Shri wrote:This is a question to all the Balkan Nationals and Central Europeans esp. the History minded group out there-
Now i know for sure no one in their worst nightmare wants the Tsar Back but what about the Kaiser- here i mean the Kaiser in Hapsburg terms.
Austria was not Russia with all the Pogroms or Germany with military discipline or France with its strict Catholic and French Language imposition instead it was more like my own country Bharat/India is - had it been a monarchy still (Personally, i am a monarchist at heart though i am related to no monarch).
Seeing the terrible balkan and central european history from 1914 to 2014, how many agree?
Well, my family comes from Czech and Romanian stock, that's not quite IN the Balkans, so I'm not sure how much legitimacy I have to speak with.
I think, overall, for its time, being under the Hapsburgs was okay, considering the alternatives. I think people everywhere, almost all the time, can be pretty savage to anyone who is different. Maybe a unified nation like Austria-Hungary could have kept things together a bit better then the mess that happened after WWII in the Balkans, but I think historically the Balkans have always been a bit more savage then, say, western Europe. The reason the stuff in this last century sticks out more, in my opinion, is because modern times is really good at bringing us all kinds of information, quicker and more...accurate? Then they could ever in 1914.
But the Balkans where always a huge mixing pot of things to fight about, even before the 1900, Warring religious ideas of Catholic vs. Protestant vs Greek Orthodox vs. Islam, the Crusades, the Muslim invasion to the gates of Vienna. The Balkans have always been a hotbed, and decent chunk of the fighting wasn't just for land, but for ideas, culture, religion, and way of life.
So I think the Hapsburgs where probably a good thing to have around when they where running about!
I'm a monarchist at heart myself! But I'm glad the Czech's don't have a Hapsburg on a throne, the Hapsburgs where German(ish), and the Czechs are Slavs, I'd rather see a Tsar then a Kaiser on a Czech throne for that. :-)
But I wouldn't mind seeing a true blooded Czech royal line sitting on a throne there. Unfortunately, it cant be my family, my families last name was Bespalec, which means "Without Thumbs" and they where all illegitimate bastards. :-)