Editing Central Europe (section)

==Definitions==
The issue of how to name and define the Central European area is subject to debates. Very often, the definition depends on the nationality and historical perspective of its author. The concept of "Central Europe" appeared in the 19th century. It was understood as a contact zone between the Southern and Northern areas, and later the Eastern and Western areas of Europe. Thinkers portrayed "Central Europe" either as a separate region, or a buffer zone between these regions.

In the early nineteenth century, the terms "Middle" or "Central" Europe (known as "Mitteleuropa" in German and "Europe centrale" in French) were introduced in geographical scholarship in both German and French languages. At first, these terms were linked to the regions spanning from the Pyrenees to the Danube, which, according to German authors, could be united under German authority. However, after the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, the French began to exclude France from this area, and later the Germans also adopted this perspective by the end of World War I.<ref name="Aleksov Piahanau 2020 pp7-8">{{cite book |last1=Aleksov |first1=Bojan |last2=Piahanau |first2=Aliaksandr |title=Wars and Betweenness: Big Powers and Middle Europe, 1918–1945 |date=2020 |publisher=Central European University Press |isbn=978-963-386-336-7 |pages=7–8 }}</ref>

The concept of "Central" or "Middle Europe", understood as a region with German influence, lost a significant part of its popularity after WWI and was completely dismissed after WWII. Two defeats of Germany in the world wars, combined with the division of Germany, an almost complete disappearance of German-speaking communities in these countries, and the Communist-led isolation of Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Yugoslavia from the Western world, turned the concept of "Central/Middle Europe" into an anachronism. On the other side, the non-German areas of Central Europe were almost universally regarded as "Eastern European" primarily associated with the Soviet sphere of influence in the late 1940s–1980s.

For the most part, this geographical framework lost its attraction after the end of the Cold War. A number of Post-Communist countries rather re-branded themselves in the 1990s as "Central European.", while avoiding the stained wording of "Middle Europe," which they associated with German influence in the region. This reinvented concept of "Central Europe" excluded Germany, Austria and Switzerland, reducing its coverage chiefly to Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Lithuania and Yugoslavia.<ref name="Aleksov Piahanau 2020 pp7-8" />

=== Academic ===
The main proposed regional definitions, gathered by Polish historian [[Jerzy Kłoczowski]] and others, include:<ref>[[Jerzy Kłoczowski]], Actualité des grandes traditions de la cohabitation et du dialogue des cultures en Europe du Centre-Est, in: L'héritage historique de la Res Publica de Plusieurs Nations, Lublin 2004, pp. 29–30 {{ISBN|83-85854-82-7}}</ref>

* West-Central and [[East-Central Europe]] – this conception, presented in 1950,<ref>[[Oskar Halecki]], The Limits and Divisions of European History, Sheed & Ward: London and New York 1950, chapter VII</ref> distinguishes two regions in Central Europe: the German West-Centre and the East-Centre covered by a variety of nations ''from [[Finland]] to [[Greece]]'', placed between the great empires of [[Scandinavia]], Germany, Italy and the [[Soviet Union]].
* Central Europe as a region comprising countries in [[Continental Europe|mainland Europe]] speaking [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] (Austria, [[Belgium]], Germany, the [[Netherlands]] and Switzerland) and [[West Slavic languages|West Slavic]] languages (the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland).<ref>[[Erich Schenk]], ''Mitteleuropa''. Düsseldorf, 1950</ref>
* Central Europe as the area of the cultural heritage of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] – Ukrainian, Belarusian and Lithuanian historians, in cooperation (since 1990) with Polish historians, insist on the importance of this concept.

