THE CONCEPT OF CENTRAL EUROPE
Transformation of Central and Eastern Europe

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Norman Davies, Catherine Lee, Robert Bideleux
¨Difficulties to set a clear concept of Europe
¨East-West divide matters but unclear as well
¨Risk of Euro-centrism and risk of identification of Europe with West only
¨Post-Cold-War Europe, East, West and reemergence of Central Europe
¨History and shifting / fluid borders

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Rebirth of Central Europe – the 1980s
¨Milan Kundera (CZ/F)
¨
¨Václav Havel (CZ)
¨
¨György Konrád (HU)
¨
¨Adam Michnik (PL)
¨
¨Czesław Miłosz (PL)
Vaclav-Havel-2max

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Habsburg Central Europe
790px-Austria_hungary_1911

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“Eastern Europe”
¨1) Slavic settlement
¨2) Eastern Europe is backward in the economical sense
¨3) presence of great multinational Empires as political forms of this region: Habsburg Empire,
Romanov Russia and Ottoman Empire.
¨4) modernization hand in hand with nationalism
c_europe_pol96

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Oskar Halecki (1891-1973) famous Polish historian
Halecki

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“East-Central Europe”
¨Oskar Halecki:
¨Western Europe
¨Eastern Europe
¨West-Central Europe (with German influence)
¨East-Central Europe (without German influence)
¨
¨
0_map_europe_political_2001_enlarged

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“East-Central Europe”
¨Polish-American historian Piotr S. Wandycz and his concept of East-Central European Heartland:
¨
¨Czech Republic
¨Slovakia
¨Poland
¨Hungary
wANDYCZ

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“Mitteleuropa”
¨German word for Central Europe
¨Habsburg conception of Mitteleuropa
¨German concept of Mitteleuropa during the WW1
¨Nazi notion of Mitteleuropa during WW2
mitteleuropa

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(East-)Central Europe
¨
¨Core: Czech lands, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary
¨Disputable members: Germany / Bavaria, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Lithuania
¨Common political history from the period of the Habsburg Empire (including early democratization)
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Common Features of the (East-) Central Europe
¨
¨Relatively small nations, no great powers
¨Cultural background of Ancient Roman and Western Christian tradition
¨Urbanization belated in comparison to Western Europe
¨Processes of modern nation building were belated and very often connected with violent upheavals
¨

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Geopolitics of Contemporary Central Europe
¨Geopolitical nearness of two powers: Germany and Russia
¨Role of the NATO and the EU
¨Internal versus external borders of the EU
¨North-southern dimension
¨Visegrad cooperation versus internal divergences

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Central Europe in European Population
country
Millions
Per cent
EU 28
493,1
100,0
CZ
10,2
2,1
HU
10,1
2,1
PL
38,2
7,7
SK
5,4
1,1
V4 together
63,9
13,0
CEE EU members together
106,5
21,6
country
Millions
Per cent
EU 28
511,5
100,0
CZ
10,6
2,1
HU
9,8
1,9
PL
38,0
7,4
SK
5,4
1,1
V4 together
64,2
12,6
CEE EU members together
102,8
20,0
¨2004
¨2017

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Economic performance of CEE countries
GDP per cap. PPS
Inflation rate (annual)
HDP growth rate
(annual)
EU28
100
2,1
1,5
SI
87
5,7
2,9
CZ
78
-0,1
3,8
HU
63
4,7
3,9
EE
58
1,4
7,8
SK
57
8,4
4,8
HR
56
2,4
5,4
LI
52
-1,1
10,3
PL
51
0,7
3,9
LA
47
2,9
7,7
BG
35
2,3
5,5
RO
34
15,3
5,2
GDP per cap. PPS
Inflation rate (annual)
HDP growth rate
(annual)
Unemployment
EU28
100
1,7
2,4
7,6
CZ
89
2,4
4,4
2,9
SI
85
1,6
4,9
6,6
EE
79
3,7
4,9
5,8
LI
78
3,7
4,1
7,1
SK
76
1,4
3,2
8,1
PL
70
1,6
4,8
4,9
HU
68
2,4
4,1
4,2
LA
67
2,9
4,6
8,7
RO
63
1,1
7,0P
4,9
HR
62
1,3
2,9
11,0
BG
49
1,2
3,8
6,2
¨2003
¨2017

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Inequality of income distribution (income quintile share ratio, 2017)

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Proportion of population at risk of poverty

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Internal differences are not that new in CEE…
Share of urban dwellers
Year
Urban dwellers (per cent)
Bulgaria
1910
19
Czechoslovakia (Bohemia and Moravia)
1910
65
Czechoslovakia (Slovakia and Ruthenia)
1910
37
Estonia
1922
34
Hungary (Trianon borders)
1920
42
Latvia
1920
35
Lithuania
1923
21
Poland
1921
25
Romania (territory before WW1)
1910
17
Yugoslavia (Croatia and Slavonia)
1910
21
Yugoslavia (Slovenia)
1920
37
Roszkowski, Wojciech (1995): Land Reforms in East Central Europe after World War One. Warszawa:
Instytut Studiów Politycznych PAN, p. 57.
Berend, Iván T. – Ránki, György (1974): Economic Developmnt in East-Central Europe in the 19th and
20th Centuries. New York – London: Columbia University Press.
country
Industrial production per capita 1938 in dollars
People working in agriculture (per cent, 1930)
UK
140
7
Germany
132
29
Sweden
122
36
Holland
77
21
Austria
59
32
CZ
57
28
Hungary
26
51
Poland
21
65
Romania
12
78

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…to be continued the next week

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