Statehood Before and Beyond Ethnicity: Minor States in Northern and Eastern Europe, 1600-2000Linas Eriksonas, Leos Müller Today's world is a world of nation-states; few have survived since the early modern period, some have existed for three hundred years, most came into being during the second part of the last century. Yet the equation between the state and the nation does not go back far in history, despite the prevailing tendency to view the state as closely linked to ethnicity. To challenge the latter this book attempts to examine statehood separately from the concept of ethnicity; it asks what is non-ethnic about statehood by looking at 'statehood before and beyond ethnicity'. A non-ethnic statehood is analysed in two forms: as a historical phenomenon at the time of the emergence of the early modern state (Part One) and as a historical tradition which had been pursued by the nation-builders in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries (Part Two). Instead of looking at great powers as traditional models of statehood, individual chapters focus on minor and less familiar states in Northern and Eastern Europe from the period c. 1600-2000, including Belgium, Bohemia, Greece, the Netherlands, Romania, Poland-Lithuania, Serbia and Montenegro, Sweden, Scotland and Transylvania. |
Contents
Acknowledgements | 9 |
Questions of Ethnic and Civil Nationalism | 25 |
National Ethnicity and the Modern State | 37 |
Jean Bodins Six Books of the Commonwealth | 53 |
The Idea of State and Nation in the Writings | 67 |
Statehood Nationhood and Treason | 85 |
Nationalist Arguments as Instruments | 131 |
Transylvania Between the Ottoman | 151 |
The Past of PolandLithuania | 219 |
The Austrian State Idea | 243 |
NationStates and Irredentism | 275 |
Constructing the National Majority | 303 |
From Ethnic Nationhood | 319 |
A Nation That Failed to Be Ethnic | 341 |
The Pillars of Nation Inside the Dutch State | 353 |
National Days and NationBuilding | 363 |
International Rivalry and State Identity | 159 |
The Lombard League Traditions | 179 |
About the Contributors | 387 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
According American argued arguments attempt Austrian authority battle became Bodin Bohemian British called celebrations central century church claims concept considered constitutional continuity council created cultural Czech defined described discussion dominant early modern Empire English established ethnic Europe European example existence fact followed force France French German Greece Greek groups idea identity important included independence interests interpretation issue Italy king kingdom land language later liberal living Lombard London Macedonia means memory Milan Milanese military minority movement national identity nationalist nature origin Parliament past patriotic period Poland Polish political present question quoted reference region relations religious remained represented Romanian royal rule Scotland social society statehood struggle subjects Sweden Swedish symbols territory tion traditions Transylvania treason United University Press wars World