CWHRC Activities

English language web site on East Central Europe in the Cold War
Archival research projects in Hungary
International research projects
International cooperation
International conferences co-oorganized and hosted by the Center
The Center's representation at international conferences

 

1. English language web site on East Central Europe in the Cold War

One of the Center's main goals is to become a virtual center for Cold War research in East Central Europe and through the Center's web site (www.coldwar.hu), established in 2000 to become the main provider of English language online materials concerning research on contemporary history in the whole region.

Besides publishing articles and documents online, our focus is on disseminating information concerning publications, ongoing research, researchers, conferences, etc. hitherto available only in the native languages of the region. Such materials, as well as specially compiled chronologies and bibliographies will considerably facilitate acquiring up to date information on the state of research in the countries of the former Soviet Bloc for the international community of scholars. At the same time the materials, offered by the Center will drastically increase the chances for direct communication between scholars in the West and the East but also among scholars from different countries of East Central Europe. It is also important to stress that we interpret Cold War history in the widest possible way, that is, besides concentrating on international relations we will cover internal political and economic developments, culture and everyday life as well.
Besides providing valuable information for scholars the web site will also be turned into an educational medium offering useful material on the history of East-Central Europe in the Cold War for undergraduate, graduate and post graduate education all over the world.

Currently the Center provides the following types of English language online materials:

2. Archival research projects in Hungary

The Center fosters research on the following research projects in the period 1945-1991 in Hungarian archives:

3. International research projects

The Center was/has been involved in the following international research projects:

4. International cooperation

Through the development of East-West cooperation the Center seeks to become one of the most important East-Central European academic partners and thus be on the cutting edge of this international research. We also strive to establish intense connections and cooperation with Eastern European institutes and scholars pursuing similar research. On the Center's web site we gladly publish English language contributions on the Cold War period (articles, documents, chronologies, etc.) by colleagues from the region but also from any other country.

We would also welcome establishing institutional cooperation with any research center in the field in Europe and other parts of the World.

5. International conferences co-oorganized and hosted by the Center

Political Transition in Hungary, 1989-1990
Cold War History Research Center Budapest; 1956 Institute; Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, Washington D.C.; National Security Archive, Washington D.C.
Budapest, 10-12 June, 1999

New Central and Eastern European Evidence on the Cold War in Asia
The George Washington University Cold War Group; Cold War History Research Center Budapest; 1956 Institute
Budapest, October 31-1 November, 2003

Earlier conferences co-organized and hosted by the same staff in the framework of the 1956 Institute:

Hungary and the World, 1956: The New Archival Evidence
1956 Institute; Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, Washington D.C.; National Security Archive, Washington D.C.
Budapest, 26-29, September, 1996

European Archival Evidence on Stalin and the Cold War
1956 Institute; Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, Washington D.C.
Budapest, 3-4 October, 1997

6. The Center's representation at international conferences

1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009

1999

Political Transition in Hungary, 1989-1990
Budapest, June 10-12, 1999.
Csaba Békés: East-West Relations and the Hungarian Transition

The Democratic Revolution in Czechoslovakia. Its Preconditions, Course and Immediate Aftermath
Prague, October 14-16., 1999.
CWHRC Director Csaba Békés participated at the conference as an observer.

China and Christianity: Burdened Past, Hopeful Future
San Francisco, October 14-16, 1999
Péter Vámos: Hungarian Missionaries in China

Poland 1986-1989. The End of the System
Warsaw-Miedzeszyn, October 21-23, 1999.
Csaba Békés: Political Transition in Hungary, 1988-1990

2000

New Cold War History: Historiography, Theory,and Methodology
Moscow, 7-11 May, 2000.
Csaba Békés: The "New Course" in East-West Relations, 1953-1956

XXXVIth ICANAS
Montréal, August 27-September 2, 2000
Péter Vámos: The Chinese Communist Party's Policy and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

Annual conference, Parallel History Project on NATO and the Warsaw Pact
Zurich, December 2, 2000.
Csaba Békés: Hungarian archival sources on the Warsaw Pact.

2001

2002

Ten Year Anniversary Cold War Summit, Cold War International History Project
Washington D.C., March 2-3, 2002.
Csaba Békés: The Cold War History Research Center in Budapest.

Towards an International History of the War in Afghanistan
Washington, D.C. ,Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, April 29-30, 2002.
CWHRC Director Csaba Békés participated at the conference as an observer.

