8939096 question 1

1. In what ways were the past political traditions of Poland, Hungary, and
Czechoslovakia reflected in those countries political systems from 1945 to
1989?
In this essay I will argue that the main ways that the past political
traditions of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia were reflected in those
countries political systems from 1945 to 1948, before greater Stalinist
influence took over, which ended any existing continuity. I will draw on the
writings of Hodos and Schopflin among others in support of my argument.
I will first the historical conditions that gave rise to the past political
traditions in these three countries and describe of these traditions, then
outline their political systems from 1945 and 1989 and finally observe how
the latter reflect any historical political traditions.
Historical background of the political traditions in these countries
The countries we are concerned with form East Central Europe, which has
been argued to form a transition zone from Western Europe to Eastern
Europe in its history of political and socioeconomic development.
(Schopflin 1990) In the course of examining this historical development, I
shall begin by outlining some of the characteristic features of the Western
European system, then those of the Eastern European system, then finally
how they relate in the East Central Europe context of Poland,
Bohemia/Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
Features of historical Western European political development
Western Europe emerged from the aftermath of the Frankish-Carolingian
Empire and was shaped by a combination of Roman law as well as
Germanic tribal customs. Its key features included a feudal system based
on mutual rights and obligations set on a contractual structure, the
development of the concept of human dignity, and the development of
autonomous cities as well as urban economies. (Hodos 1999)
Contractual structure of feudalism and liberty
The contractual and reciprocal structure of feudal system has been argued
to play an important role in the shaping of later liberties in Western

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Europe. The institution of contracts allowed vassals to assert their rights to
their lords and were gradually expanded to ordinary members of society
over the centuries, and eventually came to play an important role in early
modern liberal thought in the work of Hobbes, Locke and Rousseau.
(Shlapentokh and Woods 2011).
Human dignity as an element of political relations
The view of human dignity in mediaeval Western Europe was shaped by
both Christian theology and the rediscovery of Aristotle, with the basic
idea being that man was made in the image and likeness of God and
played a special role in creation. (Dales 1977) In actual practice, it meant
that vassals pledged their oaths of fealty on more equitable terms with
their lords compared to what was happening elsewhere in the world. The
Western European vassal would not go on his knees to kiss the hem of his
lords dress, but instead approach him with head erect, touch palms and
exchange kisses. While mostly symbolic in its earlier stages, it did give rise
to the concept of human dignity as an element of political relations.
(Hodos 1999)
Development of urban economies in Western Europe
Finally, a confluence of conditions including an expansion of contractual
rights and human dignity, as well as technological innovations in
agriculture and other crafts fostered the development of towns and cities
in Western Europe where division of labour increased rapidly. This gave
rise to the development of more integrated trade networks and more
centralised economies based around cities, in particular allowing for the
rise of central capital cities such as London and Paris. (Epstein 2000)
Features of the Eastern European system
Eastern Europe had a vastly different development of political and
socioeconomic relations from Western Europe from its very beginnings.
Rather than being formed from the amalgamation of the collapsed
Western Roman Empire and Germanic tribes, it was formed from Slavic

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tribes with influences from Byzantium as well as eastern nomadic steppe
cultures. It was characterised by a hierarchical state-serfdom and a
centralised autocratic government. (Hodos 1999)
Hierarchical state-serfdom
Hierarchical state-serfdom involved princes and dukes ruling over nonhereditary who ruled over non-hereditary boyars who in turn ruled over
rural landlords who ruled over peasants and serfs. (Hodos 1999) This can
be contrasted with the contractual, more horizontal Western feudal
system.
Centralised autocratic government
While trading contact with the Hanseatic cities of Western Europe in the
north of Eastern Europe did foster development of autonomous cities with
urban economies similar to Western Europe, the Mongol conquests in the
13th century and the subsequent expansion of the power of Muscovy after
the fall of the Mongols put an end to this development. (Aulin 2012)
Subsequent development in Eastern Europe was hence based on
increasing hierarchical relations and tightening of feudal bonds, with lords
gaining more powers over their peasants and serfs, such as binding serfs
to their estates. (Hodos 1999)
Central Eastern Europe as a periphery of Western Europe
Central Eastern Europe came to the attention of Western Europe starting
from around 1000 CE and was subsequently subject to waves of
Christianisation and settlement from Western Europe. At the same time,
various Western political structures, such as recognition of the reciprocity
of rulers and ruled and division of power, were imported in an incomplete,
hybrid form. These structures were imposed top-down when it benefited
local elites rather than spontaneously developing bottom-up as it
developed first in the West (Hodos 1999) (Schopflin 1990)
Eastern European influences in East Central Europe in the Second Serdom
The weak and incomplete nature of transplanted Western European
structures was coupled with influence from Eastern Europe to give rise to

