Term Paper
Global Studies Reader
Central Eastern Europe
CEE
CEE (cont.)
Pre-communism: Four Empires
1918-1945: Flunk Democracy
Agrarian and poor economies
Society: aristocracy, bourgeoisie, proletariat, peasant
Polyglot ethnicities
Anti-semitism
Russian hositility
Society: aristocracy, bourgeoisie, proletariat, peasant
3
CEE (cont.)
Communist Ascendancy
Bolshevik revolution and communist parties
Post-war takeovers
Satellization except Tito
Communist rule-
economic mismanagement,
environmental problems
CEE (cont.)
Grozny residents standing in line for food distribution.
CEE (cont.)
Communist rule: political repression
Subservience to Moscow
Post Cold War CEE
1989 Poland, Hungary pull out of Soviet orbit
Summer/Fall East Europe, Czech, Bulgaria, Romania
Causes of Communism collapse:
lack of legitimacy,
Gorbachev (no Breznev Doctrine),
West
Post Cold War CEE (cont.)
Lech Walesa, president of Poland from 1990 to 1995
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/634519/Lech-Walesa
Post Cold War Development
Democratization:
party proliferation,
nationalism,
achieved the “nuts and bolts”
Market Economy:
“Shock therapy,”
sluggish,
corruption,
bureaucratic stasis,
IMF, privatization.
Uneven balance sheet.
Poland, Hungary, Czech up.
Balkans lagging
Post Cold War Development (cont.)
Social Transition –
ethnic divisions,
anti-semitism and ultranationalism,
Romani,
gender issues,
corruption
Reorientation of foreign policies:
Western Europe (EU),
NATO,
US,
Russia,
Intraregional
Timeline: Past
1939: WWII begins in Central/Eastern Europe with Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland
1945: Important decisions on boundaries and governments are made at the Yalta and Potsdam Conference
1945-1948: Communist rule begins
1968: Soviet military crackdown on Czechoslovakia
1988-1989: Collapse of Communist rule
1989-1991: Disintegration of Soviet control
Early 1990s: The Yugoslav Civil War ends; the Soviet-led CEMA and Warsaw Pact are dissolved; Russian troops are withdrawn
Timeline: Present
1999: Central European countries join NATO
2000: The Milosevic era in Yugoslav politics comes to an end
2001-2003: Central/Eastern European countries draw closer to the United States
2004: Central European countries and Slovenia join the EU
2004: Open Society Institute report says graft is rampant in Central/Eastern Europe
Hungary
Hungary (cont.)
Communist Ascendancy: Soviet liberation from Nazis in 1945
Matyas Rakosi implemented the Soviet model
1956 “Hungarian October.”
Economic problems.
Myriad.
High hopes
Liberalization in late ‘80s.
Spring 1990 elections end communist rule.
Hungary (cont.)
Development Since 1990-coalition/Democratic Forum and Free Democrats with Fidesz (Young Democrats) ascendant
Spring 1994 Socialists win
Nationalism in 1990s.
Istvan Czurka “Magyar Ut.”
1998 center-right victory with Fidesz
1998-2008 cycles of right to center regimes
Hungary (cont.)
Economy- early problems:
Slow growth,
balance of trade
Turn around after 2002, MNCs, excessive spending
Social discontent:
Gender discrimination
Roma
Anti-semitism
Visible minorities
Ultra nationalism
Hungary (cont.)
Foreign Policy –
NATO (security, accession standards),
Yugoslavia,
Iraq,
Afghanistan,
EU (battle over rightists in Austria)
Neighbors – borders with Slovakia, Romania, Ukraine.
“Status Law” 2001.
Russia
Hungary (cont.)
Hungary, Budapest, Chain Bridge over the Danube.
