The Rejected Candidate: John III Vasa,the Polish-Lithuanian royal elections (1573/1575) and early-modern political decision-making

This article analyses the candidacy of King John III Vasa in the royal elections of Poland-Lithuania in 1573 and 1575. Although the ‘Polish-minded’ policy of John Vasa is commonly known in earlier historiography, Swedish and Finnish historians have not given much attention to John III’s election campaigns in Poland-Lithuania in the 1570s. This article contemplates John III’s candidacy and rejection from the perspective of Poland-Lithuania. The royal elections are analysed as a political decision-making process by the Polish-Lithuanian estates. Thus the article emphasizes the existence of past alternatives and conditions of decision-making in early-modern history.     

New World States and Empires: Politics, Religion, and Urbanism

The past decade has seen a veritable explosion in archaeological research on complex societies in Latin America. In 1993, Smith published an overview of research to that date; this article is one of two bringing that summary up to the present. Our first article, New World states and empires: Economic and social organization (Smith and Schreiber, 2005), dealt with issues regarding economic and social organization. The present article tackles political organization and dynamics, religion, urbanism, and settlement patterns. We also review recent research in the context of various theoretical perspectives, some traditional, some more contemporary, including approaches to history and process, cultural evolution, agency-based models, linguistic prehistory, migration theory, and the relationship between environmental change and cultural events. Our discussion blends empirical findings, methodological advances, and theoretical perspectives.     

Mid‐Holocene Development of Mangrove Communities Featuring Rhizophoraceae and Geomorphic Change in the Richmond River Estuary,New South Wales,Australia

This paper describes the hitherto unreported occurrence of mid‐Holocene mangrove deposits in the Richmond River estuary, southeastern Australia, thereby providing evidence for changes in the distribution and composition of mangrove communities within a subtropical estuarine system during the Holocene. Stratigraphic, radiocarbon and palynological evidence indicates that widespread development of mangrove communities took place in the upstream reaches of the Richmond River estuary during the period 7000 to 6000 years BP. These communities maintained their habitat through substrate aggradation under the conditions of a moderate sea‐level rise, in contrast to other estuaries within the region, which generally experienced the submergence of intertidal substrates. Mangrove species belonging to the family Rhizophoraceae, most likely Bruguiera gymnorrhiza and Rhizophora stylosa, dominated these communities, in strong contrast to contemporary communities, which are dominated by Avicennia marina. Moreover, these mid‐Holocene communities were located a considerable distance upstream of the contemporary occurrences of Rhizophoraceae species within the estuary. The changes in the spatial distribution and composition of mangrove communities parallel the large‐scale evolution of the estuary driven by sea‐level variation. Shallow, buried Pleistocene terraces probably contributed to the regionally unique aggradational response of the mangrove communities and their substrates to a sea‐level rise during mid‐Holocene times.     

唐宋地方监察体制变革初探

唐前期的地方监察体制由御史和诸道使臣组成,属于朝廷派出性质的单一型监察体制。安史之乱以后,伴随赋役制度的改革,出使郎官、转运使、巡院等新的监察体系出现,我国封建社会地方监察体制开始向固定型、多元化、多层面变革,宋代完成了这一变革。元、明、清各朝基本延续和发展了宋代多元化、多层面的地方监察体制。由此而论,唐宋地方监察体制变革是我国封建社会地方监察制度前后两期的分界线。     

当代中国军队的等级制度发展沿革概况

等级制度是军队建设的一项重要内容,对部队的正规化建设、制度化管理、调整军内各种人员之间的利益关系、调动广大官兵的积极性具有重要作用。我国从1952年全军统一评定“军队级别”开始,到目前实行的新军衔制度,先后在军内设置过的等级形式有11种,其中有的等级形式是军队专用的,有的是沿用了地方干部的级别。等级存在时间最长的为24年,寿命最短的只有2年。这些等级有的是在不同人员中设置,有的是在同类人员中重叠。目前人民解放军仍然有6种等级,即军衔等级、军官职务等级、文职级别、文职干部职务等级、专业技术等级、工资档次等级,是世界上等级最多的军队之一。     

"中国"与"天下"的重合——古代中国疆域形成的历史轨迹

“The Central Kingdom” is pregnant of political implications as well as of geographical and cultural significance. It was believed that whoever controlled Zhongguo (the Central Kingdom or China) would be the legitimate ruler over Tianxia (the realm under heaven or all under heaven). It was the contention for “the Central Kingdom” among the varieties of dynasties, notably those established by the Han-Chinese and the various ethnic groups in the northern borderland, that lead to the alternation of disintegration and unification of the territory. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that the unified “Central Kingdom” composed of a variety of ethnic groups turned into the ideal “realm under heaven” with “the Central Kingdom” at its core, which naturally put an end to the formation of territory in ancient China. Translated by Chen Dan from Zhongguo Bianjiang Shidi Yanjiu 中国边疆史地研究 (China’s Borderland History and Geography Studies), 2007, (3): 1–15     

试析金代中都路城市群的发展演变及其空间分布特征

:本文以金代中都路地区城市群作为研究对象,对区域城市群的发展演变和空间布局进行了深入的探讨分析。本文认为,金代是北京地区城市发展的重要转折时期,随着金代社会经济的进一步发展,中都路城市群不仅在数量上有所增加,同时,金中都地区政治格局的改变、社会经济的进步以及交通格局的改善也使中都路城市群在地域结构上出现新的变化。在空间布局上,区域城市群呈现出以交通道路为骨架,按照河流流域组团分布的格局。     

清代川东道的辖区与职能演变——兼论地方行政制度中道的性质

川东道是解读清代地方行政制度的典型范本。通过考察,再次证明了道由一种临时性的藩臬二司派出机构,逐渐演变成有固定辖区和治所的府以上省以下的地方行政区划和机构。因应时变、灵活性和敏感性,使得川东道在晚清被附加了很多原本不相关的职能。尽管它本身不是一个完全近代化的职官,但由于府以上省以下的空隙过大,这种中层地方机构,在中国历史上始终是需要的。     

1953年东德事件与美国对苏东"演变"战略的起源

研究冷战高潮时期苏东地区的重大政治事件与美国针对苏东内部事态的政策演进历程,有助于更准确地认识“演变”战略的起源与性质。本所利用的档案材料表明,1953年的东德事件对美国决策层初步反省原先过于露骨的旨在激发或助长苏东内部社会紧张乃至“造反”行动的“激变”战略,开始酝酿“演变”战略产生了重要影响。“演变”战略的特征在美国对东德事件的反应中已初露端倪。这一政策转变的原因,除了原有政策在实践中的弊端和斯大林之后苏东形势的变化,也与美国决策的战略指导思想有关。