| The Danube Story in Brief |
| Before the trip, I read Andrew Beatie's book: "The Danube, A Cultural History", which I highly recommend for anyone who wants to understand the historical complexity of the Danube river region, especially the Balkans, which are dramatically different from Western cultures of Germany and Austria. The Danube story is actually two different stories, the first is the river from its origins in the Black Forest to Vienna, and the second part follows the river's path from Budapest to the Black Sea. Vienna is considered to be the "gateway to the Balkans". The river is the second longest in Europe about 1800 miles), after the Volga in Russia. A canal now connects the Danube with the Rhine, which extends the navigable range to Amsterdam. The river has provided a commercial trade link between the Black Sea and Germany for thousands of years; it has also been the site of numerous military conflicts long before the Roman times. |
| The Romans took control of the Danube in 27 BC and established the river as the empire's northern border. The countries on the northern side of the river were occupied by various tribes of "barbarians". What followed was several centuries of battles between the Romans and various barbarian tribes which eventually led to the demise of Roman control in the region. In the 16th century, the Ottoman Turks gained control of Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia; their influence can still be seen today in the architecture and cultures of these countries. The Ottomans lost control of the region in the 17th century, when the Habsburg empire regained control of Austria and Hungary. The Turks were finally driven out of the eastern Danube countries by the Russians at the end of the 19th century. Following WWII, the Russians gained control of the Balkans including Hungary and Yugoslavia. Communist dictatorships prevailed for most of the next 50 years, resulting in economic stagnation and cultural destruction. Private property was confiscated and all economic activity was controlled by the government. Independent thought, freedom of speech, and private initiative were suppressed. The effects are still immediately visible in the drab appartment blocks that remain in the cities and towns of Romania, Serbia, and Bulgaria. Croatia and Serbia were further destroyed during the breakup of Yugoslavia. The drastically lower GDP per capita (shown in $1000s below) that exists today indicates how communism destroyed the Balkan states and has delayed economic progress relative to the western European democracies, which also suffered major damage in WWII. The relatively better performance of Hungary is possibly a result of the government's so-called "goulash" communism, which allowed some private property ownership and limited individual freedom. |
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