Ivan T. Berend

What is Central and Eastern Europe

The historical trajectory of Central and Eastern Europe differed significantly from that of the West. The region became the periphery of a transforming West during the early modern centuries. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries were characterized by repeated attempts to catch up with the West. Romanticism brought in Western ideas and generated struggles for national independence and modernization. Failures paved the way for desperate revolts in the inter-war years. Left- and right-wing revolutions engulfed the region. Authoritarian, Fascist and Communist regimes looked for short cuts to finish nation-building and industrialization. In the end, all versions of state-run modernization failed, and the region revolted against them. At least its western rim seems to be successfully returning to Europe at the turn of the millennium.

THE ECONOMIC RESPONSE TO GLOBALIZATION, RECOVERY AND GROWTH, THE INTEGRATION OF EASTERN AND WESTERN EUROPE

This paper was originally published as a chapter in the author’s recent book Europe since 1980 (Cambridge University Press, 2010). The book tells the dramatic story of the economic, social, political, and cultural transformation of Europe during the transition from the Cold War to the European Union. The author charts the overwhelming impact of the collapse of communism on every aspect of European life. Europe became safer and more united, and Central and Eastern Europe started on the difficult road to economic modernization. However, the western half of Europe also changed. European integration gained momentum. The single market and the common currency were introduced, and the Union enlarged from nine to twenty-seven countries. This period also saw a revolution in information and communication technology, the increasing impact of globalization and the radical restructuring of the political system. The book explores the impact of all of these changes as well as the new challenges posed by the economic crisis of 2008–9 and asks which way now for Europe?

Economic fluctuation revisited

This study discusses the various short-, medium- and long-term cycle theories and focuses on the long-term Kondratiev cycle and its Schumpeterian interpretation. It gives a summary on the economic fluctuation in the 20th century and its impact on structural transformation and regional rearrangements. The problem of ‘peripheral structural crisis’ – the destruction without creation in the relatively backward regions of Europe – is introduced.

Economic problems of the Danube region after the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy

a number of nations had undergone social transformation and modern capitalist economies had come into being. The strains and tensions engendered by the internal economic contradictions characteristic of the twentieth century, and which were reflected in the level of economic development as compared with more advanced powers, were no doubt a contributory factor in the break-up of the monarchy, but its main causes should rather be sought in the political and social contradictions of the time and their reflection in public consciousness. After the 1914-18 war the political map of Europe was completely transformed. The decay of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy had significantly contributed to this. Instead of large areas, each uniform in colour, smaller units appeared, each of a different hue. These small countries with populations ranging from seven

The Kosovo Trap

In February 2006, talks began in Vienna to decide the status of Kosovo. The solution was forecast in several statements: instead of officially remaining a province of Serbia, considering that 90% of the population of the area is Albanian, mostly Muslim, and want independence, independent statehood might be granted to Kosovo. Kosovo enjoyed an autonomous status under Tito (abolished by Milosevic) and thus has the legal right to decide on independence. Serbia wants to keep its authority over the province, which is considered to be the ‘cradle of Serbia,’ a sacrosanct place in Serbian history. However, the Serb population has gradually decreased and become a small minority. This happened due to a huge Serb emigration after the Ottoman conquest of the region, a spontaneous, sometimes forced emigration, which gained special impetus during the Second World War, when the region became part of ‘Great Albania,’ and Serbs were killed and chased out of the province. The tension and violence of the post-war decades made emigration advisable for Serbs. Milosevics Kosovo war-and-rape campaign made the Kosovars victims of exalted Serb nationalism in the late 1990s. The NATO bombing stopped this but the Serb minority declined into an unbearable situation. The Kosovo Liberation Armys violent actions, killing Serbs, burning their houses, shooting at school buses, continued until recently and led to the flight of half of the remaining Serb population, and ‘cleansed’ Kosovo of 80% of the Roma population.

Foucault and the Welfare State

Michel Foucaults Madness and Civilization (1961) offers a comparison between two types of answers to the same social problems: unemployment, poverty and crime. In the earlier centuries exclusion was the answer. The French Hopital General (1656) replaced it by containment. The institution was a combination of a hospital and jail and offered a solution by isolating insane, unemployed and criminal people at the expense of the society. The 20th century welfare state has a different answer to the same questions. This is, however, challenged by financial limitations. Foucault offers a solution by combining social security and individual autonomy, which was not considered to be important before.

The further enlargement of the European Union in a historical perspective

The article discusses the proposed enlargement of the European Union by the inclusion of the five Central European Countries, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia and Slovenia in terms of their history. In the past, they have been part of the West at times, but their recent economic history has not been encouraging. What will their prospects be when joining the European Union?

Book Review: David Turnock, The Economy of East Central Europe, 1815—1989. Stages of Transformation in a Peripheral Region, Routledge: London and New York, 2006; 584 pp., 48 figs., 10 tables; 9780415180535, £105 (hbk)

much for the specialist, sometimes in terms of particular chapters, but primarily through the complex picture of late Imperial Russia painted by all of the contributors. Russia was changing rapidly in the early twentieth century and the problems faced by the regime were immense. Nevertheless, as the various chapters show, the importance of the First World War is clear; if Imperial Russia had problems on the eve of 1914, it had many more by February 1917.

An Economic History of Twentieth-Century Europe by Ivan T. Berend

1. Europes Laissez-Faire System and its Impact Before World War I 2. Decline of Laissez-Faire and the Rise of the Regulated Market System 3. Economic Dirigisme in Authoritarian-Fascist Regimes 4. The Centrally Planned Economic System 5. Mixed economy and Welfare State in Post-World War II Western Europe 6. Globalization: return to Laissez-Faire? Bibliography.

Clash of civilizations

There have been numerous fault-lines in society in the past due to religion, race, social class and nation. Current fault-lines relate to demography: the West has a falling population whereas many countries elsewhere in the world are undergoing large population growth; net emigration has been replaced by immigration. The previous Western dominance in economic activity has also changed and the balance has moved east. These and other factors are considered as pointers to the future.