Rusting Iron Curtain

Munich—The dramatic events taking place behind the rusting Iron Curtain have been filling the television screens and front pages of newspapers in the West—the election of a non-Communist government in Poland, the steady movement of Hungary toward the West, and the turmoil in the German Democratic Republic. But while these phenomena have certain features in common, they are very different in origin.

What caused Poland and Hungary to move away from Moscow is their aristocratic tradition combined with a strong religious factor. Catholic nations are traditionally anti-disciplinarian and averse to law and order— Frederick II of Prussia considered Catholics ungovernable. Aristocracies, meanwhile, are by nature opposed to strong central government. Poland in particular—historically the most liberal country in Europe (calling itself a “republic” as early as 1572)—was always more or less anarchical, its people ready to die heroically rather than to live by compromises.

EK

About the Author

Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn

Featured Tags

Munich—The dramatic events taking place behind the rusting Iron Curtain have been filling the television screens and front pages of newspapers in the West—the election of a non-Communist government in Poland, the steady movement of Hungary toward the West, and the turmoil in the German Democratic Republic. But while these phenomena have certain features in common, they are very different in origin.

What caused Poland and Hungary to move away from Moscow is their aristocratic tradition combined with a strong religious factor. Catholic nations are traditionally anti-disciplinarian and averse to law and order— Frederick II of Prussia considered Catholics ungovernable. Aristocracies, meanwhile, are by nature opposed to strong central government. Poland in particular—historically the most liberal country in Europe (calling itself a “republic” as early as 1572)—was always more or less anarchical, its people ready to die heroically rather than to live by compromises.