In this wide-ranging account, Ivan Berend traces the post-war fortunes of the countries lying between Germany and the former Soviet Union. Professor Berend draws both on his academic expertise and ...personal involvement in many of the events which he describes to produce a synthesis of a huge array of materials. His study stretches beyond the confines of economic history to provide insights into the complex interplay of ideological, social and political forces in the 'Eastern Bloc' countries over the last fifty years of revolutionary change. In particular Berend's analysis of totalitarianism, the development of nationalism, and the personalities at the centre of political life in eastern Europe offers an alternative perspective on the economies of the state-socialist regimes at the periphery of the western industrialised world.
The Soviet Union's dramatic collapse in 1989 was a pivotal moment in the complex history of Central and Eastern Europe, and Ivan Berend here offers a magisterial new account of the dramatic ...transformation that culminated in ten former Soviet Bloc countries joining the European Union. Taking the OPEC oil crisis of 1973 as his starting point, he charts the gradual unravelling of state socialism in Central and Eastern Europe, its ultimate collapse in the revolutions of 1989, and the economic restructuring and lasting changes in income, employment, welfare, education and social structure which followed. He pays particular attention to the crucial role of the European Union as well as the social and economic hurdles that continue to face former Eastern-bloc nations as they try to catch up with their Western neighbours. This will be essential reading for scholars and students of European and economic history, European politics and economics.
The renowned historian Ivan T. Berend discusses populist demagoguery through the presentation of eighteen politicians from twelve European countries spanning World War I to the present. Berend ...defines demagoguery, reflects on its connections with populism, and examines the common features and differences in the demagogues' programs and language. Mussolini and Hitler, the "model demagogues, " are only briefly discussed, as is the election of Donald Trump in the United States and its impact on Europe. The eighteen detailed portraits include two communists, two fascists, and several right-wing and anti-EU politicians, extending across the full range of demagoguery. The author covers Béla Kun, the leader of the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, weaving through Codreanu and Gömbös from the 1930s, on to Stahremberg and Haider in Austria, and then more broadly throughout Europe from Ceau?escu, Miloševi?, Tu?jman, Izetbegovi?, Berlusconi, Wilders, to the two Le Pens, Farage, and Boris Johnson, Orbán and the two Kaczy?skis. Each case includes an analysis of the time and place and is illustrated with quotations from the demagogues' speeches. This book is a warning about the continuing threat of populist demagogues both for their subjects and for history itself. Berend insists on the crucial importance for Europe to understand the reality behind their promises and persuasive language as imperative to impeding their success.
There is probably no greater authority on the modern history of central and eastern Europe than Ivan Berend, whose previous work,Decades of Crisis,was hailed by critics as "masterful" and "the ...broadest synthesis of the modern social, economic, and cultural history of the region that we possess." Now, having brought together and illuminated this region's storm-tossed history in the twentieth century, Berend turns his attention to the equally turbulent period that preceded it. The "long" nineteenth century, extending up to World War I, contained the seeds of developments and crises that continue to haunt the region today. The book begins with an overview of the main historical trends in the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, during which time the region lost momentum and became the periphery, no longer in step with the rising West. It concludes with an account of the persisting authoritarian political structures and the failed modernization that paved the way for social and political revolts. The origins of twentieth-century extremism and its tragedies are plainly visible in this penetrating account.
The renowned historian Ivan T. Berend discusses populist demagoguery through the presentation of eighteen politicians from twelve European countries from World War I to the present. In this book, ...Berend defines demagoguery, reflects on its connections with populism, and examines the common features and differences in the demagogues’ programs and language. Mussolini and Hitler, the “model demagogues," are only briefly discussed, as is the election of Donald Trump in the United States and its impact on Europe. The eighteen detailed portraits include two communists, two fascists, and several rightwing and anti-EU politicians. The series runs from Béla Kun, the leader of the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, through Codreanu and Gömbös in the 1930s, Stahremberg and Haider in Austria, Ceaușescu, Milošević, Tuđjman, Izetbegović, Berlusconi, Wilders, the two Le Pens, Farage and Boris Johnson, up to Orbán and the two Kaczyńskis. Each case includes an analysis of the time and place and is illustrated with quotations from the demagogues’ speeches. This book is a warning about the continuing threat of populist demagogues both for their subjects and for history itself. Berend insists on the crucial importance for Europe to understand the reality behind their promises and persuasive language in order to impede their success.
By addressing the enigma of the exceptional success of Hungarian emigrant scientists and telling their life stories, Brilliance in Exile combines scholarly analysis with fascinating portrayals of ...uncommon personalities. István and Balazs Hargittai discuss the conditions that led to five different waves of emigration of scientists from the early twentieth century to the present. Although these exodes were driven by a broad variety of personal motivations, the attraction of an open society with inclusiveness, tolerance, and – needless to say – better circumstances for working and living, was the chief force drawing them abroad.
While emigration from East to West is a general phenomenon, this book explains why and how the emigration of Hungarian scientists is distinctive. The high number of Nobel Prizes among this group is only one indicator. Multicultural tolerance, a quickly emerging, considerably Jewish, urban middle class, and a very effective secondary school system were positive legacies of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. Multiple generations, shaped by these conditions, suffered from the increasingly exclusionist, intolerant, antisemitic, and economically stagnating environment, and chose to go elsewhere. “I would rather have roots than wings, but if I cannot have roots, I shall use wings, explained Leo Szilard, one of the fathers of the Atom Bomb.
The Berlin Wall collapsed a quarter of a century ago. This anniversary led to publication of studies about the success of Central and East European transformation. Some of them maintain that the ...region became 'normal,' and nearer to their Western neighbors. In reality, the region still belongs to the periphery of Europe with a mostly dual economy and low level of income. Modern sectors and the entire banking industry are subsidiaries of Western multinationals. The political system is often authoritarian. Democratic forms often cover non-democratic contents. Corruption, tax evasion and other symptoms of peripheral political behavior are quite common. Transformation is so far not accomplished and will certainly require two or three generations to achieve.
History in My Life Berend, Ivan T
2009, 20090820, c2009., 2009-08-15, 20090101
eBook
Berend's memoir offers an interesting case study, a subjective addition to the “objective” historical works on Central and Eastern European state socialism. It describes the hard choices of ...intellectuals in a dictatorial state: 1. remain in isolation, concentrate on scholarly works, and exclude politics in your personal life; 2. be in opposition, criticize and unveil the regime, accept discrimination and exclusion; 3. remain within the establishment and work for reforming the country using legal possibilities to criticize the regime and to achieve changes from within. The book raises basic historical questions and debates, compares East European and American higher education systems, and presents an eyewitness’ insights on life in the United States.
Central and Eastern European societies, in spite of significant successes of transformation, are in a social shock. Economic hardship, unemployment, lower income and even poverty for many, and social ...polarization played a role in disappointment. The main reason of social shock, however, was cultural, the sharp collision of state socialist, and traditional values on the one hand and new values and social behavioral requirements on the other. The doors opened widely, but most of the people were frightened to enter into an unknown world. Social-behavioral changes are generations-long processes.
