Toward a New Central Europe

TOWARD A CONSTRUCTIVE IDEOLOGY AND POLICY
IN A NEW CENTRAL EUROPE

EUGENE PADANYI-GULYAS

AN historic course began half a century ago. In retrospect, it can be generally characterized as a disintegration of post-feudal empires. First, Czarism was overthrown is Russia, then the Hohenzollern German empire collapsed and the Hapsburg monarchy fell apart. The latter was engineered by the Western powers in accordance with the wartime objective expressed in the political writings of the Czech Edvard Benes1) Twenty years later, with Germany's rise to greater power, he had to emigrate a second time Thirty years later, in 1948 under heavy political pressure of the Soviet Union, Benes became helpless, embittered and died a disappointed man Czechoslovakia's case is not extraordinary, but typical of the fate of small states in Central Europe The results of political disintegration were fatal.

October 1968 was the date set to celebrate "fifty years of independence" for Czechoslovakia! Greater Rumania, and Yugoslavia. Flags, posters, books, pamphlets, commemorative speeches and festivals had been readied for the occasion. Then the invasion of Czechoslovakia by Soviet and four other Warsaw Pact countries demonstrated to the whole world that independence does not and did not exist in the Central European area. Between 19;0 and 1938 Edvard Benes formed the Little Entente as a satellite system directed against Hungary, Austria and Germany, based on French military power, loans and diplomacy. With Hitler's rise, however, Czechoslovakia broke into two parts, both becoming satellites of Germany together with the other Central European small states. Before his return from his second exile Benes concluded a pact with Stalin and Molotov in Moscow, in 1943, and ousted more than three million Germans from Czechoslovakia. This pact led to such reliance on the Soviet Union that his whole country became its satellite and Jan Masaryk, son of Czechoslovakia's first president, committed suicide or, as it is said, was murdered. Hundreds of Czech and Slovak leaders emigrated for a second, or some for a third time.

No matter how great the efforts of small states in Central Europe were to achieve parliamentary democracy, economic development,

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cultural improvement, the faulty international political system engulfed the leading politicians together with thousands, even millions of families. The suicides, executions, imprisonment, repeated emigration of national leaders during these fifty years are proof that the "independence" of these small states was and is an illusionwith one exception. The only independent country in Central Europe at present is the neutral and federal Austria whose -neutrality was guaranteed by the great powers together with sixty other states.

After 1918 a few transitional years of democratic parliamentarian experimentation followed the disintegration of the empire Then came military dictatorships and police states first from the extreme right and then from the extreme left, Hitler and Stalin. Some anomalies occurred at a number of elections in the twenties and thirties; but in the forties and after no elections at all were held worth this name. There was no freedom from the military powers and their "spheres of influence" centered first in Berlin, then in Moscow. The development of new technology, means of transportation and industrialization continued throughout the last decades although they greatly lagged behind the West. But the advantages of industrial development were counterbalanced by loss of religious freedom, Marxist dominated churches, the muzzling of writers and other intellectuals, MarxistLeninist dictatorial monopolization of the press and all other means of communication, and by a generally low level of subsistence. "Building Marxist Socialism" did not mean building homes for the people. The elementary need for shelter, housing is still one of the sorest spots in the economy of all satellite states and also in the Soviet Union.

The Germany of the Kaiser and Hitler was replaced by a divided Germany and a divided Berlin with its Wall, and the long Iron Curtain behind which the population seethes. Discontent with the "dictatorship of the proletariat" broke out in the uprisings of 1953, 1956 and now in Czechoslovakia. "In our Czechoslovakia of yesterday," writes the Prague Literarni Listy of March 28, 1968, "people were driven to trials like cattle to the slaughter house, their heads covered with sacks. Hands and legs tied, they were beaten up till they lost consciousness. Teeth knocked out, skin branded with red-hot iron happened to many. Who will guarantee that such things shall not reoccur?" The Slovak Alexander Dubcek, newly elected First Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, demanded equal rights for the Slovaks with the Czechs. The federalization of Czechoslovakia was decided upon. But then Hungarians, Ukrainians, Germans in Czechoslovakia also demanded equal rights.

