Answer:
I hope this helps:
Explanation:
"JE/astern Europe, a label applied to the lands situated between the German- and
Italian-speaking region in the west and the Russian-Ukrainian-Belarus region in
the east, is a term that is not accepted and is even resented by those who live
there. They consider themselves to live geographically in Central Europe or
Southeastern Europe and culturally to belong to the West. "Vfet in the West, they
are considered to be Eastern Europeans. As such, they are neglected by scholars
and even more by the media and the general public except when events in their
lands are sensational or historic enough to Warrant coverage on the front page or
die network news. This interest in Eastern Europe never lasts very long, and the
great majority of those presenting the news and an even larger percentage of
those reading or listening to it have great difficulty placing the people involved in
a geographic or historical context. During the cold war, this neglect of the more
than 130 million people who live in the region became even worse: they were
considercd nothing more than satellites of the Soviet Union, incapable of
dcciding thcir own fate just as they had been in the earlier part of the Century
when they followed Germany's lead.
The end of the cold war, the collapse both of the Soviet Union and of
Communist parties around the globe, and the end of Communist rule in Eastern
Europe and the former Soviet empire spurred a deeper and more prolonged
interest in diese people and countries, and it was this interest that prompted this
volume. This book is not designed for experts, but for those who would like to
know why the people of this region behave as they do since gaining their
indqx'ndcnce, and why nationalism has replaced communism as the major force
dietating thcir Ixhavior. "
