by Geert Mak
The last stretch of sandy road had been paved. The council had purchased a mowing machine, the Gypsies with their scythes had disappeared, the moments of quiet had become rare. Apples fell from the trees into the grass, no one came to pick them any more, no children even came to gather them; they had never seen anything like it around here.
I would have liked to finish this story, this story of Walter Rathenau, Harry Kessler, Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Jean Monnet, of Yuri Klejner, Hans Krijt, Anna Bikont, Viktor Alves, Zelimir, of the Winkler family and all those others, with a happy ending. But that ending is still a long way off.
Europe's weakness, its diversity, is also its greatest strength. Europe as a peace process was a resounding success. Europe as an economic union is also well on its way. But the European project will surely fail unless a common cultural, political and, above all, democratic space is soon created alongside the rest. For let us not forget: Europe has only one chance to succeed.
Acknowledgements
THIS BOOK HAS TAKEN THE FORM OF A TRAVELOGUE THROUGH TIME and across the continent. Except for the background literature, almost all of the material – interview and articles – was collected during a journey through Europe that lasted throughout nearly all of 1999. In a few cases, I have also fallen back on older material, such as the descriptions of Niesky, Novi Sad and the Russian pop scene. For practical reasons as well, it was impossible to hold all of the interviews in 1999. In 2001 and 2002, therefore, I carried out several interviews and retraced my steps along a few of my routes. But those remain the exceptions. The year around which everything revolves is 1999.
In Europe reflects the work of a great number of historians, journalists and other chroniclers, a long row of the living and the dead who continued to inspire me with their books and their journalistic work. In addition, I also made regular use of first-hand, eyewitness accounts and observations. That offers advantages: it brings history closer to people, it reveals certain moods, it sometimes uncovers important details and makes inexplicable matters suddenly understandable. At the same time, everyone knows that such observations are not always reliable. Memories serve to process the past, and to impose a certain sense on our personal histories – and every person has the tendency to focus on certain matters and let others lie. That goes for individuals, but also for whole nations. The stories in this book therefore speak for themselves, with their weak and their strong points.
The form this book has taken has resulted in certain limitations too. Being on the road put me in contact with unexpected eyewitnesses, it opened up new sources of information – newspaper archives, many local museums – and it confronted me again and again with the remarkable atmosphere surrounding the phenomenon of the ‘historic location’.
But it also made for certain constraints. For practical reasons, there were countries I could not include in my itinerary, certain subjects I could not cover, others on which I placed more than the usual emphasis. Such choices, as every journalist and every historian knows, are not to be avoided. All of Europe cannot fit in a single book.
A project of this scope, covering more than twenty countries, could only succeed thanks to the help of a great many friends and colleagues. They gave me advice, made contacts, acted as interpreters and guides, and supported me wherever they could.
With regard to the European Union, I could have wished no better mentor than Max Kohnstamm. The evenings I spent with him and Kathleen were unforgettable. And there are many others to whom I am extremely grateful as well. In Amsterdam: Laura Starink, Hubert Smeets, Martin van Amerongen, Rudy Kousbroek, Sasz Malko, Gisela and Dik Linthout. In Belfast: Pauline Kersten. In Belgrade: Sažsa Mirković. In Berlin: Isabelle de Keghel, Wolf and Imke Siedler, Gisela Nicklaus, Rüdiger Safranski. In Bucharest: Cornelis van der Jagt. In Bosnia: Dužsko Tubić. In Brussels: Geert van Istendael and Pierre Plateau. In Guernica: Monica Ibañez-Angulo. In Kiev: Irina Trantina. In Lamanère: Martine Groen and Paul Kuypers. In Lisbon: Rui Mota. In London: Frans van Klaveren and Hieke Jippes. In Madrid: Steven Adolf. In Moscow: Frank and Suzanna Westerman, Adriënne van Heteren, Tony Crombie. In Normandy: Max and Els van Haasen. In Novi Sad: žZelimir Zilnić – a prominent authority on the Russian Cosmopolitan – and Sarita Matijević. In Odessa: Natalya Syevkoplas and Charel Krol-Dobrov. In Prague: Veronika Havlíková. In Rome: Gianni Principe and Anne Branbergen. In St Petersburg: Nadya Voznenko and Yuri Klejner. In Stockholm: Lars-Olof Franzén. In Chernobyl: Nikolai Dmytruk and Rita Rindenko. In Vásárosbéc: Peter Flik and Edith van der Poel. In Warsaw: Wladek and Rosita Matwin. In Bussum: the boys and girls of Gerco Travel (ATP).