Between the two world wars, the League of Nations became submerged in troubled international waters and the first promising idea of international jurisdiction went down with it. Hundreds of

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national leaders were persecuted and killed by the so-called "liberators of the people." Ironically this was only the start of persecuting and killing tens of thousands Of the same people who were supposed to be liberated. Famine, starvation. executions, concentration camps, purges, genocide; class war, liberation wars,"all kinds of wars followed. Freedom of expression, freedom of gathering, freedom of religion, or in one word: freedom was destroyed or so manipulated that the result was equivalent to its destruction. The relative peace of the world guaranteed by a shaky balance of power was replaced by a 'balance of terror" with its nuclear deterrent It is clear now, that other diplomatic ways must be found A Conference on European Security would achieve better results than theoretical decisions of the United Nations. This organization, with the "veto paragraph" in its charter and with its membership of questionable good-standing, without an international police force and due to big-power rivalries, has repeatedly proved itself incapable of solving major problemswith a special impotence in Central European affairs. Cold war methods with their inefficient practices will bring no solutions either.

But, while looking for new ways, we have to admit that a century ago the theory of Marxism could be, and actually was attractive to a good many dissatisfied people. What might have been attractive to the leaders of suppressed peoples of Russia 50 years ago, or of China 30 years ago, did not, however, mean progress for the people of Czechoslovakia 20 years ago, although Marxist-Leninism took over. Our question is: how was it possible that political parties proclaiming class struggle could attract millions in countries where the standard of living was high? How. could union leaders with princely incomes and trade union members with adequate social security and pension systems organize Marxist parties all over the civilized world, to take part in coalition governments only to overthrow them? How is it still possible that professors and their textbooks favor Marxism as a progressive movement in countries where a high level of industrialization was accomplished without the people being deprived of decent housing; where reforms in agriculture were achieved without reducing its productivity, and illiteracy was cured by an educational system that did not require the killing of ten millions in revolutions "cultural" or other. How could the Marxist political parties in the past be so successful in spite of terror, "dictatorship of the proletariat," Iron Curtain, Berlin Wall, censorship, "socialist realism" in art and literature against the will of the majority or the real desire expressed by their conscientious writers? The answer to these questions seems to be essentially that it was possible because of their international organization. Calling their movement international meant real progress in a time when other political parties restricted themselves to one nation, not to mention those parties which were even more restricted to the goals and problems of chauvinistic groups

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within a nation. By organizing their movement internationally, both the Communists and Social Democrats showed foresight in the past decades during and after the dissolution of empires in all continents. Their theoreticians saw the inevitable trend toward international global cooperation many years before Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, whose philosophy emphasized "social infolding," "universal solidarity" and "coordinated planetary systems" toward which the formidable creative power of evolution forces mankind to fare.

It is, however, also a fact that Marxist political parties tried to restrict their international movement to ' the worker's class" or "the proletariat," to "the present clumsy and incomplete application of a totalization;'to use Teilhard's words. Today Marxists fulminate against the kind of capitalism which does not exist anymore. Their "international" methods became antiquated.

It is shortsighted to use all the discoveries made available by technical progress for political aggrandizement or economic exploitation of others, by a superpower striving for world domination. An immeasurable amount of material wealth and uncounted millions of innocent lives were sacrificed on the altar of this false god. To ask for more destruction, to call for a global "class struggle" instead of a global struggle against ignorance and poverty seems utterly outdated. An international movement works better when its program is replaced by updated goals and is adjusted to changed demands. A truly internationally organized political movement to achieve the common goals of mankind in an evolutionary progress is right. To try to achieve today's goals with narrow-minded nationalism and chauvinism or with class prejudices of yesterday is doomed to failure.

A new Era of Political integration and Constructiveness

Construction rather than destruction, integration rather than division, evolution rather than revolution is the idea of our day. These ideas are in the air. The desire for change is very real. But to find the right words expressing the new trend is not easy.

It was four years before Alexander Dubcek, first Secretary of the Czechoslovak Communist Party, started his democratic reforms, when the Alliance of Czechoslovak Democratic Associations called for positive constructive movements. The program was significant. It's title is less fortunate.2) Searching for "nobler and deeper causes," for "new types of international action," Henry Owen refers to a Warsaw philosopher's concept3) which would eventually replace past national slogans: that of "Community"and which is, indeed, comprehensive and attractive.

Before looking for more words or slogans, however, and assuming that the nations of a reintegrated, "Helvetisized" new Central Europe will sooner or later be in the position of defining their own policies,

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let us review the goals of such a movement. After the Hungarian uprising in 1956 and the recent "democratization" movement in Czechoslovakia, one thing seems clear: the people living in this area are looking for a realistic Third Way in foreign policy, economy and in ideology, different from that of their neighbors to the East or West.

