his study traces the changing portrayals of Maria Theresa in the writings of the most important Czech historians (F. M. Pelcl, W. W. Tomek, J. Kalousek, B. Rieger, J. Svátek, J. Pekař and J. Prokeš) up until the end of the First Republic. It also considers the works of popular chroniclers, the French historian E. Denis, and school textbooks. The author shows that from the end of the 18th century to the 1930s Czech historiography presented an image of Maria Theresa as an exceptionally capable ruler whose wide-ranging reforms brought considerable progress in many different spheres of life both in Bohemia and the monarchy as a whole. From the outset, however, there was also criticism of various aspects of her policies that were perceived as inimical to the Czech nation. First there was Germanization, especially in the education system; then, from the 1860s, the centralizing tendency of administrative reforms that threatened the (albeit limited) autonomy of the Czech state and opened the door to dualism. This criticism was especially abrasive in the works of J. Kalousek, B. Rieger and J. Svátek. Some even pointed to an actively hostile attitude on the part of the empress towards the Czech Lands. As the proliferation of factual evidence consolidated the positive image of the great monarch, critical assessments became more objective, though they never disappeared altogether. It is worth noting that, with few exceptions, the positive importance of absolutist enlightenment reforms for the emergence of the modern Czech nation-state was often overlooked., Eduard Maur., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
The four decades of breath-taking political and economic changes in China raise a host of questions about the governance of this, in many ways unique, world power. The authors analyse the economic, political and historical context of the origins and operation of the present-day Chinese political model, the country’s legal system and the role of the Communist Party in the Chinese society, similar in many ways to the role previously played by China’s imperial dynasties. They also highlight the new trends in Chinese domestic politics and foreign policy of the late 2010s, which bear witness to a sustained effort of the Chinese political leadership to enhance China’s great-power status on the global stage., Miloš Balabán, Michal Tomášek., and Obsahuje bibliografické odkazy
Od nástupu páté generace čínských vůdců k moci v listopadu 2012 se pozorovatelé Číny intenzivně zamýšlejí nad tím, zda se Xi Jinpingovu vedení podaří obnovit reformní proces zpomalený během předcházející dekády. Velmi diskutovaná je i úzce související otázka, zda se v Xi Jinpingovi vrací do čínské politiky postava individuálního autoritářského vůdce Mao Zedongova ražení., The article researches the rule of Xi Jinping's fifth generation of Chinese leaders, from their rise to power at the 18th Congress of the Communist Party of China in November 2012 until June 2014. It describes some of the organizational aspects of the most recent power transition and examines the most important document of the Xi administration so far available to us, The Decision on Major issues Concerning the Comprehensive Deepening of Reforms, announced after the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee in November 2013. The article further outlines the impact of the Decision, particularly the formation of several new leading groups and their allocated tasks. The text further addresses the question as to whether Xi Jinping's strong position signals the return to Chinese politics of the Mao-style individual authoritarian rule. The research draws on sources such as official documents, media statements and news articles, as well sas on several relevant articles., Ondřej Klimeš., and Obsahuje bibliografii