European History

Гуцуляк О. Б. Предок скіфів Борисфен та його дочка (ірано-кельто-слов’янські міфологічні паралелі) // Євразійська історія крізь віки : наукова конференція присвячена пам’яті Любові Гераськової : матеріали міжнародної наукової конференції, 13-14 травня 2025 р. / упоряд. Я. В. Пилипчук. – Київ-Вінниця : ТВОРИ, 2025. – С. 59-68.

T he conference Echoes of the Holocaustthat resulted in this volume could not have been organised without the financial support of the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation. Therefore, we would like to acknowledge our sincere gratitude to the Foundation. The conference at the Bishop's House in Lund in May 2003 was hosted by the incomparable Karin Dahlgren. For the production of the book, we have also been granted financial support from the Crafoord Foundation. Our thanks are also extended to all the contributors to the conference, the absolute majority of whom have participated in this volume, and our colleagues

This contribution examines Venetian neutrality during the Franco-Habsburg confrontation between 1688 and 1714, focusing on the Republic of Venice’s legal and diplomatic strategies amid the Nine Years’ War and the War of the Spanish Succession. While Venetian policy sought to preserve both its territorial integrity and its historical dominio over the Adriatic Sea, the Republic faced significant legal and political challenges from the belligerent powers. Drawing on archival research conducted in Paris and Venice, this study explores the legal frameworks underpinning Venetian neutrality, including treaty obligations, maritime law, and the Republic’s place within the early modern theory and practice of neutrality. The findings highlight how Venice leveraged legal instruments, diplomatic rhetoric, and pragmatic enforcement measures to preserve its sovereignty in an era of European-wide conflict, contributing to broader debates on neutrality and the law of nations in early modern Europe.

Sono passate poche settimane da quando si sono potuti constatare i danni di uno sport diffuso: la citazione a vanvera di testi mai letti. Il testo in questione era il Manifesto di Ventotene, che a sinistra veniva celebrato in quanto scritto socialista e a destra condannato per la stessa ragione. Peccato che, a leggerlo, se ricava una impostazione neoliberale, alla base degli evidenti e solidi punti contatti tra il pensiero di Altiero Spinelli e i programmi dei padri dell'Europa di Maastricht.

Estimating anthropogenic carbon release in north-western Europe during the Holoceneintegrating pollen-based land use reconstructions with a dynamic vegetation model. Abstract from PAGES Focus 4 Conference / Workshop "Towards a more accurate quantification of human-environment interactions in the past",

Historical gender studies in Germany is facing major structural and substantive challenges. Based on interviews and essays, the contributors discuss the complex current and future tasks of the discipline. They discuss scientific and higher education policy issues, reflect on theoretical concepts and develop new approaches for practice with the help of case studies. From antiquity to queer contemporary history, the result is a plea for networking within gender history, but also beyond disciplinary boundaries.

The contemporary Muslim and Western dominant discourses’ mutual construction of the Other as completely alien is all the more surprising given the intense level of engagement between the two over a very long period. On the one hand, Islamist ideologies tend to distance themselves not only from secular Western cultures but also from Jews and Christians with whom Mus lims have had an intimate relationship from the time that Islam was founded. On the other hand, Western history books tend to make only passing refer ences to the influence of Muslims on medieval Europe. Whereas “Islam” was Europe’s primary Other and with whom it had occasional wars, the influ ence of Muslims suffused the northern continent in the Middle Ages—their ideas, art, architecture, music, words, foods, crafts, clothes, technologies, and medical techniques were commonplace in many European cities and were much sought after where they were not. It appears that an almost systematic purging of the Muslim presence was carried out at the dawn of the colonial period. Knowing the historical range of cultural relationships between Western and Muslim societies reveals the narrowness of the contemporary constructions of the reciprocal Other. Many leaders and institutions on both sides are ignoring the centuries-long engagement, propagating views about the Other that are not informed by the profound commonalities of the Abrahamic religions or the rich exchanges of ideas between their adherents.

ARCHITECTURE OF THE BARRICADE
Arsenale Institute, Venice

A research exhibition curated by Bastiaan D. van der Velden
and Wolfgang Scheppe, based on a concept developed
in collaboration with Sara Codutti, exploring the
iconography of the barricade as an architectural entity.

