Preliminary Programme

The paper presents the dynamic changes of the traditional shoe sector in Cisleithania during the First World War. It will focus primarily on structural changes that have affected shoe production in the war economy and led to an important transformation not only in the shoemaking work itself, but also in the composition of the workforce. They also left a mark in the changes to working conditions, the position of workers and their relationship to their employers. It aims to shed light on key innovations in the organization of shoemaking production and the closely related changes in the social and working conditions of shoemakers brought about by the militarization of the economy associated with new developments on the markets as well as rapid growth in government and military orders. It monitors the accelerated dynamics of the industrialization process under war conditions and the growing production concentration of the Cisleithania footwear industry. It shows that precisely the First World War significantly rewrote the map of the traditional footwear sector, fundamentally affected the world of shoemaking work and created the crucial structural preconditions for the rapid development of the Ford production model in the interwar years. The paper also deals with the current state of knowledge of the topic in historiography, presents the contributions of previous research and its gaps, which can be understood as an important challenge for contemporary historiography and especially research within Labour History. (Show less)

Local administration has always played a key role in securing, implementing and stabilizing the authority of the modern state. After the outbreak of the First World War, the warring countries were confronted with a difficult supply situation, including famine, disease, refugees and labor shortages. The clerks of the local administration were responsible for implementing new policies and solving problems. They were the ones in direct contact with local populations which were often multi-ethnic and presented a broad variety of needs. In many cases, local administrations were reorganized to deal with vast and unprecedented tasks and problems. This paper pursues the question to what extent the local administration in the industrial region of Kladno, in Bohemia reacted to the challenges of the outbreak of war in 1914 and 1939 and whether there were similarities and differences here and how the local workforce reacted to the measures of the rationed economy. In both conflicts, the industrial region was a key factor in the war economy. The focus of the paper is on the fields of conflict between the state institutions and the labor force. On the basis of sources, in this case register books and minutes of the Kladno district authority, it is shown where there were difficulties in the implementation of laws and regulations within the framework of the controlled economy in the First and Second World War. Thus, on the one hand, the supply of the workforce, their changing living situation, but also their reactions such as black market trade and other survival strategies are dealt with. Their agency in both world wars is examined comparatively. (Show less)

The first half of the 20th century significantly affected the relationship between women and work. The emancipation of women changed global conflicts, as a result of which women began to fill positions previously reserved only for men. Active involvement in the production process itself also affected society’s view of these women and it changed dramatically in the period under review. A woman in a public space becomes an active participant, and her position in business and services is transformed in the same way. The user becomes a co-creator of values. With their involvement in the production process, there are also shifts in corporate culture, relationships in the workplace, etc. An interesting research question is also the concept of women as bearers of aesthetic standards and values of the company in relation to the work environment and inclusion. These issues will be developed using the example of public service (transport) and the commercial sector (the footwear industry) and will be analyzed in a longer time perspective from the First World War to the 1950s (inter alia in relation to the post-war socialist ideal of the woman-builder). (Show less)