Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires: Central Europe, the Middle East and Russia, 1914-23 / Edition 1

by Aviel Roshwald

Overview

Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empire examines the critical dilemmas of nationalist politics in the first world war. The book focuses on a selection of case-studies drawn from events in the Habsburg, Romanov and Ottoman Empires, as well as the nation-states that arose their break-up during, and in the aftermath of the First World War. It proposes that the events of the war itself catapulted nationalist movements into positions of authority well before the necessary cultural and institutional framework had had time to develop. The resulting crisis of political modernization has reemerged in the late twentieth century and has been a fundamental threat to global stability.

Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empire includes examination of:

* the role of intelligentsias

* the effect of WWI on the peoples of multi ethnic empires

DT the conflicts over how to define the boundaries of DT nationhood in the new post-war polities

* the role of institutional continuity and the old elites in the evolution of the new nation states.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900415242294
Publication date:	11/23/2000
Pages:	288
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Aviel Roshwald

Table of Contents

	List of Maps	xi
	Acknowledgements	xii
1	Introduction	1
2	Ethnicity and Empire: An Historical Introduction	7
	The Austro-Hungarian Empire	8
	The Russian Empire	19
	The Ottoman Empire	28
	Epilogue	33
3	On the Eve of War: The Intelligentsia as Vanguard of Nationalism	34
	Conflicting Nationalist Agendas in East Central Europe	36
	Poland	36
	Czechs and Slovaks	42
	The Dream of Yugoslav Unity	46
	Synopsis	48
	Populism, Socialism, and Nationalism in the Russian Empire	49
	Social Elites and Nationalist Intellectuals in the Ottoman Empire	57
	From Ottomanism to Turkish Nationalism	57
	From Ottomanism to Arab Nationalism	63
	Conclusion	67
4	Straining the Imperial Molds, 1914-1918	70
	War Front, Home Front, and the Politicization of Ethnicity in the Habsburg Empire	71
	Loyalties on the (Front) Line	73
	The Czech Home Front	78
	The South Slav Lands	84
	Synopsis	88
	The Ethnic Dimension of War and Revolution in Russia	90
	Nationalism and Separatism under the Provisional Government	92
	The Socio-Cultural Bases of Ethnic Unrest	94
	The Burden of War in the Middle East	104
	The Radicalization of Turkish Nationalism	105
	The Suppression of Dissent in the Arab Lands	111
	Conclusion	114
5	New Arenas of Action: Nationalisms of Occupation and Exile, 1914-1918	116
	Zones of Occupation	116
	Poland and Lithuania	116
	Serbia	125
	The Politics of Exile	128
	The Czechoslovak National Council	129
	The Yugoslav Committee	132
	The Polish National Committee	138
	Zionism	140
	Synopsis	145
	Volunteer Legions	146
	The Czechoslovak Legion	147
	Pilsudski's First Brigade	149
	The Arab Revolt	152
	Conclusion	155
6	Defining the Boundaries of the Nation, 1918-1923	156
	Defining Frontiers in East Central Europe	157
	The Political Geography of Soviet Ethnofederalism	171
	The Ethnic Dimension of Russian Political Collapse and Civil War	171
	The Soviet Ethnofederal Experiment	174
	Reconfiguring the Boundaries of Identity in the Middle East	183
	The Turkish Settlement and the Kemalist State	183
	European Imperialism as Framework for the Genesis of Middle Eastern Nation-States	187
	Statehood vs. Nationhood in the Arab World	189
	Sectarianism and Ethno-Regional Politics in the Framework of Arab Nationalism	192
	Conclusion	196
7	Old Elites and Radical Challengers in the New Nation-States, 1918-1939	198
	Institutional Continuities and Disaffected Ethnic Groups: the Czechoslovak and Yugoslav Cases	201
	Czechoslovakia	201
	Yugoslavia	204
	Revolutionary Elites in Reactionary Roles: Poland and the Arab Middle East	207
	Poland	207
	Syria and Iraq	211
	Conclusion	215
8	Conclusion	218
	Notes	224
	Index	264

Editorial Reviews

Concentrating on the First World War era, Roshwald (history, Georgetown U.) highlights the role of historical contingency and the ordeal of total war in shaping the states and institutions that supplanted the great multinational empires after 1918 in the three regions. He explores how the fixing of new political boundaries and the complex interplay of nationalist elites and popular forces set in motion bitter ethnic conflicts and political disputes, many of which remain active four generations later. The three major empires he discusses are the Austro- Hungarian, the Russian, and the Ottoman. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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