May 7th – November 23, 2025

Arsenale Institute for Politics of Representation
Castello, 1430/A
Riva dei Sette Martiri
30122 Venezia

The English coronation ceremony is an archaic and feudal remnant from the distant past that nevertheless holds the power to captiva,te and enthral citizens of the modem British state. Sociologists and anthropologists have examined this, and other forms of royal ceremonial, in the attempt to determine the nature of the relationship between the internal structure and symbolic meaning of ceremony, and the public's enthusiastic acceptance of both the medium and the message. The coronation has received little interest from the historical profession, however, and so there is a pressing need to examine the ceremony in relation to the historical context in which it was created.

Although France suffered a crushing defeat in 1940 and was forced to sign an armistice, the war did not end for all French territories. In July 1940, General Charles de Gaulle created the Free French Forces in London to continue the fight against the Axis powers. The Allied invasion of French North Africa in November 1942 has changed the situation: the French North African government started to contribute to the Allied war effort and the French Army of Africa also joined the fight on the side of the Allies. In 1943, the two French forces have joined to form the French Liberation Army which took an active part in the fighting on the European theatre of operations. It fought successfully in Italy, during the liberation of the metropolitan France and in Germany. In a surprising way, more than half of the members of the French Liberation Army came from the French colonies. These soldiers were able to show a convincing performance on the battlefield during the fighting on the European theatre. Despite this, they were forced to undergo the so-called bleaching (blanchiment) during which they were replaced by metropolitan soldiers. This process created general discontent in their ranks, but their demonstration for more equitable behaviour was severely repressed by the French authorities.

THE RIGA MISSION: THE REPORTS OF THE FIRST AMERICAN OUTPOST ON THE SOVIET BORDER, 1924-1933 Jeffrey Acosta Old Dominion University, 1992 Director: Dr. Lorraine Lees From 1917 to 1933, the United States did not recognize the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In 1920 the United States established conditions for recognition. First, the Soviet Union had to pay all debts owed to the United States government and its citizens by previous Russian and Soviet governments. In addition, all propaganda and subversive activities sponsored by the Soviet Union in the United States had to cease. During this period, the Division of Eastern European Affairs (DEEA) studied and collected data about the Soviet Union from its main "outpost" at the United States Mission in Riga, Latvia. The Russian specialists of the DEEA in Riga and Washington used the data collected to write scholarly reports about the Soviet Union and the Communist International. This thesis will analyze the reports written...

This article is an in-depth review of Tomasz Stawiszyński’s journalistic book Powrót fatum (Kraków 2024), which attempts to capture the state of contemporary Western culture. The paper critically presents Stawiszyński’s theses in the book and disputes its main components: both the accounts Stawiszyński proposes and his manner of argumentation. It is argued that the book does not deliver what it promises as Stawiszyński’s historical overviews (therein of the religious history of Europe) are not reliable, and his description of culture is distorted, both by what he one-sidedly exaggerates and by what he systematically omits or minimises (in particular, the dynamics of capitalism).

Streiflichter zu den Aufenthalten litvakischer Akteure, Händler und Gelehrte, im Ostpreußen des 19. Jahrhundert. Welche Positionen hatten sie, welche Verbindungen pflegten sie und welchen Radius umfassten ihre Aktivitäten. Besonders im Zeitraum 1860–1885 konnte diese Grenzregion, die sich hier als ostpreußischer Verflechtungsraum zwischen litvakischer und deutsch-jüdischer Kultur beschreiben lässt, aufblühen. Dabei kann davon ausgegangen werden, dass kaum ein gewählter Aufenthaltsort auf Zufall beruhte. Die Entscheidungen, als Grenzgänger zu
agieren, beruhten im Wesentlichen auf Strukturen bereits bestehender Netzwerke.

This chapter examines how Republics died in the interwar period, focusing on the cases of the Weimar Republic, the Austrian Republic, and the Spanish Second Republic. First, the chapter introduces various traditional interpretations of the demise of liberal democracies and rise of authoritarianism in interwar Europe. Then, the chapter provides a review of historical developments in Italy, Germany, Austria and Spain, noting the factors that most commonly allow historians to explain the end of democracies in the 1920s and 1930s. In the last part of the chapter, a new interpretive model is proposed, which highlights transnational processes, namely the influence and direct intervention of Italian fascists in Europe, as the key to understand why various interwar democratic Republics fell.

I will present two Tracing boards in this article. These Tracing boards remember me the prologue of John: "Light Shines in the Darkness". I will share my thoughts.
Often, at the bottom of a lodge painting is the mosaic tile recalling the turbulence, passions, and
clashes between spirituality and interests. Passions, addictions, are ingredients blocking the
possibility of making Royal Art and entering the sphere of spirituality.

