The Habsburg myth in historical memory of Visegrad Europe and its neighbors

Abstract

Contemporary political and cultural processes in the European Union countries actualized old myths, a separation from which seemed final. The authors of the article analyze the process of a peculiar renaissance of the so-called Habsburg myth in Central European countries that preserved an experience of cohabitation in the empire of Austrian Habsburgs in their historical memory. Contemporary mythology does not limit to theoretical constructions and serves as a tool forming historical memory of the Visegrad Europe countries that became considerable opponents in policy of Brussels in the last years. The origins of the idea of Visegrad relationship and transformation of the Habsburg myth in the interwar period and after the Second World War are considered in the article. The article deals with examples of hierarchy of the Habsburg myth in political and cultural spheres and in a daily life of Visegrad Europe nations and their immediate neighbors