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While the legacy of the Great Exhibition of 1851 as the starting point of world exhibitions and for the development of South Kensington's museum district is well understood, less attention has been paid to its third offshoot: the attempt to create a more permanent way of showcasing the world in a second Crystal Palace. On the basis of recent scholarship, this contribution discusses its economic and conceptual basis, and the reasons for its temporary success and ultimate decline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the evolution of naturalization in Western Europe and the United States from the early modern period to the end of the nineteenth century. It discusses three phases: naturalization as an economic privilege in the early modern period; naturalization as a grant of political rights reserved for a minority of the population; and naturalization as access to membership to a community of equals. It argues that naturalization, while mainly relevant to individuals moving from one country to another, also involved aspects of multilateralism throughout: naturalized citizens possess a status negotiated by their original and new states of membership, but this status can also be of great relevance in interaction with third countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the potential of a historical approach to sustainability transformations. Using environmental issues and governance structures as case studies, it first describes how historical “sustainability transformations” can be conceptualized. It then suggests that 19thcentury constitutional reforms can be read as attempts at reaching fiscal sustainability, whereas some social reforms can be interpreted as attempts to render the capitalist economy sustainable. In conclusion, the article highlights that the primary value of historical approaches to sustainability transformations will not lie in models, but in encouraging more creative questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the potential of a historical approach to sustainability transformations. Using environmental issues and governance structures as case studies, it first describes how historical "sustainability transformations" can be conceptualized. It then suggests that 19th-century constitutional reforms can be read as attempts at reaching fiscal sustainability, whereas some social reforms can be interpreted as attempts to render the capitalist economy sustainable. In conclusion, the article highlights that the primary value of historical approaches to sustainability transformations will not lie in models, but in encouraging more creative questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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It is well known that British and German attitudes to imperial expansion were very different in the mid-nineteenth century. Except for a brief period around 1848, colonial issues attracted little [...]

Reform in Great Britain and Germany 1750-1850, edited by T.C.W. Blanning and Peter Wende. Proceedings of the British Academy, Volume 100. New York, Oxford University Press for the British Academy, [...]

Victoria Konigin Viktoria und ihre Zeit. Edgar Feuchtwanger. Northeim-Sudheim: Muster-Schmidt, 2004. 177 pp. Euro14. '[T]he question about the relationship between person and structures is at the center of Feuchtwanger's biography […]

The essay will show the fragility of civility in nineteenth century London. It uses newspapers as the main source to explore what happened in the city. Many political events such as campaigns, elections, polls, and celebration were accompanied by physical violence or rowdiness. There were, however, certain limits to the use of violence at such events. From the 1840s onwards the rioting declined. At this point, civic participation became possible for larger strata of the population. Thus, the author argues, civic strife and debate in parliament became more legitimate and the street as the sphere of political conflict less important. Changes of the political system stipulated changes in the 'moral economy' (E. P. Thompson) of the urban crowd. In comparative perspective the role of crowds in French history is of great interest. In contrast to Britain, the French society does not establish a moral order of the public sphere. In times of crises, crowds in Paris and other cities often got out of control and order was restored by repressive means. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis of the contents of the periodical "Historische Zeitschrift" (HZ) with respect to articles dealing with German historiography of the 19th and 20th centuries. Post World War I focus on secret agendas was one key theme, as well the effects of Bismarck's foreign policy in fostering unnecessary confrontations. Another topic involved the tension between the Prussian military state tendencies and the democratic stirrings of the Weimar Republic. National character and race become topics during the National Socialist era. Other modern trends are noted.

The article discusses three basic questions related to measuring and researching political corruption. First the query is posed whether it is possible to gauge the amount of political corruption diachronically, as well as in national comparisons. Next is questioned whether current research permits hypothesis building over potential developments. Finally the author wonders what further researches might be contemplated or considered as desiderata. Problems and promises involved in quantifying international and comparative corruption are suggested.

Does citizenship exist beneath the level of the nation-state? An enduring historiography insists on the essentially national character of modern citizenship, but this article argues on the contrary that locally defined identities have continued to exercise an important influence on the social and political rights of citizens. These local identities are not just relics of composite states with different membership criteria; rather, spatially complex citizenship is the norm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a brief career profile of Eckhardt Treichel whose activities as editor and co-editor of the "Historical Journal" is ending this year.