During the writing of this book, there were also a few people who remained at my side: my publishers Emile Brugman and Ellen Schalker, who supervised the project from beginning to end with great calm, friendship and professionalism; Charlotte Schrameijer, who helped me with the research; René van Stipriaan, who, in sometimes exuberant night-long sessions, carefully ran through the text with me; Koen Koch, who critically read through the whole thing again – I myself, of course, bear full responsibility for all blunders that remain; Sjoerd de Jong who, keen as always, saved me the embarrassment of dozens of misspelled names, incorrect dates and other assorted mishaps. All this work took place behind the scenes, but without their knowledge and expertise this project could never have come to a good end.
The same goes for my very closest surroundings. For five long years I terrorised my friends and family with Europe. I spent months in a permanent state of transit, then lived for ages with blinkers on. Yet my life-partner remained with me, everywhere and always. She travelled with me when she could, she was constantly enthusiastic, stimulating, supportive and, at difficult moments, incredibly loyal.
It is therefore only natural that this book be dedicated to her.
Glossary
Italics indicate a separate entry
Adenauer, Konrad (1876–1967): German statesman. As the first Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) 1949–63, he presided over its political and economic reconstruction after the Second World War.
Atatürk, Kemal, ‘father of all Turks’, also known as Mustafa Kemal Pasşa (1881–1938): Founder and first President of the Republic of Turkey 1923–38. Military dictator who imposed far-reaching reforms to make Turkey a modern, secular state.
Attlee, Clement Richard, 1st Earl Atlee (1883–1967): British statesman, Prime Minister 1945–51. The Labour Party, led by Atlee, won a landslide victory over Winston Churchill's Conservatives immediately after the Second World War. His government created the National Health Service in Great Britain.
Baader-Meinhof Gang, also known as the Red Army Faction: left-wing, West German terrorist group formed in early 1970s and named after two of its leaders, Andreas Baader and Ulrike Meinhof.
Blackshirts: paramilitary group in Italy who belonged to Mussolini's Fascist movement in the 1920s and took their name from the colour of their uniforms. The term was later copied by Hitler in Nazi Germany, who issued black uniforms to his elite SS corps.
Bormann, Martin (1900–45?): prominent party leader in Nazi Germany. As Hitler's private secretary, he gained his trust and was believed to be his closest collaborator. A staunch advocate of the extermination of the Jews.
Brandt, Willy, born Karl Herbert Frahm (1913–92): German statesman and Chancellor of West Germany 1969–74. Recognised internationally for his policy to improve relations with East Germany and other communist nations. These efforts won him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1971.
Braun, Eva (1912–45): mistress of Adolf Hitler for many years. They married while the Battle of Berlin was raging, shortly before taking their own lives.
Brezhnev, Leonid Ilych (1906–82): Soviet statesman. As General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, he was, in effect, the leader of the Soviet Union for eighteen years, from 1966–82. Largely responsible for the Russian invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968.
Brownshirts: members of the SA (St
urmabteilung), a Nazi militia founded by Hitler in 1921 who wore brown uniforms similar to those of Mussolini's Blackshirts. Instrumental in Hitler's rise to power, but ceased to play a major political role following the Night of the Long Knives in 1934.