Refleksja nad dobrem i złem, pokojem i wojną u Alberta Schweitzera wypływa z namysłu nad mos vita, etyką czci dla życia, istnienia wszystkiego, co pragnie być. Dobro, pokój i bezpieczeństwo to paradygmaty etyki duchowej nadziei, to przeciwstawienie się smutnej i traumatycznej realności świata. Etyka nakierowana na prolongowanie życia wypływa z ducha woli istnienia, niezależnego wobec mechanizmów rzeczywistości tanatycznej, nawet w rozumieniu dialektycznej harmonizacji życia i śmierci. Śmierć w żaden sposób nie może uzasadniać potrzeby bycia. Wola istnienia, przetrwanie i prolongowanie trwania, jako warunki definitio pojęcia bezpieczeństwa, stanowią naczelne zasady etyki czci dla życia. Schweitzer, przekonany o autonomii etyki, różnicuje proces naukowego postępu i wewnętrzne bogactwo duchowości. Duch pozostaje swoistym indywiduum w sprawiedliwej ocenie świata realności, w którym często obserwujemy skutki władzy Tanatosa. Nadzieja wspierana przez autonomiczną witalną duchowość, często wchodzi w konflikt z realnością wojny i śmierci. W jaki sposób zasada czci dla życia ma być paralelna wobec zasady jego unicestwienia, szczególnie w odniesieniu do zabijania dla przyjemności (w imię idei "sportu królów)? 1 . Wojna nie jest odzwierciedleniem ducha, a nawet nie stanowi negatywnej konsekwencji dialektycznego (opartego na walce przeciwieństw) porządku świata. Wojna jest ludzką patologią w smutnej perspektywie potencjalności niczym nieuzasadnionej śmierci. Świat niekończącej się przemiany, swoistego 1 Sport królów to wojna i zabijanie bez koniecznej egzystencjalnej przyczyny. Pozbawienie życia nie służy zaspokojeniu potrzeby przetrwania, a jest hedonistycznym wymiarem ludzkiej próżności. G.M. Gathorne-Hardy w liście do Arnolda J. Toynbee pisał: "W czasach prehistorycznych (...) żołnierz czynił życie znośniejszym, a sprawiedliwość bardziej osiągalną w świecie zagrożonym ustawicznie najazdami barbarzyńców. Obecnie ten sam typ człowieka przejawia skłonność do odziedziczenia ich instynktów i przymiotów. Jednakże funkcje łowcy i żołnierza stały się mniej konieczne, w przypadku łowcy zapewne całkiem zbędne". Wojny i zabijania nie można już uzasadniać w kategoriach egzystencjalnego przetrwania, ale swoistego sportu dla wybranych -"sportu królów". A.J. Toynbee podkreślił, iż nadszedł czas, kiedy wojna nie jest już środkiem do przetrwania, ale przeobraża się w autonomiczny militaryzm -prowadzenia wojny dla niej samej. "(...) Złowieszczy militaryzm, tak różny od niewinnego męstwa szczęśliwego wojownika, da się, być może, określić jako chęć prowadzenia wojny dla samej wojny, jakkolwiek jej instytucja przestała być koniecznością społeczną i za taką już nie uchodzi". A.

Toukokuun 20. päivänä 325 eli 1700 vuotta sitten kokoontui Nikean kirkolliskokous, joka hyväksyi kristillisen kirkon uskontunnustuksen. Se oli merkittävä vaihe kristikunnan historiassa ja samalla osa vanhan Rooman sisäistä ja ulkoista kriisiä, josta avautuivat tiet myös nykyiseen geopolitiikan aikakauteen.

Seuraavassa siitä katkelma tulevasta teoksesta Euroopan synnystä Suomen syntyyn, kruunun ja alttarin geopolitiikka 753 eKr. - 1848 jKr.
------------
On May 20, 325, or 1700 years ago, the Council of Nicaea convened and approved the Creed of the Christian Church. It was a significant stage in the history of Christendom and at the same time part of the internal and external crisis of ancient Rome, which also opened the way to the current era of geopolitics.

The following is an excerpt from the upcoming book From the Birth of Europe to the Birth of Finland, The Geopolitics of the Crown and Altar 753 BC - 1848 AD.

