CEE in crisis - Crippled and Embattled Economies

The global financial crisis has shifted eastward, and the economies of central and eastern Europe are being ravaged by it. The question now is whether western banks with big CEE businesses will maintain them, or cut their losses. If they choose the latter, we may see a resurgence of xenophobic nationalism in eastern Europe. Julian Evans reports.  

In 1931, the global economic depression hit central Europe, and claimed as one of its victims Creditanstalt, the biggest bank in Austria, which collapsed under the burden of its loan exposure to central Europe. The bank collapse provoked an economic crisis in Austria, which helped lead to the rise of nationalism, and ultimately to World War II.