Timeline: Past
1945-1948: Beginning of Communist rule and Soviet control in Hungary
1956: Soviet troops intervene in Budapest; Janos Kadar becomes head of the Hungarian Communist Party
1968: “The New Economic Mechanism” reform program is initiated
1978: Hungary receives most-favored-nation trade status from the United States
1988 – 1989: Communists liberalize the political system
1990s: End of Communist rule; Gyula Horn becomes prime minister; Hungary signs treaties with Romania and Slovakia; Centrist Viktor Orban becomes prime minister; Hungary joins NATO
Timeline: Present
2000: Ferenc Madl is chosen as president
June 2001: Controversial Status Law passed by Parliament
May 2002: Peter Medgyessy becomes prime minister, forms Socialist-led government in coalition with Free Democrats
April 2003: Referendum approves Hungary’s membership into the EU
May 2004: Hungary formally joins EU
September 2004: Medgyessy resigns, Ferenc Gyurcsany becomes prime minister
Timeline: Present
June 2005: Socialists’ presidential candidate blocked by Free Democrat coalition partners; Opposition-backed Laszlo Solyom becomes president
April 2006: Socialist-led coalition and PM Ferenc Gyurcsany returns to power after general election
Sept – Oct 2006: PM Gyurcsany admits lying during election; violence erupts in Budapest
October 2008: Hungary hit by global financial crisis as forint currency value plummets; IMF, EU, World Bank grants 20bn euros of rescue
Citation:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17383522
Timeline: Present
April 2009: Economy Minister Gordon Bajnai takes over as PM; creates programme of public spending cuts, tax rises, public wage freezes
June 2009: Far-right Jobbik party gains seats in European Parliament election
April 2010: Jobbik enters Hungary parliament elections; Conservative opposition party Fidesz gains 2/3 majority
May 2010: Viktor Orban becomes PM
2011: Parliament approves new constitution criticized by opposition for tilted in favor of Fidesz party
Citation:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17383522
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/hu.html
Timeline: Present
January 2012: Constitution is put into effect; thousands of people protest in Budapest
March 2012: EU suspends aid payments to Hungary
May 2012: Fidesz politician Janos Ader elected president by parliament
November 2012: Parliament approves controversial amendment to electoral law in favor of Fidesz party, sparking outrage.
January 2013: Constitutional court strikes down amendment
March 2013: Parliament approves constitutional amendment curbing power of constitutional court
Citation:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17383522
Timeline: Present
Thousands of citizens take to the streets on January 2, 2012 to protest undemocratic constitutional laws
Citation:
http://www.demotix.com/photo/989549/tens-thousands-protest-over-new-constitution-laws-hungary
Poland
Poland (cont.)
Post-War Polish People’s Republic
Popular resistance peaked in 1955
1980 Solidarity movement supported by intelligentsia, unions, and Catholic church.
Gdanks Agreement 8/31/80
December 1981 Jaruselski crackdown
1980s economic deprivation, strikes, demonstrations
January 1989 democratization begins
Poland (cont.)
Cobblestone streets in Warsaw, Poland
Poland (cont.)
Democratization
1990 Jaruselski resigns.
June 1990 elections.
Lech Walesa president
1991 parliamentary elections mixed
1993-97 Poland moves left.
Former communists in control.
Economic problems.
1995 elections for president Walesa defeated
1997 shift to the right
1998-2008 cycles of right-left-right
Poland (cont.)
Issues: Economy, growth but not all pulled forward. Miners and farmers fell behind. Urban-rural schism.
Catholic Church – heroic then intrusive: recriminalization of abortion; anti-semitism (holocaust deniers), women’s rights
Foreign policy:
NATO modernization,
EU and fears of Poland,
US,
Germany (compensation, right of return, property),
Russia,
Ukraine
Timeline: Past
1939: Poland is invaded, partitioned, and occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union
1945-1947: Poland comes under Communist rule
1948: Polish Communists challenge Stalin in the Cominform
1956: Soviets suppress Polish reforms
1968-1970: Polish workers demand economic and political reforms
1980-1981: Solidarity challenges Communist power
1989: Solidarity forces democratic political reforms
1990: Communist rule ends; Lech Walesa is elected president
1993: Promulgation of new constitution
1997: Polish Parliament adopts a new constitution
1999: Poland is formally admitted to NATO
Timeline: Present
2000: Aleksander Kwasniewski reelected president
October 2001: ADL leader Leszek Miller becomes prime minister
December 2002: EU summit in Copenhagen formally invites Poland to join in 2004
2003: Poles vote in referendum in favor of joining EU
May 2004: Poland formally joins EU; Prime Minister Miller is succeeded by former finance minister Marek Belka
Timeline: Present
October 2005: Law and Justice candidate Lech Kaczynski becomes president; Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz of Law and Justice becomes PM
July 2006: Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz resigns; Lech Kaczynski’s twin brother, Jaroslaw, becomes PM
November 2007: Donald Tusk of center-right Civic Platform becomes PM
April 2010: Lech Kaczynski and senior officials killed in plane crash
July 2010: Acting President Bronislaw Komorowski of Civic Platform becomes president
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1054724.stm
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/pl.html
Timeline: Present
The late Polish president Lech Kaczynski, left, and his twin brother Jaroslaw Kaczynski, right (2007)
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/poland/7869898/Polish-presidential-election-a-welcome-end-to-a-strange-campaign.html
Romania
Romania (cont.)
