R obert B lobaum . A Minor Apocalypse

Like his earlier monographs Feliks Dzierżyński and the SDKPiL: A Study of the Origins of Polish Communism (1984) and Rewolucja: Russian Poland, 1904–1907 (1995), Robert Blobaum’s A Minor Apocalypse: Warsaw during the First World War is an engaging and learned study based on a wide range of historical sources in German, Polish, and Russian that are woven into a convincing account of a critical chapter in Polish and European histories. In addition to Blobaum’s focus on Warsaw during the Great War, he also includes references to developments in other European cities—in particular Berlin, Paris, and Vienna—and presents a discussion of recent academic literature regarding possible connections between the First World War and the Second World War in “Eastern Europe.” All of these topics ensure that this study will be of much interest to scholars and readers from a number of different academic fields. The book’s thematically oriented chapters focus on the impact of the war on daily life in Warsaw, also exploring the residents’ cultural activities during wartime and the city’s attempts to mitigate a growing sense of crisis. Throughout his rich study, Blobaum also analyzes the deterioration of relations between Poles and Jews during this critical period as well as describes the experiences and activities of women in Warsaw.

Aesthetics · Ancient history · Archaeology · Art · Communism · Economic history · First world war · German · Minor (academic) · Period (music) · Political science · Politics · Spanish Civil War · World War II · Classics · European history and politics · Historical Geopolitical and Social Dynamics · History · Law · Polish Historical and Cultural Studies