Forget
London
and Paris!
€ Modern European History
James20,
Palmitessa
Cover of German weekly Der Spiegel,Dr.
August
2007
Europe
has other
Cool Cities
like Praha
and
Warszawa
The Czech Republic is a relatively small country
• Population : 10.3 million
• Area: 77.3 thousand square km.
• Capital: Prague (pop. 1.2 million in city limits/1.9 million in metro area,
496 square km.)
• GDP Index: 79
(100=EU Average)
62.3
49.0
Latvia
Slovakia
2.6
0.3
Luxemburg
Malta
9.3
Cyprus
30.3
Belgium
20.1
33.8
Netherlands
Slovenia
43.1
Denmark
43.4
62.7
Lithuania
77.3
82.5
91.9
93.0
68.4
Estonia
130.7
111.0
Ireland
Czech Republic
Portugal
Austria
Hungary
Bulgaria
Romania
Greece
United Kingdom
Italy
Finland
Poland
Germany
Sweden
Spain
France
230.0
243.8
295.1
304.5
312.7
357.0
410.3
506.0
544.0
How big are the EU countries?
Surface area 1 000 km²
Poland is a relatively large country
• Population: 38.2 million
• Area: 312.7 1000 thousand square km
• Capital: Warsaw (pop. 1.7 million in city limits, 2.8 million in metro area,
516.9 square km)
• GDP Index 53
(100=EU Average)
Czechs and Poles speak Slavic languages
Czech
•
•
•
•
Dobrý den (good day)
Děkuju (Thank you)
Pivo (beer)
Na shledanou (good bye)
Polish
• Dzień dobry
• Dziekuje
• Piwo
• Do widzenia
Other Slavic languages are Russian, Ukrainian, Slovenia (spoken in
Slovenia) and Serbo-Croatian (spoken in Serbia, Croatia, BosniaHerzegovina)
View of Castle Hill with St. Vitus Cathedral and Prague Castle, Prague
Old Town Square with Mary-on-the-Teyn Church,
Prague
Marszałkowska, Warsaw
Stare Miasto (Old City),
Warsaw
Some Important Historical Developments
over the last few hundred years
Czech Republic
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1620-1918: Bohemian Lands part of
Austrian Empire
1918: Czechoslovakia created
1938: Germany annexed Czechoslovakia
as Protectorate
1945-48: German-speaking
Czechoslovaks expelled
1948: Communists elected to power
1967-68: Prague Spring
Nov. 22, 1968: Invasion of
Czechoslovakia by Warsaw-pact troops
1989: Velvet Revolution
1993: Czechoslovakia split into Czech
Republic and Slovak Republic
2004: The Czech Republic and Slovak
Republic joined the European Union
Poland
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
1795-1918: Poland occupied by
Prussia, Russia & Austria
1918: Poland Recreated
Sept. 1, 1939: Germany invaded
Poland setting off Second World War
1945: communists came to power
1980: Birth of Solidarity Movement
1981: Martial Law introduced
1989/90: Communist rule came to
end
2004: Poland joined the European
Union
GDP per inhabitant:
the spread of wealth
GDP per inhabitants in Purchasing Power Standards, 2007
Index where the average of the 27 EU-countries is 100
280
144
131 129 127
123 121
118 117
113 113
104 102 100
94 89
87
79
77 75
67 66 63
58 56
53
Bulgaria
Romania
Poland
Latvia
Lithuania
Slovakia
Hungary
Estonia
Portugal
Malta
Czech Republic
Slovenia
Greece
Cyprus
EU-27
Spain
Italy
France
Germany
Finland
United Kingdom
Sweden
Belgium
Denmark
Austria
Netherlands
Ireland
Luxembourg
38 37
Joining the European Union has brought new opportunities but
also challenges to the Czech Republic and Poland
Cover of Czech weekly
magazine Týden -“Should we be afraid of
the European Union?”
Interview with Lech Kaczynski, President of Poland
•
•
•
•
•
(Der Spiegel, 11/2006)
Mr. President, since your election some people in Germany have been
irritated about a new sharp tone coming from Warsaw: that the
protection of Poland’s national interests will now be placed in the
foreground. Does Poland feel itself as a equal partner in Europe?
In the West many thought that Poland does not have its own interests
anymore and would simply join on to those of others. That is not going
to happen. Other European countries represent their own interests with
more bitter tones.
What do you mean?
In France there is the motto “economic patroitism” And Germany
recently signed a pipe-line agreement in the east Baltic, which is against
Polish Economics. We are allies of Germany, together in Nato and the
EU – why are you building around us?
…Nations are a historical reality in Europe. They have different histories
and joined the EU at different times and under different conditions.
During the three years that I was mayor of Warsaw I always supported
Poland’s membershp in the EU. But I experienced how we have to apply
EU laws which were entirely unsuitable for our position.
Interview with Lech Kaczynski, President of Poland
(Der Spiegel, 11/2006)
• But the European Union must be something other than a
bureaucratic … for your land?
• One must keep n mind that states have now joined the
union which for many decades did not have sovereignty,
did not have their own states, like the Baltic countries. For
these countries autonomy is especially important. I
should als add the following: the biggest Euro-enthusiasts
in our country – though naturally now all of them – are
those who were especially deeply connected to the
communist regime and didn’t want anything to do with
the West. But I belong to those who view the return of
Sovereingty in 1989 to be the most important thing in our
lives, more important than my election as Polish
President.
Interview with Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic
(Der Spiegel, 11/2006)
• Mr. President, zou are one of the sharpest EU-critics. You consider the
Eu to be a orchestrated, bureaucratic formation – in short, for an
undemocratic monstrosity. The Czech Republic has now been in the EU
for two years. Has your membership harmed your land?
• I never said that. I’ve said that the Czech Republic is an important part
of Central Europe and we must participate in European integration. I am
sure that the Czech Republic – at that time Czechoslovakia – would have
been a founding member of the EU if it wasn’t for the communist
putsch of 1948.
• In the discussion about the EU Constitution, you said that you were
“afraid of Europe.” The French and Dutch have now turned down that
Constitution. Are you satisified about that?
• Unfortunately not. I was only happy in the first few minutes, which the
decision was announced. Now I see that we are in a dangerous position
agaion. I see how the deepening of the EU cannot go forward without a
Constitution, but rather becomes a hidden process of uniformity, and
that is more dangerous. It is difficult to put the breaks on this process.
Each day we receive new laws, new initiatives, new guidelines from
Brussels, which push us in the direction of uniformity.
Interview with Václav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic
(Der Spiegel, 11/2006)
• Which signal from Brussels disturbs you the most in recent days?
• It does not involve a single decision which is especially dangerous. There are
hundreds of proclamations which come to us every day from the EU
Headquarters in Brussels. One which is especially troublesome is the talk
about a possible tax harmonization in Europe or the liberalization of service
industries. I didn’t believe my ears when our own Czech
Commissioner…introduced a bill for money from EU funds to be paid to
victims of globalization. That is communism in its purest form – like in the
days of Breschnew. In those days people were forced in the position of
having to read in the newspapers what those on top had decided. I remember
very well the feeling of powerlessness.
• Are you criticizing a deficit in democracy, a growing distance between the
political elite and the people?
• Yes, above all it revolves around the political dimension of European
Integration. That is one of the most important points – that is tied to our
history, with our sensibility, even perhaps hypersensibility in this area.