“Nikola Vaptsarov” Foreign Language High School, Shumen, Bulgaria

Didactical path “Freedom of thought, expression and information”

History

 

Topic	Content
1. Ways of expressing freedom of thought, speech and information during the period from 1949 -1989 in Eastern block countries	1. Introducing the topic comparing human rights in Eastern European Countries and the Declaration of Human Rights, 1948 with reference to the ways of expressing freedom of thought, speech and information during the period from 1949 -1989; 2. International organizations within the socialist community. Comecon (Council for Mutual Economic Assistance), the Warsaw Pact – role and significance; 3. The policy of the Former Soviet Union towards the rest of the Eastern European Countries. The Brezhnev Doctrine;   4. Examples of people dared to write about the reality. Alexander Solzhenitsyn and the importance of truth and untruth about the authorities and societies in the Eastern European Countries; 5. Cancellation of the Brezhnev Doctrine – the Sinatra Doctrine
2. Normative documents and institutions restricted Bulgarian citizens’ right of access to information within the period from 1944 to 1989. Facts about history of restrictions.	1. Short introduction – why information is a form of authority; 2. Role and significance of information for the totalitarian communist country; 3. Beginning and evolution of restricting access to information from the first authority acts to creating institutional structure; 4. Recommendations of authorities to the authors – what they are allowed to write about 5. The role of the state secret and secret services in book publishing in Bulgaria 1944-1989 6. Destiny of forbidden books
3. Movements and defenders of freedom of thought, information and religion	1. Introduction – short description of dissidence in Bulgaria 2.  Short history – facts and names of first dissidence organization in Bulgaria. 3. Short biography of Zhelyu Zhelev – the author of the book “The Fascism” – forbidden three weeks after its publishing 4. Summery of the book

 

 

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