Central Europe: Difference between revisions

The concept of Central Europe, and that of a common [[Cultural identity|identity]], is somewhat elusive and contested.<ref>{{harvnb|Agh|1998|pages=2–8}}</ref><ref name=pehe>{{cite web|url=http://www.pehe.cz/prednasky/2002/central-european-identity-in-politics|title=Central European Identity in Politics|last=[[Jiri Pehe]]|first=|date=2003-04-30|publisher=Conference on Central European Identity, Central European Foundation, Bratislava|language=Czech|accessdate=2010-01-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.culturelink.org/conf/cultid01/index.html |title=Europe of Cultures: Cultural Identity of Central Europe |publisher=Europe House Zagreb, Culturelink Network/IRMO |date=24 November 1996 |accessdate=2010-01-31}}</ref><ref name="unstats.un.org">[http://unstats.un.org/unsd/methods/m49/m49regin.htm UN Composition of macro geographical (continental) regions, geographical sub-regions, and selected economic and other groupings]. Revised Oct. 31. 2013.</ref> However, some scholars assert that a distinct "Central European culture, as controversial and debated the notion may be, exists."<ref name="books.google.com">{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=k9IwimrMIQgC |title=Comparative Central European culture |publisher=Purdue University Press |year=2002|isbn=978-1-55753-240-4|accessdate=2010-01-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=An Introduction to Central Europe: History, Culture, and Politics – Preparatory Course for Study Abroad Undergraduate Students at CEU|url=http://ceu.bard.edu/academic/documents/MandatorycourseonCentralEurope.pdf|work=[[Central European University]]|location=[[Budapest]]|date=Fall 2006}}</ref> This viewpoint is based on "similarities emanating from historical, social and cultural [[Cultural heritage|characteristic]]s",<ref name="books.google.com"/><ref>{{cite web|author=Ben Koschalka – content, Monika Lasota – design and coding |url=http://www.ces.uj.edu.pl/fiut/culture.htm |title=To Be (or Not To Be) Central European: 20th Century Central and Eastern European Literature |publisher=Centre for European Studies of the Jagiellonian University |accessdate=2010-01-31}}{{dead link|date=February 2012}}</ref> and it is identified as having been "one of the world's richest sources of creative talent" between the 17th and 20th centuries.<ref name="h-net.org">{{cite web|url=http://www.h-net.org/~habsweb/occasionalpapers/untaughtlessons.html |title=Ten Untaught Lessons about Central Europe-Charles Ingrao |publisher=HABSBURG Occasional Papers, No. 1. |year=1996 |accessdate=2010-01-31}}</ref> ''Cross Currents: A Yearbook of Central European Culture'' characterizes Central Europe "as an abandoned West or a place where East and West collide".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/c/crossc/intro.html |title=Introduction to the electronic version of Cross Currents |publisher=Scholarly Publishing Office of the University of Michigan Library |accessdate=2010-01-31}}</ref> Germany's ''Permanent Committee on Geographical Names'' defines Central Europe both as a distinct [[cultural area]] and a political region.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://141.74.33.52/stagn/JordanEuropaRegional/tabid/71/Default.aspx |title=StAGN-Empfehlung zur Großgliederung Europas |publisher=StAGN.de |accessdate=2011-01-31}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.docstoc.com/docs/53115069/A-Subdivision-of-Europe-into-Larger-Regions-by-Cultural | title=A Subdivision of Europe into Larger Regions by Cultural Criteria | accessdate=2011-01-15}}</ref> [[George Schöpflin]] and others argue that Central Europe is defined by being "a part of [[Western Christianity]]",<ref>History of the literary cultures of East-Central Europe: junctures and disjunctures in the 19th and 20th centuries, Volume 2 [http://books.google.com/books?id=5pAwqsSyTlsC&pg=PA3&lpg=PA3&dq=George+Sch%C3%B6pflin+western+christianity&source=bl&ots=3VoR5q9GoR&sig=u26ochQIqarz0uvndPBT6ZAv0fg&hl=en&ei=zwi_TobmAsfDswbri4GFAw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CB8Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=George%20Sch%C3%B6pflin%20western%20christianity&f=false]</ref> and [[Samuel P. Huntington]] places the region firmly within [[Western culture]].<ref>When identity becomes an alibi (Institut Ramon Llull) [www.llull.cat/rec_transfer/webt1/transfer01_essa05.pdf]</ref>▼

