywood war movies, which were centred on the ideas of the righteousness of the conflict and of the fight between good and evil. The article focuses on a specific sector of the Italian audience, that of critics and film reviewers, who played a key role in interpreting the films and in fostering their acceptance – or refusal. Through the analysis of cinema magazines and newspapers, the research outlines how the reception of such movies was influenced by multiple elements, the different political and ideological allegiances, the cultural gap between elite and popular periodicals, and the interactions with Italian myths and memories about the war. Finally, the article compares the results of the inquiry with the rare sources about the reception of American narratives among a mass audience, and underlines the importance of a transnational approach to the study of cultural issues in contemporary history.     

Building Bridges of Trust: Child Transports from Finland to Sweden during the Second World War

Seventy thousand children were moved to Sweden from Finland during the Second World War with the purpose of giving them a break from the calamities of war. Moving children for this reason was common practice in the Western world during the twentieth century. Officially, the motives have always been humanitarian, but political motives have often played an important role — commonly, to foster suitable citizens within planned societies. Political goals were important in the moving of Finnish children, but in a different way. In this article, I suggest that the children were used as ‘commodities of compassion’ in a Swedish politics of indemnification.     

The Byzantine silk industry: Lopez and beyond

The Byzantine silk industry played a major role in the history of the Byzantine Empire. Silk, a key economic asset, had strong political overtones, and the effects of its multiple influences were felt far and wide, both within Byzantium and abroad. This article highlights some of the difficulties encountered in the interpretation of important documentation surrounding the Byzantine silk industry in the period up to 1204 A.D.     

The Byzantine silk industry: Lopez and beyond

The Byzantine silk industry played a major role in the history of the Byzantine Empire. Silk, a key economic asset, had strong political overtones, and the effects of its multiple influences were felt far and wide, both within Byzantium and abroad. This article highlights some of the difficulties encountered in the interpretation of important documentation surrounding the Byzantine silk industry in the period up to 1204 A.D.     

Facing Oligopoly and Protectionism: the fate of small producers in the inter-war nickel industry

In the inter-war era international cartels and oligopolies dominated several industries. At the same time trade barriers were increasing. This article explores the fate of two small nickel producers, the Canadian company Falconbridge and the Norwegian Raffineringsverket. Falconbridge operated a nickel refinery in Norway from 1929 onwards. The article shows that small firms could act as ‘free riders’ in the nickel market provided that they had sufficient ore resources, were vertically integrated and had low marginal costs. The article also demonstrates that the Great Depression, widespread rise of protectionism and the move towards autarchy had surprisingly limited impact on the international nickel industry. Somewhat similar developments can be found in several industries. The article thus offers some new perspectives on the growth of the Norwegian exports of metallurgical products and thereby on Norwegian economic performance in the 1930s.     

Regulating Body Boundaries and Health during the Second World War: Nationalist Discourse,Media Representations and the Experiences of Canadian Women War Workers

This article examines the intersections of gender, wartime nationalist rhetoric and the production of ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ bodies in both the Canadian workplace and the home during the Second World War. Analysing government, industry and media discourses in relation to oral history interviews with thirty‐eight women aircraft workers, we discuss women's distinctive role in shaping the health and morale of the social body during wartime, to ensure the maintenance of family, nation and the Allied war effort. While health in wartime was defined in terms of worker productivity for both men and women, anxiety about women's expanded roles heightened the emphasis on moral respectability as a marker of the ‘healthy’ female body. This was further complicated by the wartime emphasis on women's responsibilities to boost morale as part of their role in maintaining health and productivity for both men and women. Through such examples as workplace regulations and domestic advice, we examine the increased monitoring of women's individual and collective bodies and the intensified demands on female war workers as they crossed between the public and private spheres. We use our oral histories to examine women's embodied memories of ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’ bodies within a regional context and their responses to government, industry and media discourses.     

