Guardians of the nation : activists on the language frontiers of imperial Austria / Pieter M. Judson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Judson, Pieter M., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Nationalism--Europe, Central--History--20th century.

Nationalism.

Nationalism--Europe, Central--History--19th century.

Nationalism--Austria--History--20th century.

Nationalism--Austria--History--19th century.

German language--Political aspects.

German language.

Language and languages--Political aspects.

Language and languages.

Austria--Ethnic relations--History--19th century.

Austria.

Austria--Ethnic relations--History--20th century.

Europe, Central--Ethnic relations--History--19th century.

Europe, Central.

Europe, Central--Ethnic relations--History--20th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xii, 313 p. ) maps ;

Other Title:

Activists on the language frontiers of imperial Austria

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Massachusetts : Harvard University Press, [2006]

Summary:

In the decades leading up to World War I, nationalist activists in imperial Austria labored to transform linguistically mixed rural regions into politically charged language frontiers. They hoped to remake local populations into polarized peoples and their villages into focal points of the political conflict that dominated the Habsburg Empire. But they often found bilingual inhabitants accustomed to cultural mixing who were stubbornly indifferent to identifying with only one group. Using examples from several regions, including Bohemia and Styria, Pieter Judson traces the struggle to consolidate the loyalty of local populations for nationalist causes. Whether German, Czech, Italian, or Slovene, the nationalists faced similar and unexpected difficulties in their struggle to make nationalism relevant to local concerns and to bind people permanently to one side. Judson examines the various strategies of the nationalist activists, from the founding of minority language schools to the importation of colonists from other regions, from projects to modernize rural economies to the creation of a tourism industry. By 1914, they succeeded in projecting a public perception of nationalist frontiers, but largely failed to nationalize the populations. Guardians of the Nation offers a provocative challenge to standard accounts of the march of nationalism in modern Europe.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Note on Language Use

Maps

ONE Languages, Territories, Politicians, and People

TWO Schoolhouse Fortresses

THREE Encounters on the Rural Frontier

FOUR Reluctant Colonists

FIVE Tourism to the Rescue

SIX Violence in the Village

SEVEN The First World War and Beyond

Abbreviations

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [261]-303) and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780674274327

0674274326

OCLC:

1285165893