Ceausşescu, Nicolae (1918–89): Rumanian statesman and leader of Communist Rumania from 1965 until shortly before his death. In 1974 he was elected the first President of the Socialist Republic of Rumania and ran an increasingly totalitarian and corrupt regime. Executed in December 1989 following a popular uprising.
Chamberlain, Arthur Neville (1869–1940): British statesman and Prime Minister 1937–40. Pursued a policy of appeasement with Nazi Germany and in 1938 signed the Munich Agreement, which granted almost all of Hitler's demands. Forced to abandon this policy following Hitler's invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939.
Churchill, Sir Winston (Leonard Spencer) (1874–1965): British statesman, Prime Minister 1940–5 and 1951–5. Opposed all compromise with Nazi Germany and led the British people through the Second World War.
Cold War: a period of conflict and rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies from the end of the Second World War until the early 1990s.
Davison, Emily Wilding (1872–1913): entered history as the woman who, in support of female suffrage, threw herself in front of King George V's horse on 4 June, 1913 at the Epsom Derby, dying four days later.
de Gaulle, Charles (André Joseph Marie) (1890–1970): French general and statesman, head of the provisional government 1944–6, after the liberation of France from German occupation, and President of the Fifth Republic 1959–69. An organiser of the Free French Forces during the Second World War and remembered for restoring calm to the country after the student uprisings and strikes of May 1968.
DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik,‘German Democratic Republic’): official name for the former East Germany.
Dreyfus, Alfred (1859–1935): French army officer of Jewish descent, falsely accused of supplying military secrets to the Germans, whose trial and imprisonment caused a political scandal in France at the turn of the century which became known as the ‘Dreyfus Affair’. The army finally rehabilitated him in 1906.
Dubcček, Alexander (1921–92): Slovak statesman and First Secretary of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia 1968–9. Driving force behind the political reforms of 1968, which prompted the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia and his removal from office in 1969.
Eisenhower, Dwight David ‘Ike’ (1890–1969): President of the United States 1953–61. As supreme commander of the Allied forces in Western Europe during the Second World War he supervised the successful invasion of France and Germany in 1944–5.
ETA (Euzkadi ta Askatasuna, ‘Basque homeland and liberty’): A separatist movement in Spain still conducting a terrorist campaign for an independent Basque state.
Euro: the single currency adopted by a number of European states, launched in 2002. The following are presently members of the so-called Eurozone: Austria, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain.
European Economic Community (EEC), also known as the Common Market: forerunner of the European Union, an economic association of Western European countries set up by the Treaty of Rome in 1957.
European Union (EU): economic and political association now comprising twenty-seven member states, with its own currency and parliament. Created on 1 November, 1993 when the Maastricht Treaty came into force. The following 27 countries are now members: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom.
First World War (1914–18), also referred to as the Great War: fought primarily in Europe where the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria and the Ottoman Empire were defeated by the Allied forces of Britain, France and Russia, later joined by Italy and the United States. An estimated ten million people – soldiers and civilians – were killed. Resulted in the disintegration of the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman Empires.
Franco, Francisco (1892–1975): Spanish general and leader of the Nationalist forces that overthrew the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War (1936–9). Proclaimed himself leader of Spain and presided over a government that was essentially a military dictatorship until his death in 1975.
Franz Ferdinand (1863–1914): Austrian archduke next in the line of succession to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo on 28 June, 1914 by Gavrilo Princip precipitated the Austrian declaration of war which, in turn, triggered the beginning of the First World War in Europe.
Franz Josef (1830–1916): Emperor of Austria 1848–1916 and King of Hungary 1867–1916. Aroused many European political tensions when he annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908. The assassination of his heir apparent, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, led Austria and Germany into the First World War.
Gellhorn, Martha (1908–98): American novelist, travel writer and journalist. Particularly known for her work as a war correspondent, reporting on the Spanish Civil War, the rise of Hitler and the Second World War. The first journalist to report from the Dachau concentration camp after it was liberated.
