Tereny okupowane podczas pierwszej wojny światowej przez państwa centralne rzadko opisywane są w kategoriach unikatowej przestrzeni wymiany kulturowej. Tymczasem udostępnione w ostatnim czasie zasoby archiwalne pozwalają na zbadanie i opisanie transnarodowej historii mobilności kulturowej w latach 1914–1918. W niniejszym artykule zaprezentowano przykład praktycznej realizacji koncepcji global intellectual history Wielkiej Wojny. Za przykład posłużyła działalność Jana Pawła Kaczkowskiego (piszącego pod pseudonimem Jean Paul d’Ardeschah) w obszarze polsko-niemieckiego, jak i niemiecko-belgijskiego transferu kulturowego. Aktywność Kaczkowskiego posłużyła jako punkt wyjścia – po pierwsze – do analizy miejsca zajmowanego w czasie wojny przez „mniejsze” literatury europejskie na niemieckim rynku książki, po drugie – do skonstruowania ogólnego modelu funkcjonowania pola literackiego w warunkach konfliktu wojennego.
EN
The territories that were occupied during the First World War by the Central Powers are rarely described in the categories of unique spaces of cultural exchange. However, archive materials recently rendered available offer a description and research of transnational cultural mobility between the years 1914–1918. The present article presents an example of a practical realisation of the Great War global intellectual history. An illustration of it is the activity of Jan Paweł Kaczkowski (pen name Jean Paul d’Ardeschah) in the field of Polish-German and German-Belgian cultural transfer. Kaczkowski’s work served as a starting point for, first of all, the analysis of the place occupied by minor European literatures on the German book market and, second of all, to construct a general model presenting the function of literary field in the time of war.
The Netherlands was an important arena of propaganda work for both sides of the conflict during WWI. One of the major tasks of German diplomatic posts in The Hague, Amsterdam and Rotterdam was undoubtedly to skilfully manipulate Dutch public opinion regarding the occupied territory of Belgium. This was undertaken to contradict the propaganda work of the Triple Entente. Apart from that, the areas of the eastern war front, including the so-called “Polish issue”, were also hotly debated in the Netherlands. This paper presents the historical background and the organisational structure of the German culture propaganda in the years 1914–1918. Moreover, it focuses on the activity of the Polish Press Agency (Het Poolsch Persbureau), founded in the Netherlands in 1914 by Zygmunt Gargas. The Agency constituted the sole source of information on Poland available in the area of neutral countries during WWI.
South and South-West Africa in German Cultural Propaganda (1914–1918)On July 7th 1914, the British government requested general Louis Botha to take over the German radio transmitters in Lüderitz and Swakopmund. The German forces, unable to withhold the attack any longer, surrendered on July 9th 1915. The government in Berlin, realised that winning Southwest Africa back, might prove impossible, regardless of the course of the war in Europe. By the same token, the future of the German diamond companies, united in a consortium called Diamantenregie since 1909, depended on the developing political constellation in the Union of South Africa. Since 1915, German authorities have launched a subtle diplomatic game aimed at winning the support of the South African elites and the public opinion of the country. The neutral Netherlands were the main stage of this long–term post–war policy. Due to the historical connections to South Africa, the Netherlands played an important role as a cultural and political mediator. Some members of the Dutch elites – writers, journalists, politicians – still held the pro– Boer and anti–English position when WWI broke out. This position encouraged the involvement of the Dutch elites in the German incentives regarding cultural propaganda. This paper offers insights into the so far unpublished correspondence of the main actors of the contemporary field of German propaganda. The main person under investigation is Johannes Visscher, a Dutch journalist and expert on South Africa. As editor of the journal Hollandsch Zuid– Afrika, published by Nederlandsch Zuid–Afrikaansche Vereniging (NZAV), Visscher was employed by the German diplomatic services in the years 1915–1918. As part of the activities financed by Reichskolonialamt, Visscher shaped the image of Germany in the South African press and the pro–German image of South Africa in the Dutch press.
The paper analyses the position of peripheral European literatures on the German publishing market during World War I. Statistical information retrieved from the records of publishing houses and advertisements placed in relevant journals confirm the claim that the smaller European literatures were brought to the centre of attention of German publishers and readership between 1914–1918. Moreover, specific books were frequently referred to as ‘Weltliteratur’ (world literature) by the critics and publishers. The term ‘Weltliteratur’ is analysed here in the context of World War I, because of the specific circumstances which contributed to the growing significance of smaller literatures inthe German book market at the time.
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