[[File:Growth of Habsburg territories.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|[[Austria-Hungary|Habsburg-ruled lands]] (divided between [[Cisleithanian]]/Austrian-administered and [[Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen|Transalthanian]]/Hungarian-administered)]]

* Central Europe as the area of the former Habsburg monarchy<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Siegel |first1=Björn |last2=Thulin |first2=Mirjam |last3=Corbett |first3=Tim |date=2023 |title=Habsburg Central Europe: Culturally Heterogeneous and Polysemous Region |url=https://publishup.uni-potsdam.de/opus4-ubp/frontdoor/deliver/index/docId/64599/file/06_Czaky.pdf |journal=Intersections Between Jewish Studies and Habsburg Studies}}</ref> – a concept which is popular in large parts of [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Bosnia and Herzegovina|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-Bosnia-and-Herzegovina |access-date=2024-02-18 |website=britannica.com}}</ref> 
* A concept underlining the links connecting [[Belarus]], [[Moldova]] and [[Ukraine]] with Russia and treating the [[Russian Empire]] together with the whole [[Slavic peoples|Slavic]] [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] population as one entity – this position is taken by Russian historiographers.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}{{dubious|date=January 2024}}
* A concept putting the accent on links with the West,{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}{{dubious|date=January 2024}} especially from the 19th century and the grand period of liberation and formation of Nation-states, an idea that is represented by the [[South-Eastern Europe|South-Eastern]] states, which prefer the enlarged concept of the "East Centre" expressing their links with [[Western culture]].{{dubious|date=January 2024}}{{citation needed|date=January 2024}}

Former University of Vienna professor Lonnie R. Johnson points out criteria to distinguish Central Europe from Western, Northern, Eastern and Southern Europe:{{sfn|Johnson|1996|p={{page needed|date=October 2023}}}}

* One criterion for defining Central Europe is the frontiers of medieval empires and kingdoms that largely correspond to the religious frontiers between [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] Western and Central Europe and [[Eastern Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] Eastern Europe.{{sfn|Johnson|1996|p=4}} Following that criterion, the pagans of Central Europe were converted to Catholicism, but in Eastern and Southeastern Europe, they were brought into the fold of the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]].{{sfn|Johnson|1996|p=4}} 

He also thinks that Central Europe is a dynamic historical concept, not a static spatial one. For example, a fair share of [[Belarus]] and [[Right-bank Ukraine]] are in Eastern Europe today, but {{roundup|{{age|format=raw|1791|5|3}}|-1}} years ago, they were in the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]].{{sfn|Johnson|1996|p=4}} Johnson's study on Central Europe received acclaim and positive reviews in the scientific community.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/reviews/capsule-review/1997-05-01/central-europe-enemies-neighbors-friends|title=Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends|last=Legvold|first=Robert|date=May–June 1997|magazine=[[Foreign Affairs]] |publisher=[[Council on Foreign Relations]]|access-date=20 May 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Politics/InternationalStudies/?view=usa&ci=9780195148251&view=usa |title=Selected as "Editor's Choice" of the History Book Club |work=[[Oxford University Press]] |access-date=20 May 2009 }}{{dead link|date=October 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> However, according to the Romanian researcher [[Maria Bucur]], the very ambitious project suffers from the weaknesses imposed by its scope (almost 1600 years of history).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=1030|title=The Myths and Memories We Teach By |last=Bucur|first=Maria|date=June 1997|publisher=[[Indiana University]]|access-date=23 December 2011}}</ref>

=== Encyclopedias, gazetteers, dictionaries ===
[[The World Factbook]]<ref name="Fact" /> defines Central Europe as: Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Liechtenstein, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland. ''[[The Columbia Encyclopedia]]'' includes: Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Switzerland. While it does not have a single article defining Central Europe, [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] includes the following countries in Central Europe in one or more of its articles: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bosnia and Herzegovina |url=https://kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Bosnia-and-Herzegovina/345652 |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Britannica}}</ref> Croatia,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Croatia - Medieval, Adriatic, Balkans |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Croatia/History |access-date=2024-01-10 |website=Britannica}}</ref> the Czech Republic, Germany,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-10 |title=Germany - Facts, Geography, Maps, & History |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Germany |access-date=2024-01-11 |website=Britannica}}</ref> Hungary, Lithuania,<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |title=20th-century international relations - Central Europe, Middle East, Conflict {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/20th-century-international-relations-2085155/Central-Europe-and-the-Middle-East |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=Britannica |language=en}}</ref> Poland, Romania,<ref name=":13" /> Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland.

