Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War IIOnly by understanding Central and Eastern Europe's turbulent history during the first half of the twentieth century can we hope to make sense of the conflicts and crises that have followed World War II and, after that, the collapse of Soviet-controlled state socialism. Ivan Berend looks closely at the fateful decades preceding World War II and at twelve countries whose absence from the roster of major players was enough in itself, he says, to precipitate much of the turmoil. As waves of modernization swept over Europe, the less developed countries on the periphery tried with little or no success to imitate Western capitalism and liberalism. Instead they remained, as Berend shows, rural, agrarian societies notable for the tenacious survival of feudal and aristocratic institutions. In that context of frustration and disappointment, rebellion was inevitable. Berend leads the reader skillfully through the maze of social, cultural, economic, and political changes in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Austria, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and the Soviet Union, showing how every path ended in dictatorship and despotism by the start of World War II. Only by understanding Central and Eastern Europe's turbulent history during the first half of the twentieth century can we hope to make sense of the conflicts and crises that have followed World War II and, after that, the collapse of Soviet-controlled state socialism. Ivan Berend looks closely at the fateful decades preceding World War II and at twelve countries whose absence from the roster of major players was enough in itself, he says, to precipitate much of the turmoil. As waves of modernization swept over Europe, the less developed countries on the periphery tried with little or no success to imitate Western capitalism and liberalism. Instead they remained, as Berend shows, rural, agrarian societies notable for the tenacious survival of feudal and aristocratic institutions. In that context of frustration and disappointment, rebellion was inevitable. Berend leads the reader skillfully through the maze of social, cultural, economic, and political changes in Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Austria, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and the Soviet Union, showing how every path ended in dictatorship and despotism by the start of World War II. |
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DECADES OF CRISIS: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II
User Review - KirkusInspired by the example of historian Eric Hobsbawm's grand syntheses of European history, Berend (History/Univ. of Calif., Los Angeles) applies a similar method to exploring the tumultuous history of ... Read full review
Contents
Agriculture and the Export Sectors | 14 |
The Semifailure of Central and Eastern | 22 |
The Incomplete Societies and the Bureaucratic | 40 |
0 | 70 |
Revolution in Art and the Art in Revolution | 84 |
Ornamentation Is Sin | 91 |
Revolt against Traditional Beauty and Harmony | 100 |
II | 113 |
Merging Socialism in One Country and | 219 |
Economic Slowdown and Structural Crisis | 227 |
The Principle and Practice of Nationalist | 234 |
The Decline of International Trade | 241 |
The Great Depression and | 247 |
The Debt Crisis and the Golgotha | 259 |
II | 266 |
The Creation of a GermanLed Isolationist | 273 |
5 | 119 |
Bulgarias One and a Half Revolutions | 130 |
The Wave of Counterrevolutions | 138 |
Belated National Revolutions | 145 |
Versailles and the Great Powers | 151 |
The Independent Baltic States | 159 |
The Making of Yugoslavia | 168 |
National | 178 |
From National Revolution | 185 |
The Link to Right | 194 |
8 | 203 |
12 | 283 |
The Emergence of a Confused | 294 |
13 | 300 |
14 | 358 |
NaziFascist | 366 |
Mandatory | 373 |
Conservative Academism and the Impact | 383 |
CONCLUSION | 396 |
407 | |
423 | |
Other editions - View all
Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe Before World War II Ivan T. Berend Limited preview - 2001 |
Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe before World War II Ivan T. Berend Limited preview - 1998 |
Common terms and phrases
agricultural army artists attempted Austrian backward Balkans Baltic became began Bolshevik building called capital Central and Eastern century communism communist consequence constitution Council countries created cultural Czech declined demanded democratic dictatorship early Eastern Europe economic elections elite emerged Empire established European existed exports expressed extreme fascist followed forces foreign forms founded gained German goals groups half Hitler Hungarian Hungary important increased independent industrial institutions introduced Jewish land leaders leading majority March Marxism mass military million minority movement nationalist Nazi organization painting party peasant peasantry percent Poland Polish political population production reform regime region remained represented revolution revolutionary role Romanian ruling Russian social socialist society sought Soviet strong structure struggle successful thirties thousand tion trade traditional transformation trends turn Union West Western workers