The Semester in Review

After looking back on my first blog post from this semester I am surprised with how much I have learned over the past 15 weeks. At the beginning of the semester I knew almost nothing about Central Europe. I had heard of the Habsburg dynasty, although only in the context of the Spanish monarchy. I knew that the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand had caused the outbreak of the first World War, but I had no idea why one might want to murder him, and what an "archduke" actually was.

In my first blog posts I talked about three different points. I will now discuss how my view of these points has changed as a result of this course.

1. The difference in the roles of the Catholic Church in the region as a whole is much different than in Western Europe. 

The role of religion in Central Europe is much more complicated than I ever could have imagined. The struggle between Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox Christians, Jews, and Muslims has lasted centuries and continues to be an issue. From early persecutions, to White Mountain, to World War 2, religious minorities have faced incredible challenges throughout Central Europe. 

2. I learned the true origins of the Habsburg dynasty, a family that in its time controlled most of the European continent, including my specialization Spain. 

I have learned that the Habsburg dynasty grew over time--through marriage--to become one of the most prestigious, strongest, and longest-lasting dynasties in European history. Habsburg influence in world history can not be overstated, and at one point Habsburg rule extended from the Americas, throughout Europe, and to the East Indies. Until its demise in the early 20th century, the Habsburg dynasty was a major force do be reckoned with. 

3. I learned the extremely complicated ethnic situation in the formation of the Czech territory, including the four major ethnic groups at the formation of the city of Prague, including the Roman, Celtic, German, and Slavic cultures. 

The mix of ethnicity and cultures all throughout Central Europe did not disappear with the creation of new countries and empires. The incredibly complicated mixture of religions and cultures has led to war, persecutions, the rise of nationalism, the fall of empires, and the creation of new countries. This multiculturalism was one of the strongest detriments to the Habsburg dynasty as centuries of Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Ukrainian, and Slavic nationalism took their toll. 

Comparing Masaryk to the Red Prince

Hungarian Masaryk and Wilhelm von Habsburg were born into two completely different situations. Masaryk was born a poor Moravian peasant, Wilhelm was born with a big destiny as a member of the Habsburg family. Although they both had interests in politics, their paths toward this goal were distinct--and so where their results.

Masaryk was born to a very poor family in Moravia. His family never stayed in one place for too long, and was constantly moving villages. Although he was poor, he was bright and attended school when he had the opportunity. His parents planned for him to become a locksmith, but after completing his apprenticeship teachers encouraged him to continue his studies. He was accepted into a prestigious school where he studied history, philosophy, and religion. He eventually earned his PhD. He became interested in politics, and advocated reform of the Habsburg monarchy, and later its dissolved. Despite growing up poor, Masaryk's hard work and ambition led him to become a political leader, and eventually the first president of Czechoslovakia.

Wilhelm grew up on the ocean in Pula. His father, Stefan, carefully orchestrated and controlled everything related to "Willy" and his five brother and sisters' lives. They were forced to speak five different languages, depending on the time of the day, and they had a meticulous schedule that had to be kept. Even at birth, his father carefully chose certain names for his children so that they may be able to fill a special Habsburg destiny. Wilhelm's destiny was to one day become the king of a new reunited Poland. He was named after the German emperor, as well as a historical figure who had a claim to the Polish throne.

Willy spent most of his youth travelling with his family, on yachts throughout the Mediterranean, exploring both the west as well as the near east. He became afflicted with a serious case of wanderlust, which was only worsened when his father moved the family to Galicia so that Willy could realize his Polish destiny. Like most teenagers, Willy rejected this destiny, probably because it was imposed upon him by his father. Instead of growing up with a sense of Polish patriotism, Willy instead became enchanted by Ukrainian language and culture.

In conclusion, the two men, although both living at the same time and both interested in politics, had very different backgrounds. Where Willy's childhood was strict, rigid, and planned from birth, Masaryk's path to success was indirect but successful.While Willy spent most of his youth trying to avoid his political destiny, Masaryk spent years and hard work to create one.

Literary Genres

For this history class we have read a great variety of books and articles. Two of my favorites, and my go-to books for this class have been Benjamin Curtis's The Habsburgs: The History of a Dynasty, and The Price of Freedom: A history of East Central Europe from the Middle Ages tot he Present by Piotr S. Wandycz. Both of these books are different and serve different purposes, but they complement each other well, ultimately working better together than apart.

