Nations, States, and Conflict in Central Europe

Abstract

Chapter 1 describes the rise of nations in Central Europe, with an emphasis on developments in the tripartite Polish lands under German, Austrian, and Russian rule. Following a recent trend in historiography, it questions the nationalistic master narrative of “oppressive empires” in decline and “democratic nation states” on the rise. With the notable exception of armed insurrections and revolutions, in the long run their relation was one of negotiation rather than of antagonism. Between the Congress of Vienna and the outbreak of the Great War, the area witnessed a century of relative calm. Nevertheless, ethnic nationalism challenged the multinational imperial order. With the empires gone, from 1918 onwards, the new nation states of Central and Southeastern Europe divided their respective populations into titular nations versus minorities, thus defining who was part of the “national project,” and who was not. This exclusive nationalism led to ethnic conflict and war.