L'Europe en mutation. Le processus d'Helsinki: de l'Europe divisée au perspectives de la Grande Europe
Paris, Sorbonne III. 7-8 June, 2002.
Csaba Békés: The Human Rights Issue in Hungary

Sawyer seminar. International Center for Advanced Studies, New York University
New York, 27 September, 2002.
Csaba Békés: Eastern Europe and the Cold War

Romania and the Cold War
Bucharest, October 3-6, 2002.
CWHRC Director was chair of the panel: Romania and the Warsaw Pact, 1969-1989

Annual conference, Parallel History Project on NATO and the Warsaw Pact
Zurich, November 16, 2002.
Csaba Békés: New Hungarian archival sources on the Warsaw Pact.

The Soviet Global Impact (1945-1991)
University of Chicago
Balázs Szalontai

2003

Between East and West: Hungarian Foreign Policy in the 20th Century
Indiana University, Bloomington, March 29, 2003.
Csaba Békés: The 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the Superpowers

Annual conference, Parallel History Project on NATO and the Warsaw Pact
Vienna, October 11, 2003.
Csaba Békés: New Hungarian archival sources on the Warsaw Pact.

New Central and Eastern European Evidence on the Cold War in Asia
Budapest, October 30-November 2, 2003
Péter Vámos: Hungarian Documents on Hungarian-Chinese Relations, 1956-1966
Péter Vámos: The Chinese Communist Party's Policy and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

New Central and Eastern European Evidence on the Cold War in Asia,
George Washington University Cold War Group-Cold War History Research Center, Budapest, 31 October - 1 November, 2003.
Csaba Békés: Hungarian mediation during the Vietnam War, 1965-1966.

Foreign policy and national interest. Continuity and discontinuity in 20th century Hungarian foreign policy.
Teleki László Institute, Budapest, Center for Foreign Policy Studies, December 8, 2003.
Csaba Békés: Magyar külpolitika a szovjet szövetségi rendszerben, 1968-1989. [Hungarian foreign policy in the Soviet alliance system, 1968-1989]

Comrades in Arms: Relations between North Vietnam, North Korea, and Cuba, Yale
University (New Haven)
Balázs Szalontai

Still Standing After The Fall: Politics and Culture in Vietnam, North Korea, China and Cuba
The International Center for Advanced Studies (New York)
Balázs Szalontai

The Cold War in Asia
The George Washington University Cold War Group and the Cold War History Research Center (Budapest)
Balázs Szalontai

Stalin and the Lesser Gods: The Leader Cult in Communist Dictatorships in
Comparative Perspective, European University Institute (Florence)
Balázs Szalontai

North Korea's Crisis Behavior
Cold War International History Research Project (Washington, D.C.)
Balázs Szalontai

2004

NATO and the Warsaw Pact: Intra-Bloc Conflicts
Lemnitzer Center for NATO and European Union Studies, Kent State University, April 23-24, 2004.
Csaba Békés: Why Was There No "Second Cold War" in Europe? Hungary and the Soviet Intervention in Afghanistan in 1979.

The Helsinki Process: a historical reappraisal
University of Padova, June 7, 2004.
Csaba Békés: Hungary and the CSCE Process, 1965-1970

8th International Symposium of the Verbiest Foundation
Leuven, August 31-September 3, 2004
Péter Vámos: With the Chinese, for the Chinese - The Hungarian Jesuit Mission in Puzi, Taiwan

Annual conference, Parallel History Project on NATO and the Warsaw Pact
Urbino, October 1-2, 2004.
Csaba Békés: Hungarian archival sources on the Warsaw Pact.

Eastern Europe and Western Europe in the Cold War [1965-1975]
Münster, October 23-23, 2004 [University of Duisburg-Essen and the University of Paris IV-Sorbonne].
Csaba Békés: The Warsaw Pact and the Helsinki Process

4th Triennial Conference of the European Association for South-East Asian Studies
Panel: New Evidence on the Cold War history of Vietnam (Paris)
Balázs Szalontai

Mongolia and the Cold War
Cold War International History Research Project and Civic Education Project (Ulaanbaatar)
Balázs Szalontai

2005

The Warsaw Pact: From its Founding to its Collapse, 1955-1991
Washington D.C., 2005. May 26-27.
Csaba Békés: Warsaw Pact Coordination and the CSCE process, 1965-1970

The Helsinki Process and the Demise of Communism
Prague, 2005 June 5-7.
Csaba Békés: Hungary and the Making of the CSCE process, 1965-1970

At the roots of the European security system: thirty years since the Helsinki Final Act
Zurich, September 8-10, 2005
Csaba Békés: The Warsaw Pact and the Preparation for a European Security Conference, 1964-1970

2006

The Impact of the 20th Congress of the CPSU on Sino-Hungarian Relations
Institute of Political History, Budapest, February 23, 2006.
Péter Vámos: China's Relations with East-Central European Soviet bloc countries, 1966-1976.

