The picnic A dream of freedom and the collapse of the Iron Curtain

Political scientist Longo (The Politics of Borders) delivers a stunning recap of the "greatest breach of the border in Cold War history." The Pan-European Picnic took place on Aug. 19, 1989, in Sopron, Hungary, on the border with St. Margarethen, Austria. High-ups in the Hungary Communist Party--sensing the Soviet Union under the leadership of Mikhail Gorbachev was loosening its grip on its satellite countries in Eastern Europe--had given permission to the picnic organizers to open a "small, gated crossing" in a muddy field on the border, allowing Austrians and Hungarians to freely mingle and celebrate "European togetherness and freedom." But the event quickly turned into "utter chaos" when some 600--1,000 East Germans saw the picnic as their chance to escape East Germany's repressive regime. Longo traces the heart-wrenching stories of these freedom-seekers and interviews the Hungarian commanding officer who was under orders to shoot them but refused. His impressive research reveals "a shadow archive of secret decisions," showing not only how closely the secret police were watching the picnic organizers, but also how reformists within the Party paved the way for it to happen, even as they received death threats from the hard-line opposition. This captivating narrative brings an underreported Cold War turning point into focus. (Nov.)

An oral history of the 1989 picnic that became "the first great breach of the Iron Curtain." In the late 1980s, the Soviet Union was weakening, reformers had risen to power in Hungary, and people were fleeing East Germany. Longo, a professor of political science at Leiden University (Netherlands) and author of The Politics of Borders: Sovereignty, Security, and the Citizen After 9/11, draws on interviews with those involved--as well as insights from relevant political philosophers such as Hannah Arendt and Isaiah Berlin--to tell the story of the Pan-European Picnic held on Aug. 19, 1989. Orchestrated by a group of Hungarian activists, the goal was to create "a giant open-air party celebrating Europe togetherness and freedom," and the event was to include the symbolic--and temporary--opening of a gate between Hungary and Austria. At the time, Hungary was filled with refugees from East Germany, and when they arrived at the picnic site that morning, the gate seemed to be the only barrier between them and liberty. They burst through and, with the Hungarian border guards hesitant to act, between 600 and 1,000 people fled. The picnic came to symbolize the possibility of evading the oppression of Soviet-style communism and achieving a better life. Citizens of Warsaw Pact countries under Soviet control had been denied personal autonomy and deprived of communal solidarity. They aspired to a sense of collective belonging, Longo argues, rather than the individualism and consumerism of the West. Deftly weaving together the geopolitical and the personal, Longo offers a counter-narrative to the current fixation on the global rise and spread of xenophobic and authoritarian regimes, including that of Viktor Orbán in Hungary. Extensively documented, well written, and thoughtful in its consideration of what freedom means, this book is an informative and engaging history of the event, its origins, and the aftermath. A much-needed reminder of the inexhaustibility of the human quest for personal and collective freedom. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.