History

Yearbook

    The Dangerous Conservative Totalitarianism Discourse in the EU
  • For the centenary of the 1917 Russian Revolution conservative parties of the EU organised a whole series of events dealing with the heritage of communist regimes. The Estonian Presidency of the EU issued invitations to an August 2017 conference titled ‘The Legacy of the Crimes of Communist Regimes...
    Memory as an Apparatus
  • The challenge facing European political democracy is reflected in the fragmentation of its historical consciousness. With a new monetary system (1944), the Marshall Plan (1947), and NATO (1950) a solid supranational network was erected under US leadership that coexisted peacefully with the...
    Towards the League of the Balkan Left
  • The Balkan Peninsula has played a special role in Europe’s political imagination. For the greater part of contemporary history this region figured as a kind of barbaric wasteland. Barbaric in the original sense of the word, that is, of people speaking incomprehensible languages. Beyond this...
    Ecosocialism – from William Morris to Hugo Blanco
  • What is ecosocialism? Ecosocialism is a political current based on an essential insight: that the preservation of the ecological equilibrium of the planet and therefore of an environment favourable to living species – including our own – is incompatible with the expansive and destructive logic of...
    The Left Alternative – The Search for a Subject of History
  • Globalisation is increasingly influencing us. On the one side, it opens up new forms of a networked internet civilisation; on the other side, it entails irresolvable contradictions. The events of the recent period show that today, both for the West and for Russian society, it is not the challenge of...
    Time of Alternatives: The Left 100 Years After the October Revolution
  • The undermining of commodity production began one hundred years ago with a qualitative leap in the manipulation of market and consumption by corporations. No anti-cartel legislation can touch the market power of the largest capitals. Today the market does not primarily stimulate effectiveness but...
    1945-2015: What Does History Tell Us?
  • I. Preparing for the year 2014 gave historians a lot of work to do. The centenary of the outbreak of the First World War in August 1914 called forth many books on the character, origins, and consequences of this explosion of violence when the ‘lamps were going out all over Europe’. The war put an...
    Towards a Common European Historical Narrative?
  • On 24 March transform!europe organised a debate on the ‘European House of History’ (HEH) project in order to elaborate critical approaches to the public use of history and particularly the creation of HEH decided on and funded by the European Parliament in 2009 with the explicit aim of constituting...
    The Communist Manifesto in Perspective
  • The following text is taken from the manuscript of Eric Hobsbawm’s opening address to the international conference organised by Espaces Marx on the 150th anniversary of the Communist Manifesto and held at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris in 1998. The text was subsequently included in slightly revised versions in books published in France, Germany and the UK. We thank Hinrich Kuhl for his support.
    Workers’ Self-management in Yugoslavia – An Ambivalent Experience
  • In the discussion of an alternative economic order the terms “producers’ democracy” and “workers’ self-management” are inseparably bound up with the “Yugoslav experiment”. The “Third Way” of Yugoslav socialism acted as an important point of reference in the debates of the international left. When...
    Crash as Cash Can – Crises, Bubbles, Speculators – 1929 and Today
  • In autumn 2008 the world experienced a financial crash, which brought the financial markets to the outer edge of collapse. Then peace returned (or more accurately: organised pacification), until another issue gave new cause for worry. Now it was the nation-states – because they (allegedly or really)...
    The Raging Tempo of the Long Decline - A Manifesto
  • Between the end of feudalism and a future society, the bourgeois epoch is spread out like a battlefield on which everything is civic and cosy so long as the countries, between military wars, can revel in mere financial wars and economic crises. Happily, the much vaunted bourgeoisie has lost its...