Support of Nazi Germany meant losses of territory and resources
King Michael out.
Abdicated in December 1947.
Romanian communists emerge after WWII.
Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej to Ceausescu authoritarianism.
Cult of personality.
Romania (cont.)
Ethnic Issues –
Hungarians,
Jews,
Roma
Economic hardship
1989 Revolution
Democracy delayed: NSF Ion Iliescu, Securitate, discrimination, strikes.
Iliescu elected 1992
1996 Constantinescu, Ciorbea PM
Romania (cont.)
Free market problems, Dogs!
Discrimination – Women (abortion)
2000 Move to the Left.
Iliescu back.
Vadim Tudor second.
Adrian Nastase PM
Nastase 2001-2004.
Economic problems.
Foreign policy realignment.
Traian Basescu president.
Romania (cont.)
West – NATO and EU, US
Russia
Hungary
Rendition
Timeline: Past
1881: Independence
1941: Romania joins the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union
1945: Soviet troops enter Bucharest to force King Michael to include communists in his government
1965: Gheorghiu-Dej dies; Ceausescu succeeds
1980s: The Ceausescu regime is deposed; Ceausescu and his wife are executed; Romania embarks on a new economic, social, and political path headed by Ion Iliescu
Timeline: Present
Nov – Dec 2000: Adrian Nastase, a left-of-center Democrat, becomes prime minister; Ion Iliescu retakes presidency.
Nov 2002: Romania invited to join NATO
2003: Iliescu and Putin sign New Friendship Treaty; Romania and Russia jointly condemn 1939 Nazi-Soviet Pact; Romanian referendum approves new constitution
March 2004: Romania joins NATO
Nov – Dec 2004: Centrist alliance leader Traian Basescu elected president; ally Calin Tariceanu becomes PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1058027.stm
Timeline: Present
January 2007: Romania join the EU
April 2007: Basescu suspended from post
May 2007: Basescu survives recall referendum;
February 2008: European Commission criticizes Romania’s high level of corruption
December 2008: Democratic Liberal Party President Emil Boc becomes PM
May - Jul 2010: Austerity measures of cuts in public sector wages and pensions leads to protest
Feb 2012: Emil Boc resigns; Razvan Ungureanu is PM
Jul – Aug 2012: Basescu again suspended and survives another recall referendum
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ro.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1058027.stm
Timeline: Present
Basescu celebrates as he survives the 2012 impeachment vote
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ro.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/country_profiles/1058027.stm
Czechoslovakia
Czech (cont.)
Early democratic success and economic development
Little anti-Soviet hostility
Appeasement recollections
Economic problems in the 1960s
January 1968 Alexander Dubcek
1968 Prague Spring “human face”
Czech (cont.)
Warsaw Pact invasion August 1968
Dubcek replaced by Husak, both Slovaks
January 1977 Charter 77
Winter 1989 challenges to communist party rule.
November 24 demonstration
Vaclav Havel emerges.
June 1990 free elections
Czech (cont.)
Vaclav Havel
Czech (cont.)
Civic Forum – Havel President
Economic reform agenda.
Slovaks falling behind.
Battle over Slovakia.
November 25, 1992 division, effective December 31
Czech economic improvement but not enough to stop Social Democratic ascendancy
Czech (cont.)
