Decades of Crisis: Central and Eastern Europe before World War II

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Like Eric Hobsbawm's masterful histories of economic, social, and cultural change in Europe, Berend's book covers a vast variety of changes, and convincingly shows that they were all related."-Daniel Chirot, author of Modern Tyrants

"A dozen fermenting societies floundering through choppy times are brilliantly brought together in Ivan Berend's informed, lucid and readable account of Central and Eastern Europe before World War II. Berend has achieved a splendid synthesis not to be missed by specialists, yet accessible to the general reader."-Eugen Weber, University of California, Los Angeles

"Berend's work will find an eager audience of European historians, specialists in Central and Eastern Europe, and educated readers among the general population."-David F. Good, author of The Economic Rise of the Habsburg Empire, 1750-1914

"Ivan Berend reminds us in his masterful history of Central and Eastern Europe that in order to understand the present state of this region, we must understand its past, particularly the oft-neglected years between the two world wars. . . . Berend skillfully weaves economics, politics, and culture together in telling his story of this region in the years between the two world wars. . . the best account now available of these turbulent years in the history of Eastern and Central Europe." (Virginia Quarterly Review)

"Berend identifies the influences behind the political misadventure of central and Eastern Europe during the interwar period. His range of analysis is immense, from economic history ot visual arts and music to ethnic conflict." (Foreign Affairs)

"Berend's book is the broadest synthesis of the modern social, economic, and cultural history of the region that we possess, probably in any language. Much of the narrative is masterful, and of an unparalleled richness, both in fact and insight. This work displays well the broad erudition of its author." (John Connelly, Journal of Economic History )

Author Biography: Ivan T. Berend, Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles, is former President of the International Committee of Historical Sciences and former President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1995-2000). He has published widely on the economy and culture of Central and Eastern Europe.

SYNOPSIS

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.

FROM THE CRITICS

Kirkus Reviews

Inspired 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 Central and Eastern Europe during the first half of this century. First published in Berend's native Hungary, the study was expanded for its English-language publication. The result is wide-ranging, both in the variety of areas examined and in geographical scope. At its core is an appraisal of the revolutionary forces that, since the turn of the century, have steered social, political, and economic trends in the region toward nationalism, fascism, communism, and right-wing dictatorships, while also creating a parallel upheaval in culture and the arts. The effects of railroad development and economic nationalism are discussed by Berend, who is a specialist in economic history, along with Kandinsky, Sch"nberg, and Jugendstil. Although it serves his purpose of highlighting the revolutionary character of the period, the author's inclusion of Russia seems off, since Central and Eastern Europe ordinarily are considered a distinct geopolitical unit. At the same time, Berend discusses only minimally such other countries as Slovenia and Bulgaria; his main interest is Romania and Czechoslovakia, along with Russia and Hungary. His study also contains additional flaws. Foremost among these is an overall cursory attitude; the book is too general for the experts, who will want more than just a learned rehashing of familiar territory, and too vague for the general reader, who is searching for depth and analysis. The chapters on artistic movements and on communism are particularly weak, with considerationsof familiar figures and -isms reading like formulaic encyclopedia entries. Berend's strikingly dry narrative style doesn't help to enliven his rich material, although the book's 94 photographs do.