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What is Central Europe mean?
Central Europe is the central region of Europe. Central Europe includes contiguous territories that are sometimes also considered parts of Western Europe and Eastern Europe. The concept of Central Europe is based on a common historical, social and cultural identity and is a patchwork of territories that are traditionally Catholic and Protestant. The Thirty Years' War between Catholicism and Protestantism was a significant shaping process in the history of Central Europe, and neither side was able to prevail in the region as a whole.
The concept of “Central Europe” appeared in the 19th century. First, it was understood as a contact zone between the two main European regions of modern times – the Southern (Mediterranean and Catholic) and the Northern (Baltic and Protestant) areas. However, under the influenced of great power rivalry since the late 19th century, the term was redefined along the geopolitical divisions of Europe. As historians Piahanau and Aleksov point out, “The terms “Middle” or “Central” Europe (German Mitteleuropa, French Europe centrale) appeared nearly simultaneously in German and French geographic scholarship in the early nineteenth century. Initially, both traditions associated the terms with the territories from the Pyrenees to the Danube, which apparently, as the German authors argued, could be unified under German leadership. After the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the French started to exclude France from this region; the Germans adopting this view later, by the end of World War I.”As they argue, the concept of “Central” or “Middle Europe,” understood as a region with strong German influence, lost a significant part of its popularity after WWI and was temporally dismissed after WWII. Two defeats of Germany in the world wars, but also such Cold War realities as the division of Germany, together with the Communist-led isolation of Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary from the Western world as well as an almost complete disappearance of German-speaking communities in these countries, turned the concept of “Middle Europe” into an anachronism. On the other side, the non-German areas of Central Europe were reconceptualised as belonging to the expanded “Eastern Europe,” primarily associated with the Soviet sphere of influence in the late 1940s–1980s. Unsurprisingly, this geographical framework was not appealing after the end of the Cold War. Instead Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and other post-Communist countries rather re-identified themselves in the 1990s as “Central European.” But avoiding the stained term of “Middle Europe,” this reinvented and reduced notion of “Central Europe” now straightforwardly excludes Germany. Altogether, if the original term “Central Europe” comprised areas from the Pyrenees to the Carpathians, it excludes France since 1870/1918, and Germany since 1918/1945, reducing its coverage chiefly to Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary and to some of their eastern and southern neighbours. Most of today discussions about the term focus on questions to what extent areas of Baltic and Balkan countries may be considered "Central European."
According to the nowadays historical narrative, Central Europe comprised most of the territories of the Holy Roman Empire and the territories belonging to the two neighboring kingdoms to the east (Poland and Hungary). Hungary and parts of Poland were later parts of the Habsburg Monarchy, which was also a significant shaping force in its history. Unlike their Western European counterparts, few Central European states had any overseas colonies due to their central location and other factors. For example, it has been often cited that one of the contributing factors for the causes of World War I and later on World War II were Germany's perceived lack of overseas colonies. After the World War II, Central Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain as agreed by the world powers including the US, Britain, and Russia at the Yalta Conference and later on at the Potsdam Conference the same year, into two parts, either associated with the so-called West and then to the so-called east or Eastern Europe (Eastern bloc). The Berlin Wall was one of the most visible symbols of these artificial and forced divisions. Specifically, it was Stalin who wanted the creation of Eastern Europe as the "Soviet 'sphere of influence' in Central and Eastern Europe, starting with Poland, in order to provide the Soviet Union with a geopolitical buffer zone between it and the western capitalist world".
Central Europe began a "strategic awakening" (see for Central European Defence Cooperation) in the late 20th and early 21st century, with initiatives such as the Central European Initiative (CEI), Centrope, and the Visegrád Four Group (The Visegrád Group was established on 15 February 1991). This awakening was mostly triggered by writers and other intellectuals who recognized the societal paralysis of decaying dictatorships an reference
Posted on 01 Oct 2024, this text provides information on Miscellaneous in Business related to Business. Please note that while accuracy is prioritized, the data presented might not be entirely correct or up-to-date. This information is offered for general knowledge and informational purposes only, and should not be considered as a substitute for professional advice.
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