The essays in this volume analyse issues of national and regional identity during a key phase of nation-state formation in mid-nineteenth century Europe. By asking how contemporaries articulated regional and national identities, the book offers a fresh prospective on the process of nationalization in modern German, Austrian and Italian histories.
This edited collection studies the role of students as a critical mass within their urban context and society through examples of student revolts from the foundation period of universities in the Middle Ages until today, covering the whole European continent. A dominant theme is the large degree of continuity visible in student revolts across space and time, especially concerning the (rebellious) attitudes of and criticisms directed towards students.
The editors present a collection of 23 historical papers exploring relationships between "the Germans" (necessarily adopting different senses of the term for different periods or different topics) and their immediate neighbors to the East. The eras discussed range from the Middle Ages to European integration. Examples of specific topics addressed include the Teutonic order in the development of the political culture of Northeastern Europe during the Middle ages, Teutonic-Balt relations in the chronicles of the Baltic Crusades, the emergence of Polenliteratur in 18th century Germany, German colonization in the Banat and Transylvania in the 18th century, changing meanings of "German" in Habsburg Central Europe, German military occupation and culture on the Eastern Front in Word War I, interwar Poland and the problem of Polish-speaking Germans, the implementation of Nazi racial policy in occupied Poland, Austro-Czechoslovak relations and the post-war expulsion of the Germans, and narratives of the lost German East in Cold War West Germany.
A EuropeNow Editor’s Pick A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year “Pieter M. Judson’s book informs and stimulates. If his account of Habsburg achievements, especially in the 18th century, is rather starry-eyed, it is a welcome corrective to the black legend usually presented. Lucid, elegant, full of surprising and illuminating details, it can be warmly recommended to anyone with an interest in modern European history.” —Tim Blanning, Wall Street Journal “This is an engaging reappraisal of the empire whose legacy, a century after its collapse in 1918, still resonates across the nation-states that replaced it in central Europe. Judson rejects conventional depictions of the Habsburg empire as a hopelessly dysfunctional assemblage of squabbling nationalities and stresses its achievements in law, administration, science and the arts.” —Tony Barber, Financial Times “Spectacularly revisionist... Judson argues that...the empire was a force for progress and modernity... This is a bold and refreshing book... Judson does much to destroy the picture of an ossified regime and state.” —A. W. Purdue, Times Higher Education “Judson’s reflections on nations, states and institutions are of broader interest, not least in the current debate on the future of the European Union after Brexit.” —Annabelle Chapman, Prospect
Interpreting the German-Polish relationship according to a paradigm of 'synthesis' between nations, this book examines the process and socio-political effects of how conflict and contradiction between Germans and Poles gave rise to mentalities and behaviours that were 'transnational'; representing the harmonization of the national dichotomy.
Often the liberal movement has been viewed through the lens of its later German nationalism. This presents only one facet of a wide-ranging, all-encompassing project to regenerate the Habsburg Monarchy. By analysing its various nuances, this volume provides a new, more positive interpretation of Austro-German liberalism.
Military Culture and Popular Patriotism examines the interplay between popular patriotism and military culture in late imperial Austria. Laurence Cole suggests that two main questions should be asked regarding the western half of the Habsburg Monarchy during the period from the mid-nineteenth century to the outbreak of war in 1914. Firstly, how far did imperial Austrian society experience a process of militarization comparable to that of other European countries? Secondly, how far did the military sphere foster popular patriotism in the multinational state? Various manifestations of military culture, including hero cults and, above all, military veterans associations, provide the main subject for analysis in this volume. After exploring the historical development of military culture in the Habsburg Monarchy, Cole explains how the long reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I constituted a decisive phase in the militarization of Austrian society, with the dynasty and state emphasizing the military's role as the locus of loyalty. Popular manifestations of military culture, such as the hero cult surrounding Field Marshal Radetzky and military veterans associations, complemented the official agenda in many respects. However, veterans associations in particular constituted a political mobilization of the lower middle and lower classes, who asserted their own interests and position in civil society, as is shown by case studies of regions of the Austrian state with significant Italian-speaking populations (Trentino and the Littoral). State attempts to assert greater control of veterans activities led to national and political opposition at a time when tensions over 'militarism' and foreign policy increased. The Black and the Gold thus raises the question of whether the military was really a bulwark of the multinational state or rather a polarizing force in imperial Austrian society.
“Anyone who studies nationalism, genocide, mass violence, or war in these regions, from the Enlightenment through the mid-20th century, needs to read [this].”—Central European History Shatterzone of Empires is a comprehensive analysis of interethnic relations, coexistence, and violence in Europe’s eastern borderlands over the past two centuries. In this vast territory, extending from the Baltic to the Black Sea, four major empires with ethnically and religiously diverse populations encountered each other along often changing and contested borders. Examining this geographically widespread, multicultural region at several levels—local, national, transnational, and empire—and through multiple approaches—social, cultural, political, and economic—this volume offers informed and dispassionate analyses of how the many populations of these borderlands managed to coexist in a previous era and how and why the areas eventually descended into violence. An understanding of this specific region will help readers grasp the preconditions of interethnic coexistence and the causes of ethnic violence and war in many of the world's other borderlands, both past and present.
"The hundred years between the revolutions of 1848 and the population transfers of the mid-twentieth century saw the nationalization of culturally complex societies in East Central Europe. This fact has variously been explained in terms of modernization, state building, and nation-building theories, each of which treats the process of nationalization as something inexorable, a necessary component of modernity. Although more recently social scientists gesture to the contingencies that may shape these larger developments, this structural approach makes scholars far less attentive to the "hard work" (ideological, political, social) undertaken by individuals and groups at every level of society who tried themselves to build "national" societies." "The essays in this volume make us aware of how complex, multi-dimensional and often contradictory this nationalization process in East Central Europe actually was. The authors document attempts and failures by nationalist politicians, organizations, activists, and regimes from 1848 through 1948 to give East-Central Europeans a strong sense of national self-identification. They remind us that only the use of dictatorial powers in the 20th century could actually transform the fantasy of nationalization into a reality, albeit a brutal one."--BOOK JACKET.