Europa Środkowo-Wschodnia. Uwagi z perspektywy stulecia

East-Central Europe. A Centennial Perspective

Abstrakt: The article presents the history of the term East-Central Europe (E-CE), a region that has also been referred to, within roughly the same geographical boundaries, as Eastern Europe or Central Europe. The dispute over which term is more appropriate is of limited significance. In the German tradition, the term Mitteleuropa (Central Europe) is burdened with an unpleasant historical legacy, while in the Czech context, the use of Central Europe stems primarily from the belief that Czechs are not part of the East. In the political and cultural sense, the term East-Central Europe was popularized around the time of the World War II by the Polish émigré historian Oskar Halecki. Anticipating that the West, particularly the United States, would recognize the small and medium-sized nations west of Russia only if they appeared as a group rather than individually, Halecki proposed including a distinct region called East-Central Europe in various divisions of Europe. He defined its borders ambiguously: it could comprise the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth or extend from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia through the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria, reaching into the Balkans. While Halecki’s concept was discussed mainly (and not universally) in academic circles, the term gained broader recognition thanks to the Czech émigré writer Milan Kundera, although he referred to Central Europe rather than East-Central Europe. The article also addresses the cultural contributions of émigrés from the CEE/CE region to Western Europe and the United States, as well as issues of national complexes and longstanding challenges that have shaped the region’s identity.

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