The Rise and Fall of Central Europe: Region in the Short 20th Century
Richard Turcsanyi


Questions
•What were the most important processes in Central Europe in 19th century? •Who are the national
heroes of CE countries from the 19th century and why? •What are the gaps between the ‘real’ history
and the historical memory of the Middle Age?
•

Interwar period
•The end of WWI - Versailles system, Trianon Treaty
–Collapse of Austria-Hungary
–Partial collapse of Germany, Russia, territorial losses of Hungary
–New states: Czechoslovakia, Poland, (and many others)
•Ideas and realities
–Self-determination
–Cordon sanitaire and Central Europe cooperation
•Masaryk, Pilsiudski
•

•
C:\Users\ricky\Desktop\MapEurope1900.png


•
C:\Users\ricky\Desktop\europe_1919.jpg


•
C:\Users\ricky\Desktop\Austria_Hungary_ethnic.svg.png


•
C:\Users\ricky\Desktop\Magyarorszag_1920.png


World War II
•1933: Hitler becomes German Chancellor
•March 1938: Austrian Anschluss
•September 1938: Munich Agreement (Dictate)
•March 1939: Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia, independent Slovak state
•August 1939: Molotov-Ribentrop Pact
•September 1939: Germany (+ SK) and USSR attacks Poland
•April 1940: Katyn masacre
•1940: Germany invades Denmark, Norway, Benelux and France
•1941: Germany (+ SK and HU) invades USSR
•1942: Operation Anthropoid (killing of Rainhard Heydrich)
•1944: Warsaw Uprising, Slovak National Uprising, German occupation of Hungary and Arrow Cross
party rule
•February 1945: Yalta conference
•May 1945: Germany surrenders
•
•Holocaust and Jewish question
•The end of multicultural and multinational states in Central Europe
•

•
C:\Users\ricky\Desktop\Europe2pixelRedCold War Color.PNG


Central Europe under communism
•1945-1948: bases for the communist regimes
•1956: uprisings in Poland and Hungary
•1968: Prague spring and the invasion of Czechoslovakia
•1980: Solidarity general strike in Poland
•1989: the end of communist regimes
•
•Three ideas of Central Europe
–In West Germany
–In Austria
–Among dissidents and emmingrants from Eastern bloc