The Tragedy of Central Europe by Milan Kundera
The Hungarians are the only people in Europe that list their family name first, and their birth name second.
While researching I found Hungary listed as Europe Hungary. This is their identity.
Milan Kundera’s Tragedy of Central Europe was written in 1984. The essay describes how the Yalta agreement cut Central Europe off from Western Europe. The essay relates to a time in Europe, when it was still divided by the Berlin Wall. Before the Hungarian revolution began, a telex was sent to the entire world (1956).The message announced the Russian uprising against Budapest had begun. The Director of the Hungarian News Agency stated. “We are going to die for Hungary, and for Europe.”(1) Kundera’s article describes the fight for Europeanism.
Frantisek Palacky (1798-1878), was considered the Father of the Czech nation. He researched, and wrote the history of Czechoslovakia. In 1848 he published A History of the Czech Nation that covered their heritage from 1526 through 1620. Also, he was concerned, and “wanted the Austrian government to exist, but in a greatly changed form, that is, by recognizing the equal rights of all nationalities, and their religions. In his letter in 1848, he did not say how this was to be done. What he had in mind was a federal structure, which he proceeded to outline in later months.” (2) “Palacky’s preface to the edition of Vol. 1 of his history, 1848, clearly stated his aim: From my early life I had no higher wish for my everyday life to serve my beloved nation, by giving a faithful account of the past, in which it would recognize itself as in a mirror, and regain consciousness of what it needs.”(3) Palavky understood the threat of a Russian universal monarchy, which would be horrendous to mankind.
Palacky believed in essence, what was good for one nation, should be honored by all nations. Central Europe should be included in an alliance with equal status of large countries, with respect, and realizing each culture can learn from one another.
In the nineteenth century, Russia’s culture was becoming more evident in Europe.
In Central Europe the eastern border of the west, Russian powers were too close for comfort. Kundera describes the struggles of the Hungarians, Poles, and Czech against the Russians.
In 1945, Central Europe felt the atrocities of Russia, and their culture was destroyed. Nation such as Poland, Czechoslovakia, Slovaks, and Hungarians are in the center, between .Russia, and Germany. The west has endured, but “The Austrian Empire had the great opportunity of making Central Europe into a strong unified state.” (4)
In retrospect, Paclacky knowledge should have been used to benefit the nations. (4)
Joseph Conrad was a novelist (1897-1924), He quoted as a writer, “My task which I am trying to acquire is, by power of the written word, to make you hear, and to make you feel. It is above all, to make you see. That-and no more, and it is everything.. (5)
Central Europe grew in importance in the nineteenth century. Great giants such as Freud, Mahler, Bela Bartok, Kafka, Hasek, and the school of Schonberg, among others, brought interest to nations now known, for their achievements.
Central Europe was divided by the Berlin Wall, into the East and West. The area consisted of small nations. According to Kundera,”it was the intellectual and artic center for the whole of western civilization, and the last stronghold of the intelligentsia, a place
where essays counted for more than journalism, and books had more influence than television.” (6)
In the history of Central Europe there were many Jewish people that have influenced the world. Kundera, mentions a few individuals including Sigmund Freud (psychologist), Edmund Husserl (philosopher). Julius Zeyer (writer), Hermann Kafke (businessman, Tibor Dery (writer), and others.
The tragedy of Czechslovakia was when Communist Russia destroyed their culture. Their perseverance against adversity prevails.
Sources
1. “We Good Europeans.”
<http://www.stefanelbe.com/resources/We+Good+EuropeansSchengen2.doc.htlm>
2 “A” (no other title listed)
<http://www.ku.edu/~eceurope/hist557/lect8.htlm>
3. “ibid.”
4. Reprinted from Milan Kundera. “The Tragedy of Central Europe.”trans. Edmund
White. The New York Review of Books, April 16, 1984, pp.33-38,by permission
of Milan Kundera.
5. “Joseph Conrad.”
<http://www.Kirjasto.scifi/jconrad.htlm>
6. “Tragedy in Central Europe.”
<http://www.mtholyoke.edu/courses/rschwart/hist151s03/messages/84.html>
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Post CommentTommy
On March 24, 2009 at 7:47 pm
Great paper. You know your stuff.
KAROL
On September 9, 2009 at 2:22 pm
No, I´m sorry, you don´t know your stuff. I appreciate your effort, but you are skipping over very different topics in time – Palacky, Kundera, Czech lands, Hungary, 1945, it doesn´t make sense.
Palacky – Palacky in his letter from 1848 refused to be part of the Great German Empire, he stressed, that although Czech lands were historically part of the Holy Roman empire, there is no legal right to consider them to be the part of Germany and that Czechs are not Germans. He knew that small slavic nations in so called Central europe had difficult position between Germany and Russia, that´s why he saw federalized Austria as the best platform for the existence of these nations.
” In 1945, Central Europe felt the atrocities of Russia, and their culture was destroyed.” – this is nonsense. In post-war Czechoslovakia, communists were legaly elected into the parliament, they won elections in 1946, coup d´etat in 1948 was not coup d´etat, because democratic non-communists ministers had resigned and then the president, under the view of civil war, named new communist members of government. So this is how finally communists party gained control of the country. Kundera is trying to explain in his Book of laughter and forgetting why even intelectuals voted communists after the WW2.
Peoples Republic of Hungary was declared in 1949. In Poland, situation after the war was more complicated because ot the change of borders, communists officially ruled from 1947.
Try Timothy Garton Ash, he´s really good, specialist in central europe.
KAROL
On September 9, 2009 at 2:32 pm
Sorry I have overlooked that- “Central Europe was divided by the Berlin Wall, into the East and West.” – NO! Central Europe was erased and became so called Eastern block separated from West by IRON CURTAIN ( see Churchill speech in 1946 in Fulton ).
After the WW2, BERLIN was divided into four sectors – soviet, french, american and british. Later unified into western sector X soviet sector – because of the inhabitants, emigrating from soviet to western sector, SSSR decided to build in 1961 the BERLIN WALL which separated the city.