Hankie123
11 Feb 2013
History / POLAND: EASTERN or CENTRAL European country? [1080]
Are you asking me what the perception was before the Eastern bloc was established? Well, as far as I know, all this region including Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and probably some other countries, was called Central Europe (Mittel Europa). The term "Eastern Europe" wasn't that much in use I suppose. It's mostly a product of the Cold war. But given there were fewer media outlets (no internet, TV, etc.), the perception was rather uncertain. Maybe that's one of the reasons why Neville Chamberlain said about Czechoslovakia during the Munich crisis that it was a far-away country of which they (the British) knew nothing. But in fact Czechoslovakia at that time was a highly developed country, better off than Italy, Spain or Austria. And maybe it's this kind of attitude that this so called "Eastern Europe" is just too far away to give a damn about.
Could you give a refference which shows that relation of Western powers to that part of Europe was different before an ``Iron Curtain``? For example German Nazies believed that Poles are underhumans and indended to clean Europe from them altogether.
Are you asking me what the perception was before the Eastern bloc was established? Well, as far as I know, all this region including Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Poland, and probably some other countries, was called Central Europe (Mittel Europa). The term "Eastern Europe" wasn't that much in use I suppose. It's mostly a product of the Cold war. But given there were fewer media outlets (no internet, TV, etc.), the perception was rather uncertain. Maybe that's one of the reasons why Neville Chamberlain said about Czechoslovakia during the Munich crisis that it was a far-away country of which they (the British) knew nothing. But in fact Czechoslovakia at that time was a highly developed country, better off than Italy, Spain or Austria. And maybe it's this kind of attitude that this so called "Eastern Europe" is just too far away to give a damn about.