WAYS OF EXPRESSING FREEDOM - International
facts -
Dębica – Poland
In the second stage of project implementation
different ways of expressing freedom of thought, expression and information in
the course of history were analysed with reference to international facts.
The activities took place in History and Social
Studies lessons.In particular, the emphasis was put on:
a)
The ancient times
the activities of Greek philosophers
(ex. Socrates),
Athenian democracy (main bodies of
governance- participance of citizens in the assembly),
the activities of thinkers and philosophers in
ancient Rome (ex. Seneka),
functioning of the Roman Republic
(the tribunes considered to be the embodiment of the plebeians, they were
sacrosanct),
crisis of republic in II century BC
which lead to Sulla dictatorship and lack of freedom of expression
b)
The medieaval times –
lack of freedom of thought,
expression and information, the activity of Sacrum Officium,
1215 Magna Carta in England,
fight with heresy and heretics
(burning at stake- Jan Hus),
trials for performing magic
c)
The modern times-
reformation in church (Martin Luter,
Jan Kalwin),
development of science and research
(Mikołaj Kopernik, Giordano Bruno, Galileo and Erasm of Rotterdam),
1542 revival of Sacrum Officium,
creating a list of forbidden books at Trydent Council in 1559,
1573 signing the act od the Warsaw
Confederation (religious tolerance in Poland)
1598 edict of Nantes which granted
French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics
1689 Bill of Rights - (or
Declaration of Rights) -an act of the Parliament of England
d)
The Enlightenment period
1787 passing the Constitution of the
USA
1789 The Declaration of the Rights
of Man and of the Citizen,a fundamental document of the French
Revolution
the activities of thinkers and
philosophers-Montesquieu, Rousseau, Locke, Hobbes, Voltaire
e)
XIX century – revolutionery movements,
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of
Nations or the Year of Revolution (fight for the right to vote, general
elections, liberal governments)
national movements – Greece,
Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro, Romania
abolition of slavery in the USA (1st
January 1863)
the right to vote for burgesses in
Great Britain in 1867
women’s fight for the right to vote
(the suffragette movement)
1893 the right to vote granted for
women in New Zealand
f)
XX century-
introducing common right to vote both for men and for women in all
European countries (beginning of 20th
century),
crisis of parliamentary democracy in
Europe in 1919- 1939 (fascism in Italy, nazism in Germany, communism in Russia
connected with violation of human rights and freedoms and with racial
discrimination)
The Second World War which meant
lack of any rights or freedoms
after The Second World War the
division of the world into two areas of influence (existence of the Iron
Curtain east of which there were no rights or freedoms of a human being)
1945 signing in The United Nations
Charter
activity of Mahatma Gandi in India,
Martin Luther King in The USA (his work to end racial segregation and racial
discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means)
East European countries – in spite
of communist regime determined political opposition appeared (uprising in
Hungary 1956, in Czechoslovakia- Prague Spring in 1968)
at the moment armed and religious
conflicts in the world lead to restriction of human rights and freedoms in
different parts of the world (Iraque, Afganistan, Africa)
Other ways of
expressing freedom of thought, expression and information
- artistic activity of painters, sculptors, etc
(ex. F. de Goya “The Third of May, 1808: The Execution of the Defenders
of Madrid”,Eugene Delacroix “Liberty Leading the People”, Max Ernst “Europe
After the Rain”)
-literary and journalistic activities
- organising demonstrations, protests rallies,
etc
-writing petitions and open letters to
authorities
-activities of governmental and
non-governmental organiations
back
.