This book examines how the experience of witchcraft developed and evolved from the Lutheran Reformation of Denmark in 1536 to the celebration of the Lutheran centennial of 1617.
As well as exploring witchcraft, this volume is a portrait of Denmark and how religion and politics in the 16th and 17th centuries were impossible to separate. It was in this period from 1536 to 1617 that witchcraft went from an offence condemned in the Bible and prohibited in the medieval Law of Jutland, to being described in detail as the worst of crimes. Witchcraft evolved from being defined as imposing harm to someone or something, to being a mockery of God. Approaching the theme from the new history of experience, this book refers to the process of the construction of witchcraft as a crime. Contributions draw on a wide range of textual and visual sources, and bring together court records, sermons, legal regulations and correspondence with pamphlets, devotional literature and demonological treaties. The book is the first of its kind that aims to explain how this development occurred.

La sola politica che sia all'altezza delle gigantesche forze di produzione moderne è l'internazionalismo proletario, perché solo il proletariato, strappando alle borghesie nazionali su scala mondiale il monopolio delle forze produttive, può liberare l'economia dalle contraddizioni nelle quali il capitalismo, per disgrazia di tutti, le imprigiona, e che crescono invece di attenuarsi man mano che la produzione e il mercato si estendono.
L'"europeismo", l'"atlantismo" - come d'altra parte l'"anti-atlantismo" russo - non sono se non effimeri sostituti borghesi dell'internazionalismo proletario, che tendono a nascondere dietro un velo "progressivo" alleanze concluse unicamente in vista di "soffocare in comune il socialismo in Europa" (e nel mondo!), come già constatava Lenin. Ma questo tentativo è storicamente votato all'insuccesso. L'Europa e gli altri continenti non potranno non unirsi quando il grande terremoto rivoluzionario avrà fatto crollare gli Stati nazionali, preparando il terreno alla dittatura mondiale del proletariato. Utopia? Solo dei rinnegati possono credere che i governi capitalistici condurranno il mondo di guerra in guerra fino alla consumazione dei secoli.

Giorno verrà in cui essi saranno impotenti di fronte al proletariato finalmente in piedi che, facendo giustizia di tutti i Mercati e anti-Mercato Comuni, sfornati dalla vile propaganda "progressista", spazzerà via da tutta la superficie del globo l'odioso e assassino mercantilismo della società borghese.

This paper explores the crucial role of humiliation as a major catalyst for the resurgence of conflict and war in the international arena, using the example of the humiliation inflicted on Germany by the Versailles Treaty. By proposing a new theoretical perspective on the "humiliation trap", characterized by the "humiliation vicious cycle", the article highlights how the Allied powers, by severely punishing Germany and ignoring its defensive voice, fell into this humiliation trap. The divergent interests of the great victorious powers of the First World War fueled frustrations and nationalist sentiments, exacerbated by the economic crisis of 1929. This dynamic fostered the emergence of extremist leaders and alliances among those dissatisfied with the treaty, bringing the situation back to its starting point. By providing a platform for the rise of Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf, the triumph of revenge sentiment engendered a resurgence of conflicts and wars similar to those before the Treaty of Versailles. Thus, this study highlights the importance of recognizing humiliation as a key factor in the resurgence of conflict and war in the international arena, while advocating mutual respect and solidarity as essential foundations of all international interaction.

Сярод сотняў святароў беларускіх губерняў, задзейнічаных у шырокамаштабнай кампаніі П. І. Кёпена 1827 г. па збору статыстычных матэрыялаў, былі тыя, хто сумленна спрабаваў прадставіць разнастайныя гістарычныя, мовазнаўчыя і фальклорныя звесткі згодна з дадатковымі пытаннямі анкеты.
Каштоўныя звесткі ў 1827 г. даслаў парох Стара-Псуйскай парафіі Дзісенскага павета Ян Эльяшэвіч, які, апрача асноўнай («статыстычнай») ведамасці, даслаў П. І. Кёпену яшчэ адну – што тычылася непасрэдна дыялекту, на якім мясцовыя жыхары размаўляюць паміж сабой.
Гэтыя матэрыялы, выяўленыя ў Санкт-Пецярбургскім філіяле Архіва Расійскай акадэміі навук, друкуюцца цалкам з захаваннем арыгінальнай графікі, арфаграфіі і пунктуацыі.

Un trabajo de investigación sobre los nueve vecinos de Vila-real (Castellón, España) que fueron deportados a los campos de concentración del Tercer Reich alemán. La historia de sus vidas y, en muchos casos, de sus asesinatos a manos de los nazis. Una obra de memoria democrática para comprender la historia local.

