This thesis deals with legislative obstruction in the United States Senate. It presents the filibuster as one of the key procedural tools in the hands of a legislative minority during the consideration of legislative proposals, presidential nominations and international treaties. At first it presents the main theoretical approaches to the topic and the historical development of Senate procedures. A key theme of the work is the necessity to distinguish between formal and informal provisions that determine how Senate business is conducted, since the formal text of the Standing Rules of the Senate is rutinely bypassed by alternative strategies. The last part of the thesis confronts the existing theoretical approaches with the important procedural changes of the last several years and assesses whether these models are still valid in light of the new Senate procedures.

The author analyses the Westphalian peace negotiations ending the Thirty Years War in order to find out to what extent it had influenced the parallel Swedish military campaigns. In the Czech Republic, it is the return of the broader analysis of this important historical event that leaded to the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. In recent years had not been given enough attention to these events, although abroad (typically in Germany) the research continues with greater intensity. The structure of the text is following. At first the author pursues the main development features of the Thirty Years War and subsequently recapitulates the way to the Westphalian peace talks since the first proposals for a final settlement of the constantly prolonging conflict after the start of diplomatic activity at the congress in the Westphalian city of Münster and Osnabrück in the (first) half of the 1640s. Then discusses the basic characteristics of the congress, among others also key delegations and their significant (or just interesting) members participating in the negotiations. Thereafter, the text continues to its core section, consisting of two parts. The first of them is about the progress of the peace negotiations on the basis of analysis of each of the main discussing issues in relation to the conflict in the...

This thesis aims to contribute to the current academic debate on contemporary polarization in the U.S. Congress. The paper provides a brief overview of the relevenat existing literature and schools of thought on the issue. As part of the thought direction which steers away from definining roots and causes of polarization among the general public but rather sees them as issues of the political elite, this thesis highlights the need to focus on individual Congressional Member Organizations (CMOs) in the House of Representatives and their connection to polarization. By applying an existing dataset accepted among political science scholars as the key tool for measuring polarization, the thesis seeks to affirm the presumed ideological differences among the individual CMOs (or caucuses). The main part of this thesis which adds value to further discussion is the case study of all roll call votes of the 114th House of Representatives examining voting cohesion of the studied caucuses. The aim of this study is to show to what extent the CMOs are in fact consistent voting blocs and how influential they can potentially be within the political elites in the House of Representatives and to what level they may be contributing to the contemporary polarization.

! Victorian period is the golden age in British history. During the 1870s Great Britain was still the leading world power and Benjamin Disraeli had a credit for that. This dissertation deals with his attitude to Empire, his ideas about British foreign policy and his objections to Liberal foreign policy, specifically against his rival William E. Gladstone. It also presents important events during Disraeli's second ministry and evaluates his influence on British foreign policy.

This diploma thesis studies in depth the progress and endings of both Napoleon's reigns in 1814 and 1815. The first chapter deals with belligerent campaigns in the beginning of 1814, with the first Napoleon's abdication and his deportation to Elba. His exile there is examined in the second chapter which shows his living on a small island in the Mediterranean sea. The third chapter takes place on the Continent again and describes Bonaparte's escape and his sequential armament within France including the view on Allies' forces and problems in Naples. The fourth chapter is genuinely military for it examines number of forces on both sides and mentions all three important battles. The last, fifth, chapter looks at the second Napoleon's abdication, at interlude since his departure for the South, entrance of Allies into Francie and return of Louis XVIII until Bonaparte's final embarking on a British vessel and his deportation to the island of Saint Helena. Key words: Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor, abdication, Elba island, The Congress of Vienna, Quatre Bras, Ligny, Waterloo, Gebhard von Blücher, Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, Joseph Fouché, Louis XVIII

Modern winery complex hotel Hrůdek is situated on the north part of village Velké Pavlovice, in the heart of south Moravia the Czech Republic. Its significant placement on the south hillside offers beautiful views to the vineyards and apricot plantations. The architectural form of the building is inspired by the regularity and rhythm of vineyard lines, significant horizontal landscape around and rounded contour lines. Embedding of the building into the slope reacts to the topography of the terrain and refers to the traditional principle of local two-storey wine press houses. From the upper part is the entrance to the accommodation part and from the lover part of the slope is entrance to the wine cellar – the gallery of wine. Hotel offers 4-stars class accommodation, two congress halls, restaurant, wellness and gallery of the wine. Project integrates energetic eco-friendly concepts and its proposed as the self-sufficient building.

This thesis deals with a Polish national group in Germany, Polonia, comprising about 2 million Poles and Germans with Polish origin. Polonia has a very well-developed organizational structure in Germany that takes care of Polish culture, language and traditions, as well as stands up for its rights listed in the Polish-German Treaty from the Polish-German Treaty of Good Neighborhood and Friendly Cooperation of 1991. Periodical roundtables and conferences that are crucial for the Polish-German dialogue show problems that the Polish group faces. There are asymmetries in the fulfilment of the Polish-German treaty of 1991, which guarantee the same rights for the Polish group in Germany as for the German minority in Poland: whereas the latter is officially recognized as a national minority in Poland, the former has not been awarded the minority status. Furthermore, there is a lack of funding in the case of Polonia, which prevents the effective functioning of Polish organizations, and the unsatisfactory level of teaching Polish at public schools. Author of the thesis comes to the conclusion that although the Polish national group is not a de jure recognized national minority, it de facto has the rights that are commonly attributed to a national minority. Moreover, the analysis showed that the Poles are...