Their foreign policy should be based on the demand. that the zone between Russia and Germany be militarily neutral, like Austria or Switzerland and the neutrality of this zone should be internationally guaranteed. This was the idea expressed by the Hungarian freedom fighters in 1956 and by the prime minister of their short-lived free government, Imre Nagy, who died a martyr for it.

One cannot, indeed, expect that more martyrs pronounce this demand, consequently we must not wait till the heads of the existing satellite governments declare their independence from the Warsaw Pact. Such a declaration was made on behalf of all the so-called "satellites" by the only. free government behind the Iron Curtain and was sealed by the blood of the Hungarian martyrs. The people in the whole region remember this. On the tenth anniversary of Imre Nagy's execution the "Literarny Listy"the periodical of the Federation of the Writers in Czechoslovakiareminded its readers of the merits of this great leader, whose ideas on neutrality were premature in his time, but acceptable today.4 )

The wisdom of establishing a neutral zone is obvious. This is the only way for both the American and Russian armies finally to disengage and to pull back to their respective homelands. After this movementlong awaited by taxpayers or both countriesno Warsaw or NATO military pacts can be justified. nor will they be necessary. Eighty to a hundred million people in the "Helvetisized" area will take care of their own affairs and will be ready to safeguard the peace of the region which means a very significant guarantee of the peace of whole Europe. This will be also the time for the major nuclear powers to ad just the objectives of their foreign policies to a realistic assessment of their own capabilities.

The economy of the "Helvetisized" region would probably be neither Communist nor Capitalist. As judged today, the region might have a mixed economy. Decentralization of state enterprises and cooperatives are already on the way, but state and federal economic planning would continue. This practice is accepted also in the West.5) Mining, heavy industry, railway, postal service and other means of communication would be state or federally owned enterprises with self-management. Many economic organizations for cooperation of states already exist. Besides the COMECON and its committees, there are specialized agencies for cooperation in transportation, electrification, finances, etc. These would be fully developed, but without the membership of any outside major powers, whose presence only would distort the balance and harmony of the Central European

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community. Terms of trade and contracts would be concluded on an equal basis toward the East and West. The principle of "participation on all levels"demanded by the Yugoslav, Czech, Slovak and Hungarian workers and studentswould prevent unhealthy dictatorship of any of the inflated capital cities and would pave the road toward equality of the member nations to real democracy without. overcentralization .

Thanks to its guaranteed neutrality, the economy of a New Central Europe might be an example of prosperity without giving large sums for massive military budgets that would achieve nothing constructive; an example of continuous full employment without depriving workers of a decent standard of living, good housing, cars and traveling. Considering the world-wide need for construction of homes, roads, power plants, dams and factories; for an updated international system of transportation and communication; for rebuilding the dilapidated cities and for building new cities according to the global trend of healthy urbanizationit appears, that making peace profitable is within the reach of mankind. The existing giants in their struggle for world domination have failed to give an example of the prosperity described above. The third way of neutral countries may lead us to it.

>Third Way in Ideology

The ideology of a New Central Europe may also pioneer an interesting third way. Like standing on an ice block with the right foot and on a red hot plate with the left, one would not feel an average temperature; a neutralized, Helvetisized" zone between Germany and Russia very probably would have its own way of thinking, its own philosophy. Historic and recent experiences of these people are quite unique. An ideology, different of that of their neighbors, would be a natural consequence. Considering the ideological bankruptcy and confusion around the world, it is time to have some fresh ideas.

Since the world wars, nations and their best men. writers, thinkers, statesmen are laboring on the problem of how to find the path of peaceful, normal, healthy life of mankind, leading away from extremities. It seems now, that neither the promises of the "rugged individualism," nor those of Marxist collectivism resulting in an omnipotent state are any longer attractive. One of the most interesting and honest statements in this respect, while admitting the seeming success of the Russian Revolution, attributes it to the fact, that a number of basic Christian principles were used for Communist propaganda all through its fifty years of history. These principles the solidarity and brotherhood of all men, the brotherly love of the poor, the freedom and peace on earth,

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however, were emphasized though sometimes betrayed by Christendom throughout the centuries; and the crisis of Communism today originated from its own rebellious intellectuals, who discovered that these great principles u-ere betrayed by Communism too. Thus the search for a new way starts again.6)

Millions in Central Europe have learned at their own expense, that in concordia parvae res crescunt, in discordia maximaeqe dilabunturlittle things may grow united, great ones diminish in discord. The feeling of their solidarity, of their natural community of destiny, was recently expressed more than once. This is the force behind their struggle for independence from the outside powers and for intensified cooperation among themselves. The chimera of world domination makes them anxious to separate their way from those who are still pursuing this costly dream. Solidarity, masters in their own home, not domination by others, is their dream.

