Cold War History Research Center
About Us
The Cold War History Research Center (CWHRC) was established by Founding Director Csaba Békés in December 1998, as the first scholarly institution founded as a non-profit organization in East Central Europe and it has been affiliated with Corvinus University since 2009. Our mission is to become main provider of freely available English language online materials concerning research on contemporary history of the former Soviet Bloc countries in Europe. CWHRC offers a great number of articles, documents, chronologies, bibliographies, databases and finding aids and it is the only such institution in the former Soviet Bloc (see on our website: www.coldwar.hu).
Our research focus
The internship program of the Center started in 2009. So far the internationally renowned research activity of the Center has attracted some 250 interns from Western and Eastern Europe – mostly in the framework of the Erasmus program. Through the Center’s English language website (www.coldwar.hu), established in 2000, its mission has been to be the main provider of freely available English language online materials concerning research on contemporary history of the former Soviet Bloc countries in Europe. The website offers a great number of articles, documents, chronologies, bibliographies, databases and finding aids and it is the only such institution in the former Soviet Bloc. Now it is an indispensable resource for international scholars and students interested in the history of the Cold War, Communism, Eastern Europe and the Soviet Bloc.
The History of the Soviet Bloc 1945–1991 – project
The Centre’s flagship project is the production of a comprehensive English-language chronology of the Eastern Bloc (The Chronology of the Soviet Bloc, 1945-1991). The five-part chronology is by far the most detailed and comprehensive work ever produced, with over 3,000 pages of material, making it an indispensable resource for researchers and teachers of Sovietology, Communism and Eastern European history, as well as for students of these fields. Since then, we have been continuously expanding the chronology, each year we prepare an expanded edition of 1 part, in 2022 the second edition of part 2 was published. The research and data collection for the Chronology is carried out entirely by the Centre’s unpaid interns, using the databases of the Open Society Archive and other library and online sources. The final publication will include the names of all the interns who contributed to the work: THE HISTORY OF THE SOVIET BLOC 1945–1991
This is the most detailed chronology of the Cold War era. It is unique and has more than 4,000 pages.
MEMBERS
Head of Research Center
Leonardo Zanatta
Drávutz Renáta
Bencsik Péter – SZTE
Stefano Bottoni -University of Florence
Kalmár Melinda – SZTE
Kecskés D. Gusztáv – HUN REN BTK TTI
Vajda Barnabás -Selye János Egyetem, Komárom
Borhi László – Indiana University, Bloomington
Okváth Imre – ÁBTL
Béla Révész – SZTE
Balázs Szalontai – Korea University
Péter Vámos – HUN REN BTK TTI
Péter Vukman – SZTE
Kemény János – NKE
Szilvási Simon – NKE
Tsotne Tchanturia – The University of Georgia
PUBLICATION HIGHLIGHTS
Békés, C. (2022). The History of the Soviet Bloc 1945–1991.
A Chronology. Part 2. 1953–1968. (Third edition)
IMPACT
Since 2010, we held annual international student conference on the history of the Cold War. The participants (30-35 people) attend at their own expense, with about half of the speakers being foreigners. Overall, 285 students from 25 countries have participated in the 12 successful conferences so far, from institutions such as Harvard, MIT, Columbia, American University, West Point, Indiana University, Hong Kong, Humboldt, Bologna, Florence, Central European University, London School of Economics, St. Andrews, King’s College, London, Sciences Po. Our conference series is unique, which increases international recognition of the Corvinus University. The conferences often have foreign scientists from top universities as panel chairs or keynote speakers.
Previous partnerships
- Columbia University: European Institute
- Cold War International History Project: Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington D.C.
- National Security Archives, Washington D.C.
- London School of Economics: International History Department,
- Oxford University
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute, Graz