Does Eastern Europe exist?

There used to be – to put it quite simply – two Europe’s: Eastern Europe and Western Europe. In the past, that is, the period between roughly 1945 and 1989, when the proverbial Iron Curtain separated the two Europe’s. Of course, this dichotomy had little to do with reality. The world is never black and white. So, does Eastern Europe even exist? Or is it only a mental map?

Guido van Hengel worked until February 2022 as lecturer in the European Studies programme at The Hague University of Applied Sciences and a historian and writer of non-fiction. He is specialized in the history of the Balkans and the First World War.