Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires: Central Europe, the Middle East and Russia, 1914-23 Paperback / softback - 2000 - 1st Edition

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 form 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 modernisation 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 WW1 on the peoples of multi ethnic empires* the conflicts over how to define the boundaries of nationhood in the new post-war polities* the role of institutional continuity and the old elites in the evolution of the new nation states.

Nationalism and the idea of the nation-state are among the most pervasive political phenomena of our age among the least well understood.

HOW DID THE FIRST WORLD WAR SHAPE TODAY'S ETHNIC POLITICS?

Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires is a wide-ranging, comparative study of the origins of today's ethnic politics in East Central Europe, the former Russian empire and the Middle East. Centered on the First World War era, Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires highlights the roles of historical contingency and the ordeal of total war in shaping the states and institutions that supplanted the great multinational empires after 1918. It 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 are still with us today. Topics discussed include:
-- The disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian empire
-- The ethnic dimension of the Russian Revolution and Soviet state building
-- Nationality issues in the late Ottoman empire
-- The origins of Arab nationalism
-- Ethnic politics in zones of military occupation
-- The construction of Czechoslovak and Yugoslav identities

Ethnic Nationalism and the Fall of Empires is an invaluable survey of the origins of twentieth-century ethnic politics and provides an important reassessment of the First World War era in relation to the current turmoil in East Central Europe, Russia and the Middle East. It is essential reading for those interested in the politics of ethnicity and nationalism in modern European and Middle Eastern history.