Vol. XXXVI · 2005

Paul Robert Magocsi

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In the course of the twentieth century, two years stand out as symbolic turning points in the historical evolution of Europe as well as of much of the rest of the world. Those years are 1918 and 1989. The first marked the end of World War I and the beginnings of the political reconstruction of Europe and the Middle East. The second marked the end of totalitarian-like communist rule throughout half the European continent and the rest of Soviet political space stretching across northern Asia to the coasts of the Pacific Ocean.

The events that unfolded within each of these temporal nodes were not only governed by their own internal dynamic, they were also in part influenced by external factors. Among such factors was the activity of diasporas living abroad, some of whose members tried to influence developments in their respective homelands. The phenomenon of diaspora influence over the homeland has been rather widespread since the late nineteenth century, as evidenced by the activity of Irish, Jewish, Chinese, Cuban, and Haitian immigrants, among others, in the United States.1 The concern here is to examine what impact, if any, diasporas from central Europe living in the United States (and in part in Canada)had on political developments during the 1918 and 1989 temporal nodes. Undoubtedly, the year 1945 could be considered the emblematic date for yet another temporal node (1939-48) encompassing World War II and its aftermath. As will become evident below, that node certainly marks a watershed in the history of central Europe 's diasporas. It is not considered separately, however, because the impact of the diasporan groups on their respective homelands at the time was virtually nil.