Peasants Revolt? Re-evaluating the 17 June Uprising in East Germany

This study re-evaluates the 17 June Uprising, the first in theCommunist bloc, in light of protest in the countryside. Theexperience of state violence in the years before 1953 compelledmany in the countryside to avoid public expressions of oppositionbut did not eliminate peasant protest. Villagers directed theircomplaints against communist leaders and policies, especiallyagricultural collectivization, and thereby played a significantrole in the events leading up to the uprising as well as therebellion itself. In analysing this opposition, this essay concludesthat rural modes of resistance varied by region but were generallyless overt than strikes and demonstrations employed by workers.Instead, peasants, especially in purely agrarian regions, employedtraditional village forms of opposition, which emphasized reclaimingpublic space by cowing local representatives of power. In theend, this protest lasted throughout the summer—much longerthan those in the cities—and compelled communist leadersto postpone the collectivization of agriculture until 1959–60.     

A Comparative Study on the Compressive Strength of Bricks from Different Historical Periods

The aim of this article is to present the results of compressive strength tests for bricks from different historical periods. The studies were conducted on hand-molded and mechanically formed bricks. The bricks that were used for the studies came from historical structures from the center of the royal city of Crakow. Compressive strength was determined on rectangular prisms and on cylinders cut out from bricks in various directions—anisotropy and shape effects were then analyzed.

?The basic aim of the conducted studies was to estimate the possibility of carrying out the strength tests on relatively small samples and re-calculating these results on normalized brick strength determined according to EN772–1. Based on the tests results, a range of correlation coefficient values for cylinder samples with diameters of 30 mm and 50 mm was given. It was indicated that for the tested historical bricks characterized by significant material non-homogeneity within the element and sensitivity to damages while cutting out the samples, correlation coefficients are higher than for bricks used contemporarily.

?The results of these studies are presented alongside the findings from existing studies on the compressive strength of bricks.