Midterm 1 Flashcards
Where is Eastern Europe?
The region is east of Germany, west of Russia, south of Sweden, and north of Greece
What is Eastern Europe?
It is defined as a cultural concept that represents the opposite of Western Europe, meaning less modernizes and less developed
Why is it so difficult to define?
Eastern Europe was often a synonym of the Eastern Bloc in terms of communist. However, this was not applicable to the whole region since some countries like Yugoslavia and Albania were not part of the Warsaw Act and therefore, there was a lot of variation within the Eastern Bloc
The Roman Period
During this time, there was a development of trade routes [“Amber road”], growth of large settlements along the trade routes, and left its Latin-based language [Romanian]
What happened after the dissolution of the Roman Empire?
The Eastern part became known as the Byzantine Empire and the Western part fell later on after being invaded by the Barbarians
Who took the Byzantine Empire out of power?
Ottoman Turks and after, they renamed the capital of Constantinople as Istanbul
The Dark Ages are considered…
a period of civilization decline
What happened during the Early Medieval Kingdoms?
State formations began, both the Roman and Byzantine forms of Christianity began to spread, trade was revived, in the West kingship emerged but states were weak and had limited trade capacity.
What does kingship refer to?
The king is known as “master” in political sense but “subject” of the Pope in religious matters. This started the idea of limits on political power
What is the “steppe theory [Kurgan Hypothesis] ?”
It argues that the origin of Indo-European peoples can be traced to the area north of the Black Sea, where the horse was first domesticates and where inventions such as the two-wheeled cart and the fourth-wheeled wagon led to a revolution in human mobility. These inventions eventually reached the east, influencing the first state-based civilizations from Mesopotamia to Egypt.
What is the idea of cultural crossroads?
Eastern Europe has often found itself being influenced from the west, east, and south in realms of politics, religion, economic and social relationships, technology, art, etc.
What does it mean to be caught between empires?
Much of the region of Europe has become vulnerable to invasion and conquest since it has no natural defensive boundaries.
Organizations of Political Power from least to most developed
triple, chiefdom, state, and empire
When discussing being caught between empires, what powers were in the west?
Germanic Empire, Roman Empire, Austria-Hungary, and the Habsburg Dynasty
When discussing being caught between empires, what powers were in the south?
Byzantium, Ottoman Empire, and Republic of Turkey
When discussing being caught between empires, what powers were in the east?
Muscovy, Russian Empire, Soviet Union, and Russian Federation
Why did the Scandinavians expand to Eastern Europe?
wanted to establish trade routes
How did the transition from chiefdom to statehood come about in Poland?
It occurred as a combination of the chieftain marrying into European royal family and his baptism which represent conversion to Christianity
Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania
it was, at its time, the largest state in Europe and consisted of Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, and Estonia
What was required to be part of the noble class?
Had to be Christian or be willing to convert
Khmelnytsky Uprising
leaders of the Cossacks rebelled against Polish-Lithuanian rule
What kind of political power did Poland-Lithuania have?
noble republic but this resulted in a weak state and having it be conquered by monarchies
Why was serfdom less burdensome?
For nobles, status mattered more than profiting off of human labor and agricultural commerce was not there yet
Who began Europe’s first Protestant Reformation and what did it lead to?
Jan Hus and it led to the Hussite Wars
Hussite Wars
marked the beginning of a divide between German-speaking Catholics and Czech-speaking Protestants
Thirty Years’ War
began in Bohemia as Czech/Protestant nobles attempted to free themselves from domination of German/Catholic Habsburg’s. In the Battle of White Mountain, the Habsburg’s defeat the Czech nobles and confiscate their lands, wealth, and power. Resentment led to the War.
Bourgeoisie Class
new social class that emerged from trade and industry on entrepreneurship rather than land ownership
Who created the Bohemian-Moravian kingdom?
St. Wenceslaus
How did Hungary emerge?
after King Stephen accepted Christianity
What is the “Golden Bull?”
Hungary’s own Magna Carta which marked the beginning of limited monarchy and the power shifted from the crown to the landowning nobility
Battle of Mohacs
Ottoman army defeats the Hungarians which leads to most of Hungary falling under Ottoman rule but some Hungarian autonomy is kept in Transylvania
What is the difference between Habsburg’s invasion of Czech lands and Hungary?
In Hungary, they did not destroy the native noble class
What is an agrarian economy?
low innovation and low productivity and reliance on serfdom
What impact did the Treaty of Trianon have on Hungary?