Blog

    NATO and the Construction of the Enemy
  • Marga Ferré, Co-President of transform! europe, comments on the NATO-led western militarisation and analyses its ideological foundation. In this context, she points out the construction of the "other" as the enemy and racial supremacy, which both must be fought.
    Enrico Berlinguer and 21st-Century Socialism
  • Secretary of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) from 1972 to 1984, Enrico Berlinguer has been long known for two broad political initiatives he introduced in the 1970s: at the level of domestic politics, the compromesso storico (the historical compromise); and, at the international level, Eurocommunism. On 25 May, we celebrate his 100th birthday.
    The Hatshepsut Phenomenon and the Eighth of May
  • Can we rejoice at the end of one war while another is raging? Writing about 8 May is difficult this year. Obviously its most important message must be: Stop the killing in Ukraine! Return to the negotiating table!
    Notes on Historical Revisionism in the European Union
  • Germany’s special historical responsibility is repeatedly reaffirmed, but at the same time interpreted in a new way – specifically now in the context of the war in Ukraine. Among those who call for German leadership, many like former German President Gauck are reinterpreting history at the European level in terms of the totalitarianism thesis.
    Post Rosa: Letters Against Barbarism
  • Twenty “Luxemburgians” from across the globe engage in vivid correspondence, with reference to and reflections about Luxemburg and the times we live in, as understood through their own bodies and geopolitical locations, and informed by an epistemology of both head and heart.
    Speaking of Basic Income: Four Notions of Labour in Marx
  • My main topic concerns the theoretical questions involved here which are emanating of Friedrich Engels famous essay The Part Played by Labour in the Transition from Ape to Man, in which he basically demonstrates how labour became the principal condition of human existence. In a simplistic...
    On the 140th Birthday of Otto Bauer (1881-1938)
  • On 5 September 1881, Otto Bauer, one of the most prominent Austro-Marxist theorist of the inter-war period, was born. Find here a compilation of texts and lectures on Otto Bauer's work and impact.
    The Relevance of Otto Bauer and Austro-Marxism Today
  • More than a century ago, socialists in Austria were calling themselves 'socialists' because they wanted to create a new social model known as 'socialism'. At their intellectual peak, they set up a school of Marxist theory, which they described as being separate from both social-democratic reformism...
    The Austrian Revolution
  • The classic work by the most prominent Austro-Marxist theorist of the inter-war period, Otto Bauer, now available in English for the first time in full.
    USSR and Germany: On the Way to 22 June 1941
  • On 22 June 1941, Nazi Germany began its war of extermination against the Soviet Union, displacing and killing millions. The date also marks the beginning of the extermination of Europe’s Jews. Russian-based historian and member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladimir Shveitser, analyses the geopolitical situation preceding the German attack.
    Never Again! "Operation Barbarossa" Anniversary
  • On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany began the attack on the Soviet Union with “Operation Barbarossa”. From day one, the fascist aggressors terrified the civilian population in this war of predation and extermination. War and occupation killed 27 million citizens of diverse nationalities on Soviet Union territory alone.
    100 Years Communist Parties
  • Review of the latest book of Jan Campbell, chairman of the Institute of the Czech Left, an observer organisation of transform! europe. The publication presents the author's reflections on the 100th anniversary of the founding of communist parties in various countries, under specific consideration of the Communist Party of China.
    Lenin150 (Samizdat): 2nd expanded edition
  • On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Lenin's birth, Lenin150 (Samizdat) seeks to contribute to the re-kindling of the communist attractor by engaging, in the spirit of critical solidarity, with Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov in the year of his 150th anniversary. Conceived out of the former...
    Reflections on the Eighth of May
  • Erhard Crome on the current German politics of history and the foreign policy of the European Union – on the occasion of the 76th anniversary of the victory over the Nazi regime.
    Who was Rosa Luxemburg?
  • Even though Luxemburg’s writings have been widely analysed and her correspondence subjected to detailed examination from various viewpoints, this question is harder to answer than it seems.
    The Birth of Marxism in France: Remembering the Paris Commune and Jules Guesde
  • The French political and social situation – with its many strikes, social movements, and highly ideologised political currents – often fascinates observers outside France. The life of a central figure in the French socialist movement, Jules Guesde, who is little known outside France provides insights into the specificities of the French left.
    The Hussite Town Tábor
  • Even though a society based on human dignity, ensuring a fair share of wealth and participation for everyone on matters concerning community has not yet been achieved, this Southern Bohemian town, founded 600 years ago, became an interesting example of the complexity and tenacity of this struggle.
    Käthe Leichter (1895 – 1942)
  • On August 20, 125 years ago, Käthe Leichter was born, a Social Democrat, leftist radical, social scientist, trade unionist, women’s politician, Austro-Marxist and revolutionary socialist. In March 1942 she was murdered by National Socialists at the Bernburg extermination centre.
    Anti-Communism – 'One of the Greatest Follies of Our Epoch'
  • On 19 September of last year the European Parliament - with the votes of the conservatives, liberals, social democrats, and greens - passed a resolution in which the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany were made equally responsible for the Second World War. Europe was, so the statement went, the victim of...
