The East-Central European Region: An Historical Outline

(Hardback)

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An examination of East-Central European history, this book looks to the past for the roots of the cleavage between the eastern and western regions of Europe and the reasons for the East-Central countries' backward and reactionary nature, their slide into fascism and war, and the ultimate destruction of the region within the Stalinist orbit. East-Central Europe emerged as a distinct region as early as the 15th century, when, in sharp contrast to an expanding urban economy and a loosening of serfdom in the West, it pursued a brutal Second Serfdom. This development would determine much of its future course, as 19th-century attempts to modernize society included "revolutions from above" and the abolishment of serfdom, while stubbornly retaining decisive feudal structures. After World War I, industrial developments created a semi-feudal, distorted capitalism, and the region soon saw the emergence of ultra-nationalist, fascist-style regimes whose actions would eventually lead to catastrophe. In the post-war era, the region found itself in the Soviet sphere. The short "People's Democracy" period attempted to purge its structure of feudal, reactionary and fascist remnants, but soon got destroyed as a distinct region by brutal Stalinization. The collapse of Communism did not restore its separate existence, reintegration into the West requires a painful transition period with a yet uncertain outcome. Hodos produces an overview of the centuries-old vision, along with the resulting social, political and economic consequences. Chapters on anti-semitism and the Holocaust illustrate the stark differences between the regions.

Author Bio

GEORGE H. HODOS has taught East European history at the University of Vienna and is Scientific Advisor of the Yearbook of Historical Research about Communism at the University of Mannheim in Germany./e Born in 1921 in Hungary, Hodos emigrated in 1939 to Switzerland where he studied at the University of Zurich and joined the Communist Party. After the war he returned to Hungary as an editor of economic journals and a correspondent for western newspapers. In 1949 he was arrested, convicted in a show trial as an American spy, and, after Stalin's death, rehabilitated. He emigrated to the United States via Austria after the Hungarian revolution of 1956.