Civil War Research Articles

Денежные знаки Юга России при А.И. Деникине: историографический обзор

The aim of the study is to present a historiographical review and identify the peculiarities of the issue and circulation of Rostov paper money signs of A.I. Denikin. The article examines the issuance of various banknotes in Southern Russia during the Civil War years, predominantly focusing on the Don rubles and Denikin’s currency. It is emphasized that, in comparison with other regional currencies, these notes remained relatively stable due to both their higher quality and a stringent exchange rate tied to the German mark (up until early 1919). Furthermore, A.I. Denikin himself understood the significance of the financial issue and endeavored to address the financial difficulties through various measures. However, scientists cite a number of reasons why a full-fledged solution to this issue could not be found, and Denikin’s money quickly lost value because of the unsecured issue. Scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that there is currently no separate article addressing Denikin’s banknotes which also includes a historiographical overview on this subject.

Road through a broken place: the BRI in post-coup Myanmar

In the wake of the 2021 coup, Myanmar experienced a renewed civil war that has fragmented the country along a myriad of old and new conflict lines. Despite the high-intensity violence across many regions of the country, China is still pursuing an ambitious connectivity project under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI): The China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC) is meant to connect Myanmar to the Chinese market and boost Myanmar’s industrial development. However, the challenging post-coup environment has required significant changes in China’s approach to local infrastructure development and empowered a new set of subnational actors on both sides of the border. This article analyzes how CMEC has fared since the coup, and how the fragmentation of Myanmar has gone hand in hand with that of Chinese agency in the country. Contrary to prevailing descriptions of the BRI as a coherent, strategic, and top-down project, we argue that the case of Myanmar exposes the degree to which it is shaped by local interests and circumstances, and the limits of centralized BRI implementation. Finally, it is likely that adjustments in Chinese policy triggered by the situation in Myanmar will have more long-term consequences for the future of the BRI, specifically a more direct involvement in local security efforts and greater engagement with local authorities beyond the central government.

Book Review: Of Age: Boy Soldiers and Military Power in the Civil War Era by Frances M. Clarke and Rebecca Jo Plant

Book Review: <i>Of Age: Boy Soldiers and Military Power in the Civil War Era</i> by Frances M. Clarke and Rebecca Jo Plant

Why Onset Matters: Warfare, Intensity, and Duration in Civil War

Are civil wars shaped by how they start? While existing literature points to the path-dependent nature of conflict, the link between the type of onset and wartime dynamics have been largely overlooked. Building on a recent typology capturing the dynamics of civil war onset (1944–2020), I analyze conflict trajectories, focusing on three macro-level wartime dynamics: warfare, intensity, and duration. This article shows that how large-scale armed conflicts begin (e.g., whether they start as peripheral conflicts or are fought centrally) helps us predict how intensely they will be fought or how long they will last. These findings show that onset matters beyond signaling the start of large-scale conflict and tells us about the dynamics that will likely follow. Altogether, this article establishes a new process-oriented macro-level research program in the field of conflict analysis.

Virgil’s Hercules: Echoes of Civil Strife and Duality

Hercules is cited relatively frequently in Virgil’s Aeneid, especially in the second, Italian half of the epic. Close consideration of the progression of the references to Hercules in the poem reveals a deliberate arrangement of passages that relate typologically to the characterization of both Aeneas and Augustus, in particular with respect literarily to the decision of the Trojan hero to slay his foe Turnus, and historically to the civil war with Mark Antony, in which the victor would surpass the deeds of the storied ancient hero from whom his rival claimed descent. Hercules is shown to have diverse associations for Virgil, and to serve as a cautionary mythological exemplum of the hazards of surrender to fury. The association of the demigod with the dichromatic poplar is interpreted as a symbol of the polar opposite facets of Hercules’ nature.

A Detailed Case Study of Human Rights Violation in Chennai Region with Reference of Union Carbide Corporation Vs Union of India