Hungary gained its independence but lost 2/3 of its land as punishment for fighting on the side of Germany
Bulgaria was weakened by ______ and controlled by ________
- Mongols and 2. Ottoman Turks
What was the importance of the Battle of Kosovo?
Serb prince was killed by Turks, marking the fall of medieval Serbia and followed by Ottoman rule
What was the effect of the Russo-Turkish war?
Serbia, Bulgaria, and Romania gain independence
What was the intention behind Mongol rule?
they wanted to extract tribute from local princes who still remained in charge
Romanov Dynasty imposed…
a rise political autocracy, reduced rights and privileges for the nobility, and orthodox church becomes part of state bureaucracy
Bolshevik Revolution led to…
the fall of the Romanov dynasty
What is the concept of backwardness?
Religion in the Center of Europe was
a combination of western and eastern influences
Religion in the South of Europe was
a combination of Byzantine and Ottoman influences
What is a similarity between the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires?
Both did not develop the tradition of separating sacred and secular realms of authority
How do the east and the west of Europe differ in terms of religion?
In the East, most people were Orthodox Christians who inherited tradition from the Byzantine Empire that the emperor was also the head of the church, meaning that there were no limits on political power and there was patrimonial absolutism. On the other hand, Western Europe was predominantly Catholic or Protestant Christians. They believed that the religious authority rested in the church and secular authority rested in the king or emperor and this led to the principle of “limited government”
How do the east and the west of Europe differ in their approach of feudalism?
In the West, feudalism developed into a system of mutual obligation between the lord and the peasant which created a culture of “contract” between landowners and peasants, instilling the idea of legally enforceable rights and freedoms meaning that the state and its rulers were also subject to law. This created the principle of “law-governed state.” On the other hand, the East focused on “service nobility” (noble status depended on service to the state and the good will of the monarch) and made nobles not feel secure in the property, making them feel no reciprocal obligation to the peasantry, therefore, feudalism did not have any positive consequences for the development of rights and freedoms.
How do the east and the west of Europe define their cities?
In the West, there was town autonomy and these towns created the bourgeoisie, which led to the development of multiple centers of power (king, church, nobility, etc). This led to the concept of the law-governed state as an arbiter. On the other hand, the East had fewer towns, underdeveloped trade, underdeveloped bourgeoisie, and the state was the leading role in promoting economic development.
How do the east and the west of Europe define their states?
The West had various centers of power and interest, increasing pressure to develop the institutional machinery. The people in the West became engaged in the principles of contractual governance, institutions of the state, and learned to engage with “participatory citizenship.” In the East, state-building was influenced by foreign occupation and imperial rule and the state was seem as a remote and alien entity that was ran by national identities
What is militarism?
glorification of war as healthy and desirable
What were the opposing powers in WWI?
Central Powers [Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, Italy] v. Entente Cordiale [France, United Kingdom, Russia]
What are the different explanations of the origins of the Great War?
- “Eastern Crisis:” Russia began its “southern strategy” to influence Balkans
- “Young Turks” Revolt: modernizing revolution in the Ottoman Empire, Austria-Hungary opposition to parliamentary elections
- Assassination of Archduke Ferdinand with the support of Serbian government
What was the “Schlieffen Plan?”
defeat France quickly before Russia can fully mobilize then turn to war with Russia
What were the major consequences of the Great War?
- Casualties
- Disruption of pre-war social and political order, meaning the decline of churches and expansion of the role of the state, and the pressure for expanding the voting rights of working class and women
- Fall of Tsarist Russia, leaving the country unprepared for living and survival
- Fall of Austria-Hungary
- Fall of German Empire
- Fall of Ottoman Empire (territory occupied by Allies)
- Undermining of British and French Empires
- Greater involvement of the United States in European affairs
Zimmerman Telegram
encourages Mexico to invade U.S. with German assistance
What states were created by post-WWI Peace Conferences?
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, and Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, & Slovenes [Yugoslavia]
How do democracies emerge?
modernization, economic development, cultural changes, prolonged political struggle, truce among combatants, support from international environments
How do democracies fail?
war, deliberate action (gerrymandering, franchise), opportunistically unity of ruling coalition
Why did democracy vanish from most of Europe?
national self determination in eastern Europe was poorly implemented by Allies and elites and there were unfavorable historical circumstances [Great Depression, Nazi Germany, Soviet Communism]
Why was democracy in Eastern Europe doomed from the start?
the principle of national self-determination applied in a region of great ethnic diversity and it was bound to create tensions at best and genocide at worst
Czechoslovakia was…
the most developed, urbanized, and industrialized
Slovaks resented Czechs since…
the resulting state was Czech and various minorities which made Slovaks resent them for their domination
What was the only democracy in Eastern Europe to escape destruction by revolution?
