comparison of romania, lithuania and ireland
Project: Comparative Study Rosemary Regan
Languages & European studies
01/02/2014
Introduction to the comparison study
For this assignment we were asked to choose two European countries and compare them both to each other and Ireland, the countries I have chosen to compare are Romania and Lithuania. I chose these two countries because I have friends and associates from both nationalities and in their behaviour and actions alone, I can see there are some massive cultural differences and from what I heard before doing this assignment I understood each country had different background stories in most aspects as well including Ireland and I was interested and curious to find out how different things really are when u cross borders.
Romania is a country with a rather interesting background, they have fought a lot of power to gain independence such as the ottomans, Hungarians, northern Romania. They had a communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu which destroyed the country’s economy and resources with his crazy giant buildings project like the Palace of the Parliament. There was a very low standard of living while he ruled. In 1989 there was a revolt and he was overthrown and a democracy was re-established. That victory allowed Romania to return to the European market with their restored cultural status, they joined the NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007 and now Romania is integrating western Europe. However Lithuania was the biggest country in Europe in the 14th century, they joined with Poland in 1569 and got commonwealth which succeeded for 2 centuries until the country was taken by surrounding powers, a lot of Lithuania was owned by Russia. Lithuania became independent when World War 1 ended in 1918. Lithuania was the first soviet republic to be independent. Lithuania has had an active role in the EU since 2004 and has grown considerably. Lithuania holds an important position in the European Union,
Languages & European studies
01/02/2014
Introduction to the comparison study
For this assignment we were asked to choose two European countries and compare them both to each other and Ireland, the countries I have chosen to compare are Romania and Lithuania. I chose these two countries because I have friends and associates from both nationalities and in their behaviour and actions alone, I can see there are some massive cultural differences and from what I heard before doing this assignment I understood each country had different background stories in most aspects as well including Ireland and I was interested and curious to find out how different things really are when u cross borders.
Romania is a country with a rather interesting background, they have fought a lot of power to gain independence such as the ottomans, Hungarians, northern Romania. They had a communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu which destroyed the country’s economy and resources with his crazy giant buildings project like the Palace of the Parliament. There was a very low standard of living while he ruled. In 1989 there was a revolt and he was overthrown and a democracy was re-established. That victory allowed Romania to return to the European market with their restored cultural status, they joined the NATO in 2004 and the EU in 2007 and now Romania is integrating western Europe. However Lithuania was the biggest country in Europe in the 14th century, they joined with Poland in 1569 and got commonwealth which succeeded for 2 centuries until the country was taken by surrounding powers, a lot of Lithuania was owned by Russia. Lithuania became independent when World War 1 ended in 1918. Lithuania was the first soviet republic to be independent. Lithuania has had an active role in the EU since 2004 and has grown considerably. Lithuania holds an important position in the European Union,
Bibliography: Ashbourne, Alexandra. Lithuania: The Rebirth of a Nation, 1991–1994 , 1999. Dawson, Jane I Gerner, Kristian, and Stefan Hedlund. The Baltic States and the End of the Soviet Empire , 1993. Girnius, Kestutis Hiden, John, and Patricia Salmon. The Baltic Nations and Europe: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the Twentieth Century , 1991. Krickus, Richard J LaFont, Suzanne. Women in Transition: Voices from Lithuania , 1998. Lithuanian Institute of Philosophy and Sociology Norgaard, Ole, and Lars Johannsen with Mette Skak and Rene Hauge Sorensen. The Baltic States after Independence , 1996. Oleszczuk, Thomas A Suziedelis, Saulius. Historical Dictionary of Lithuania , 1997. Vardys, V