Human rights include the expression of the need for people to be treated in a fair, decent and humane manner regardless of their ethnic, religious or racial profile. Violation of human rights involves denying human beings their basic moral rights. These violations have been part of human history, and only in the last century has a general consensus emerged that they are absolutely wrong. Perpetrators of human rights abuses range from governments, corporations and organized crime rings to communities and individuals. There are many underlying causes that lead people to violate human rights. There is a temptation to view human rights violations in a one-dimensional construct involving a very simplistic spectrum of evil versus good. The first part of this article examines the view that "human rights violators are not necessarily just evil, but may also be themselves forced into ways of behaving by external circumstances". Violations of human rights are a result of the innate evil nature of the perpetrators, who argue that there are other environmental and biological factors that drive people to commit such crimes. The second part of the paper examines the extent to which fear of the "other" drives the desire to commit war crimes against a perceived rival group. The study is based on a systematic content analysis of official documents, press releases, newspapers, articles and interviews. I quantitatively collected all available information and also identified the most frequently recurring terminology and key words, which were graphically represented whenever possible. It also consists of articles and sections as well as various steps taken as a whole or generally or individually with developments and human rights issues from time to time that help in the violation and protection of people around the world. You will find here a discussion of the issue of Kashmir, humanitarian crises during and after the conflict in Gaza between Israeli forces and Hamas in 2008-2009, the UN's view of human rights violations, the crises caused by the 2006 Lebanon war, the humanitarian disaster in the Darfur province of Sudan (2003- 2010); and finally the political, social and economic crisis in Zimbabwe (2001–2010). The case studies analyzed in this research report reveal a number of similar trends as well as some notable differences. As such, they restrict civil liberties to prevent the emergence and mobilization of dissent in society. Moreover, human rights are at the heart of the European integration process (which was built on the ashes of civil war and genocide) and its long-term aspirations. The fundamental recognition of human rights is therefore always reflected in the EU's foreign policy and external relations.

Դոհայի համաձայնագիրը ԱՄՆ–Աֆղանստան հարաբերություններում նոր շրջափուլի թևակոխման սկիզբ / The Doha Agreement as the Beginning of a New Period in US-Afghanistan Relations

On February 29, 2020, the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement to establish peace in Afghanistan, which became widely known as the Doha Agreement. This agreement marked the end of one of the largest and bloodiest conflicts of the 21st century, the Afghan Civil War. The Doha Agreement is crucial to consider within the context of Afghan transitions, as well as the signing and content of the agreement itself, which became a turning point for the future of Afghanistan and its people, signaling the end of the long-standing presence of American and coalition forces in Afghanistan. The Doha Agreement is based on four key points: the withdrawal of American and coalition forces, the Taliban's commitment to conduct counter-terrorism operations, the initiation of intra-Afghan negotiations, and the establishment of a comprehensive and long-lasting peace. The Doha Agreement became a turning point in U.S. foreign policy, though it did not lead to long-term peace in Afghanistan. Nevertheless, it marked the beginning of a reevaluation of U.S. foreign policy in the Indo-Pacific region. On the other hand, the agreement is also significant because the U.S. engaged in peace negotiations and signed an agreement with the Sunni extremist group known as the Taliban, which, to this day, it does not recognize as the official ruling force in Afghanistan.

A Certain Kind of Freedom

Άφρικα: A Certain Kind of Freedom is pivoting on artistic exploration and re-interpretation of a 'difficult' recent past. In part soundwalk, in part performance art, in part punk archaeology, in part getting lost in the dark; the work is a nocturnal rumination bringing together historical bewilderedness with first-person embodied experience of a place. The artist leads a night walk towards and inwards Agios Achillios island in Small Prespa Lake in Greece – near the borders of Albania, and North Macedonia – and back. En route, the walking audience is exposed to wildlife sounds and animal vocalisations, to orchestrated drama, and to historical records directly or indirectly concerning the broader geographical area and its significance during the Greek civil war.

Why are ethno-territorial wars shorter under authoritarian regimes? War-fighting, cost-tolerance and negotiation mechanisms

The civil war (CW) duration literature sometimes finds that authoritarianism leads to shorter wars, and sometimes that regime type has no significant impact. Most commonly, authoritarian regimes (ARs) are expected to fight wars more effectively, thus ending wars earlier by military victory; but also to be more tolerant of war costs, and thus less likely to negotiate ends to wars. We also investigate whether ARs’ willingness to make substantive concessions to rebels – due to their lesser accountability – makes war-ending negotiations more likely. For theoretical and empirical reasons, we limit our universe of cases to the ethno-territorial type of CW and control for the effect of leadership preferences. Our results show that highly ARs tend to have shorter ethno-territorial wars and democracies longer ones; and that the concessions-constraint mechanism is the strongest and the war-costs-tolerance mechanism the weakest.