== Current views on Central Europe ==▼

Rather than a physical entity, Central Europe is a concept of shared history which contrasts with that of the surrounding regions. The issue of how to name and define the Central European region is subject to debates. Very often, the definition depends on the nationality and historical perspective of its author.▼

Main propositions, gathered by [[Jerzy Kłoczowski]], include:<ref>[[Jerzy Kłoczowski]], Actualité des grandes traditions de la cohabitation et du dialogue des cultures en Europe du Centre-Est, in: L'héritage historique de la Res Publica de Plusieurs Nations, Lublin 2004, pp. 29–30 ISBN 83-85854-82-7</ref>▼

* West-Central and [[East-Central Europe]] – this conception, presented in 1950,<ref>[[Oskar Halecki]], The Limits and Divisions of European History, Sheed & Ward: London and New York 1950, chapter VII</ref> distinguishes two regions in Central Europe: German West-Centre, with imperial tradition of the ''[[Reich]]'', and the East-Centre covered by variety of nations ''from [[Finland]] to [[Greece]]'', placed between great empires of [[Scandinavia]], Germany, [[Italy]] and the [[Soviet Union]].▼

* Central Europe as the area of cultural heritage of the [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]] – [[Ukraine|Ukrainian]], [[Belarus]]ian and [[Lithuania]]n historians, in cooperation (since 1990) with [[Poland|Polish]] historians, insist on the importance of the concept.▼

* Central Europe as a region connected to the [[western world|Western civilisation]] for a very long time, including countries like the [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]], [[Holy Roman Empire]], later [[German Empire]] and the [[Habsburg Monarchy]], the [[Kingdom of Hungary]] and the [[Crown of Bohemia]]. Central Europe understood in this way borders on [[Russia]] and [[South-Eastern Europe]], but the exact frontier of the region is difficult to determine.▼

* Central Europe as the area of cultural heritage of the Habsburg Empire (later [[Austria-Hungary]]) – a concept which is popular in regions along the [[Danube River]].▼

* A concept underlining the links connecting [[Ukraine]] and [[Belarus]] with [[Russia]] and treating the [[Russian Empire]] together with the whole [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] population as one entity – this position is taken by the [[Russia]]n historiography.▼

* A concept putting an accent on the links with the West, especially from the 19th century and the grand period of liberation and formation of Nation-states – this idea is represented by in the [[South-Eastern Europe|South-Eastern]] states, which prefer the enlarged concept of the “East Centre” expressing their links with the [[Western culture]].▼

According to [[Ronald Tiersky]], the 1991 summit held in [[Visegrád]], [[Hungary]] and attended by the [[Poland|Polish]], [[Hungary|Hungarian]] and [[Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak]] presidents was hailed at the time as a major breakthrough in Central European cooperation, but the [[Visegrád Group]] became a vehicle for coordinating Central Europe's road to the European Union, while development of closer ties within the region languished.<ref name="Tiersky, p. 472">[[Ronald Tiersky|Tiersky]], p. 472</ref>▼

[[Peter J. Katzenstein]] described Central Europe as a way station in a Europeanization process that marks the transformation process of the [[Visegrád Group]] countries in different, though comparable ways.<ref name="Peter J p. 6">[[Peter J. Katzenstein|Katzenstein]], p. 6</ref> According to him, in Germany's contemporary public discourse "Central European identity" refers to the civilizational divide between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy.<ref name="Peter J p. 6"/> He says there's no precise, uncontestable way to decide whether the Baltic states, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, and Bulgaria are parts of Central Europe or not.<ref name="Peter J p. 4">[[Peter J. Katzenstein|Katzenstein]], p. 4</ref>▼

