Introduction

Abstract

In this chapter Pál provides a general overview on the human–nature and human–society relationships in authoritarian regimes in a historical context. He also introduces the reader to the key problems of economic and environmental history and the history of technology in East-Central Europe and briefly explains the concepts of his book: economical shift, energy shift, and environmental shift. The author provides a historiographical overview on the environmental historical research of East-Central European countries and Russia/USSR.