Explore to Mantai, the Ancient Port-city and the International Trade-hub of Maritime Silk Road in Northern Coast of Sri Lanka

Abstract. Mantai Ancient Port City is located in Mannar, Northern Coast of Sri Lanka, archeological reserves declared by the Department of Archeology in Sri Lanka. In concern with historical international trades for almost 2000 years, Mantai had been an excellent port city as discovered by 1980s investigations. Today, this historically valued archeology reserves are being covered by various unauthorized constructions. The artifacts found in 1980s excavations figured out in further research directives to unveil the ancient cultural and social relations that had been experienced over two millennium around the globe. This research paper elaborates change detection of temporal aspects of unauthorized constructions within the respective geographical domain. Change detection researches are based on the historical maps, aerial photographs, satellite images and recent spatial data sources played over the application software. The investigation mission deployed in 1980 had unveiled evidences of civilization history and artifacts from many countries. However the archeological research and investigations were disrupted in 1983 with escalation of civil war in Northern Province. The Research elaborates visual facts and figures of the constructions erected after 1980 against their chronological measures. The research team further discusses about the tremendous variety of fields that Mantai opens to collaborate with the international research organizations.

Ethnicity: A Trojan Horse for the Perpetuation of Armed Civil Conflicts in Africa

Abstract Purpose: The prevalence of armed conflicts in Africa seems commonplace, with little possibility to their end. This study aims to challenge a narrative that seem to consider ethnicity, or ethnic differences as the main causes of armed civil conflicts in Africa. This study argues that while ethnicity might play a role in conflict formation, ethnicity is simply a Trojan horse that is impishly presented as the main cause of armed conflicts in Africa. Design/Methodology: Data were collected from both primary and secondary sources. To evaluate the ethnicity vs. conflict nexus more conscientiously, this study provided two case examples: Ethiopia and Kenya, each providing distinct political trajectories. Findings: The study finds that ethnicity is not the main cause of armed conflicts in Africa; rather, the main causal factors are embedded in bad governance practices by political elites and their cronies. Notable is the practice of politics of power grab and marginalisation of certain groups to achieve Machiavellian ends. The additional causal factor is tied to external imperial exploitative motives of looting Africa’s natural resources, often using African puppets, bagmen and traitors of their own homeland. Thus, a combination of bad local governance practices and external economic interests is mainly what has led to a surge in armed civil conflicts in Africa. Originality/Value: The novelty of this study is that it challenges conventional political standpoints on the causes of ethnic-related conflicts and the solutions needed to end/reduce them. The study has achieved this by pushing the cloak of appreciating the scope and scale of Africa’s armed conflicts by advancing the argument that conflict management solutions lie inward rather than outward through the utilisation of local or homegrown conflict resolution mechanisms. Such local mechanisms must focus on addressing bad governance practices. The current penchant of relying on international or foreign mediatory systems as solutions is done merely at the behest of global politicking and, as such, only provides cosmetic solutions, hence themselves responsible for those protracted ethnic-related conflicts.

Legitimacy in conflict contexts: shifting rebel engagement in Sierra Leone and the presence of private contractors

ABSTRACT The growth of non-state actors has significantly changed the nature of conflict. While rebel groups are a persistently destabilizing force, private military and security companies (PMSCs) also increasingly enter conflict spaces on behalf of a variety of actors, including states seeking to suppress insurgencies. This case study of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) during Sierra Leone’s civil war between 1991 and 2002 contributes to emerging work on rebel behavior by examining how rebel’s legitimacy seeking tactics evolve when PMSCs enter a conflict context. I explore the ways that PMSCs can shift insurgents’ interpretations of and engagements with legitimacy during conflict, thus fostering opportunities for shifts in rebel behavior. In Sierra Leone, PMSCs providing combat services which credibly threatened the RUF’s survival and status shifted incentive structures around legitimacy, providing the RUF the opportunity to engage in moral legitimacy-seeking tactics and alternative forms of pragmatic legitimacy, emerging in the form of both coercive and cooperative control over civilian’s lives. While restricting some avenues of pragmatic legitimacy, this also engendered opportunities for substitution.

External Interventions: Bluffing and Adaptive Learning in Civil Wars

ABSTRACT This paper examines the effectiveness of bluffing about external intervention in shaping civil war dynamics using an agent-based model. It argues that warring parties’ initial information levels about interveners and their learning processes determine the success of bluffing. The model explores three scenarios: 1) accurate initial expectations and informative signals 2) inaccurate initial information and uninformative signals and 3) heterogeneous information sets and varied signal updates. Findings suggest bluffing is most effective when both sides start with inaccurate expectations and update slowly. The model’s implications are analyzed through cases in El Salvador, the Warsaw Uprising and South Vietnam negotiations.

