The Kingdom of Kush: An African Centre on the Periphery of the Bronze Age World System

The Kingdom of Kush flourished in northern Sudan between 2000 and 1500 BCE. During this period, the capital Kerma emerged as a major economic and political centre in the Nile Valley. After a short review of the application of world system theory and centre-periphery perspectives in archaeology, the author proceeds to a presentation of the Bronze Age societies in northern Sudan and their wide-reaching trade relations. A central argument is that an incentive for the rise of the Kingdom of Kush was its intermediate position in long-distance trade between the north and the south. The article concludes with a discussion of Kush as a centre on the periphery of the so-called Bronze Age World System in Afro-Eurasia.     

The Forging of the Polish Army, 1918-1919

ABSTRACT

With the regaining of independence by Poland in November 1918 it was essential to create a unified homogenous army, the more so that Poland was faced by conflict from its neighbours at a time when the borders of Poland were by no means formed let alone finalised. There were at least four seperate Polish armies and a plethora of local formations springing up all over the country. From these four formations: the Polish Military Organisation, the Polnische Wermacht, the Greater Poland Army and the Polish “Blue” Army in France. Moreover, the officer and NCO corps came from four distinct traditions. Those of the wartime Legions (Polish tradition) and of the three partitioning powers. All had different military traditions and training. An important factor was also that many of the them had only a rudimentary knowledge of the Polish language having served in garrisons far from the Polish lands. Faced with wars with the Ukrainians for Lwów and the south eastern lands, with the Germans over the Province of Greater Poland, Pomerania and Silesia, with the Czechs over Teschen and above all with Bolshevik russia in the east it was essential that the Polish Army unified as quickly as possible. That this was done within the year and eventually resulted in Poland winning the Polish-Bolshevik War of 1919-1920 and securing its borders and independence was in no small measure a result of the rapid unification and creation of an homogenous Polish Army with a single command structure and organisation. The binding glue was the deep rooted sense of national pride and desire to live and work in a free Poland.     

试论魏玛"福利国家"的早期实践(1918-1920)

一战结束后,德国社会遭遇了政治、经济与社会的多重危机,政府权力亟待合法性认同,社会期稳定。魏玛政府力图把福利国家作为控制与解决危机的一种手段。1918-1920年间,魏玛的福利国家建设曾规范劳动市场、协调劳资关系、改革保险和救济政策、解决住房问题以及调整经济运作模式等方面掀起高潮从短时段看,这些实践活动确立了基本的福利国家原则,维护了政府权威,初步解决了战后德国的社会危机然而从长时段看,这一时期的福利实践存在许多问题,埋下了日后经济危机、社会危机乃至民主危机的隐患。     

Stirrings at the Periphery: History, Archaeology, and the Study of Dian

Early Chinese texts speak of the Han state conquering the kingdom of Dian in southwest China in 109 B.C. The limited historical record is complemented by archaeolgical discoveries pointing to the presence in Yunnan province of a complex Bronze Age society whose association with the historical Dian has been generally accepted. Historiographic and nonprocessual in nature, archaeology in Yunnan has yet to generate the data needed for a deeper understanding of Dian social structure and change. Whatever its shortcomings, however, Dian archaeology plays a consistent and important role within a system of thought which gives preeminence to the historical record.     

Lisa K. Sabbahy: Kingship,Power, and Legitimacy in Ancient Egypt: From the Old Kingdom to the Middle Kingdom

African Archaeological Review -     

The Gibbs Farmstead: Household Archaeology in an Internal Periphery

The Gibbs farmstead, a rural domestic site in Knox County, East Tennessee, was inhabited by four generations of the Nicholas Gibbs family between ca. 1792 and 1913. In the following essay, world systems theory is combined with primary historical sources and the archaeological record to explore how aspects of the emerging global system influenced daily material life and household-level economic strategies among the Gibbs family in Southern Appalachia, regarded as an internal periphery within the world system. Focusing upon domestic architecture and foodways, consideration of material life reveals the presence of a strong vernacular orientation among the Gibbs family that was also substantially influenced by larger trends within national-level consumerism and popular culture.     

The Reichswehr, the Republic and the Primacy of Foreign Policy, 1918-1923

This article contends that the relationship between the Reichswehrand the Republic was shaped by the primacy of foreign policybetween 1918 and 1923. In this period the major concern of theofficers was the stabilization of the German Reich, which wouldpreserve Germany as a Machtfaktor in Europe and serve as thebasis for a revisionist and militarized foreign policy. Foreignpolicy matters and aims shaped their attitude to domestic politics.Cooperation with the Republic enabled the officers to achievethe stabilization of the Reich by 1923. They were also ableto introduce important reforms in the military structure ofthe Reich, which showed that cooperation with the Republic couldpay dividends. In terms of the substance of foreign policy theReichswehr followed a pragmatic, unideological approach by developinglinks with the Red Army. By examining the relationship betweenthe Reichswehr and the Republic from the perspective of theprimacy of foreign policy, it is possible to come to a fullerunderstanding of the shifting nature of civil-military affairsin the Weimar Republic.     

The family is worthy of being rebuilt: perceptions of the Jewish family in Mandate Palestine, 1918-1948

Although the Jewish community of Palestine was an extremely family-oriented society and the institute of the family played a major role in the establishment of the new Zionist nationhood, the historiography has henceforth paid little attention to its role, images, and functions. This article will examine the diverse and often contradictory perceptions and influences that have shaped the Zionist period. Traditional Jewish perceptions intertwined with modern, bourgeois, and revolutionary notions of the family, whether national or socialist. These contradictory perceptions were manifested in the contested professional and public discourse regarding the many dysfunctional urban families in Tel Aviv, who were treated by welfare authorities and mental health specialists during the 1930s and 1940s.     

1918年在华德侨处置案引发的中外交涉

1918年北京政府和以英法为代表的协约国盟友之间,曾围绕如何处置在华德侨这个看似无关紧要的问题展开过一场外交交涉。交涉双方的行为乍看之下虽不合情理,但又是合乎逻辑的。英法等国对北京政府一再施压要求严厉处置在华德侨,与其说是为了预防敌侨捣乱,毋宁说是为了牵制北京政府;而北京政府即便是参战以后对德侨也不改宽松友善的政策,与当时中国各界对德情感氛围相匹配,其做法完全符合国际法,体现了中国近代外交理念的进步。发生在1918年的这场交涉宛如一面镜子,折射出一战期间北京政府与协约国盟友之间关系的实质。