Central and Eastern Europe has a long history of, on the one hand, ethnic conflicts and, on the other, of a revolutionary tradition against expansionism. Both have their roots in the geographical situation and ethnic composition of the region. All these problems have surfaced at times when the political status quo has been upset for some reason, such as after the two world wars and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Both great powers bordering the Danube region - Germany and Russia - have strived to develop their own versions of confederations (Mitteleuropa and Pan-Slavic movements). Also, politicians and intellectuals of the countries affected have proposed various theories, and made initiatives for different forms of closer and looser confederative formations. This book examines the reasons for the failure of these initiatives, these reasons including such factors as ethnically-motivated political antagonism, and the lack of economic complementarity. Contributing information on the problems of political and economic integration, which should not be forgotten in a period when the countries of the region are looking towards the European Union, expecting - realistically or not - the solution of their various conflicts.

Ignacs Romsics provides an in-depth account of Hungary's history between the collapse of Communism and the re-emergence of a Hungarian parlimentary republic. Drawing on the debates that have grown out of the political opposition, he focuses on the reformist efforts of the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party. Romsics documents the period that brought a resurgence in mutliparty government and established a political and legal basis for the Third Hungarian Republic. Subsequently, in 1990, early measures of the Antall government and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and Comecon ushered in Hungary's decisive political and economic turn to the West. The author provides an additional historical account of economic, social, political, and cultural changes from 1990 to 2006, including a study of the policy regarding ethnic Hungarian minorities in neighboring countries.