Predictors of Desertion: Analysis of the First Michigan Colored Infantry in the American Civil War

AbstractOver 180,000 black soldiers served in the Union Army in the American Civil War. They endured horrific deprivation and disease, and also substantial institutional discrimination in such areas as wage and promotion. Nevertheless, most never deserted their duties as soldiers. However, it is not clear what distinguished those who did desert from their counterparts. The present case‐control study fills this gap. It applies social bonds theory to explain desertion among blacks. The general hypothesis is the greater the bonds or stakes to the military unit, the lower the risk of desertion. Data refer to the First Michigan Colored Infantry (First Michigan) and are from the Bentley Historical Library, University of Michigan. They refer to the population of all 189 deserters in the First Michigan and a comparison group of non‐deserters. Available measures of social bonds include substitute status (substitutes received a bounty upon completion of service), receiving a wound (having “skin in the game”), and noncommissioned officer status. In addition, loyalty to family is framed as a risk factor. The dependent variable is desertion, a dichotomy (0,1). Results are adjusted for other measurable variables. A multivariate logistic regression analysis determined that measures of military social bonds were protective factors against desertion. Substitutes were 73% less apt, wounded soldiers 93% less apt, and noncommissioned officers were 79% less apt to desert than their counterparts. However, family bonds were a risk factor. The model correctly classified 77.95% of the cases. The results largely support a social bonds theory of deviance, but also may support views of the conflicting bonds between family and state as increasing desertion. The investigation is the first quantitative study of desertion among blacks in the Civil War.

Regulation of health professions education and the growth of schools in Somalia.

Health professions education, encompassing training programs for medicine and surgery, nursing, midwifery, medical laboratory sciences,, and public health, along with their regulations, are pivotal to achieving universal health coverage and Sustainable Development Goals, contributing significantly to health outcomes and public trust in the healthcare workforce. However, low- and middle-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, face challenges, such as inadequate resources, outdated curricula, and weak governance. Somalia in particular grapples with a fragmented health system and a critical shortage of skilled health professionals, exacerbated by decades of civil war and political instability. This study employed a mixed-method approach that incorporated both qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. A comprehensive literature review was conducted along with semi-structured interviews with 44 key informants, including representatives from professional health schools and officials from the Ministry of Health. Additionally, five focus group discussions were held with young professionals and an online survey was administered to students enrolled in professional health courses. The data analysis employed descriptive for quantitative data, and thematic analysis for qualitative data, guided by the human resources for health (HRH) maturity model framework. This study identified 112 health professions schools across Somalia, with a significant concentration in urban areas, particularly in Benadir. The health workforce analysis revealed a pronounced urban-rural disparity and a density of health professionals below the WHO's recommended threshold. The focus group discussions and surveys highlighted the employment challenges faced by young physicians and students' perceptions of their training and future employment opportunities. The proliferation of health professions schools without adequate quality control, the critical shortage and maldistribution of skilled health professionals, and the absence of a comprehensive regulatory framework are significant challenges facing Somalia's healthcare system. The establishment of the National Health Professionals' Council (NHPC) Act in 2020 marks a step towards addressing these issues. This study emphasizes the need for accreditation of health professions schools, capacity building of HRH teams, and collaboration among stakeholders to improve healthcare workforce development and regulation. Addressing urban-rural disparities and combating professional misconduct are also crucial for achieving universal health coverage and improving health outcomes in Somalia.

British-Armenian Military Relations in Transcaucasia During the Early Stages of the Russian Civil War (1917–1918): A Critical Analysis

This article offers a critical examination of the British-Armenian military relations in Transcaucasia during the early stages of the Russian Civil War (1917-1918), highlighting the complex interplay between British foreign policy, imperial ambitions, and local nationalisms.The plight of the Armenians resonated deeply with the British public and politicians during the First World War. A crucial moment came when the Russian monarchy fell, triggering a complex scenario in Transcaucasia and necessitating a thorough reshuffle of Britain’s foreign and military strategies in the region. In this context, the present study analyses Britain’s political maneuvers and dealings with Armenians in response to the evolving situation in Transcaucasia after the February Revolution. This article shows that notwithstanding the humanitarian ethos that was prevalent in British political rhetoric after the February Revolution in Russia, the strategic undertakings of Britain on the Caucasus front were heavily influenced by its imperial politics and determination to maintain its role in shaping the future of the Middle East and larger Asia. Highlighting the contradictions in British policies toward the region, it argues that these policies were mainly characterized by a colonial mindset that regarded Armenians and other local forces merely as serviceable instruments for realizing a broader imperialist agenda.

