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Romania was part of the Roman Empire, and speaks a Romance language. Romania would be very happy to be grouped with the West.
And there it both starts and ends. Romania was for hundreds of years under Ottoman rule and has had SIGNIFICANT Balkan Southeastern influence. They are also Orthodox, which shaped their society.
And there it both starts and ends. Romania was for hundreds of years under Ottoman rule and has had SIGNIFICANT Balkan Southeastern influence. They are also Orthodox, which shaped their society.
Yes, I know, Ariete. I was posting that for Marissa, using her criteria, to see what she'd say. There you go, dragging reality into it! Croatia also had significant Balkan SE influence, obviously. So here we are, back at Square One. Everyone knows why Croatia, Romania, Czechia, etc. are grouped with the East, and why Finland is not. Let's just throw everyone into the "Central Europe" bucket, and be done with these endless debates. That goes for the Baltic states, too: aspiring Westerners, if there ever were any.
Yes, I know, Ariete. I was posting that for Marissa, using her criteria, to see what she'd say. There you go, dragging reality into it! Croatia also had significant Balkan SE influence, obviously. So here we are, back at Square One. Everyone knows why Croatia, Romania, Czechia, etc. are grouped with the East, and why Finland is not. Let's just throw everyone into the "Central Europe" bucket, and be done with these endless debates. That goes for the Baltic states, too: aspiring Westerners, if there ever were any.
OP should've specified whether Eastern Europe is a political, cultural or geographic notion. Again, Finland is a North Eastern European country, geographically speaking. Obviously, it's not part of "Eastern Europe" in other ways. However, why is Czechia - a Central European country - grouped with the East? Yes, they speak a Slavic language, but before WWII they had almost no influence from Russia or Southeastern Europe. Romanians speak a Romance language, yet they aren't grouped with Italy and other Latin countries.
Frankly, I do think that the Czech Republic, Slovenia and Croatia all achieved a lot when it comes to social advancement, arts, literature, science and philosophy.
Given the political reality in the Austrian Empire and later Austria-Hungary, they never had a chance to be particularly relevant in politics. But it's not like they were absorbed culturally by either the German or Hungarian-speaking parts of the Empire.
In the end, this distinctiveness of the various crown lands led to the rise of nationalism and the downfall of A-H.
They were *Germanized* Viribusunitis, in the same manner (more or less) as Finns were "Swedisized*)))
They didn't stand on their own with all their distinct achievements as England, Germany or France for example.
What do "achievements" have to do with this? Like I wrote before, Russians and Chinese and many others achieved a lot. Yet, they are definitely not Western or Central European.
That would make them Central European, both geographically and culturally/politically.
And what is exactly "Central European" culturally/politically? What exactly it is?
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Russia DID produce many things of value and made many contributions to the world: novelists, composers, ballet dancers, scientists, astronauts, film makers, etc.
Russia is really not a leading force, but a counter-balancing force for Western world. And you can't counter-balance Western Europe, unless you are more or less on the "same page" when it comes to those cultural/scientific things.
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So did China, Japan, and Persia/Iran, among others. Still, those countries are Eastern European and Asian respectively. I don't want to get off topic but "the West" wasn't the only part of the world that "contributed" to civilization.
Of course, of course; I should probably re-phrase my statement a bit - not just "civilization" ( that's too broad of a term,) but MODERN world - the one we currently live in.
Yes, I know, Ariete. I was posting that for Marissa, using her criteria, to see what she'd say. There you go, dragging reality into it! Croatia also had significant Balkan SE influence, obviously. So here we are, back at Square One. Everyone knows why Croatia, Romania, Czechia, etc. are grouped with the East, and why Finland is not. Let's just throw everyone into the "Central Europe" bucket, and be done with these endless debates. That goes for the Baltic states, too: aspiring Westerners, if there ever were any.
True that Finland is not grouped with the East.
We are a part of northern Europe and a part of Scandinavia.
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