Through an Ethnic Prism: Germans, Czechs and the Creation of Czechoslovakia

Stephen M. Thomas (✝)

Published by De Gruyter Oldenbourg 2021

Through an Ethnic Prism

Germans, Czechs and the Creation of Czechoslovakia

Stephen M. Thomas (✝)
Edited by: Karen Alexander , Vladimir Pistalo and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110749885

Overview
Contents

About this book

This book meticulously recreates the most important episodes in Czech-German relations in what is now the Czech Republic. Drawing on extensive archival research, Stephen M. Thomas depicts the formation of the Czechoslovak Republic from the ruined Austro-Hungarian empire and examines political and public life between world wars via the ethnic rivalry between Germans and Czechs. He questions the nature, legitimacy and political viability of the nation state, and especially its relationship to ethnic minorities, such as the Slovaks. Confrontational nationalism and the use of ethnicity as a political tool are no less common today than they were in the 20th century. This book’s radical contribution to studies of nationalism and ethnicity is that it juxtaposes German and Czech perspectives of power and oppression as part of the same story. This framework allows us to appreciate new complexities regarding the creation of Czechoslovakia and ponder them in 21st century terms.

Author / Editor information

Stephen M. Thomas, Council for a Livable World, Washington D.C., USA.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Prologue A Savvy Political Operative: Czechs Thought He Was Russian, and Russians Thought He Was Czech Elizabeth Marshall Thomas Publicly Available Download PDF	V
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Introduction Competing Politicizations of Ethnicity in Austria-Hungary and Czechoslovakia, 1848–1936 Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Map of Czechoslovakia Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	6
Chapter 1 Austrian Prelude Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	7
Chapter 2 Deliverance Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	28
Chapter 3 German Rejection Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	41
Chapter 4 Making the New Rules: Language and Autonomy Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	56
Chapter 5 Reaffirmation of the National State Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	96
Chapter 6 The Heyday of the Pětka and the Pětka′s Demise Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	132
Chapter 7 German Activism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	158
Chapter 8 The End of the Affair Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	189
Epilogue Roads Not Taken Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	208
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	210
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	215

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Oldenbourg
Audience: Historians, Sociologists, Political Scientists, Anthropologists
Pages
- Front matter: 9
- Main content: 231
Keywords: Nationalism; Ethnicity; Germans; Czechs; Slovaks; Austro-Hungarian empire

eBook

Published: November 8, 2021
ISBN: 9783110749885

Hardcover

Published: November 8, 2021
ISBN: 9783110749403