Central Europe is a geographical region of Europe between Eastern, Southern, Western and Northern Europe. The concept of "Central Europe" emerged in Germany and Austria in the 19th century as "Mitteleuropa". Central Europe is known for its cultural diversity; however, countries in this region also share certain historical and cultural similarities.
The region comprises most of the former territories of the Holy Roman Empire and those of the two neighboring kingdoms of Poland and Hungary. At its height, the Ottoman Empire controlled the vast majority of the Kingdom of Hungary, engulfing southern parts of present-day Slovakia. By the 18th century, the Habsburg monarchy extended its dominion to include Hungary and parts of Poland, at which point the monarchy also reigned over the territories of Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, alongside parts of Italy, Switzerland and Germany.
The countries that make up Central Europe have historically been, and in some cases continue to be, divided into either Eastern or Western Europe. After World War II, Central Europe was divided by the Iron Curtain into two parts, the capitalist Western Bloc and the communist Eastern Bloc, although Switzerland, Yugoslavia, and Austria declared neutrality. The Berlin Wall was one of the most visible symbols of this division. Respectively, countries in Central Europe have historical, cultural and geopolitical ties with these wider regions of Europe.
Central Europe began a "strategic awakening" in the late 20th and early 21st century, with initiatives such as Central European Defence Cooperation, the Central European Initiative, Centrope, and the Visegrád Four Group. This awakening was triggered by writers and other intellectuals, who recognized the societal paralysis of decaying dictatorships and felt compelled to speak up against Soviet oppression.
All of the Central European countries are considered to be of "very high human development" by the Human Development Index, with Switzerland and Germany having the highest index values. However, some Central European countries, namely Poland and Hungary, are still considered having "emerging market and developing economies" by the IMF.
Historical perspective
Middle Ages and early modern period
Elements of cultural unity for Northwestern, Southwestern and Central Europe were Catholicism and Latin. However Eastern Europe, which remained Eastern Orthodox, was dominated by Byzantine cultural influence; after the East–West Schism in 1054, Eastern Europe developed cultural unity and resistance to Catholic (and later also Protestant) Western Europe within the framework of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Church Slavonic language, and the Cyrillic alphabet.
According to Hungarian historian Jenő Szűcs, the foundations of Central European history at the end of the first millennium were in close connection with Western European development. Szűcs argued that between the 11th and 15th centuries, not only Christianization and its cultural consequences were implemented, but well-defined social features emerged in Central Europe based on Western characteristics. The keyword of Western social development after the turn of the millennium was the spread of Magdeburg rights in some cities and towns of Western Europe. These began to spread in the middle of the 13th century in Central European countries, bringing about self-governments of towns and counties.
In 1335, the Kings of Poland, Bohemia and Hungary met in the castle of Visegrád and agreed to cooperate closely in the field of politics and commerce, inspiring the post-Cold War Visegrád Group.