Interpreting Collective and Individual War Memories in Borders in Anuk Arudprakasam’s The Passage North: Affective Memories in a Hot Spot Interpreting Collective and Individual War Memories in Borders in Anuk Arudprakasam’s The Passage North: Affective Memories in a Hot Spot

War memories are the patchwork of collective and individual memory, public and private remembrance and a recollection of current knowledge, and interpretation of the facts and events during and after the wars. The knowledge and interpretation of wars occur through the conscience, trauma, and injury which shapes the personal and public memory of an individual or an ethnic group. This paper deals with the effect of war memory in the post-Srilankan civil war state with the novel The Passage North by Anuk Arudprakasam. This novel narrates the oral testimonies, the ravages of the civil war and its effects on the survivors. The thoughts and personal memories of the protagonist, Krishan, concern how people live, yet become diminished in the aftermath of civil war, and the horrors Rani experienced during the Civil war reveal the memories, trauma and actions that have determined the scar in their lives as they cope up with displacement from borders and longingness for the lived land. This research paper employs the theoretical framework of Theodule Ribot’s affective memory and conceptualises it along with the collective and individual war memory of the survivor. The paper also moves towards the application of the theory of ethnic conflict in the borders where it does reveal the alien and dreadful memories and also transcends intermittently of reconnecting, of reimagining and of reconstituting the past as network or as archive or as present as Hoskins says (Hoskin, 05). This research attempts to probe the questions of civil war memory, and remembering and forgetting of violence and trauma in the mental borders.

Democratization and Peace after Civil War—What Difference Can International Engagement Make? Insights from Liberia

Abstract What role can international engagement play for the relationship between post-conflict democratization and conflict recurrence? Empirical evidence indicates that democratization risks triggering violence. Consequently, some scholars criticize the liberal peacebuilding approach, which centers on the promotion of democracy and competitive elections with the aim of fostering peace after civil wars. This article (1) illustrates the risks and potential of post-conflict democratization and (2) traces the effect of international support in this context. It builds on the existing literature yet goes beyond the concentration on peacekeeping forces and places particular attention on democracy promotion. The analysis draws on rich empirical data from Liberia, which is an ideal case to explore this relationship. Twice, democratic elections followed in the wake of a devastating civil war in Liberia. The first post-war elections in 1997 are often cited as an example of how externally induced democratization triggers renewed violence. The democratization process following the end of the second civil war in 2003, in contrast, is regarded as having strengthened peace. The analysis shows that international (democracy) support constitutes a key explanatory factor in the Liberian case by reducing and even substituting for the weakness and lack of credibility of local democratic institutions and procedures.

Polarization, Populism, and the Crisis of American Democracy

American democracy is in crisis. The emergence of affective polarization and populism has contributed to a divided America in which both sides perceive every election as an existential threat to their ways of life, values, and democracy itself. Central features of liberal democracy, including the right to vote, the system of checks and balances, and presidential transitions of power, appear to be collectively under threat in ways they have not been since the Civil War. Scholars diverge on both the sources of and responses to the crisis. For some, the problem is too much democracy, and the solution is less. For others, the problem is too little democracy, and the solution is more. This review offers a synthesis of the contrasting accounts of American democracy in crisis and advances a third alternative of better democracy as a key to escaping the crisis.

Hilja Pärssinen and the religious grounds for socialist welfare in early twentieth-century Finland

ABSTRACT The schoolteacher and poet Hilja Pärssinen (1876–1935) was the most influential and internationally best-known female socialist in Finland before the Finnish Civil War (1918). She was a member of the Finnish Parliament, the leader of the Finnish Social Democratic Women’s Movement, and the most prominent ideologue of the Finnish Social Democratic Party’s (SDP) welfare programme. For instance, Pärssinen promoted paid maternity leave, public daycare, legalised abortion, and compulsory education with free meals and school supplies. Historians have acknowledged Pärssinen’s leading role as the architect of Finnish socialist welfare, but also pointed out that she was an aggressive opponent of the Evangelical Lutheran church. However, the studies have mainly failed to note that instead of rejecting religion itself, Pärssinen claimed all the reforms demanded by socialists were based on Christianity. Finnish scholars have argued—mainly based on writings by the party male elite—that the SDP rejected religion and adopted secular/antireligious ideology at the beginning of the twentieth century. I argue that this paradigm is based on an oversimplified and gendered interpretation. This paper will show that shifting the perspective from male socialist leaders to female ideologues can change and widen the comprehension of the history of socialism drastically.