Issues: Economic stagnation 2000, discrimination, (Roma and women)
NATO (Kosovo, standardization)
EU
Germany
Slovakia
US
Timeline: Past
1993: The two countries become independent
Slovakia
1998: Meciar replaced as Slovak prime minister by Dzurinda
1999: Shuster becomes Slovak president in direct election
2000: Slovak Parliament strengthens democracy in constitutional amendments
September 2002: Dzurinda wins second term as Slovak prime minister
May 2003: Slovak voters approve entry into EU
Timeline: Present
March 2004: Slovakia joins NATO
April 2004: Ivan Gasparovic replaces Rudolph Shuster as president
May 2004: Slovakia joins the EU
July 2006: Robert Fico becomes PM
January 2009: Slovakia adopts the euro
April 2009: Gasparovic first Slovak president to win re-election
July 2010: Iveta Radicova appointed PM
March 2012: Fico wins general election; returns as PM
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1870906.stm
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/lo.html
Timeline: Present
Incumbent Ivan Gasparovic celebrates easy victory in reelection in April 2009.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2009/04/05/uk-slovakia-election-idUKTRE53410M20090405
Timeline: Past
Czech Republic
1996: Klaus continues as Czech prime minister with a minority coalition
1998: Vaclav Havel reelected Czech president
1998: Zeman becomes Czech prime minister
1999: Czech Republic joins NATO
2002: Spidla replaces Zeman as Czech prime minister; Czech Parliament rejects abrogation of Benes decrees
2003: Voters approve Czech Republic entry into the EU
February 2003: former PM Vaclav Klaus succeeds Havel as president
Timeline: Past
May 2004: Czech Republic joins the EU
June 2004: Spidla resigns as PM; Stanislav Gross, the youngest cabinet chief in central Europe, is appointed
April 2005: Stanislav Gross resigns; new government headed by Social Democrat Jiri Paroubek
September 2006: President Klaus appoints Mirek Topolanek as PM
February 2008: Vaclav Klaus re-elected as president
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ez.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1844391.stm
Timeline: Past
January 2009: Czech Republic takes over EU presidency
March 2009: Topolanek resigns
May 2009: Jan Fischer forms interim government (as PM)
June 2010: Petr Necas forms coalition govt as PM
March 2013: Milos Zeman succeeds Vaclav Klaus as president
July 2013: Jiri Rusnok becomes PM
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ez.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/country_profiles/1844391.stm
FRY
FRY (cont.)
Federation of South Slavic Peoples 1918
Axis occupation WWII
Tito takeover after WWII
Ethnic diversity (Balkanization), Serbian core.
Overcome by Tito
Tito died 1980
FRY (cont.)
Serbian nationalism in the face of Croatian and Slovenian development
Milosevic 1988 President of Serbia
Kosovo
Disintegration of Yugoslavia 1989-1990
Slovenia and Croatia move toward independence.
Opposed by Serbia
Serbian repression of Kosovo early ‘90s.
Bosnia-Herzegovina independence, 1992
FRY (cont.)
Civil War:
violence,
persecution,
refugees,
ethnic cleansing
UNPROFOR 1992
Federation 1994
Dayton 1995
Serbia and the Kosovo crisis 1998-1999
Rambouillet 1999, NATO 3/23/99
Milosevic ousted 2000, sent to the Hague
FRY (cont.)
UN ambulances through Vukovar, Croatia
FRY (cont.)
President Kostunica v. Serb Republic PM Djindjic over Milosevic and IMF
March 2003 assassination of Djindjic
2003 Serbia and Montenegro union
Serbia and Montenegro fragile.
Ultranationalists emerge.
FRY (cont.)
Croatia 1990s dictatorship under Croatian Democratic Union
Franjo Tudjman “Greater Croatia.”
Ultranationalists and fascists prominent
Ostracized by the West.
1999 Tudjman had stomach cancer.
December 10 death.
Left high unemployment, corruption
January 2000 opposition Social Democrats under Racan emergent.
PM dismantle Tudjmanism.
FRY (cont.)
Croatia since 2000
Economic difficulty – austerity
Corruption
Serb right of return
2003 divided over record.
Tudjman CDU returned in Parliament 2003.
Party had changed.
