Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Eva Cihelková Author-Name: Jakub Krč Title: The German Approach towards the Accesion of Poland and the Czech Republic to the EU Abstract: The Geopolitical divide that separated Europe did not allow Germany on one side and Poland and Czechoslovakia on the other side to prosper from the potential of their relations. It has rapidly changed after the end of the Cold War, when both sides concluded and began to engage in many bilateral and multilateral treaties and cooperation that culminated in 2004 with the eastern enlargement of the EU. This paper deals with the German approach towards Poland and the present-day Czech Republic at bilateral as well as multilateral level during and before the enlargement itself and combines both political and economic points of view. The outline is based on examination of essential political documents and their further practical effects. The analysis of German approach is based on the characteristic of bilateral relations of the Federal Republic of Germany to the both countries, German incentives for enlargement of the EU as well as different intensity of relations of respected countries. Keywords: international relations, Germany, Poland, Czech Republic, EU Enlargement Classification-JEL: F02 Pages: 5-14 Volume: 2008 Issue: 1 Year: 2008 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/download.php?jnl=aop&pdf=16.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/16 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlaop:v:2008:y:2008:i:1:id:16:p:5-14 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlaop/references/16 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: John R. Davis Title: Richard Cobden, the German States and the Zollverein Abstract: Richard Cobden was one of the main representatives of economic liberalism in the 19th century. He put through the fundamental changes in British economic policy which helped Great Britain become the strongest economic state in the world during the 19th century. The author concentrates on the analysis understanding and perception of the German Lands in the work of Richard Cobden. On the basis of Cobden's diary entries he gives attention not only to British-German economic relations but also for example to the comparison of school systems in which the German one's apprehended as more modern than the British one. Cobden went to the German Lands reveral times and he can be considered one of the main supporters of British-German co-operation in the 19th century. Keywords: Germany, Free Trade, Great Britain, Prussia, German Zollverein, svobodný obchod, Velká Británie, Německo, Prusko, Německý celní spolek Pages: 15-30 Volume: 2008 Issue: 1 Year: 2008 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/download.php?jnl=aop&pdf=17.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/17 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlaop:v:2008:y:2008:i:1:id:17:p:15-30 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: John R. Davis Title: Richard Cobden in Prague - in 1838: extracts from his Travel Diary (for František Stellner) Abstract: Richard Cobden belonged to a circle of the British intellectuals who admired German culture and philosophy. His interest grew further during his journey to the German states in the 1830s and 1840s. During his first journey in 1838 he visited for a short time the territory of Czech lands. To this short stay in Teplice and Prague the author dedicated this contribution in which he issues unpublished records from Cobden's diary. These reports contain a series of important findings and depict the everyday of the Czech lands in the end of the 19th century. Keywords: Germany, Free Trade, Great Britain, Bohemia, svobodný obchod, Velká Británie, Německo, Čechy Pages: 31-37 Volume: 2008 Issue: 1 Year: 2008 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/download.php?jnl=aop&pdf=18.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/18 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlaop:v:2008:y:2008:i:1:id:18:p:31-37 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ivan Jakubec Title: Czechoslovak-West German trade-political and transport-political Relations in the period 1968-1989 Abstract: The treaty of establishment of sales representation and the regulation of commodity and paying system from 1967 preceded the establishment of diplomatic relations in the first half of 1970's. This normalization of the mutual political relations however has not affected substantially the foreign exchange. But it led to expansion of the mutual sales representation. The military occupation of Czechoslovakia and the period of political normalization had brought a disruption of the well developing Czechoslovak - West German trade and transport cooperation. In the period 1968-1989 the Czechoslovak share of the trade with Germany as part of its foreign trade remained under one percent and the West German share of trade with Czechoslovakia hardly reached just several percents. Nevertheless Germany remained the most significant West European partner for Czechoslovakia and Hamburg together with the Yugoslavian Rijeka remained as the most considerable West European seaport. Despite different power-political and ideological development, in Czechoslovak - West German economic and transport relations, efforts had been made towards compromise and reality. The legally unsettled position of the Elbe, which lasted from the end of the Second World War until 1988, respectively until 1990, has presented one of series of paradoxes in the post war economical development of Europe. Keywords: Central Europe, transport, transport and trade policies, střední Evropa, doprava, dopravní a obchodní politika Classification-JEL: N700 Pages: 38-52 Volume: 2008 Issue: 1 Year: 2008 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/download.php?jnl=aop&pdf=19.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/19 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlaop:v:2008:y:2008:i:1:id:19:p:38-52 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Drahomír Jančík Title: Methods of the Germanisation of Czech Economic during the German Occupation on Exapmle of Mining and Metallurgical Company Prague Abstract: In the inter-war Czechoslovakia, the Báňská a hutní společnost Praha (Mining and Metallurgical Compagny Prague) represented one of the three most important metallurgical companies. Thanks to its close connection to the armament industry it had an extreme strategic importance. Shortly after the foundation of Czechoslovakia, in the year 1920, the French L'Union Européenne Industrielle et Financi#232;re belonging to Schneider's group secured a major share in it. The organization structure of the Báňská a hutní společnost was affected by political changes - after the München Conference Poland annexed the region of Karviná and Třinec, where its sister societies were situated (coal mines, blast furnaces, steel plant, rolling mill, wire mill). After the split of Czecho-Slovakia it became an independent company, which was after the beginning of the war and after the fall of Poland taken over by the German Haupttreuhandstelle-Ost because the major owner of the company was French, therefore the "alien" capital. A number of German Reich concerns, e.g. Hermann Göring Reichwerke, were striving furiously to control it, as well as to control the Báňská a hutní společnost within the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia. After the beginning of the war the control over a part of shares of the Báňská a hutní společnost of the French major owner, situated in Prague, was delegated to the Reich German Walter Pohle, an exponent of the Deutsche Bank and the director of the affiliation of the Deutsche Bank in the Protectorate, the Böhmische-Union Bank. Pohle played a key role during the Germanization of the Báòská a hutní společnost, when he negotiated the repurchase of its shares owned by L'Union Européenne and stored in the Banque de France for a bargain price. Pohle followed a plan of the Reich Ministry of Economy to concentrate the mining and metallurgical base in Silesia. Its aim was to renew the former unity of the Báňská a hutní společnost and to ensure the influence of the German Reich in it by the elimination of its Jewish and Czech share-holders. The Germanization of the Báňská a hutní společnost was carried out by the transfer of its headquarters from Prague to Těšín and by the changes in the ownership of its shares by an organized repurchase (especially within the framework of the so-called aryanization of Jewish bonds) and therefore by the increase of its share capital and the exchange of the "old" shares for the "new" ones, with the value in German Marks. By this measure, the "Czech influence" was disabled, as the transferees of the "new" shares could be only Germans. Keywords: aryanization of the Jewish property, germanisation of the Czech Lands, Czechoslovak economic history 1939-45, hospodářské dějiny Československa 1939-45, germanizace českých zemí, arizace židovského majetku Pages: 53-65 Volume: 2008 Issue: 1 Year: 2008 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/download.php?jnl=aop&pdf=20.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/20 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlaop:v:2008:y:2008:i:1:id:20:p:53-65 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Martin Kovář Title: Enemies or Allies? Abstract: It is difficult to determine whether Haldane's mission was a serious attempt of Asquith's Liberal government at "changing the foreign policy line" (i.e. an attempt to settle the relations with Germany and possible entering into an alliance with it), or a manifestation of Great Britain's traditional policy towards her allies on the Continent (i.e. a "balance of power" policy favouring the existing Entente partners - France and Russia). The events of January until April 1912 bring a lot of evidence and "evidence" for the former as well as for the latter interpretations. The truth is that the situation was not clear. There is no doubt that both on the British government, in the House of Commons and outside the immediate sphere of high politics there existed people for whom the alliance with the "traditional enemy" - France - was a thorn in their flesh and that they, therefore, desired its break-up. Moreover, many a British were impressed by Germany's economic rise and its ambitions to such an extent that they viewed an alliance with Germany as the best way of securing the national interests for the future. However, the followers of the Entente with France (and Russia) were strong enough not to allow this change of foreign policies. Nevertheless, the negotiations of Great Britain at the beginning of World War I in summer 1914 show that the attempts at establishing "a new line" in foreign policies of the island state were not an illusion but represented a serious effort to make a fundamental change in the sphere of international relations. This is the way one should see it. Keywords: Germany, Britain, British-German Relations Pages: 66-73 Volume: 2008 Issue: 1 Year: 2008 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/download.php?jnl=aop&pdf=21.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/21 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlaop:v:2008:y:2008:i:1:id:21:p:66-73 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Jiří Novotný Author-Name: Jiří Šouša Title: An Instrument of Big Business Germanization in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia? Abstract: The role of the Prague Commodity and Stock Exchange was quite specific during the existence of what is known as the Second Czechoslovak Republic and, in particular, during the occupation of the remaining part of the country by Nazi Germany, reflecting the extraordinary time context. The liberal principles of its operation were restricted and subject to the controlled war-oriented efforts. The racial discrimination laws and the Third Reich loyalty requirements had impacts on personal and organizational matters. Within the so-called "internal aryanization" of the Prague Commodity and Stock Exchange, pursuant to the general policy of "expulsion" of Jews from the economic life in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, Jews were excluded from its bodies and were even not allowed to enter the Stock Exchange. The Stock Exchange Chamber as the leading body of the Prague Stock Exchange was "complemented" with Germans, who then constituted one half of its members. In addition, a special German arbitration court of the Prague Stock Exchange was set up that was obliged to notify the Reichsprotektor as chief representative of the German occupation authorities in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia of its activities. The exchange business was limited in 1940-1945 and the public bond transactions virtually "fell down". Thus, the Prague Stock Exchange played rather a secondary role in the process of transformation of joint stock companies in favor of Germans (i.e., in their germanization). In some cases, however, the penetration of German business elements into the Stock Exchange institutes and the interventions in stock transactions made it possible to acquire an interest that played an important, and even decisive role in the germanization of a particular company. Keywords: Prague Commodity and Stock Exchange, germanization of joint stock companies, Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia Pages: 74-87 Volume: 2008 Issue: 1 Year: 2008 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/download.php?jnl=aop&pdf=22.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/22 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlaop:v:2008:y:2008:i:1:id:22:p:74-87 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Toni Pierenkemper Title: Ideas and Achievements of the State Policy of Mercantilism in Germany During the Abstract: The study deals with the theory and praxis of mercantilism in Prussia during the era of Frederic II. At the beginning the author drew the attention to the definition of the term mercantilism which represented neither comprehensive economic system nor economic theory but artificial construct of the liberal economic theoreticians at the break of the 17th and 18th centuries. This ambiguity enabled creation of the different mercantilist schools and approaches agreeing only on the strong position of the state in economic sphere. The attention is set to the practising of the mercantilist policy during government of Frederic II. The author confirms the hypothesis that Frederic II in many respects continued in the policy of his predecessor and he did not come up to the fundamental change of the state policy. Moreover his long-time persistence in outmoded concepts was one of the reasons why Prussia got economically behind the advanced European states. This is also one of the main reasons why the author assesses the economic policy of Frederic II as unsuccessful. Pages: 88-98 Volume: 2008 Issue: 1 Year: 2008 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/download.php?jnl=aop&pdf=23.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/23 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlaop:v:2008:y:2008:i:1:id:23:p:88-98 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: František Stellner Author-Name: Radek Soběhart Title: Selected Problems of the Economic Politics during the Government of H. Müller (u Abstract: In 1928 was appointed the last coalition democratic government which aim was to deal with growing economic problems of the Weimar republic. The so called "Great coalition" failed to come to agreement on solution of the most important questions: social policy, fiscal policy, reparations and the Young plan. Yet before October 1929 the problems of the political sphere and variety of opinions on German economic policy emerged. Therefore the study focuses both on problems which the cabinet considered crucial in economic sphere, on mingling of interests of political parties, trade unions, special interest groups in industry or agriculture, on influence of economic policy and particularly on controversy concerning the access to the social question. Marginally it deals as well as with weak points of the Weimar republic parliamentarianism in connection with searching the outlets from growing economic problems and with the question whether the creation of the so called "Great coalition" in 1928 was bigger mistake than its much more criticized failure two years later. Keywords: unemployment, Germany, German Economic Policy, Reparations, the Young Plan, the Great Depression Pages: 99-107 Volume: 2008 Issue: 1 Year: 2008 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/download.php?jnl=aop&pdf=24.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/24 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlaop:v:2008:y:2008:i:1:id:24:p:99-107 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: David Lipka Author-Name: Dan Šťastný Title: John Maynard Keynes, Socialism and Economic Policy of Nazi Germany Abstract: Keynes foreword to the German edition of his General Theory is one of the causes of the association between his name and a total state. This paper looks into how justified the link between Keynes's theory and the Nazi German economic policy really is. The first part introduces Keynes's ideas on economic policy and his vision of society. These are in the second part confronted with the economic policy of the Nazi Germany (and partly that of Bolshevik Russia) and common components are identified. The conclusion is that despite his explicit repudiation of socialism and dictatorship and his efforts to "save" capitalism, Keynes's concept of economic policy was similar to the economic policy of Nazi Germany and opened the way towards socialism and planning. Keywords: economic policy, Germany, Keynes, Hitler, socialism Classification-JEL: E60, E65, P52 Pages: 108-116 Volume: 2008 Issue: 1 Year: 2008 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/download.php?jnl=aop&pdf=25.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/25 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlaop:v:2008:y:2008:i:1:id:25:p:108-116 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Oliver Walton Title: Distant patron: Prince Albert and the Development of the Coburg-Gotha Economy Abstract: When Prince Albert of Sachsen-Coburg-Gotha married Queen Victoria of Great Britain, he was separated from the place of his birth by geography and British political expediency. Hitherto neglected by historians, Albert's surprisingly close and ongoing connections with the duchy have recently been uncovered. This article focuses upon his efforts to support and promote the economic development of the Coburg-Gotha. It shows how he was able to bridge the distance by employing local representatives, and outlines his investments in logistics and new technology, and his efforts to change society and culture in order to further economic development. It places these efforts in the context of his position as a prince of Coburg-Gotha, and his desire to reaffirm himself as a "distant patron'. Keywords: Prince Albert, Coburg, Gotha, economy, society Pages: 117-130 Volume: 2008 Issue: 1 Year: 2008 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/download.php?jnl=aop&pdf=26.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/aop/26 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlaop:v:2008:y:2008:i:1:id:26:p:117-130