Gestapo (Geheime Staatspolizei, ‘secret state police’): political police force of Nazi Germany which ruthlessly suppressed any opposition to the Nazis in Germany and its occupied territories. Jews and others disappeared into concentration camps after being arrested by the Gestapo, who also arranged the deportation of Jews to extermination camps in Poland.
Goebbels, Joseph (1897–1945): German Nazi politician and Hitler's Minister for Public Enlightenment and Propaganda from 1933 onwards. With control over the press, radio and all aspects of culture, he was responsible for presenting a favourable image of the Nazi regime to the German people.
Gomulka, Wladyslaw (1905–82): Polish communist leader who served as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish Communist Party 1956–70. His attempts to implement reforms were viewed with alarm by the Soviet leadership but made him a popular figure among Poles.
Göring, Hermann Wilhelm (1893–1946): German military commander and politician, leading member of the Nazi Party and Hitler's most loyal supporter. Founded the Gestapo and established concentration camps for the ‘corrective treatment’ of opponents to the regime.
Gorbachev, Mikhail Sergeyevich (b. 1931): Soviet statesman, elected General Secretary of the Communist Party in 1985 and President of the Soviet Union 1990–1. He introduced the major reforms known as glasnost (openness) and perestroika (reconstruction) which helped bring an end to the Cold War. An attempted coup in 1991 led to his resignation. Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990.
Gulag: system of forced-labour camps established in the Soviet Union between 1930 and 1955. These detention camps imprisoned millions of people, including criminals, peasants arrested during collectivisation and political prisoners.
Havel, Václav (b. 1936): Czech dramatist and statesman, President of Czechoslovakia 1989–92 and first President of the Czech Republic 1993–2003. A passionate supporter of non-violent resistance, he became a leading figure in the Velvet Revolution of 1989, which ended communism in Czechoslovakia.
Himmler, Heinrich (1900–45): German military commander who became the second most powerful man in Nazi Germany. As head of the SS and Gestapo he proposed a definitive solution to the ‘Jewish question’, overseeing the mass extermination of Jews and other groups in the death camps of Eastern Europe.
Hitler, Adolf (1889–45): Leader of the National Socialist (Nazi) Party, Chancellor of Germany from 1933 and Führer (leader) from 1934 until his death. Pursued an aggressive policy of territorial expansion which precipitated the Second World War. His fanatical racial policies called for the indiscriminate extermination of the Jews of Europe.
Honecker, Erich (1912–94): German communist statesman and head of st
ate of the DDR 1976–89. In 1961 he was in charge of building the Berlin Wall which closed the border between East and West Berlin for twenty-eight years. After reunification, he was tried for crimes committed during the Cold War but was released from prison due to failing health.
International Monetary Fund (IMF): an organisation which emerged at the end of the Second World War to promote international trade and monetary cooperation and stabilise exchange rates.
IRA (Irish Republican Army): militant organisation based in the Republic of Ireland, created with the intention of rendering British rule in Northern Ireland ineffective.
Kessler, Count Harry (1868–1937): German diplomat, publisher and art collector. After the First World War he became a committed internationalist and pacifist which led to his exile from Germany upon the Nazi seizure of power. His extensive and detailed diaries, from 1918–37, give an extraordinary insight into events of the time.
Khrushchev, Nikita Sergeyevich (1894–1971): Soviet statesman who succeeded Stalin as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 1953–64 and was Premier of the Soviet Union 1958–64. In 1956 he delivered an historic speech denouncing Stalin, which marked the beginning of more open discussion in the Eastern Bloc.
Klemperer, Victor (1881–1960): decorated veteran of the First World War and Professor of Literature. Of Jewish descent, he kept a diary which provides a day-to-day account of life under the Nazi regime and the struggle for survival among Jews from 1933 to the end of the Second World War. Became a post-war cult figure in the DDR.