Czechoslovakia
What was the effect of the Polish-Soviet Treaty of Riga?
it set Poland’s eastern borders and effectively partitioned Ukraine between Poland and Soviet Russia
What state had a large ethnic minority population?
Poland
What was the “New Economic Policy?”
After Soviet’s poor economic stability, Bolsheviks allowed a temporary restoration of a market economy with hopes of building up capital resources, this meant that peasants were able to seize land from large estates
What were the goals of Stalinism?
collectivization of agriculture to replace inefficient peasant agriculture and remove them as a social class that was blocking progress and develop heavy industry with forced labor / prison camps
What were the war aims of Nazi Germany for Eastern Europe?
Nazi Germany was to create living spaces in Eastern Europe through genocide to create room for German settlers and those who remained became slave laborers. Eastern cities were to be leveled and plowed over and become a sort of racialist agrarian utopia: an antidote to urban and industrial West. They wanted to control remaining parts of Eastern and Southern Europe and establish allied parliamentary regimes
What were the war aims of Soviet Union for Eastern Europe?
Through “self colonization,” they aimed to exploit their own people and territory, leading into colonial expansion of Eastern Europe. They wanted access for the Mediterranean and planned to drive forces into Germany to expand Soviet military power and influence –> also put Poland under communist control
What was the “Hunger Plan?”
people were to be starved to death or forced to flee far to the East
What was the Munich Agreement?
Hitler agreed to make no further territorial claims in Europe in exchange for Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland
Why did both the Nazis and Soviets kill millions of people?
The Soviets were driven by Marxist ideas about the “march of history” and intended to exterminate their own peasants as a social class. The Nazis were essentially racist in their motivation and aimed at exterminating all non-German people. They were both planned.
What were the consequences of WWII?
the Soviets destroyed the landowning class and state-linked elites, destruction of largely Jewish population, however, East Europe experiences upward social mobility due to all the “empty places” in the social structure left by victims of Nazi and Soviet atrocities
What was the Enabling Act?
It gave Hitler the right to rule for 4 year without parliamentary approval and granted him dictatorial powers
What was the situation of Eastern Europe communist parties before World War II? How did the war change it?
After World War I, Eastern Europe had a feeling change was possible and they had a strong foreign sponsor: Russia. Communist still saw themselves as parties of the industrial working class (mostly agrarian peasant societies) but they were perceived as hostile to nationalism. Furthermore, Nazis had also killed many Communists and forced them to flee, creating a Communist party division between “partisan” and “muscovite.” After the war, communists had ruthless tactics, aimed to destruct old elites, and had weak commitment to democracy. However, there was a social stigma attached to those willing to join Communists
What was the strategy for takeovers?
There was three stages included: Genuine Coalition, Façade Coalition, and Monolithic Bloc
Genuine Coalition Stage consisted of…
non-Communists present in government but the Communists would take control of the coercion apparatus [police, military]
Façade Coalition Stage consisted of…
non-Communists gradually being pushed out through co-optation, intimidation and violence
Monolithic Bloc Stage consisted of…
left-wing parties would unite to form a single workers’ party and have other parties eliminated
What countries portrayed the pattern of having Communists parachuted in by the Soviets?
Romania, Bulgaria, Poland
What countries had several years of free elections and genuine coalition governments?
Czechoslovakia and Hungary
What countries dealt with local communist forces after WWII?
Yugoslavia and Albania
What were some essential characteristics of Stalinism?
vast number of people were affected –> it was an attempt to make a leap into modernity in a highly compressed time frame
the goal was to achieve military might through heavy industrialization and undermining the importance of better living standards for ordinary people, it had a high human cost (famine and labor camps), and high relentless pressure on society
totalitarian character, “cult of personality,”absence of self limiting, “perfection,” forced participation, permanent search for enemies and purges, mass surveillance and terror, total control of public discourse and international isolation
Who initiated de-Stanilization?
Nikita Khrushchev
What were the key points of the Secret Speech?
Stalin was a paranoid leader obsessed with own greatness, deviated from true “Leninist path,” damaged the party and harmed many good communists, placed the country in great danger during WWII
Why was de-Stanilization initiated?
liberate Party officials from the fear of repression and lead the Soviet and the world into a revolutionary transformation
How was de-Stanilization initiated?
Secret Speech
What was the difference between Poland and Hungary post-WWII?
