Toward a New Central Europe

Foreword

THE present volume is a collection of articles, essays, documents and statistical data selected from the first six issues (1963-1969) of Studies for a New Central Europe, a review devoted to the reorganizational problems and tasks of that area. Besides these, two heretofore unpublished papers have been added to the collection. Namely, Alexander Gallus' "Cultural Pluralism and the Study of Complex Societies in Anthropology," and Edward Chaszar's "The Place of East Central Europe in Western Civilization."

The main purpose of our periodical as well as of its issuing body, The Mid-European Research Institute, New York, N. Y., is to revaluate past and present affairs of Central Europe in order to find a proper solution to its problems: a lasting peace based on justice and equality with the full cooperation of all nations concerned. A growing number of experts grouped around the review and its sponsoring institution have worked incessantly toward achieving this objective. From the very outset their activities have been centered on that goal and without exception they have arrived at the conclusion that in order to avoid past and present errors a system of neutralization and federalization should be established in the Danubian area ranging from Germany to Russia. This common goal has been scrutinized from different viewpoints by authors of various ethnic groups. As a result, almost each and every article reflects as a recurrent feature the urgent need for founding a neutral, federated Central Europe.

The scope of inquiry covers quite a broad field. Part I (International Relations) tries to elucidate foreign policy constellations by examining Central Europe's relations with the East and West with a view toward creating a Buffer Zone situated between Germany and Russia. Part II (Federalism in Central Europe) attempts to clarify some specific factors of a regional arrangement. Part III (The Nationality Question) highlights ethnic conditions with particular emphasis on Czechoslovakia and Rumania. The concluding chapter, Part IV (Economic Problems), considers economic conditions and policies, and the Appendix includes many interesting maps as well as statistical data.

I find myself ill-equipped to say how grateful I am to those who assisted and guided me in the development of this volume. I am happy

to record my considerable debt to Mr. Eugene Padanyi-Gulyas for having brought this project to my attention and for his subsequent encouragement and advice. My gratitude goes also to the Danubian Press, Inc., Astor Park, Florida, for publishing our enterprise. My daughter, Christina Maria T. Wagner, gave unstinted cooperation in editing and assisted with excellent proofreading. My thanks are also due to Mrs. Edith Talbot Kardos for her generous help in the initial phase of editing.

It is worth mentioning that an all-important volume is already in preparation entitled A Hundred Years of the Danubian Nations, 1867-1967; A Statistical Handbook which is to be issued by the Mid-European Research Institute. Members of this Institute have long felt the need for such a work which can help pave the way for a federative solution. This is why the present volume is dedicated and why the aforesaid statistical compendium will be dedicated to those who are able and willing to promote this grand design.

During the whole editorial process I have been keenly aware that uniformity in such a work of widespread collaboration could be achieved only through forcible reconciliation of conflicting views. No attempts have been made to achieve this undesirable goal. All contributors to this volume have been at complete liberty to express their opinions and have not been influenced to any extent in any regard. The views expressed in this book by individual contributors are, therefore, not necessarily those of the Editor. On the contrary, in several instances the Editor's opinion has been in sharp conflict with views represented by individual authors, particularly when historical backgrounds of certain Slavic problems have been depicted. Needless to say, every author assumes full responsibility for his article.

In working on this project I have become increasingly aware of the difficulties involved in materialization of the principles relating to the reorganization of the heart of the Old World. But we shall all the more welcome any suggestion furthering those ideas and any objective criticisms by experts in the fields of the political and social sciences, history, as well as international law. Due to the complexity of the topics in our volume, I felt compelled, in place of a standard Introduction, to depict in historical perspective the most characteristic features of Central Europe which I hope will enable us to arrive at an understanding and interpretation of the complicated reorganizational problems.

Washington, D. C.

September 1, 1969. Francis S. Wagner

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Our Contributors

PAL AUER, Dr., International Lawyer, Paris, France; Honorary Secretary of the League for the Self-Determination of the Peoples.

RICHARD K. BARTONIEK, Economist, Vienna, Austria.

FRITZ BOCK, Dr., Minister of Commerce, Republic of Austria, Vienna.

STJEPAN BUC, Political Scientist, Buenos Aires, Argentina; former member of the Yugoslav Parliament.

EDWARD CHASZAR, Political scientist, George Washington University, Washington, D. C.

TIBOR ECKHARDT, Dr., Hungary's Chief Delegate to the League of Nations, 1934-1935.

JOSEPH GALGANOVICZ, Lecturer on East Central European questions.

ALEXANDER GALLUS, Ph. D., Past President of the Australian Anthropologic Society, Melbourne, Australia; Editor, Studios for a New Central Europe.

MILAN HODZA, Dr., d. 1943 in London; Slovak statesman: Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia prior to the Munich four-power agreement, 1998.

STAN IONESCU, President of the Union Naciones Danubianas.

WENZEL JAKSCH, + Leader of the German Social Democrats in Czechoslovakia; Member of the German Bundestag.

BELA TALBOT KARDOS, Dr., Economist, librarian, writer, Washington, D.C.

GEORGE KELER, Executive Secretary) of the Cooperative Wholesale Comm., Stockholm, Sweden.

JOSEPH M KIRSCHBAUM, Dr., University professor, Toronto, Canada.

FERENC KOSZORUS, Military historian, Washington, D. C., Former Colonel on the Royal Hungarian General Staff.

EDMUND I. LAZAR, Political scientist, Vienna Austria.

MIROSLAV LAZAROVITCH, Economist, New York, X. Y.

CARLILE AYLMER MACARTNEY, Professor of history, All Souls College, Oxford, Gt. Brit.

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ADAM MAKKAI, Ph. D., Professor of linguistics, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL.

JOSEPH MATL, Ph. D., University professor and Chairman of the Slavic Institute of Graz, Austria.

P. O. MIKSCHE, Political scientist, Paris, France.

JOSEPH OSTROVSKY, Dr., former lawyer, Kosice; Czechoslovakia.

BELA PADANYI-GULYAS, Former member of the Hungarian National Assembly.

EUGENE PADANYI-GULYAS, Former member of the Hungarian Parliaent; Chairman of the Editorial Board, Studies for a New Central Europe.

G. H. SIKORSKY, Political scientist, Montreal, Canada

ISTVAN SZENTPALY, Dr., Lawyer! New- York, NY

GYULA TASSONYI, Dr., International lawyer, Zurich, Switzerland.

ALBERT WASS, University professor, writer; President, The Danubian Press, Inc., Astor Park, Florida, USA.

FRANCIS S. WAGNER, Ph. D., Staff Member, Library of Congress; Head, Hungarian Consulate General, Czechoslovakia, 1946-1948; Historian, editor of the present volume. His biographical data are included in Who's Who in the South and Southwest, 1969-1970; in the Directory of American Scholars, 1969; Dictionary of International Biography (London, 1970)

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Toward a New Central Europe