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subsequent East Central European political traditions. The break from
Western European structures became decisive around 1500 with what is
called the Second Serfdom. (Hodos 1999)
The Second Serfdom took place almost simultaneously across Poland,
Bohemia and Hungary and was characterised by limiting the mobility of
peasants along the lines of Eastern European developments under the
Tsardom of Muscovy.
Resulting development of distinctly East Central European political
traditions
These conditions led to the development of a distinct East Central
European political tradition shared by Poland, Hungary and Bohemia.
These traditions include etatism, faade politics and a large peasant class
hostile to entrepreneurialism and complexity.
Etatism
Etatism in Eastern Central Europe was characterized by the state existing
as a far more dominant and hegemonic compared to Western Europe and
arose from the historical imposition of top-down foreign political structures
for imperial, non-local interests. (Schopflin 1990) (Schopflin, Culture and
Identity in Post-Communist Europe 1993)
Faade politics
This etatism in turn fostered the development of faade politics. Western
Europe was seen as the criterion of modernity against which East
European elites measured themselves. However, these elites saw reform
simplistically and implemented only pro forma changes. For example,
criticism of the state by the press was allowed and courts were allowed to
deliver politically uninfluenced judgements but the state, controlled by the
power elites, could still control elections in their favour. (Schopflin, The
Political Traditions of Eastern Europe 1990)
Peasant class hostile to entrepreneurship
The course of East Central European society inhibited the development of
autonomous cities with a burgher class of traders and artisans.
Entrepreneurial work was disdained by most of the indigenous population

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of Poland and Hungary by both the peasants and nobles with foreigners
like Englishmen, Jews and Germans handling most of the work. In Bohemia
the nobility did not share this disdain for entrepreneurship. (Hodos 1999)
I have described the historical background behind the development of East
Central European political traditions as well as described these traditions
themselves. I will now move on to an outline of the political systems of
Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia from 1945-1989 and examine how
the traditions were reflected in these systems.
Political systems of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia from 1945-1947
The post-war period from 1945 to 1947 in these three countries saw the
development of Peoples Democracies which involved the rule of
Communist parties allied to the USSR with a coalition of smaller parties.
Economically they featured a mix of state and private sectors described as
nonsocialist and socially they aimed for the abolition of feudal and
fascist structures.
After 1947, with the advent of the Cold War, these Peoples Democracies
were destroyed to serve the purposes of more direct control under
Moscow. (Hodos 1999)
I argue that all the traditions described above were continued throughout
the period of Peoples Democracies and were only destroyed after that
period with greater Stalinist control. I will examine each of the three
countries in turn.
Czechoslovakias People Democracy
Czechoslovakia of the three countries was the only one to be free of Soviet
occupation after the war and had a democratic tradition from the inter-war
period. The various parties, even the Catholic nonsocialist party, framed
themselves in opposition to the capitalist mode of production and the
government was characterized by land reform, coalition and
nationalization. (Hodos 1999)
Land reform and nationalization fit into the interests of the antientrepreneurial peasant class hostile to the complexity of capitalism as

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well as increased the power of the state and provided a faade of
increased democratization while being mainly pro forma in terms of party
politics.These three pillars of Peoples Democracy are therefore clearly
aligned with the historical political traditions I described above of etatism
and the interests of the peasant class.
Peoples Democracy in Poland and Hungary
The Peoples Democracies in Poland and Hungary likewise were
characterized by similar reforms as in Czechoslovakia, such as
nationalization of factories and large banks and redistribution of
agricultural land. The main difference here was from the presence of
Soviet occupation, which led to a manipulated election being held in
Hungary and no elections being allowed in Poland at all, as opposed to
Czechoslovakia where a free election was held in 1946. (Hodos 1999)
Nevertheless, the historical political traditions in these countries were still
continued.
Stalinism and destruction of Peoples Democracies
After the American announcement of the Marshall Plan to provide
economic help to rebuild Europe, Stalin began to consolidate the
Communist parties in East Central Europe under the control of Moscow.
The various independent parties in these countries were dismantled or
made into puppets. After this period, forced industrialization was imposed
by Moscow, destroying much of the influence of the former peasants, the
powers of the states were eroded by Moscow, and attempts at even giving
a faade of democratization were ended.
Conclusion
In this essay I have argued that the historical political traditions in Poland,
Hungary and Czechoslovkia from 1945-1989 mainly were reflected in the
early post-war period and the Stalinist period ended any continuation.
1885 words

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