Central and Eastern Europe, 1944–1993
In this wide-ranging account, Ivan Berend traces the post-war fortunes of the countries lying between Germany and the former Soviet Union. Professor Berend draws both on his academic expertise and personal involvement in many of the events which he describes to produce a synthesis of a huge array of materials. His study stretches beyond the confines of economic history to provide insights into the complex interplay of ideological, social and political forces in the 'Eastern Bloc' countries over the last fifty years of revolutionary change. In particular Berend's analysis of totalitarianism, the development of nationalism, and the personalities at the centre of political life in eastern Europe offers an alternative perspective on the economies of the state-socialist regimes at the periphery of the western industrialised world.
- Major comparative analysis of events in which the author himself was an active participant
- A vast synthesis, encompassing political and cultural issues, of a period of profound social and economic upheaval
- Long-run approach enables Berend to assess transformations in deep historical context
Reviews & endorsements
"Central and Eastern Europe, 1944-1993 offers an intelligent and balanced analysis of the state socialist experiment." H-Net Reviews
Product details
August 1999Paperback
9780521663526
436 pages
228 × 153 × 28 mm
0.685kg
Available
Table of Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- Part I. Out from Europe: The Introduction of State Socialism, its Stalinist Decade and Revolts Against them:
- 1. Communist seizure of power, 1944–8
- 2. The closed society in Stalinist state socialism after 1948
- 3. Reforms, revolutions and the loosening bloc, the 1950s and 1960s
- Part II. Temporary Success and Terminal Failure: The Post-Stalinist Decades - Modernization, Erosion and Collapse:
- 4. Post-Stalinist state socialism and its legitimization
- 5. Economic and social performance of state socialism, 1950–89
- 6. Crisis and erosion of state socialism, 1973–88
- 7. The collapse: a revolutionary symphony in four movements, 1989
- Part III. Back to Europe? Post-1989 Transformation and Pathways to the Future:
- 8. Building a parliamentary market system
- 9. Economic decline - political change - rising nationalism
- References
- Names index
- Subject index.