Editing Central Europe (section)

===Before World War I===
[[File:Central Europe 1902.PNG|thumb|A view of Central Europe dating from the time before [[World War I]] (1902):<ref>Source: Geographisches Handbuch zu [[Andrees Allgemeiner Handatlas|Andrees Handatlas]], vierte Auflage, Bielefeld und Leipzig, Velhagen und Klasing, 1902.</ref> {{legend|#FF0000|Central European countries and regions: the German Empire and the Habsburg monarchy (without [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] and [[Dalmatia]])}}{{legend|#FF8080|Regions located at the transition between Central Europe and Southeastern/Eastern Europe: [[Romania]]}}]]

Before 1870, the industrialization that had started to develop in Northwestern and Central Europe and the United States did not extend in any significant way to the rest of the world. Even in [[Eastern Europe]], industrialization lagged far behind. [[Russia]], for example, remained largely rural and agricultural, and its autocratic rulers kept the peasants in serfdom.<ref>Jackson J. Spielvogel: ''Western Civilization: Alternate Volume: Since 1300''. p. 618.</ref>
The concept of Central Europe was already known at the beginning of the 19th century,<ref name="essex.ac.uk">{{cite web|url=http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/graduateconference/barcelona/papers/681.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217051750/http://www.essex.ac.uk/ecpr/events/graduateconference/barcelona/papers/681.pdf|archive-date=17 December 2008 |title="Mitteleuropa" is a multi-faceted concept and difficult to handle |access-date=31 January 2010}}</ref> but it developed further and became an object of intensive interest towards the 20th century. However, the first concept mixed science, politics, and economy and was strictly connected with the aspirations of German states to dominate a part of European continent called ''Mitteleuropa''. At the [[Frankfurt Parliament]], which was established in the wake of the [[German revolutions of 1848–1849|March Revolution]] of 1848, there were multiple competing ideas for the integration of German-speaking areas, including the ''mitteleuropäische Lösung'' (Central European Solution) propagated by Austria, which sought to merge the smaller German-speaking states with the multi-ethnic Habsburg monarchy, but was opposed by Prussia and others. An imperialistic idea of ''Mitteleuropa'' also became popular in the [[German Empire]], which was established in 1871 and experienced intensive economic growth. The term was used when the [[Union of German Railway Administrations]] established the ''Mitteleuropäische Eisenbahn-Zeit'' (Central European Railway Time) [[time zone]], which was applied by the railways from 1 June 1891 and was later widely adopted in civilian life; the time zone's name has been shortened to the present-day [[Central European Time]].<ref name="Zeit-MEZ">{{cite news |title=Eisenbahner erfanden Europas Zeit |url=https://www.zeit.de/wissen/geschichte/2013-03/geschichte-mitteleuropaeische-zeit/komplettansicht |date=13 March 2013 |website=[[Die Zeit]] |accessdate=2023-10-28 |last1=Vensky |first1=Hellmuth }}</ref>

The German term denoting Central Europe was so fashionable that other languages started referring to it when indicating territories from [[Rhine]] to [[Vistula]] or even the [[Dnieper]] and from the [[Baltic Sea]] to the [[Balkans]].<ref>A. Podraza, ''Europa Środkowa jako region historyczny'', 17th Congress of Polish Historians, [[Jagiellonian University]] 2004</ref> An example of this vision of Central Europe may be seen in [[Joseph Partsch]]'s book of 1903.<ref>Joseph Franz Maria Partsch, Clementina Black, Halford John Mackinder, ''Central Europe'', New York 1903</ref>

On 21 January 1904, ''Mitteleuropäischer Wirtschaftsverein'' (Central European Economic Association) was established in [[Berlin]] with economic integration of Germany and Austria (with eventual extension to Switzerland, [[Belgium]] and the [[Netherlands]]) as its main aim. Another time, the term Central Europe became connected to the German plans of political, economic, and cultural domination. The "bible" of the concept was [[Friedrich Naumann]]'s book ''Mitteleuropa''<ref>F. Naumann, ''Mitteleuropa'', Berlin: Reimer, 1915</ref> in which he called for an economic federation to be established after World War I. Naumann's proposed a federation with Germany and the Habsburg monarchy as its centre that would eventually unite all external European nations through economic prosperity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Хессе |first=Райнхард |date=2021-06-23 |title=GERMANY AND ITS DIFFICULT SITUATION IN CENTRAL EUROPE / MITTELEUROPA |url=https://bulletin-irr.ablaikhan.kz/index.php/j1/article/view/91 |journal=Известия. Серия: Международные отношения и Регионоведение |language=en |volume=44 |issue=2 |doi=10.48371/ISMO.2021.44.2.006 |issn=2710-3633}}</ref> The concept failed after the German defeat in [[World War I]].{{cn|date=August 2024}}{{Dubious|date=September 2024}} The revival of the idea may be observed during the [[Nazi Germany|Hitler era]].{{cn|date=August 2024}}{{dubious|date=August 2024}}