Cores, Peripheries, and Globalization

Chapter 7: Conceptions and Constructions: East Central Europe in Economic History

ChaPter seVen Conceptions and Constructions: east Central europe in economic history heLga sChuLtz in recent decades historians have increasingly lost their confidence in the possibility of showing “how it exactly was.” one result is the reflection on the limits of knowledge achieved through the historical study of sources, while a turn towards the deconstruction of historical images and national myths is another result. such self-enlightenment is certainly necessary. however, the loss of confidence in historical truth becomes a problem for historians, if it leads to an estrangement from the real historical process and towards postmodern agnosticism. ivan berend’s works avoid the pitfalls of deconstruction. he has written the “great story” of east Central european history, asking for the roots and reasons of backwardness and nationalism. his works are based on the question of east Central europe’s place in the history of the continent as a whole, of the region’s otherness with respect to the West. berend takes the past for cognizable, great questions for indispensable in knowledge, and the master narrative for the mission of the historian. Favoring this approach, let us proceed to examine some influential paradigms in the historiography about east Central europe. introduction: Construction and de-Construction of a european history “the Making of europe” is a series being published in many european countries with the intention of establishing european integration through a common historical image. Well-known researchers give answers to the following questions: Who are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? thereof an interpretation and memory community should emerge, which ought to form a common european i4 globalization.indb 113 2011.01.05. 10:35 114 helga schultz identity.1 this prominent series is a sign that shared features and interconnection in the history of the european peoples have become central themes in the documentation of history today. if this new historical image is to provide a european identity capable of belonging to all of europe’s citizens, then it must discard the occidental orientation of the image affixed during the times of the iron Curtain.2 a united europe must accept as its roots the byzantine and ottoman heritages alongside those provided by the romans, and the aristocratic eastern european cultures alongside the urban cultures of the Mediterranean and western european towns. it must recognize the inequality of the regions as a fundamental fact of european history. a “european” image of history is by nature no more than a construction , as is the case with the “national” histories that have been used by states to define their borders against each other since the nineteenth century. if the european image of history is to be able to banish the national myths founded on the victories and victims that have been the result of struggles with neighboring countries, then europeans must also form a “community of forgetting.” Yet, for people to remember their own atrocities and at the same time forget their sufferings at the hands of their neighbors runs counter to the rules according to which collective memory functions.3 Consequently, the historical task facing europe today requires that we find ways to circumvent certain basic rules of human psychology. two different typical approaches to the historical construction of europe are to be distinguished from each other. the first flatters the european self-image. We can call it “neo-eurocentrism.” it tells the great story of the “european miracle,” of the rise of europe from the barbarianism of the early Middles ages to the pinnacle of a Western civilization treated as the center of world history.4 the second tells a dark story that directly contradicts the tale of european miracle. it analyzes europe from the perspective of non-european places and concentrates on europe as an exporter of violence, a colonizer bent on world hegemony, all in the name of freedom, democracy, and human rights. the story constructed from the first approach traditionally begins with the acknowledgment of roman heritage in the form of latin Christianity, which, in contrast to the orthodox Christian and islamic heritages, proved open enough eventually to accommodate i4 globalization.indb 114 2011.01.05. 10:35 115 Conceptions and Constructions reformations like the lutheran and the Calvinist. an additional building block is the development of the autonomous town constitution, which was brought to the east and the north by colonization during the high Middle ages. the town culture acted...