Conference for the Creation of an International History of the Cold War. The Origins and Early Development of the Cold War, 1945-1962
(Workshop for the forthcoming 3 volume Cambridge History of the Cold War)
The Truman Presidential Museum & Library, The Harry S. Truman Library Institute for National and International Affairs and the University of Missouri - Kansas City, March 30 - April 2, 2006.
Csaba Békés: East Central Europe from 1953 to the Aftermath of the 1956 Revolutions

The 1956 Hungarian Revolution in World Politics
Institute of History the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Europa Institut Budapest. Budapest, September 7, 2006.
Péter Vámos: The Chinese Communist Party's Policy and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.
Péter Vámos: The Rise of China, 1953-1957.

Fifty Years' Perspective on the Hungarian Revolution of 1956
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, September 18-20, 2006.
Csaba Békés - Keynote speech: The 1956 Hungarian Revolution in World Politics

The 1956 Hungarian Revolution and the Soviet Bloc Countries: Reactions and Repercussions
Institute for the History of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution, Historical Archives of the Hungarian State Security (Budapest), September 22-23, 2006.
Péter Vámos: The Chinese Communist Party's Policy and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

Traveling scholars project. The 1956 Hungarian Revolution: Fifty Years On
(Charles Gati, Attila Szakolczai, Csaba Békés)
New School, New York, October 2, 2006.
Princeton University, Princeton, October 3, 2006.
George Washington University, Washington D.C. October 4, 2006.
City University of New York, New York, October 5, 2006.
Hungarian Cultural Center, New York, October 6, 2006.
New York University, New York, October 9, 2006.
Harvard University, Cambridge, Ma. October 10, 2006.

The 1956 Hungarian Revolution 50 Years Later - Canadian and International Perspectives
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, October 12-14, 2006.
Csaba Békés - Keynote speech: The 1956 Hungarian Revolution in World Politics

Revolution, Ideology and Memory. Roundtable discussion
Hungarian Cultural Center, New York, October 24, 2006
Participants: ágnes Heller, Paul Berman, Csaba Békés

The 1956 Hungarian Revolution in Historical Perspective. 50th Anniversary Reassessments
Harvard University, Cambridge, October 30, 2006
Csaba Békés: Soviet Decision making During the 1956 Hungarian Revolution

1956 and Its Impact on the Soviet Bloc
Columbia University, New York, November 2-3, 2006.
Csaba Békés: Could the Hungarian Revolution Have Succeeded in 1956?

1956 in Hungary and Finland
9th Hungarian-Finnish Seminar, University of Turku, Institute of Political History, November 12-15, 2006.
Péter Vámos: The Chinese Communist Party's Policy and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

China and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution
Seminar für Sinologie und Koreanistik, Eberhard Karls Universität (Tübingen), December 18, 2006
Péter Vámos: The Chinese Communist Party's Policy and the 1956 Hungarian Revolution.

Routes into the Diaspora. Panel: The Unreliable People: The Korean Diaspora in the Former Soviet Union
University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)
Balázs Szalontai

Limits of the 'Lips and Teeth' Alliance: The Antinomies of the Chinese-North Korean Relationship
Cornell University (Ithaca)
Balázs Szalontai

6th International Conference of the Korean Association of Central & Eastern European and Balkan Studies
Lorand Eotvos University of Sciences (Budapest)
Balázs Szalontai

International Workshop on North Korea's Foreign Relations during the Cold War
Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kyungnam University (Seoul)
Balázs Szalontai
De-Stalinization: The First Fifty Years after Khrushchev's Secret Speech
The George Washington University Cold War Group (Washington, D.C.)
Balázs Szalontai

2007

The Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and After: Impact and Contribution
Bard College, NY, February 15-17, 2007.
Csaba Békés - Opening keynote speech: The 1956 Hungarian Revolution and World Politics

Mit kezdjünk vele? - Kádár János (1912-1989) [What should be done with him? János Kádár - 1912-1989]
XX. Century Institute -Andrássy University (Budapest), June 15, 2007
Melinda Kalmár: A történeti tudat sokszin sége. [The diversity of historical consciousness]

Soviet Impact on China: Politics, Economy, Society and Culture
Columbia University (New York), June 22-23, 2007.
Péter Vámos: A Decade of Negotiations. Sino-Soviet Normalization in the 1980s.

