Jaws on the Danube: Water Management, Regime Change and the Movement Against the Middle Danube Hydroelectric Dam

This article deals with the history of the Hungarian movement that emerged in opposition to the Gabcikovo(Bős)-Nagymaros Barrage, and in particular tries to trace the changes in the patterns of conflict involved. It sets this within the longer story of attempts to harness the energy of the Danube. The story stretches over decades, with new pairs of actors stepping onto the stage from time to time; the conflict developing between them appears to be the main conflict in the whole matter (Vargha, 1989). The longer-term perspective reveals some perhaps surprising lessons. On the one hand, it becomes clear that the value of an analysis based on identifying separate periods is limited, and that an examination of a longer time-cycle in its entirety makes it possible to learn different lessons, for example, bringing out the links with major political changes. On the other hand, it can be seen that it is not at all certain that the conflicts which appear to be at the centre of events at any time are the real ones.