Business and British Decolonisation: Sir Ronald Prain,the Mining Industry and the Central African Federation

One of the most intractable challenges to emerge during British decolonisation was the need to reconcile the competing political aspirations of settler and African populations in Central Africa. During the 1950s Britain sought to construct a ‘multiracial’ Central African Federation, financed largely by Northern Rhodesia's copper industry. Of the two major mining groups involved, the Rhodesian Selection Trust, under the chairmanship of Sir Ronald Prain, arguably played an important and unusual role in the Federation's politics and eventual demise. Having supported the Federation at its inception, Prain quickly reassessed the Federal project and concluded that its expected benefits had failed to materialise, and that a new political orientation was necessary for Northern Rhodesia, his companies' host country. Whereas expatriate business interests were often ‘weak’ political actors during decolonisation, Prain, through pragmatic readjustment, evolved a forward-thinking strategy of accommodation to the rise of African nationalism, and to the corresponding eclipse of settler power. Adapting with unusual success to political change, he became actively involved in the political developments which led to Zambian independence in 1964.     

台美英围绕联合国中国代表权问题的交涉（1951-1955）

中国代表权问题不仅是美苏为首的两大阵营对抗的最重要的冷战问题之一,而且是美国阵营内部歧见纷呈的问题。朝鲜战争爆发后,维护台湾在联合国的中国代表权符合美国的战略利益,但是英国并不紧随美国的指挥棒合拍地起舞。台湾利用美苏阵营的尖锐对抗,以小搏大,竭力争取美国支持直接否决反对台湾在联合国的中国代表权的方案。台美英三方均有各自的立场与考量,有时限的“缓议案”是三方博弈后的产物。随着美苏阵营对抗的渐趋缓和,台湾当局所能做的必定越来越多的是妥协与退让。     

Turning Points in the Greek Resistance

Abstract

Resistance to enemy occupation has stood rather apart from the general history of the Second World War. Historians have been doubtful whether to treat it as a part of military and strategic history or a part of political and diplomatic history. Some have thought the less said about it the better, in any context. In the history of particular countries which suffered enemy occupation, the treatment of resistance has varied widely according to the outcome of the war. In some countries it has occupied a major place in their war-time history: Denmark and Yugoslavia, for quite different reasons, are important examples. In other occupied countries very little has been written about the occupation by professional historians: Greece is an outstanding example. Although Britain played a leading role in promoting resistance everywhere, the subject has not attracted, many professional historians, other than those who had a personal engagement in it during the war.     

Norwegian and Soviet/Russian World War II Memory Policy During the Cold War and the Post-Soviet Years

Abstract

World War II has played a significant role in using “memory” in all kind of “memory politics” in Europe as well as in the USA. Using examples from Norway and the Soviet Union, later the Russian Republic, this article shows how successfully, but also how contradictorily, historical events can be used as memory politics. We will also see what “memory culture” and “memory policy” is predominant in circumpolar Norway and the Soviet Union/Russia after World War II. We are introduced to the concept of “memory agents”, the producers and directors of “memory politics”. The case is first and foremost the battle of Narvik in Norway in the spring of 1940. We also take a look at the circumpolar borderland between Norway and the Soviet Union during World War II, where the German “Gebirgsjäger” from the Narvik front regrouped and continued their assault on Soviet Union in Murmansk County from the summer of 1941. In what way were the war events useful in the post war era, and how could they directly affect Soviet–Norwegian relations during the Cold War? In addition we ask how memories contributed to the justification of different approaches to the foreign policy in both countries. Besides, the article demonstrates how the memory policy of World War II was affected after the end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union in Norway and Russia, respectively.     

第二次台湾海峡危机与中美关系

1958年的第二次台湾海峡危机是战后中美关系史上的一个重要事件。危机期间,美国政府曾企图通过战争威胁和压力迫使中国做出让步,但由于美国公众舆论和盟国的反对,更重要的是由于中国政府采取了灵活的对美政策,使美国以“核威慑”战略为主要内容的对华政策破产。尽管双方剑拔弩张,但事态终究没有失控。即使在危机高潮时期,双方仍继续保持着有限的对话,这对于化解危机起到了一定的作用。第二次台湾海峡危机再一次体现了20世纪50年代中美对抗的基本特征。