home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
- Path: sparky!uunet!paladin.american.edu!auvm!CCS.CARLETON.CA!GFRAJKOR
- X-Mailer: ELM [version 2.3 PL11]
- Message-ID: <9301251918.AA09353.9353@alfred.ccs.carleton.ca>
- Newsgroups: bit.listserv.mideur-l
- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 14:18:07 EST
- Sender: Discussion of Middle Europe topics <MIDEUR-L@UBVM.BITNET>
- From: George Frajkor <gfrajkor@CCS.CARLETON.CA>
- Subject: Re: Czechoslovakia
- In-Reply-To: <9301221636.AA29074.29074@alfred.ccs.carleton.ca>; from "M.
- Haindl" at Jan 22, 93 8:45 am
- Lines: 69
-
- M. Haindl writes:
- >
- > Reading George Frajkor's mails about Slovak suffering I was expecting to
- > see finally some arguments. Suggestions ?
- >
- > 1. Comparison of 1918 and 1992 statistics in:
- > education (no. of universities, secondary and basic schools, percentage
- > of illiteracy, percentage of people with university education) ,
- > culture (no. of theatres, orchestras, museums, exhibition halls, printed
- > books...)
-
- We had this argument late last year so I don't think we should
- do it all over. In general, things got much better for the slovaks
- in this field. But since the baseline of comparison was what they had
- under Hungary (close to zero), ANY improvement would have been better.
- If you mean did things get as good for Slovaks as for Czechs the
- answer is NO, as is self-evident even today.
-
- > living standard ( Czech-Slovak difference, life expectancy, health care,
- > accommodation, cars, vacation houses ...)
- > legislative suppression, science, industrial and agricultural output,
- > export, number
- > of inhabitants with Slovak nationality etc.
-
- see above.
-
- > If your arithmetic calculus finds any positive changes the natural question
- > remains - what were the resources (Saint Claus ? Slovaks? Czechs?).
-
- With rare exceptions, the whole world was richer in 1992 than in
- 1918. I doubt that it was the peculiar genius or generosity of any one
- nation that did it, although I am inclined to believe that the
- ultimate cause was the US presence in the World economyh after 1918,
- and the Japanese after 1950.
- But the period in which Slovakia made the greatest economic
- gains on an annual basis was 1939-1944. During this period more
- industries were established,. more power generated and more roads
- and railways built than in the 21 previous years.
- >.... when the whole Czechoslovak federal era (1968-1989) was
- > in the following Slovak hands (not everybody 21 years exactly):
- > first secretary of Czechoslovak communist party and president of country
- > Husak
- > secretary for ideology of CCP Bilak
- > defence minister Dzur, foreign affairs minister Chnoupek, foreign trade
- > minister Barcak, vice-premier ... ?
-
-
- More investments were diverted to Slovakia during the Husak
- era than previously. Again, as is self-evident in today's statistics,
- it was not enough to bring economic life up to the standards the
- Czech lands enjoy, but it was an attempt to even the playing field.
-
- >
- > An example ? Famous problem with Gabcikovo Nagymaros dam, first proposed
- > by Slovak politicians in 1964 - rejected by the CCP leader A.Novotny
- > Czech)
- > later in federal era the second proposal approved by G.Husak (Slovak).
-
- No one could ever accuse Novotny of having brains.
-
- > M.Haindl - The Netherlands
-
- Jan George Frajkor _!_
- School of Journalism __!__
- Carleton University, |
- Ottawa, Ontario /^\
- Canada K1S 5B6 /^\ /^\
- -- gfrajkor@ccs.carleton.ca --
- 613 788-7404 fax:613 788-5604
-