[[Lonnie R. Johnson]] points out criteria to distinguish Central Europe from [[Western Europe|Western]], [[Eastern Europe|Eastern]] and [[Southeast Europe]]:<ref>Lonnie R. Johnson "Central Europe: enemies, neighbors, friends", [[Oxford University Press]], 1996 ISBN 0-19-538664-7</ref>▼

* One criterion for defining Central Europe is the frontiers of medieval empires and kingdoms that largely correspond to the religious frontiers between the [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]] West and the [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox East]].<ref name="Johnson, p.4">Johnson, p.4</ref> The pagans of Central Europe were converted to [[Roman Catholicism]] while in [[Southeastern Europe|Southeastern]] and [[Eastern Europe]] they were brought into the fold of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]].<ref name="Johnson, p.4"/>▼

* Multinational empires were a characteristic of Central Europe.<ref name="Johnson, p. 4">Johnson, p. 4</ref> [[Hungary]] and [[Poland]], small and medium-size states today, were empires during their early histories.<ref name="Johnson, p. 4"/> The historical [[Kingdom of Hungary]] was until 1918 three times larger than Hungary is today,<ref name="Johnson, p. 4"/> while Poland was the largest state in Europe in the 16th century.<ref name="Johnson, p. 4"/> Both these kingdoms housed a wide variety of different peoples.<ref name="Johnson, p. 4"/>▼

He also thinks that Central Europe is a dynamical historical concept, not a static spatial one. For example, [[Lithuania]], a fair share of [[Belarus]] and western [[Ukraine]] are in [[Eastern Europe]] today, but 250 years ago they were in Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.<ref name="Johnson, p. 4"/><br />▼

Johnson's study on Central Europe received acclaim and positive reviews<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/52992/robert-legvold/central-europe-enemies-neighbors-friends|title=Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends|last=Legvold|first=Robert|date=May/June 1997|work=[[Foreign Affairs]]|publisher=[[Council on Foreign Relations]]|accessdate=2009-05-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Politics/InternationalStudies/?view=usa&ci=9780195148251&view=usa|title=Selected as "Editor's Choice" of the History Book Club |work=[[Oxford University Press]] |accessdate=2009-05-20}}</ref> in the scientific community. However, according to Romanian researcher [[Maria Bucur]] this very ambitious project suffers from the weaknesses imposed by its scope (almost 1600 years of history).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=1030|title=The Myths and Memories We Teach By|last=Bucur|first=Maria|date=June 1997|work=[[Indiana University]]|publisher=HABSBURG|accessdate=2011-12-23}}</ref>▼

[[The Columbia Encyclopedia]] defines Central Europe as: Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, and Hungary.<ref name=Columbia>{{cite web |encyclopedia=[[Columbia Encyclopedia]] |title=Europe |accessdate=2009-05-01 |publisher=[[Columbia University Press]]|year=2009}}</ref> [[The World Factbook]]<ref name=Fact/> [[Encyclopedia Britannica]]{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} and [[Brockhaus Enzyklopädie]] use the same definition adding Slovenia too. [[Encarta Encyclopedia]] does not clearly define the region, but places the same countries into Central Europe in its individual articles on countries, adding Slovenia in "south central Europe".<ref name=Encarta>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Slovenia|work=[[Encarta]]|url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571128/Slovenia.html|accessdate=2009-05-01|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/5kwafS3Ax|archivedate=31 October 2009|deadurl=yes}}</ref> The United Nations doesn't acknowledge a regional division of Central Europe, identifying four geographic region of Europe (North, South, East and West).<ref name="unstats.un.org"/>▼

The German Encyclopaedia ''Meyers Grosses Taschenlexikon'' ({{lang-en|Meyers Big Pocket Encyclopedia}}), 1999, defines Central Europe as the central part of Europe with no precise borders to the East and West. The term is mostly used to denominate the territory between the [[Schelde]] to [[Vistula River|Vistula]] and from the [[Danube]] to the [[Moravian Gate]]. Usually the countries considered to be Central European are Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary; in the broader sense Romania too, northern Serbia, occasionally also the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.▼