Let the River Flow: Fighting a Dam in Communist Hungary

Authors

  • David A.J. Reynolds

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/ahea.2020.391

Keywords:

Hungarian civic society, Danube, hydro-electric dams, dissent in communist Hungary, preservation, Czechoslovak-Hungarian relations

Abstract

Faced with communist Czechoslovakia and Hungary’s 1977 scheme to construct a diversion canal and hydroelectric dam system on the Danube, a movement gradually arose in Hungary to fight the plan. This national dissident campaign, which started with discussion groups and technical articles, not only brought in an extraordinary cross-section of opinion and background—united around the preservation of natural heritage—but played a key part in the rebirth of a lively civic society within a long repressed political and intellectual culture. The story of this movement’s arguments, strategies, and ultimate success is both a key story in the decay and collapse of communist rule in Hungary, but a case study in how a non-western European/American approach to the politics of preservation can rally support and achieve consensus.

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Published

2020-07-30

Issue

Vol. 13 (2020)

Section

General Articles

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