The [[France|French]] ''Encyclopédie Larousse'' defines Central Europe as a region comprising Austria, the Czech Republic, Germany, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia and Switzerland.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Encyclopédie Larousse en ligne |url=https://www.larousse.fr/encyclopedie/rechercher?q=larousse |access-date=2025-02-13 |website=Larousse |language=fr}}</ref>

The German Encyclopaedia ''Meyers Grosses Taschenlexikon'' (''Meyers Big Pocket Encyclopedia''), 1999, defines Central Europe as the central part of Europe with no precise borders to the East and West. The term is mostly used to denominate the territory between the [[Schelde]] to [[Vistula]] and from the [[Danube]] to the [[Moravian Gate]].

The German {{lang|de|[[:de:Ständiger Ausschuss für geographische Namen|Ständige Ausschuss für geographische Namen]]}} (Standing Committee on Geographical Names), which develops and recommends rules for the uniform use of geographical names, proposes two sets of boundaries. The first follows international borders of current countries. The second subdivides and includes some countries based on cultural criteria. In comparison to some other definitions, it is broader, including Luxembourg, Estonia, Latvia, and in the second sense, the [[Kaliningrad Oblast]] and parts of Belarus, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Italy, and France.<ref name="Jordan 2005" />

According to ''Meyers Enzyklopädisches Lexikon'',<ref>Band 16, Bibliographisches Institut Mannheim/Wien/Zürich, Lexikon Verlag 1980</ref> Central Europe is a part of Europe composed of Austria, [[Belgium]], the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, Hungary, [[Luxembourg]], [[Netherlands]], Poland, [[Romania]] and Switzerland, and northern marginal regions of Italy and Yugoslavia (northern states – [[Croatia]] and [[Slovenia]]), as well as northeastern France.

=== Geographical ===
[[File:Travel time by car or ferry from the geographical center of Europe.jpg|thumb|Travel time by car or ferry from the [[geographical center of Europe]]]]
There is no general agreement either on what geographic area constitutes Central Europe, nor on how to further subdivide it geographically.{{sfn|Magocsi|2002|p=20}}

At times, the term "Central Europe" denotes a geographic definition as the [[Danube]] region in the heart of the continent, including the language and culture areas which are today included in the states of Austria, [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]], [[Bulgaria]], Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, [[Moldova]], Poland, Romania, [[Serbia]], Slovakia, Slovenia, [[Ukraine]] and usually also Germany.{{Sfn|Zepetnek|2011|p=24}}

=== Governmental and standards organisations ===
The terminology EU11 countries refer the Central, [[Eastern Europe|Eastern]] and [[Baltic states|Baltic European]] member states which accessed in 2004 and after: in 2004 Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Slovenia, and Slovakia; in 2007 Bulgaria, Romania; and in 2013 Croatia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vértesy |first1=László |title=Macroeconomic Legal Trends in the EU11 Countries |journal=Public Governance, Administration and Finances Law Review |date=30 June 2018 |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=94–108 |id={{ProQuest|2705387755}} |doi=10.53116/pgaflr.2018.1.9 |ssrn=3429014 |s2cid=219380180 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

The EU-funded [[Interreg]] region "Central Europe" includes the following countries and regions:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Interreg Central Europe • Interreg.eu |url=https://interreg.eu/programme/interreg-central-europe/ |access-date=2024-12-30 |website=Interreg.eu |language=en-GB}}</ref>

* Austria
* Croatia
* Czechia
* Germany:  Berlin, Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony, Thuringia, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
* Hungary
* Italy: Lombardy, Trentino - Alto Adige, Aosta  Valley, Veneto, Emiglia Romagna, Liguria, Friuli - Venezia Giulia
* Poland
* Slovakia
* Slovenia