Timeline: Past
1918: Independence
1941: Nazi Germany invades Yugoslavia
1946: Yugoslav Communists acquire control of the government
1953: Yugoslavia begins de-collectivization of agriculture
1968: Yugoslavia condemns the Soviet intervention in Czechoslovakia
1980: Tito dies; the Yugoslav party Central Committee endorses political pluralism; Slovenia and Croatia and Communist party rule
Timeline: Present
1990s: Yugoslavia disintegrates; civil war in Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo; ethnic cleansing in Bosnia; the West intervenes
2000-2004: Milosevic ousted in Belgrade and Kostunica becomes Serbian prime minister; Tudjman leadership replaced in Zagreb by pro-West reformers; Macedonia experiences divisive interethnic strife; Slovenia is admitted to NATO and the European Union; A new union between Serbia and Montenegro drops term Yugoslavia.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4997380.stm
Timeline: Present
2006: Milosevic found dead in cell in The Hague; Serbian failure to hand over General Ratko Mladic, former Bosnian Serb commander and war crimes suspect, sets back EU membership; May, Montenegro narrowly votes for independence from Serbia led by PM Milo Djukanovic
2008: Kosovo declares independence from Serbia and is recognized by 103 UN member states
2009: The Economist coins the term “Yugosphere,” meant to refer to the countries of the former Yugoslavia, as well as their ties in culture
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4997380.stm
http://www.economist.com/node/14258861
Timeline: Present
People sign a sculpture that reads “Newborn” in 2008 in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, in Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4997380.stm
http://www.economist.com/node/14258861
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/18/world/europe/18kosovo.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Atlanticism
American mission in Europe begins with Wilson-Paris 1919.
Fourteen Points and a League of Nations
Atlantic Charter 1942
Truman Doctrine and ERP (Marshall Plan)
NATO April 1949 – containment
Ostpolitik
West Germany 1955
Anglo-French polarities GB down. Fr. up
Atlanticism (cont.)
MacMillan v. de Gaulle
Force de frappe et strategie tous azimuts
Détente
Breznev Doctrine
Atlantic acrimony
Cold War endgame
Atlanticism (cont.)
North-South Ospolitik
Change in CEE
Reunified Germany
Visegrad Group (Hungary) for NATO expansion
Force reductions in Europe – Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) and Mutual Balanced Force Reductions (MBFR)
Atlanticism (cont.)
NATO Enlargement – Partnership for Peace (PFP) 1994 Summit- Goals p. 28
Visegrad states (Czech, Poland, Hungary) with accession protocols 1997
Demilitarized environment thought to smooth the path toward enlargement
Russian inclusion in G-7 helps
Conflict in the Balkans and Gulf divisive.
Germany assertive over Yugoslav future.
Atlanticism (cont.)
Balkan test for NATO peacemaking
France a bit less comfortable although more flexible than conventional Gaullism
Clinton wanted to fast track “New Strategic Concept”
Atlanticism (cont.)
Expeditionary NATO
Collective Security: Yugoslavia and Persian Gulf
Desert Storm – consensus.
Major European states contributed.
French and British.
No CEE yet.
Bosnia – NATO
Need more mobile, flexible force with Euros
Atlanticism (cont.)
Anticipated a structural transformation from territorial to expenditionary warfare
The role of Germany was a sticking point
Humanitarian war in the FRY
Atlanticism (cont.)
Smart War and Responsible Statecraft
Humanitarian intervention in Kosovo in violation of UN norms for Hodge.
Surgical strikes by the US.
High tide of interventionism echoed hopes of the 1950s for collective security.
“Assertive Multilateralism” reflected US doubts after Somalia.
Atlanticism (cont.)
Hollow Shell of Burden-Sharing. The test of Atlantic Unity.
The Decline of NATO post 9/11
Different national security strategy under President Bush
Wilsonian internationalism
Imperial overtones
American internationalism
Atlanticism (cont.)
World Order and Imperial Power
Bellicosity
Afghanistan first
Article V invoked after 9/11 attacks
Atlantic Unity at bay over weapons of mass destruction and Iraq.
French and German discord over US leadership.
Britain on board.
Atlanticism (cont.)
“Apolitical” intervention for the sake of “rescuing the drowning”
Righteous Might and Casual War
Violation of Serbia sovereignty, intolerance for different values.
Operation Allied Force, March 24, 1999
Air War
Atlanticism (cont.)
Europe stable today.
End of NATO less than a tragedy but more than a mistake.
International Community pg. 103.
None exists for Rahe.
NATO little more than an extension of US power.
Europeans should handle their own security, for Hodge
What is the proper for the US in Europe?
Atlanticism (cont.)
Resistance in France, Germany, and Russia to a US-led alliance
European Union integrates the continent. Europe will need to step up. Existence of NATO and the western value system continue to justify its existence.