Transformation through Communication: Changes in the East-West Conflict in the Era of Détente (1966-1975)
Budapest, 2007 October 19-20.
Csaba Békés: The interdependence of Ostpolitik and West German-Hungarian economic relations 1963-1973

Workshop: Inter-Communist States relations in the Cold War Era
Shanghai, East China Normal University, Cold War Research Center, November 21-22, 2007
Péter Vámos: The State of Cold War Studies in Hungary. (In Chinese)

Dealing with the Past in East Central Europe
Columbia University, 2007, December 2-3:
CWHRC Director Csaba Békés was chair of Panel 2. (Czechoslovakia, GDR, Romania)

2008

Edward Teller seminar
Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, January 16. 2008.
Csaba Békés: Szuperhatalmi politika a hidegháborÚban, 1945-1962. [Superpower politics in the Cold War, 1945-1962]

Döntéshozatal és külpolitikai tanácsadás. [Decision making and foreign policy advising] Hungarian Institute for Foreign Policy
Budapest, February 21, 2008.
CWHRC Director Csaba Békés participated in a roundtable on Hungarian foreign policy strategy and foreign policy thinking.

Prague Spring and the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia, 1968
Center Austria, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, April 3-4, 2008.
Csaba Békés: Hungary and the Prague Spring.

Modern Hungarian foreign policy - the present and its past
Institute of Habsburg Studies - Teleki László Foundation, Budapest, April 11, 2008.
Csaba Békés: Magyar külpolitika a bipoláris világban, 1945-1991. [Hungarian foreign policy in the bipolar World, 1945-1991]

Der "Prager Frühling": Das Internationale Krisenjahr 1968
Ludwig Boltzmann-Institut für Kriegsfolgen-Forschung, Wien-Graz, August 20-22.
Csaba Békés: Hungary Between Prague and Moscow.

Security Apparatus, Propagandism and the Prague Spring
Institute for the Study of Totalitarian Regimes (ÚSTR); Institute of National Remembrance;1956 Institute, Polish Institute, Faculty of Arts, Charles University; Prague, September 7-9, 2008.
Csaba Békés: Hungary and the Prague Spring

The "Prague Spring" and the Warsaw Pact Invasion of Czechoslovakia, 1968.
University of Ottawa, Ottawa, October 9-10, 2008.
Csaba Békés: The 'Prague Spring', Hungary and the Warsaw Pact Invasion.

Détente and CSCE in Europe. The States of the Warsaw Pact and the Federal Republic of Germany in their Mutual Perception and Rapprochement, 1966--1975.
Volkswagen Stiftung-project "Détente and CSCE in Europe" at the University of Mannheim in cooperation with the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, Prague, October 12-15, 2008.
Csaba Békés: Hungary, the German question and the CSCE Process, 1965-1975

East-Central Europe in the Cold War
Warsaw, 16-18 October 2008
Péter Vámos: East-Central Europe and the process of Sino-Soviet normalization in the 1980s.

SICAR conference
Elliot School for International Affairs, GWU, Washington D.C.
László Borhi: Archival Research in Hungary

Fateful Eights in Czech History: Historical Anniversaries of 2008 and Their Significance for Czech History Today
Czech Embassy Washington, D. C., George Washington University, National Security Archive, Washington D.C.
László Borhi: The Dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the Failure of Peace in Europe

North Korea's Path to Economic Modernization
Institute for Far Eastern Studies, Kyungnam University (Seoul)
Balázs Szalontai

The Cold War in Asia: The Cultural Dimension
Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore (Singapore)
Balázs Szalontai

2009

China and the World in Mao's Last Decade, 1966-1976
University of Hong Kong, January 9-10, 2009
Péter Vámos: China's Relations with East-Central European Soviet bloc countries, 1966-1976

 

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