    XII Race and Walk Llluís Companys: Commemoration of the Peoples' Olympiad of 1936
  • On Saturday, 19 October, transform! europe’s member organisation Fundació l’Alternativa celebrated the XII edition of the Race and Walk Lluís Companys – an event that bundles historical memory, giving voice to republican values, sports and culture. An active and festive way of claiming peace culture and solidarity between peoples and nations.
    Respect for Historical Memory in Europe
  • The board of transform! europe launches the following open letter regarding the resolution 'Europe must remember its past to build its future', adopted by the majority of the European Parliament – rejected by the GUE/NGL group.
    A Bad Message from the European Parliament
  • Last Thursday the European Parliament adopted by majority the resolution on the Importance of European remembrance for the future of Europe. Read the statement of the International Federation of Resistance Fighters Association of Anti-fascists on this "ideological relapse into the worst times of the cold war".
    The Greek Left Since the 1940s. History Study Trip to Athens
  • For the third time already, present:history and transform! europe organize a history study trip to Greece. This time, we focused on Athens and the history of the Greek left since the 1940s for our main questions: Which role does history play for current political struggles? How can we talk about the...
    Building Bridges. Neighbourhood Central Europe?
  • To mark the 100th anniversary of the Austrian Republic, transform! europe and the Jahoda-Bauer Institute held a conference about the prospects for a common strategy for the Danube region and Central Europe. The event was supported financially by the Republic of Austria’s Fund for the Future and the Party of the European Left.
    Marking 70 Years Of The Carinthian Partisan Association
  • On 10 November, 1,200 people came together at the Klagenfurt exhibition space for an impressive event to mark the 70th anniversary of the ‘Association of Carinthian Partisans and Friends of the Anti-Fascist Resistance’/Zveza koroških partizanov in prijateljev antifašističnega odpora.
    Austria’s Annexation to Nazi Germany
  • transform.at organised together with others on 10 March, in Vienna, a symposium entitled “Austria 1938-2018. The victim/perpetrator discourse and the Austrian resistance”.
    Few Points Regarding the Sense of the Revolution
  • On the background of this year’s 100th anniversary of the Russian Revolution Jiří Dolejš contemplates the role of revolutionary turmoil and its impact on the human society as well as the requirements under which a real change can be achieved.
    The Destruction of Reason
  • The Hungarian Academy of Sciences wants to dissolve the Georg Lukács Archives in Budapest. On a campaign against ‘Leftists’ and ‘Liberals’.
    What Produces Democracy?
  • Geoff Eley, Professor for Contemporary History at the University of Michigan, speaks of the crisis of hegemony and the crisis of representation, produced by the dislocations and de-legitimisations of the processes of capitalist restructuring and class recomposition. He also analyses the Left's challenges and the right's responses in addressing this dual crisis.
    ITH Conference 2015: “Work and Non-Work”
  • The 51st ITH Conference (24-26 September 2015) investigates the topic of “work and non-work” in an interdisciplinary perspective, in particular, from the point of view of the political construction of work and non-work.
    The Red Thread of Alternative Historiography
  • On Friday, 14 February 2014, the AKADEMIA Network of transform! europe organised a workshop about the history of Europe. This workshop was a follow-up to the founding meeting organised in April 2013, which brought together historians working with various member organisations of our network and was supported by MEP Marie-Christine Vergiat from the GUE/NGL Group (Front de Gauche, France).
    Looking for the Red Thread in the Public History of Contemporary Europe
  • On 24 March 2013, transform! europe organised a workshop with historians who collaborate with the member foundations of the network. The central question was how to elaborate critical approaches to the public usages of history and, more particular, vis-à-vis the creation of the House of European History (HEH), established by the European Parliament in 2009 with the explicit aim to constitute a public European identity.
    Obituary: Eric J. Hobsbawm (1917-2012)
  • He survived the “short 20th century” by more than two decades. Eric J. Hobsbawm had been one of the great thinkers that past century gave birth to. By profession a historian, he was a story-teller and historical philosopher at the same time who practised historiography as social history. In the...

Publication

    How the Czech Republic Became a Colony
  • ‘Jak jsme se stali kolonií’ was first published in 2015. It successfully undermined the myth of the ‘transformation success’ and showed that the position of the Czech Republic in the world economy is unsustainable and disadvantageous for its citizens. This eBook is an adapted and updated version for non-Czech readers.
    1969: The Year the Workers Shook the World
  • 1969 was the year of the workers' revolt, which involved a large part of the industrialised world: from Italy to Poland, from France to the U.S.A — a revolt that questioned the unacceptable conditions in which the working classes lived.
    "New Deal" means being prepared for conflict
  • Coping with the consequences of the Corona crisis makes a socio-ecological transformation even more urgent. A look back at the New Deal of the 1930s is useful as inspiration for this. Not just at what was done, but primarily at how it was set in motion – by the economist Steffen Lehndorff, supported by transform! europe.
    The New Right and the Old Left in South-East Europe
  • In recent years Europe has experienced an unexpected rise in the power and influence of the far-right. At the same time, some of the traditionally most important left-wing parties experienced their demise. To shed a light on the interconnectedness of these two processes, transform! europe offers this eDossier.