Poland had a strong Catholic Church but it was crushed in Hungary
What were the consequences of the “Polish October?”
there was a removal of Soviet “advisors” (colonial overseers), an end to attempted collectivization of agriculture, less social control, Poland was allowed to follow its own path to socialism without Soviet limits
What was the difference of Stalinization in Poland and Hungary?
Hungary’s Stalinist period was more repressive than Poland’s. In Hungary, collectivization of agriculture was carried out, churches and other civil society organizations were destroyed
What two opposing leaders did Hungary have?
Imre Nagy and Matyas Rakosi
Imre Nagy
favored a “go slow” approach to turning Hungary into a communist state
Matyas Rakosi
hardline Stalinist who favored forced industrialization, collectivization, and continuation of terror
What country had a highly repressive communist regime?
Czechoslovakia
Why did Czechoslovakia’s structure not change after Stalin’s death?
its leaders were the very same people responsible for Stalinist-era repression so not interested in looking into their own past crimes + no popular pressure for change
Who created the slogan “Socialism with a Human Face?”
Alexander Dubcek [Slovak leader]
Why did a revolution only occur in Hungary in 1956 but not elsewhere in Eastern Europe?
Unlike Czechoslovakia, Hungary had a societal pressure for change, which led to many mass demonstrations throughout the country in favor of reforms –> the country was in a revolution
Why did the 1968 Czechoslovak reform project fail?
the reforms were not sufficiently thorough to disrupt the central planning system but not thorough enough to give market forces a chance to work. Also, the reforms were deeply unpopular since tying wages to productivity disrupted the unwritten social contract of “we pretend to work and you pretend to pay us”
What were its consequences, both intended and unintended?
East European hopes for gradual democratization were dashed and western European communist parties were weakened and embarrassed by the invasion
What was the international aim of Stalin?
wanted to create a system of completely dependent “satellite” states in Eastern Europe and the USSR was to be the hub through which trade and cultural exchanges would flow
Marshall Plan
economic aid to Western Europe as a preventive measure against the danger of Communist-inspired revolt
Berlin Blockade
Stalin’s failed attempt to force the Allies out of the dividend city
What was the cominform?
it was a kind of “ideological police” intended to ensure that the various East European communist parties stayed true to the Soviet Stalinist line
What were the three typologies of post-1956 Eastern European Regimes?
Patrimonial Communism, Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Communism, and “National” or “National Consensus” Communism
What is Patrimonial Communism?
it relied on hierarchical chains of personal dependence, had an extensive patronage and clientelistic networks, and had no political or societal opposition to speak of
What countries were under Patrimonial Communism?
Romania, Bulgaria, and Albania
What is Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Communism?
It repressed any weak political or societal opposition and had a high level of bureaucratic institutionalization and professionalism
What countries were under Bureaucratic-Authoritarian Communism?
Czechoslovakia and East Germany
What is “National” or “National Consensus” Communism?
it tolerated some political contestation and interest articulation both within the system and outside in exchange for people’s compliance with the system. It was characterized by intermediate levels of bureaucratic professionalism, allowed individuals to withdraw from politics into private life, and limited amount of private economic activity
What countries were under “National” or “National Consensus” Communism?
Poland and Hungary
What country was a special case?
Yugoslavia
How did socialist economics differ from market economics?
Socialist economics had undivided power of the Marxist-Leninist party, had a dominant position of state and quasi-state ownership, had dominance of bureaucratic coordination, focused on a soft budget constraint which created weak responsiveness to prices, and had a chronic shortage economy [sellers market, labor shortage]. Market economics, however, was political power friendly to private property and the market, its dominant position focused on private property, had a dominance of market coordination, focused on a hard budget with strong responsiveness to prices, no persistent shortage, buyers market, and persistent unemployment
In what ways was socialist economics management problematic?
Complexity: the number of targets and indicators was too large to make planning feasible, Bargaining: managers bargains with planners to get more resources than needed to not be caught short, Shortages: with consumer prices set at low levels, demand would exceed supply causing shortages, and Hoarding: since things were often in short supply, both managers and consumers hoarded resources, making the shortages even worse
Why did economic reform prove impossible?
Why did the state have ownership of the “means of production?”
to eliminate exploitation, inequality, and unemployment and to facilitate the process of modernization, to realize efficiency gains from centralized planning and to gain ability to redistribute economic products
What was central planning?
the concepts of profit or loss were irrelevant from the standpoint of enterprise managers since their careers depended on meeting production quotas not profit