[[File:Central European Free Trade Agreement.svg|thumb|right|Countries in the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA)]]
The [[Central European Free Trade Agreement]] includes the following countries:
* [[Albania]]
* Bosnia and Herzegovina
* [[Kosovo]]
* Moldova 
* Montenegro
* [[North Macedonia]]
* Serbia

=== Map gallery ===
<gallery>
File:Central Europe Katzenstein.png|Central Europe according to [[Peter J. Katzenstein]] (1997):<br />{{legend|#0000ff|The Visegrád Group countries are referred to as Central Europe in the book.{{sfn|Katzenstein|1997|p=6}}}}{{legend|#95e6ff|Countries for which there is no precise, uncontestable way to decide whether they are parts of Central Europe or not{{sfn|Katzenstein|1997|p=4}} }}
File:Visegrad group countries.png|According to ''[[The Economist]]'' and [[Ronald Tiersky]], a strict definition of Central Europe means the [[Visegrád Group]].{{sfn|Tiersky|2004|p=472}}<ref name="From Visegrad to Mitteleuropa">{{cite news |date=14 April 2005 |title=From Visegrad to Mitteleuropa |newspaper=The Economist |url=http://www.economist.com/node/3871275?Story_ID=E1_PRSTNSV}}</ref>
File:Central Europe (Lonnie R. Johnson)2.PNG|Map of Central Europe, according to Lonnie R. Johnson (2011):{{sfn|Johnson|1996|p=16}}{{legend|#FE0000|Countries usually considered Central European (citing the [[World Bank]] and the [[OECD]])}}{{legend|#FEC5C5|Countries considered to be Central European only in the broader sense of the term}}
File:Central Europe (by A.Mutton).PNG|Central Europe, according to Alice F. A. Mutton in ''Central Europe. A Regional and Human Geography'' (1961)
File:Central Europe (Larousse).PNG|Central Europe, as defined in the French ''Encylopédie Larousse'' (2009)
File:Europe médiane, Czesław Miłosz.png|Central Europe, as defined by Czesław Miłosz (1983)
File:Europe centrale, Castellan.png|Central Europe, as defined by Georges Castellan (1994)
File:Central Europe (by E. Schenk).PNG|Central Europe, as defined by E. Schenk (1950)<ref>[[Erich Schenk]], ''Mitteleuropa''. Düsseldorf, 1950</ref>
File:Central-Europe-Encarta.png|Central European countries in [[Encarta Encyclopedia]] (2009):<ref name="Encarta">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Slovenia |encyclopedia=[[Encarta]] |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571128/Slovenia.html |access-date=1 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091028131206/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761571128/Slovenia.html |archive-date=28 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref><br />{{legend|#520fff|Central European countries}}{{legend|#57c5fa|Slovenia in "south central Europe"}}
File:Central Europe (Meyers Grosses Taschenlexikon).PNG|The Central European Countries according to Meyers Grosses Taschenlexikon (1999):<br />{{legend|#008000|Countries usually considered Central European}}{{legend|#74CC66|Central European countries in the broader sense of the term}}{{legend|#00FF00|Countries occasionally considered to be Central European}}
File:Central Europe (Brockhaus).PNG|Middle Europe (Brockhaus Enzyklopädie, 1998)
File:Central-Europe-SwanseaUniv.png|Central Europe according to Swansea University professors Robert Bideleux and Ian Jeffries (1998)<ref>{{cite book|author1=Robert Bideleux|author2=Ian Jeffries|title=A History of Eastern Europe: Crisis and Change|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xdGEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA12|access-date=16 October 2015|date=10 April 2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-71984-6|page=12}}</ref>
File:Central Europe (Mayers Enzyklopaedisches Lexikon).PNG|Central Europe according to Meyers Enzyklopaedisches Lexikon (1980)
</gallery>