Germany has been a part of our destiny, our inspiration as well as our pain,” said the Czech president V?clav Havel in 1995, “a source of traumas… as well as of standards to which we aspire; some regard Germany as our greatest hope, others as our greatest peril.”
Large parts of central and eastern Europe have been subject to cultural, economic and military domination by Germany over many centuries: from the German knights’ conquest of the Slavs, through the German-Russian treaty of Rapallo, to the barely healed wounds of the second world war. This has left a curious mixture of resentment and admiration towards Germany, now complicated by a post cold war dependence on it-both economically and politically.
German dominance of the economies and to a lesser extent the polities of the main central European countries-Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic-was widely predicted at the time of reunification. It was also one of the main reasons for misgivings about reunification in several countries. In her memoirs, Margaret Thatcher recalls a meeting in Paris with Fran?ois Mitterrand, in January 1990, where they both expressed severe anxieties about Germany’s “mission” in central Europe.
If you are a subscriber, please log in »
This article is available to subscribers only
Subscribing to Prospect is the most reliable and convenient way to receive the magazine every month, and offers the best value.Subscription Types:
Online
An online subscription offers you complete and unlimited access to the entire website, including our searchable archive of every back issue of Prospect, and a PDF edition of each new issue: all this for just £20 per year. Purchase an online subscription »Renewal
Renew an existing subscription »Institutional access
If you are a library, business organisation or any other large institution that needs a multi-user licence, you can obtain institutional access.
Share
Subscribe to post comments
Print
