Winner
Diverse in Unity
Inspired by this post.
As a Czech, I noticed that people from countries further in the West still tend to call countries like the Czech Rep., Poland, Hungary and others "Eastern European". Even the media often reffer to the Central Europe as Eastern Europe. Obviously, this term is widely used and people there don't have a problem with it, and it often surprises them why we do have a problem with it.
The two main reasons for that are:
1) It's wrong
2) It's offensive
I'll try to explain why.
1)
The term "Eastern Europe" appeared during the Cold War. It was used to describe countries lying East of the Iron Curtain, countries which had succumbed to Communism spread by Moscow.
The term "Eastern Europe" had been used before that, but with a very different meaning. It originates in the Middle Ages when it was used for the Orthodox countries, as opposed to Catholic (and later also Protestant) countries in the West.
After it lost its religious connotations, it was used either as a purely geographic term for countries East of Polish-Romanian border, or it had cultural notions. Countries like Czechoslovakia or Hungary were not considered Eastern European acocrding to contemporary standards.
People in Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria and other countries considered themselves to be a part of Central Europe which as its name impires lies between Western Europe (France and the Low countries) and Eastern Europe (Russia+Ukraine+Belarus).
Central Europe as a region was split by the Iron Curtain, so it slowly fell out of usage. During the Cold War, political and ideologic affiliation dictated everything. Europe was divided into two camps, one of which was in the West and second in the East, therefore "Eastern Europe" and "Western Europe" were useful to describe the situation.
Unfortunately, when this division ceased to exist and Europe got rid of the Communist threat, people were so used to the Cold War terminology that they still use it even today, almost two decades after its end. Which brings me to the second point.
2)
Being called "Eastern Europeans" is offensive to vast majority of Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Slovenians, Hungarians and others. For them, it symbolizes a period of time they are certainly not proud of, a forced separation from the rest of Europe where they think they naturally belong. Being called "Eastern Europeans" has very negative connotation there, it's like being called "2nd class Europeans", those who don't really belong to Europe. It's very unfair in their eyes.
Czechs and Poles tried to ignore this in the 90's, when they were still struggling to overcome many problems of transition, but now, in the 21st century, when they're members of the European Union, originally a Western European organization, when they're members of NATO, a Western organization which used to defend Western Europe from the Communist threat, when they've estabilished market economies and liberal democratic form of government, it's the time to start calling them Central Europe which they feel to be part of, historically and culturally.
Eastern Europe makes no sense as a political term now, today it's nothing but a geographic term for Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. When somebody use it for, say, the Czech Republic, it sounds ridiculous, since this country lies almost exactly in the middle of Europe (like Austria), it is a member of the same organizations as the "Western European" countries and it is as democratic and free as they are.
If you're wondering, we're not overreacting. We want just and fair treatment, and we don't ask for much. Is a slight change of your dictionary so hard to accept? What if somebody called Germany "the Third Reich" because of a short period in its history when it was ruled by a totalitarian regime? I doubt Germans would like it. Eastern Europe is an offensive term to us for the same reason, so please, be polite and call things by their true names.
(any questions?
)
-------------------------------------------------------
EDIT: Before you start with this "but these countries are in the East, that's what they said in our geography class!" nonsense, see this post.
As a Czech, I noticed that people from countries further in the West still tend to call countries like the Czech Rep., Poland, Hungary and others "Eastern European". Even the media often reffer to the Central Europe as Eastern Europe. Obviously, this term is widely used and people there don't have a problem with it, and it often surprises them why we do have a problem with it.
The two main reasons for that are:
1) It's wrong
2) It's offensive
I'll try to explain why.
1)
The term "Eastern Europe" appeared during the Cold War. It was used to describe countries lying East of the Iron Curtain, countries which had succumbed to Communism spread by Moscow.
The term "Eastern Europe" had been used before that, but with a very different meaning. It originates in the Middle Ages when it was used for the Orthodox countries, as opposed to Catholic (and later also Protestant) countries in the West.
After it lost its religious connotations, it was used either as a purely geographic term for countries East of Polish-Romanian border, or it had cultural notions. Countries like Czechoslovakia or Hungary were not considered Eastern European acocrding to contemporary standards.
People in Germany, Czechoslovakia, Austria and other countries considered themselves to be a part of Central Europe which as its name impires lies between Western Europe (France and the Low countries) and Eastern Europe (Russia+Ukraine+Belarus).
Central Europe as a region was split by the Iron Curtain, so it slowly fell out of usage. During the Cold War, political and ideologic affiliation dictated everything. Europe was divided into two camps, one of which was in the West and second in the East, therefore "Eastern Europe" and "Western Europe" were useful to describe the situation.
Unfortunately, when this division ceased to exist and Europe got rid of the Communist threat, people were so used to the Cold War terminology that they still use it even today, almost two decades after its end. Which brings me to the second point.
2)
Being called "Eastern Europeans" is offensive to vast majority of Czechs, Poles, Hungarians, Slovenians, Hungarians and others. For them, it symbolizes a period of time they are certainly not proud of, a forced separation from the rest of Europe where they think they naturally belong. Being called "Eastern Europeans" has very negative connotation there, it's like being called "2nd class Europeans", those who don't really belong to Europe. It's very unfair in their eyes.
Czechs and Poles tried to ignore this in the 90's, when they were still struggling to overcome many problems of transition, but now, in the 21st century, when they're members of the European Union, originally a Western European organization, when they're members of NATO, a Western organization which used to defend Western Europe from the Communist threat, when they've estabilished market economies and liberal democratic form of government, it's the time to start calling them Central Europe which they feel to be part of, historically and culturally.
Eastern Europe makes no sense as a political term now, today it's nothing but a geographic term for Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. When somebody use it for, say, the Czech Republic, it sounds ridiculous, since this country lies almost exactly in the middle of Europe (like Austria), it is a member of the same organizations as the "Western European" countries and it is as democratic and free as they are.
If you're wondering, we're not overreacting. We want just and fair treatment, and we don't ask for much. Is a slight change of your dictionary so hard to accept? What if somebody called Germany "the Third Reich" because of a short period in its history when it was ruled by a totalitarian regime? I doubt Germans would like it. Eastern Europe is an offensive term to us for the same reason, so please, be polite and call things by their true names.
(any questions?
)-------------------------------------------------------
EDIT: Before you start with this "but these countries are in the East, that's what they said in our geography class!" nonsense, see this post.
