• About Christian Davies

Under Western Eyes

~ Politics, History & Foreign Affairs

Under Western Eyes

Tag Archives: Europe

Is There a European Political Culture?

02 Thursday Jun 2016

Posted by Christian Davies in Politics

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Europe

We like to tell ourselves that ‘Europe’ is defined by its achievements, when in truth our story is just as much one of barbarism, ignorance, and violence as it is about civilisation, enlightenment and high culture

This morning I participated in a panel discussion at the Wroclaw Global Forum, a security conference hosted by the Atlantic Council in the Polish city that in a former life was the German city of Breslau.

The conference is held in a facility next to Wroclaw’s Centennial Hall, built in 1913 when the city was still part of the German Empire, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of the Nations, when a coalition of armies from Russia, Prussia, Austria and Sweden defeated Napoleon outside Leipzig.  A concrete counterpart to Leipzig’s magnificent Völkerschlachtdenkmal, its design, original purpose and former Polish name (Hala Ludowa, Hall of the People), serve to illustrate how a monument can stand still whilst names, systems, borders and local inhabitants change around it.

As if to press home the historical precariousness of Central European existence, conference guests stay at the Hotel Monopol, which has the dubious honour of having hosted Adolf Hitler in 1938 when he travelled to Breslau so as to address a gathering of Sudeten-Deutsche who had made the journey from nearby Czechoslovakia.  The setting helps gives even the most platitudinous Atlanticist clichés about the value of freedom a resonance they lack when regurgitated in their native Washington.

Continue reading →

Recent Posts

  • Polish PM Angers Human Rights Campaigners with Plans to Shake Up NGOs
  • New Polish Military Force Worries Political Opposition
  • Poland Exhumes President Lech Kaczyński’s Remains
  • Polish Women Vow to Step Up Pressure Over Abortion Restrictions
  • Poland’s Abortion Ban Proposal Near Collapse After Mass Protests
  • Women To Go On Strike in Poland in Protest at Planned Abortion Law
  • Europe’s Last Dictator Steps Into the Unknown
  • Poland’s New Nationalism: In Conversation with Aleks Szczerbiak
  • Poles to the Right of Jarosław Kaczyński
  • Britain: An Unhappy Country Seeking Catharsis

Recent Tweets

My Tweets

Archives

  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • June 2016
  • April 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015

Categories

  • Admin.
  • Foreign Affairs
  • History
  • Politics

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Recent Comments

Kenton on The Ghosts of Smolensk

Recent Posts

  • Polish PM Angers Human Rights Campaigners with Plans to Shake Up NGOs
  • New Polish Military Force Worries Political Opposition
  • Poland Exhumes President Lech Kaczyński’s Remains
  • Polish Women Vow to Step Up Pressure Over Abortion Restrictions
  • Poland’s Abortion Ban Proposal Near Collapse After Mass Protests

Recent Comments

Kenton on The Ghosts of Smolensk

Archives

  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • June 2016
  • April 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015

Categories

  • Admin.
  • Foreign Affairs
  • History
  • Politics

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy