Central Europe

Central Europe is the region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. The term has come back into fashion since the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact (which had divided Europe into East and West). The region is generally considered to contain (from North to South): Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Slovenia, and more rarely Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Albania, and the Republic of Macedonia. Germany, Austria, and Switzerland are sometimes also included, although they are usually considered part of Western Europe.

Related Topics:
Region - Eastern - Western - Europe - Warsaw Pact - Poland - Czech Republic - Slovakia - Hungary - Romania - Slovenia - Croatia - Serbia and Montenegro - Bosnia and Herzegovina - Bulgaria - Albania - Republic of Macedonia - Germany - Austria - Switzerland

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Historically, there are no physical landmarks that would commonly be seen as its borders. Rather, it is a concept of shared history, in opposition against the East represented by the Ottoman Empire and Imperial Russia, and up to World War I distinguished from the West as the area of relative political conservatism opposing the modern liberal ideas acquired by overseas trading; and ultimately from the French Revolution. Following World War I, and even more so after World War II, these modern ideas in general, and liberal democracy in particular, expanded its dominance to Austria and Germany.

Related Topics:
Landmark - Ottoman Empire - Imperial Russia - World War I - Liberal - French Revolution - World War II - Liberal democracy - Austria - Germany

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The concept of Central Europe fell out of usage during Cold War, shadowed by notions of Eastern and Western Europe. It may be seen in historical and cultural contexts, where it denotes areas where Germans settled and mixed with Slavs and Magyars, and where Roma and Jewish minorities made important cultural contributions. This notion has lost much of its relevance due to the Holocaust and the following ethnic division over the Oder-Neisse line with Germans transferred to the West both physically and ideologically. The term is being increasingly used again, with the recent expanses of European Union.

Related Topics:
Germans - Slavs - Magyars - Roma - Jew - The Holocaust - Following ethnic division - Oder-Neisse line - Germans - European Union

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It is sometimes joked that Central Europe is the part of the continent that is considered Eastern by Western Europeans and Western by Eastern Europeans.

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