A research paper about the nine residents of Vila-real (Castellón, Spain) who were deported to the concentration camps of the German Third Reich. The story of their lives, and in many cases, their murders at the hands of the Nazis. A work of democratic memory for understanding local history.

What links the French "Gilet Jaunes" movement with the latest elections for the European parliament? Article aims at answering this question. The major argument is that the European elections function as a mask used by the Monnet integration method in order to hide the disintegration of a common world's constitutional foundations within the EU member states. Survival of the European order depends on a decision that will resolve the threatening either-or conflict between member states and their societies. Elections for the EP will maintain their functional justification so long as they remain able to cover the real decision maker and his accountability.Kakva je veza između pokreta "Žutih prsluka" i izbora za Evropski parlament? U radu tražimo odgovor na ovo pitanje. Osnovna teza je da izbori za Evropski parlament predstavljaju samo deo maske koju stvara Moneov metod integracije kako bi prikrio urušavanje temelja zajedničkog sveta u državama članicama. Opstanak...

This book examines the role of information as a crucial means for governance and negotiation, through which Renaissance rulers and governments managed the composite polities under their control.

The Renaissance world was characterized by the presence of numerous composite polities and political unions, consisting of distinct territories governed by a single ruler or government. These entities varied in scale, ranging from medium-sized polities including cities and lordships to thalassocracies encompassing distant and sometimes lands separated by sea, and vast global empires comprising multiple territories and diverse populations. The chapters in this book explore how information enabled authorities to monitor events within their dominions and colonies, shape policies and decision-making processes, and interact and negotiate with local political societies. The diverse examples presented in this volume illustrate how information, communication, and archival strategies varied across regions, adapting to the constitutional structure of each polity and their geographical scope.

This volume is essential reading for students, researchers, and academics interested in political history, information studies, historical governance and European studies. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of European Review of History.

Contents:

1. Information and the government of the composite polities of the Renaissance world (c. 1350–1650)
Alessandro Silvestri

2. Ruling by information, governing by records: the spoken and written grammar of power in post-communal Italy (c. 1350–1520)
Isabella Lazzarini

3. Archiving the Swiss Tagsatzung in the early modern era: from distributed protocols to confederal archive
Randolph C. Head

4. ‘We want to know and be clearly informed’: official records, unofficial correspondence and oral communication in the fourteenth-century Crown of Aragon (Majorca, Sardinia, Sicily)
Alessandro Silvestri

5. Jem Sultan and Venice’s intelligence system: sorting and deploying information in Venice’s ‘letterocracy’
Monique O’Connell

6. An imperial formation joins a composite polity: the Portuguese Empire and the information system of the Hispanic Monarchy (1580–1640)
Jorge Flores and Pedro Cardim

7. Manila and their agents in the court: long-distance political communication and imperial configuration in the seventeenth-century Spanish monarchy
Thomas Calvo and Guillaume Gaudin

8. The composite world of early modern information
Filippo de Vivo

presupposes questions about value: which races or strains of blood are more suitable, and which less suitable, and why? Galton's earlier studies Hereditary Genius (1869) and English Men of Science (1874) made it clear that the more suitable "strains of blood" were those found in family lineages with high levels of social and professional accomplishment. Part of Galton's own aim was to establish grounds for the view that "talents" and "character", both thought of as mental traits of people, were subject as much to hereditary transmission as were physical traits. In pursuit of that goal, Galton both drew on, and made significant contributions to, statistical techniques for studying populations, such as regression and the analysis of covariance (Mackenzie 1981). The reliance of early work in eugenics on social statistics, measurement, and analysis, contributed to a view of eugenics as scientific.

The Bosnian war witnessed the organized expulsion of Bosnian Muslims by Serbian and Bosnian Serb military forces from 1992 until 1995. As a tactic aimed at creating mono-ethnic towns from multicultural populations, rape was perpetrated against all women, but particularly Muslim women, as part of a larger plan to terrorize populations into permanently abandoning their homes. The Muslims of Foča, a township close to the border with Montenegro, were one of the first multiethnic populations to be attacked and terrorized by Bosnian Serb and Serbian forces. Dragoljub Kunarac, Radomir Kovač, and Zoran Vuković were three Bosnian Serb soldiers, among thousands, to rape and sexually enslave Muslim women in multiple camps formed over the spring and summer of 1992. With the war's conclusion, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia set a legal precedent in the trial of Kunarac, Kovač, and Vuković as one trial in a chain of cases at the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia to advance the classifications of what sexual violence constitutes and the ways in which these crimes would be tried in international courts of law. Importantly, the Kunarac case marked the first instance in which war criminals were convicted of rape as a crime against humanity, a legal classification second only to genocide, and was the first legal proceeding to define sexual slavery as a war crime and to convict defendents of this offense as a crime against humanity. This thesis will examine the precedent set by the Kunarac Case, exhibiting first the development of the international acceptance of sex v crimes as serious war crimes, and second the broadening of sexual abuse classifications written to encompass the increasing number of sexual crimes perpetrated in modern war. All Bosnian locations and names, requiring diacritical marks, have been provided when appropriate. ̌ represents a full "ch" sound and ́ represents a lighter "ch" sound. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .

This review aims to evaluate various dimensions of James Falkner's recent work, Prince Eugene of Savoy: A Genius for War Against Louis XIV and the Ottoman Empire, first published in 2022. The book comprises 205 pages and is organized into twelve chapters, excluding the appendix and bibliography. Written in English, the work offers a chronologically structured account of Prince Eugene of Savoy's life and military career, with a particular focus on his campaigns against both the Ottoman Empire and France. Drawing upon archival materials and scholarly research in military history, Falkner's objective is to provide the reader with a detailed understanding of Prince Eugene's strategic and political acumen. The book successfully contextualizes his military engagements within the broader political dynamics of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. As such, it serves as a valuable resource for researchers, academics, and students interested in the military history of early modern Europe, particularly in the context of Habsburg-Ottoman and Habsburg-French relations.

The city of Eger, as well as and most of the other Hungarian cities are located at springs of thermal waters, therefore, most of the Turkish baths built in Hungary are of ilija-type, however, hammams were also built. Ottoman Turks conquered Hungary for one and a half centuries in 16-17 c. To the sorry of science, historiography focused on the war, that destroyed inhabited places and humans, too. However, Turks enriched Hungary with buildings, food, flowers, and human blood, too. Even nowadays there are still Hungarian families with Turkish family names such as “Ali”, which derived from the given name Ali and turned into a surname because it refers to the Turkish origin of the respective family. In the 18th century, Turkish buildings, baths, and living houses were ruined. Ottoman Turks had built several hundred grandiose buildings, such as baths for mineral waters (the land of Hungary is extremely rich in medical waters, albeit the Turks introduced all the wellness culture and a lot of Turkish baths have still been working nowadays as well), Jamis, medreses, minarets, or turbes where significant Turkish persons are buried. The author himself visits Turkish baths in Budapest and Eger, which have been working with medicinal mineral water in the same buildings built by the Turks, such as Pasha Mehmed, and remained in good shape, and attract many tourists, too.

This study investigates how Samuel Beckett's absurd drama Endgame (1957) and T. S. Eliot's poem "The Waste Land" (1922) present a chaotic and pessimistic world through their apocalyptic setting and allusions. The paper juxtaposes the two texts composed in the aftermath of a world war that consistently use an analogous ecocritical perception. Both works reflect the despair and miseries caused by the destruction of nature. Beckett depicts a prominent world of extermination for everything that was once alive. The whole ecosystem has been consummated, and the characters mourn for their present-day sufferings while reminiscing about the past's splendid times. Through his play, Beckett portrays the inevitable reality that humans bring their own destruction and suffer from the devastating consequences of the life cycle they have damaged. Beckett's drama mirrors Eliot's poem "The Waste Land" due to the ominous setting, the desperate characters, and the pessimistic vision for the future of humanity. The hopelessness of the main character, Hamm, in Endgame, is an allusion to the myth of the Fisher King, whose infertility leaves no promise for the resurrection of the land and the preservation of human existence, as similarly depicted in "The Waste Land". From an ecocritical perspective, the paper analyzes how Beckett's play and Eliot's poem reflect the suffering of humanity in the horrid nihility of natural reproduction and the impossibility of finding any cure for this suffering on Earth. The study concludes that Beckett's play Endgame and Eliot's poem "The Waste Land" portray human nature denying responsibility till the last moment of the apocalypse, and the ecocritical analysis of the texts reveals that they serve as * This article is a revised and extended version of the paper presented at the "15 th

Nikolai Rozhkov’s Town and Village in Russian History (Город и деревня в русской истории), published in 1902, is a historical and socio-economic study that examines the relationship between urban and rural life in Russia from the tenth century to 1900. As a Marxist historian, Rozhkov analyzes the long-term transformation of Russia’s economic, social and political structures, particularly focusing on the evolving dynamics between agrarian society and urban centers over nearly a millennium.