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The answer is very simple: Hungary, Czech Republic, Croatia are Catholic & Protestant countries while the other mentioned are Orthodox.
In Romania, on the line of Carpathians, there is the border between Catholic-Protestant on one side, and Orthodox Europe on other side, though in Transylvania the Catholic-Protestant and Orthodox Europes overlap.
We see very clear in our country the difference in mentality, lifestyle, urban landscape etc. Each of the two Europes has advantages and disadvantages, about I and others spoke on other threads. The Orthodox society is more corrupt, more disorganized but on other hand more natural, pleasantful and healthy. Is not about the present belief of people as, e.g., in Czech Republic most are Atheists, but about a social evolution that was marked by the respective religions in past and the type of individuals it created, that perpetuated a certain way of seeing things.
Interesting, that explains why I was baptized Greek Orthodox in Romania xD
Hungary, Czech Republic, and Croatia were all part of Austria and were under Habsburg rule for centuries. All of those countries are Catholic and have been Westernized for centuries. They were considered Eastern European for convenient classification purposes during the Cold War but the overwhelming majority of historians consider those countries to be Central European Western countries.
Eastern European countries are generally countries that were part of the Russian Empire or the Ottoman Empire. They are generally Orthodox or Muslim (in the case of Albania or Turkey if you consider it European) and usually use the Cyrilic alphabet although this is not always the case. Greece is an interesting case since it is considered a Western country mainly because it is the progenitor of Western civilization, but a lot of people argue that it is an Eastern European country because it is also the progenitor of the Orthodox civilization and was crucial in spreading Orthodoxy and the Cyrillic alphabet throughout the Slavic regions of Europe.
Eastern European countries are generally countries that were part of the Russian Empire or the Ottoman Empire.
The territories that compose now Romania were not part of the Ottoman empire, with the exception of Dobruja and for period of a ~150 years (1552–1716), Banat and Crișana. Hungary too was part of the Ottoman empire in that period, 1552–1716.
There is a big difference between being possession of a foreign power, having foreign administration (as was the case with Balkans and Hungary) and being vassal, as were Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia. A vassal state only pays a tribute, remaining independent. In Hungary you can find many mosques and other marks of the Turkish rule, while in Romania none outside Dobruja. The idea that Romania was part of Ottoman empire is another prejudice foreigners have about this country. Our medieval and pre-modern civilisation had an original culture, almost completely different from province to province.
The territories that compose now Romania were not part of the Ottoman empire, with the exception of Dobruja and for period of a ~150 years (1552–1716), Banat and Crișana. Hungary too was part of the Ottoman empire in that period, 1552–1716.
There is a big difference between being possession of a foreign power, having foreign administration (as was the case with Balkans and Hungary) and being vassal, as were Transylvania, Wallachia and Moldavia. A vassal state only pays a tribute, remaining independent. In Hungary you can find many mosques and other marks of the Turkish rule, while in Romania none outside Dobruja. The idea that Romania was part of Ottoman empire is another prejudice foreigners have about this country. Our medieval and pre-modern civilisation had an original culture, almost completely different from province to province.
I said "generally" a part of the Ottoman or Russian Empire, I am aware that Romania was never really conquered by either the Ottomans or Russians. Romania is an outlier in that entire region in that Romanians are not Slavic, they speak a Latin based language and use the Latin alphabet while remaining Orthodox. Transylvania was also a part of Austria/Hungary for hundreds of years so Romania has a strong Western influence as well.
Transylvania was not only influenced by the West. The Hungarian and German populations were and are fully western, Protestant (Calvinist - the Hungarians or Lutheran the Saxons) and Catholics (Catholicism was mostly spread in east of Transylvania, in the Szekely enclave, also was the religion of the 18-19th century German, Czech and Slovak settlers from Banat and Crișana). As Hungarians and Germans were making close to half of the population of Transylvania up to 18th century, and the population of towns and cities was usually Hungarian and German (Romanians were not allowed to live in cities because of their religion), the aspect of the province was and still is western.
Percentage of Roman-Catholics in 1930 and in 2002. The difference is given by the immigration of Banat Germans to Germany in 1970s-1990s. Click on maps for larger versions.
Percentage of Calvinists (the religion of most Hungarians) in 2002 census. Click for larger version
Percentage of Lutherans (mostly German) in 1930 and in 2002, after most of the Transylvanian Saxons moved to Germany. click for larger versions of maps.
Also, between ~1700 and 1948, the Romanians in central and northern Transylvania were Greek-Catholic, the Greek-Catholic church following Orthodox rituals but obeying the pope. Many or most of the Romanian churches (buildings) in proper Transylvania were built during the Greek-Catholic period, belonged to this faith and now are claimed back by this church (organisation), because they now belong to the Orthodox communities. The Greek-Catholicism lead to westernization of the Romanian Transylvanians in a high degree. In 1948 the communists supressed the Greek-Catholic church, Romanians being forced to become Orthodox. After 1989, the Greek-Catholic church was reestablished, but only a small number of Romanians adhered to this faith.
Here is a map with the percentage of Greek-Catholics in western provinces in 1930, but it may be misleading in a degree, as the Eastern Transylvania was and is majoritary Hungarian, Romanians being there a small minority. Also, in southern Transylvania much, maybe half of population was German at that time:
Last edited by CARPATHIAN; 12-03-2014 at 02:44 AM..
Re: 'Fidesz ...on his (Putin) paycheck as well...'
Yeah ..boy I just realized if that goes further on in Magyarorszag old Vlad would deem it 'vunderfull' to get a sheep that escaped the broken fence back into the Russian fold. What a coup it would be to yell on out from the Kremlin!!! The Magyars are back! The Magyars are back! ..;-)...
Re: 'Fidesz ...on his (Putin) paycheck as well...'
Yeah ..boy I just realized if that goes further on in Magyarorszag old Vlad would deem it 'vunderfull' to get a sheep that escaped the broken fence back into the Russian fold. What a coup it would be to yell on out from the Kremlin!!! The Magyars are back! The Magyars are back! ..;-)...
Nah, I don't see that happening anytime soon. Hungary still remembers 1956. Doesn't mean, though, that Fidesz won't occasionally piss off the EU and bend over for Russia. Just to please some of their nationalists and hold Jobbik at bay.
^
Good to know. I trust your judgment since you're kind of closer to the action over there. I need to get over there myself soon and get a feel for what's going on. I have to think Viktor with his oratory is being tactically practical in the political game going on now.
Op, I'm actually visiting Prague and Germany in a couple of weeks. Would you recommend any place to visit? I'm very much into hiking so I'll def be looking for trails outside the city but I'm open to any suggestions! Thks
The Czech Republic (and I would imagine Germany, as well) has great hiking maps available in bookstores, with well-marked, color-coded trails indicated.
Re: 'Fidesz ...on his (Putin) paycheck as well...'
Yeah ..boy I just realized if that goes further on in Magyarorszag old Vlad would deem it 'vunderfull' to get a sheep that escaped the broken fence back into the Russian fold. What a coup it would be to yell on out from the Kremlin!!! The Magyars are back! The Magyars are back! ..;-)...
Most Hungarians want ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with Russia, in fact most while not disliking Russians, don't really feel any closeness to Russians.
Hungarians feel very European and they are in fact!
The thing is Hungarians have had to put up with a lot of **** since joining the EU, Croatia too as well as other small countries like the Netherlands who pays huge sums of money but receives nothing in exchange.
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