Curtis's novel, which can be described as a dynastic or political history, focuses completely on the Habsburg dynasty. Instead of spending the majority of the book discussing the political happenings throughout Europe he only discusses themes that directly affect or were affected by the Habsburg family. The book is organized by dynastic leaders in chronological order, instead of focusing on dates. Each chapter concludes with a section noted as "Dynastic Strategies" which reflects on the long-term effects that each ruler (or rulers) discussed in the section had on the imperial family in the long term. This set up is great for detailed information. The organization of this book makes it easy to read and create a greater familiarity with the Habsburg dynasty. Instead of focusing merely on wars, revolts, and ideological movements--like most other history books do--it is easier for the reader to follow the history and learn "why" history unfolded like it did.

The Price of Freedom is a completely different type of book, known as a "grand narrative." Instead of trying to focus on one broad theme, such as the Habsburg dynasty, the author tries to touch on a little bit of everything that has to do with the history of East Central Europe. Because the scope of this novel includes a massive 500-year time frame, the author has to sacrifice some details for the sake of the historical timeline at large. Most of this book does have to do with battles, revolts, and ideological movements that Curtis's novel ignores.

I found these two novels to be the most helpful in this class because they complement each other quite well. Where The Habsburgs may leave out some information, for example, details about the Polish Commonwealth, I can usually find details in The Price of Freedom. Likewise, where the Price of Freedom may not explain in depth various rulers of the Habsburg dynasty and why they made certain decisions, I can easily jump back to The Habsburgs and find more information about certain rulers as well as the dynastic context.

West vs East: Bohemia Style

Since the foundation of the dynasty, the House of Luxembourg had faced the challenges of both the West and well as the East. The challenges of ethnic diversity, struggles for sovereignty, and problems with succession riddled the Habsburg family. With the extension of their status outside of Bohemia and into the entire continent of Europe, their rule became even more complicated. As eventual rulers of the Americas, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, and much of Eastern Europe every decision the family made had lasting consequences. This is most relevant during the period of the Renaissance.
Religion has probably been the most important aspect in the Westernization and modernization of Bohemia. The region had always been composed of many different ethnic groups, including the Roman, Celtic, German, and Slavic cultures. Christianity was the channel that introduced Western ideology, architecture, language, etc. into Bohemia and the rest of the East. The Reformation of the Catholic Church changed forever this balance of cultures in Bohemia and the rest of the East.
The Catholic Reformation, a period of religious changes—and, well, reformation—occurred after the famous protests of Martin Luther. As a result, Protestant religious flourished throughout Europe. The two most important Protestant religions in regards to this class include the Lutheran and Calvinist religions. At the same time, the Catholic Church faced new competition and Catholic governments, such as the Hapsburg dynasty, faced a new dilemma: toleration or forced religion?
Across Eastern Europe each country tended to have different policies toward religious toleration. Poland, for example, despite being a mostly Catholic state, allowed toleration officially and legally through the “Warsaw Confederation.” This allowed many different religious groups including “Orthodox Christians, Muslims, and Jews in addition to the various Protestant groups” (Wandycz, 53) to practice their beliefs without fearing persecution—a very radical idea for the time. The Hapsburg dynasty, although being Catholic, unofficially allowed religious toleration in most of their territories, unlike the Spanish parts of the empire which answered to the Reformation with inquisition and torture of heretics. I believe that this religious toleration practiced in most Habsburg territories is what allowed the empire to remain as strong as it was, at least until the outbreak of the 30 Years War.
An interesting consequence of the Reformation was the strengthening of nationalism. Protestant churches published bibles in local languages, and the Catholic Church quickly followed suit. These scriptures published in the vulgar tongues of the people helped unite and formalize bonds between different cultural groups. Whether increased strengthening of nationalism was actually beneficial or not to imperialists such as the Habsburgs is unclear.
Another difference between the West and the East laid in the basic foundations of society. Although historically all of Europe had at one point been ruled by fiefdoms, during the sixteenth century Western Europe began to part with this practice and instead moved toward monarchial absolutism. In Eastern Europe autocracy instead of absolutism took hold. Bohemia, for example, “comprised the three estates of lords, knights, and burghers.” (Wandycz, 63)  The Habsburgs, however, increasingly tried to follow the Western practice of highly centralized government, leading to resistance from the people.  This was a key weakness of the dynasty.
From its inception, the Habsburg dynasty had faced cultural and political struggles that became exemplified in the sixteenth century by the rapidly changing religious and political atmospheres of the time. The increasing distance between the East and the West, and the Habsburgs role in the center of the two regions, led to instability and conflict.

Europe in Crisis: Leading up to the 30 years war

According to the reading by C.V. Wedgwood, the years leading up to the 30 Year War in Europe were full of chaotic and dangerous collisions of religious differences and family loyalties, facilitated by a weak governing structure in Germany.

Toward the end of the sixteenth century, religious factions increased in number and strength in Europe. There existed the two largest divisions, Catholics and Protestants, the latter mostly divided between Calvinists and Lutherans. Religious affiliation was incredibly strong at the time, and Wedgwood explained that "loyalty to a cause or to a religion, even to a master was commonly more highly esteemed than loyalty to a country. (pg 15)" The people cared more about their religious freedom than political ties, wreaking havoc for leaders of the time.

Another aspect contributing to the complexity of the time was the rivalry between families, most importantly the Hapsburgs. At this time the Hapsburg dynasty controlled Spain, Austria, most of Italy, and the Spanish Netherlands, most of the New World, and all of these territories were under Catholic rule. A northern sector of the Netherlands was won by Dutch Protestants, but after a twelve-year truce the Spaniards were legally allowed to try and reclaim the land. At this time most of Europe was already bracing itself for a Protestant vs Catholic showdown in the Netherlands. What most of Europe didn't realize was the intense heat that was brewing in the Holy Roman Empire.

Not only were the Hapsburgs in control in Spain, but they also controlled the crown in Bohemia. Bohemia served as part of the complex conglomeration of small territories ruled by princes in the Germanic Holy Roman Empire. The empire was divided between all three religious sects, and it was decided that each prince could determine the proper religion for his territory. This did little to relieve tensions between the three major religious factions. In Bohemia, which was ruled by a Catholic Hapsburg but primarily a Protestant population, tensions began to flair when searching for an heir to the throne. Hapsburgs wanted to keep the crown in the family, but the Bohemians--and most others--were strongly opposed the increasing Hapsburg influence in European politics. To make matters worse, the only two legitimate options were air-headed and inconsistent Frederick, a Protestant, and Ferdinand--Catholic, Hapsburg, and Brutal.

At the beginning of the conflict Hapsburgs fared well because of their Catholic background. Europe was strongly divided religiously, and even many rulers who were frankly sick of Hapsburg influence preferred a Catholic ruler to a Protestant. Secondly, Protestants were greatly divided into Calvinists and Lutherans, and unable to trust let alone work together. These factors led to the success of the Hapsburg dynasty, with all of its possessions and riches, at least at the beginning of the conflict.

Week One

Although my family is of Polish descent, the readings for this week have been my first introduction to the history of my ancestors, and for the rest of East Central Europe. That being said, I do have an extensive academic background in Western European history, specializing in the Hispanic world. I have learned through the readings for the past two weeks I have learned a few great differences between the West and the East/Central regions of the continent. 

1. The difference in the roles of the Catholic Church in the region as a whole is much different than in Western Europe. As Wandycz states, "acceptance of Christianity by Hungarians and western Slavs meant the exposure to Western civilization and all that it implied." The spread of Christianity into the East transformed language, culture, architecture, and obviously religion into this territory. 

2. I learned the true origins of the Habsburg dynasty, a family that in its time controlled most of the European continent, including my specialization Spain. Although famously associated with Austria, the family actually originates in southern Germany and Switzerland. The background of the family, has answered many of the questions I have always had about the family through my studies. As such an important lineage that eventually crosses with the Spanish line, this was a very useful literature choice for me. 

3. I learned the extremely complicated ethnic situation in the formation of the Czech territory, including the four major ethnic groups at the formation of the city of Prague, including the Roman, Celtic, German, and Slavic cultures. The formation of the current-day Czech culture is a rich mix of many different cultures, and is not easily defined as a merely Germanic or Slavic culture. 

Learning these three facts has greatly increased my perceptions of the area. Before this research I knew next to nothing about the area, and now I have a more general understanding of the geographic, ethnic, and religious origins of the culture of Central Europe. In my future writings I will be careful to remember to put the history of the region in its correct historical context.