Defence and Diplomacy: The British Foreign Office and Singapore, 1939-1940

Examinations of the defence of Singapore normally focus on therole the Royal Navy and antipodean cries of betrayal. In suchstudies, great attention is paid to such matters as how longit would take the Royal Navy to relieve Singapore and the degreeto which the British government misled Australia, New Zealand,and Singapore itself with regard to London's determination todefend the fortress. This study concentrates instead on Britishdiplomacy in the Far East, and contends that Britain intendedto defend its position in the region by means of creating theimpression in Tokyo that Japan faced a loose Anglo-Americancoalition opposed to any Japanese expansionist efforts. In asimilar fashion, the British attempted also to utilize Soviet–Japanesehostility to protect their interests in the Far East. By lookingat these matters, a greater understanding of the wider aspectsof British strategic defence policy can be found.     

贵州企业公司研究（1939—1949）

抗日战争爆发后,以吴鼎昌为首的贵州省政府为了完成“开发贵州,建设西南”的历史使命,根据战时经济形势和贵州财政状况,创建了抗战时期我国第一家省营大型企业,即贵州企业公司。该公司在投资办厂方面具有重调研、重引导、重工矿交通建设以及重时局需要和地方资源等特点。在经管方面的成功之处则表现为组织系统比较全面和严密、决策机制充满活力、生产经营分工合作、财务制度健全有力以及重视延揽和培训人才,讲究员工福利等方面。贵州企业公司不仅在开发产品与技术,探测黔省地下资源,带动和促进贵州近代经济等方面做出了重大贡献,其经管模式更是在全国产生了深远影响。此外,该公司本身的兴衰历程也给我们留下了十分有益的历史启示。     

1939-1941年苏德经贸外交及后果

1939年—1941年苏德战争前,苏德两国从各自的战略和利益出发都要求改善两国关系。如何打破自希特勒上台后两国关系的僵局?苏德双方都力图从经贸外交入手。苏德战争前,苏德之间开展的经贸外交使双方的经贸关系异乎寻常地热起来。这种关系对第二次世界大战的爆发和扩大,对苏德双方产生了什么影响,造成了什么后果,我国学对此研究较少。本就这一问题略抒己见。     

A Multi-ethnic City in Transition: Vilnius's Stormy Decade, 1939-1949

An American historian traces major changes in the demographic character of Vilnius during 1939-1949, a period encompassing the dislocation of its population and destruction during World War II as well as the city's ethnic and physical transformation prompted by incorporation into the USSR. More specifically, the paper, based in part on archival material, details and contrasts the circumstances prevailing during several distinctive periods in the city's mid-20th century history (September 1939-June 1941, June 1941-July 1944, and July 1944-1949), when it was exposed to five successive state jurisdictions (Poland, Lithuania, twice USSR, and Nazi Germany) and became the new Soviet capital of Lithuania. Journal of Economic Literature, Classification Numbers: O15, O18, R14. 1 figure, 89 references.     

Adulteration and Food Law, 1899-1939

Contemporary concerns about food safety and regulation haveimportant historical antecedents in the Victorian debate aboutfood adulteration which led to the 1875 Sale of Food and DrugsAct, the basis of British food law until 1955. This articlereconsiders the optimistic historiographical view of the Victorianfood legislation, emphasizing its limited impact on the generalprocess of food production and distribution before the SecondWorld War. In the 1930s adulteration was still a significantcommercial ploy. The analysis centres on State-business relations,drawing comparative perspectives from the manner in which bigfood companies shaped the regulatory framework in the USA. InBritain the government assumed a limited regulatory role, persuadedin the 1920s and 1930s that market forces and the commitmentof large producers to quality and scientific research were betterguarantees of safety than statutory legislation. But this wasa risky strategy: big producers were only responsible for aminority of overall output, and the State made no effort toexamine wider manufacturing conditions. ^*This article has been written with the assistance of a grantfrom the Leverhulme Trust.     

救援、革命、外交——华工联合会研究

华工联合会原名中华旅俄联合会,1917年由在俄学习的中国留学生发起成立。成立以后,华工联合会对第一次世界大战时期进入俄国的华工提供了大量帮助。1918年底,华工联合会转变为“无产主义者组织”,它积极对在俄华工进行革命宣传,建立起与中国境内革命组织之间的联系,促进了中国革命事业的发展。此外,华工联合会还促成中国政府与苏维埃俄国之间进行对话,在俄中两国的外交活动中发挥了重要的作用。本文依据大量史料,追溯了旅俄华工联合会在救援、革命和外交等方面做出的卓越贡献,对华工联合会这一以往较少引人注意的华侨组织进行了深入的探讨与研究。     

南明时期中琉关系探实

南明时期的八个政权中,只有弘光、隆武和监国鲁王与琉球国有过交往关系。这一时期中琉的交往始于1644年,终于1649年,5年问琉球国6次遣派使臣,中琉关系不仅得以维系,而且保持相互寿好交往,起到了承上启下的作用,应予充分肯定。     

'Feeding A Pauper Army'. War Refugees and Welfare in Britain, 1939-42

An examination of British response to the prospect of refugeesfrom the Low Countries reveals that there was almost no appreciationof their positive potential contribution, either economically,militarily or in terms of propaganda, to the British war effort.On the contrary, the immediate reaction was that they wouldconstitute an enormous social burden. Above all, there was thefear that the ordinary British public were unlikely to respondvery positively to hordes of foreign paupers arriving on theirdoorsteps. The result was a number of intractable planning dilemmasand uneasy compromises, of which the decision to send a largeproportion of the refugees to London, and thus straight intothe path of the Luftwaffe's ferocious bombing campaign, wasthe most outstanding example. At root was an almost obsessiveconcern to avoid giving the impression that refugees were entitledto ‘special’ treatment beyond that accorded to Britishpeople. It was equally evident in the assistance, billeting,and evacuation policies which were subsequently pursued. Thefact that few Allied refugees, in the event, were able to reachthe UK was more than offset by the cause: the shocking collapseof the Allied armies amid accusations of military ineptitude,cowardice and treachery.     

Algerian Orphans and Colonial Christianity in Algeria, 1866-1939

This article considers the exceptional fate of the orphan survivorsof the great Algerian demographic crisis of the late 1860s whosubsequently converted to Catholicism. Using a prosopographicalapproach, this study seeks to highlight the complexities ofnational identity in France and to explore some of the racialtensions emerging in Algeria in the late nineteenth century.     

“国民外交”背景下的中苏建交谈判（1923-1924）

1923-1924年间,苏联派出副外交人民委员加拉罕为中俄两国恢复邦交进行谈判,双方最终订立了《中俄解决悬案大纲协定》等处理两国外交关系的系列文件,正式恢复了外交关系。加拉罕提出的以“中国人民”为外交对象的举措虽不符合国际外交谈判的正常程序,但恰符合当时中国各界民众要求参与外交的心理,在不同程度上得到了从激进到保守的各类中国人士的应和,使本来处境艰难的北京政府不得不在一种非常特殊的氛围下进行外交谈判。要了解这一谈判的动态过程,就需要回到当时的报刊资料之中,重建那一特定历史时期中国社会形成的特殊政治氛围,并考察这一氛围对外交谈判的影响。