Does Central Europe Exist?

Milan Kundera’s famous essay, “The Tragedy of Central Europe” published on April 26, 1984 argues that central European nations like Poland, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia were losing their direction and meaning after World War II. “Boxed in by the Germans on one side and the Russians on the other, the nations of Central Europe have used up their strength in the struggle to survive and to preserve their languages” (Stokes, 219). Kundera makes a valid argument that the lack of Central European assimilation into the “consciousness of Europe” has hidden Eastern European countries from the West, weakening their traditions of statehood and eventually the “existence” of a Central Europe. How can the nations of Central Europe reclaim their identity and establish a solid united Central Europe after World War II? The Soviet attack on Budapest in November 1956 asked a sobering question, “Are you willing to die for Hungry and Europe?” The Hungarian revolution of 1956 was a rebellion directed against communism. Viewing the Hungarians as a threat, the Soviet Union mercilessly sent tanks into the city center of Budapest stomping out the effects of the revolution. The Hungarian people were “ready to die so that Hungary might remain Hungary and European” (Stokes, 217). The Hungarians fought to reclaim their Europeanism while maintaining their unique Hungarian cultural identity. In the end, the Hungarians were unsuccessful; however, the revolution in Hungary sparked an awareness of Europeanism spreading to neighboring countries hoping to reclaim their historical culture. The idea of “dying for your country” became common around Central Europe. In 1968, Czechoslovakia experienced a “fever”, appropriately named the Prague Spring. Similar to uprising in 1956 Budapest, the Prague Spring was also unsuccessful and the euphoria of reclaiming Hungary and Czechoslovakia by the people from the Soviets was short lived. The Soviet Union firmly established his iron grip on

Cited: Gale Stokes, ed., From Stalinism to Pluralism: A Documentary History of Eastern Europe Since 1945 (New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996).