New book compares post-1989 development of Czech Republic and Austria

The Czech Republic and neighbouring Austria share centuries of common history but in recent times relations between the two states have often been strained. How the countries have developed since 1989 is the focus of a new anthology by a group of Austrian and Czech academics.

“The Czech Republic and Austria after the End of the Cold War – Different Ways into New Europe” is the title of a new book that was launched at the Austrian Cultural Forum in Prague on Thursday. It features texts by Czech and Austrian authors that look into various aspects of both countries’ development in the last two decades. The book’s editor is Professor Gernot Heiss from the University of Vienna.

Gernot Heiss, photo: www.cinefest.de

“Specialists on economic history, on political science and social development wrote articles about the Austrian problems and about the Czech problems. We put it together and if you read them, you will find not only some strong differences in Czechoslovakia and then the Czech Republic after 1989, but what I find really interesting is also the similarities related to international developments.”

Although each country had a very different starting point following the end of the Cold War, Professor Heiss says certain parallels do stand out, such as joining the European Union and the adoption of some neo-liberal principles.

For nearly four centuries, Czechs and Austrians lived in one country which broke up after WWI. But today, Czech-Austrian relations are strained by a number of issues. These include the post-war expulsion of ethnic Germans from Czechoslovakia, Austrian opposition to the Czech nuclear power plant in Temelín, and the ambivalent Austrian position on Czech accession to the EU. Speaking about the situation in Austria, Professor Heiss says these topics are often abused by populist politicians.

'The Czech Republic and Austria after the End of the Cold War'

“Since the times of the Habsburg Monarchy, Czechs always had a very bad image in Austria as an unfounded stereotype. There were some resentments and it’s very curious that these resentments come up sometimes, picked up by populist movements that are very strong in Austria. They come up again, and you don’t know why because they have no foundation in the reality.”

“The Czech Republic and Austria after the End of the Cold War – Different Ways into New Europe” comes in Czech and German versions for the two different markets.