To start with such a joint venture in this region means that, while preserving the national characters of the respective peoples their language, their culture, their pride of accomplishment throughout historytheir energy will be united to build a new home for themselves according to a plan which would accommodate them at the best contemporary standards. This new home has to be large enough, so that its household could be w ell organized. Agricultural and industrial production modernized; the best use of the labor force and the forces of nature: tariff-free distribution of goods and smooth flow of traffic on the super high- and railways, on improved waterways and in the air; free exchange of ideas through all channels of modern communication; good schools, good instructions for arts and sciences, open for everyonethis is what a "Helvetisized," integrated New Central Europe means. If an industrialist in Prague invests a new product, he could sell it to between seventy and a hundred million customers. A new song recorded by Slovaks, Ruthenians or Rumanians could soon be popular also in Vienna or Belgrade. A poem, a book, or a newspaper printed in Budapest, in Zagreb, or in Kolozsvar could reach readers or subscribers anywhere in a territory of about one million square kilometers. Free trade, free competition, mutual respect and support of every effort in pursuing the common goal are prerequisites for the progress of the inhabitants of the region.

Such endeavor is unthinkable without effective political changes and international guarantees. To construct the new home according to old-fashioned blueprints by means of narrow-minded policy of mini-states based on jealousy and chauvinism, or on internationally organized movements aimed at destruction, dictatorship or world domination is impossible. Neither can it be designed by the limited vision and controlled imagination of some dusty old principles of "socialist realism." Therefore a Constructive Central European Internationale is needed, with national parties in the individual countries,

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to carry a joint program among the different peoples. To avoid many difficulties arising from too many small parties campaigning and possibly forming inefficient coalition governments, it was suggested that in a "Helvetisized" New Central Europe a two-party system is desirable. It would perhaps be premature to go into such details as to restrict the number of parties in different states of so many different nationalities. But it seems, that one of the two or more national political parties in every member state should be organized between the states, campaigning on similar platforms and directed by principles and guidelines established at periodic congresses of a Constructive Central European Internationale. This term is used partly for want of a better; but partly because we believe that construction is a concept best characterizing the epoch to come. At the risk of repetition, we must point to the fact, that after a long period of destruction, disintegration, separation by national or tariff boundaries, by Iron Curtains and by walls in Berlin or elsewherethe time has come for integration and construction. Construction, in the basic sense of this word, of homes for crowded or homeless families. Construction of an integrated New Central Europe for the people of this troubled region. Construction of a better world on our planet for all men of good will.

After all, a good example to prove the possibility of close cooperation and effective government of peoples of different languages, nationalities and religious affiliations is long overdue. Similar problems are waiting for solution in all Europe, in Asia, in Africa, in many places across the world. Our globe, as a whole, presents the same problem today. We have to start somewhere. Why not in a region, where such a new beginning would be only one more in a long series... maybe better than any of the previous ones. An inspiring example for all.

1) Edward Benes: Detruisez l'Autriche-Hongrie", Paris, 1917.

2) Positive Anticommunism" (Studies for a New Central Europe, Vol. 1. No. 3, p. 41).

3) "Foreign Policy Premises for the Next Administration" by Henry Owen, Chairman, Policy Planning Council, Department of State USA ("Foreign Affairs", July, 1968). 4) Oswald Machatka in the May, 1958 issue of the "Literarni Listy", Prague.

5) Otto Schlecht, chief of the policy division of the West German Economics Ministry: "The ad hoc economy, the economy of the light hand, is dead. We have a news economic system nowa tailored economy. We have learned a lat."

6) P. Werenfried van Atraaten in the "Ostpriesterhilfe" (10-11, 1968). See also the Fourth Dialog of Marxists and Christians (Marianske-Lazne-Marienbad Czechoslovakia, 1968).

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Toward a New Central Europe