1. Central and Eastern Europe Historical Overview & Current Developments

2. Introduction 1991 academic year 2003-2004: -December 2003: Russian Duma elections -March 2004: Russian Presidential Elections -May 2004: EU accession Central European states

3. rich and varied culture and history  divergent trends Structure of the course : – history – history of the region  how central and eastern Europe took their geographical, institutional and political shape. recent developments – recent developments in this area

4. 1. History Countries shifted back and forth between East and West througout history - part of different empires Currently: line often drawn between EU and non-EU countries. Europe divided in three belts: - Western Europe (the current EU member states) - Central Europe (mainly comprising the candidate member states - Eastern Europe ( ‘European’ part of CIS) Soon: second belt will ‘dissolve’ into the first one European map redrawn fear of newly emerging ‘dividing lines’ / polarisation.

5. Historical highlights 8 th -11 th C: christianity Moscow and Novgorod cities develop 1240: Mongol invasion by Golden Horde (until 1480) Russia cut off from the West 15-16th C: Renaissance in Central Europe. Russia misses out. Turkish invasions:Hungary and Croatia turn to the Habsburg empire for protection  nascent affiliations

6. 1569: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from Baltic to Black sea 17th C: Hungarian lands subjected to Habsburg domination. Russian empire developing fast (eastward) 18thC: Russian empire expanding westward, Habsburgs eastward e.g. Partition of Poland 1773, 1793 and 1795

7. 18th C: innovative reforms of Peter the Great & Catherine the Great 19th C: numerous wars and revolutions WWI & Russian Revolution 1917: independence in many central European countries 1930s: Stalin: collectivisation and dekulakisation, purges WWII: Molotov-Von Ribbentrop pact huge human loss in Central & Eastern Europe

8. 1945-1989: central European regimes succumb to Soviet influence Baltic States  Soviet Union 1950s-60s: ‘ thaw’ (Khrushchëv) repression 1956, 1961, 1968 1980s: Gorbachëv - perestroika & glasnost’ gives a.o. Baltic states the opportunity to break free. 1989: ‘domino autumn’

9. 1990 <: state sovereignty declarations e.g. Lithuania 11 March 1990 putsch 18 Aug 1991: independence confirmed Estonia 20 Aug 1991; Latvia 21 Aug 1991; Ukraine 24 Aug 1991; Belarus 25 aug 1991; Moldova 27 Aug 1991; Kyrgyzstan 31 Aug 1991;Uzbekistan 1 Sept 1991; Tajikistan 9 Sept 1991; Armenia 21 Sept 1991; Turkmenistan 27 Oct 1991; Kazakhstan 16 Dec 1991 25/12/1991: USSR ceases to exist

10. The Challenge of reforms (1991 - now) enormous challenge some states performed better in transition thematic issues in Central and Eastern Europe since independence

11. 1. Democratisation, Civil Society and Minority Rights candidate EU member states made serious work of these topics example: Hungary: innovative legislation on minority rights, (Hungarians minorities, Roma minorities) example: Belarus: ‘black hole of Europe’. Almost no reforms Civil society & free press virtually outlawed NGOs constantly persecuted

12. 2. Divergent foreign policies Central Europe Central Europe: clear European choice three reasons: - Economic: market economies -Political: common position on foreign policy and political priorities - cultural-historical: ‘return to Europe’ -Consequence: Russia?

13. The Outsider States Ukraine, Belarus: problems, lack of reforms Ukraine: corruption, scandals in 2000 ‘multi-vector policy’  ambiguous signs to EU and CIS Belarus: even worse in corruption, reforms, democratization state-led economy, energy dependence Union State with Russia (1999) National identity 

14. The CIS Eastern European answer to the European Union? empty box bi-annual meeting of CIS leaders: talking shop for Putin maintaining bilateral relations with the other members. CIS as economic backyard of Russia subregional initiatives: Eurasian Economic Community; Common Economic Zone; GUUAM; Shanghai five

15. Conclusion history of this region still affects the countries in policy choices and reforms this year: challenging for those who want to study Central and Eastern Europe.