Nation and Memory in Eastern Europe (19 th and 20 th century) Christoph Mick

1. Nation and Memory in Eastern Europe (19th and 20th century)Christoph Mick Lecture 2 Nation and Nation Building II Week 3

2. Outline 1. Introduction 2. Nations as Imagined Communities 3. Miroslav Hroch and the ‘Small Nations‘ 4. Conclusion

3. A nation is (Miroslav Hroch) a large social group integrated by • a combination of several kinds of objective relationships (economic, political, linguistic, cultural, religious, geographical, historical), and their • subjective reflection in collective consciousness.

4. Particularly important roles play • a “memory” of some common past; • a density of linguistic or cultural ties enabling a higher degree of social communication within the group than beyond it; • a conception of the equality of all members of the group organized as a civil society Miroslav Hroch, From National Movement to the Fully/Formed Nation, p. 61

5. Lateral Ethnies Nation building from above Essential role of the state and his administration Vertical Ethnies Nation building from below Essential role of intelligentsia, common myths, symbols and other cultural products Anthony D. Smith: The Origins of Nations, pp. 109-123

6. “A nationalist argument is a political doctrine built upon three basic assertions: • There exists a nation with an explicit and peculiar character. • The interests and values of this nation take priority over all other interests and values. • The nation must be as independent as possible. This usually requires at least the attainment of political sovereignty.” • John Breuilly, Nationalism and the State (Chicago, 1985), p. 3

7. Types of Nationalism (Michael Hechter) • State-building nationalism: England, France • Peripheral nationalism: Quebec, Scotland, Catalonia • Irredentist nationalism: Sudeten Germans, Hungarians in Romania • Unification nationalism: Germany, Italy Michael Hechter, Containing Nationalism (Oxford, New York, 2000), pp. 15-17

8. Outline 1. Introduction 2. Nations as Imagined Communities 3. Miroslav Hroch and the ‘Small Nations‘ 4. Conclusion

9. Benedict Anderson A nation is “an imagined community – and imagined as both inherently limited and sovereign.” Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Revised edition (London, New York, 1991)

10. Benedict Anderson • Preconditions of nations • Capitalism as a modern system of production and productive relations • Print as a modern technology of communication • Human linguistic diversity

11. Benedict Anderson The nation as a community imagined through language is simultaneously open and closed “For it shows from the start the nation was conceived in language, not in blood, and that one could be ‘invited into’ the imagined community.”

12. Outline 1. Introduction 2. Nations as Imagined Communities 3. Miroslav Hroch and the ‘Small Nations‘ 4. Conclusion

14. 1900

15. Nation building in non-dominant ethnies (Phase A) Groups in the ethnic community start to discuss their own ethnicity and conceive of it as a nation-to-be: scholarly enquiry into and dissemination of an awareness of the linguistic, cultural, social and historical attributes of the nation-to-be (Phase B) A new range of activists try to “awaken” national consciousness and to persuade as many members as possible of the ethnic group – the potential compatriots – that it is important to gain all the attributes of a fully-fledged nation: (1) development of a national culture based on the local language and its use in education, administration and economy, (2) civil rights and self-administration, (3) creation of a complete social structure – beginning of a national movement (Phase C) A mass movement is formed which pursues these aims: a fully-fledged social structure of the would-be nation comes into being Miroslav Hroch, From National Movement to the Fully-Fledged Nation, pp. 61-62

16. Four types of National Movement in non-dominant ethnies (Miroslav Hroch) • The inception of national agitation (Phase B) began under the old regime (absolutism), Phase C started in a time of revolutionary changes, the national leaders formulated their national programme in a time of political upheaval: Czech, Hungarians (1848 revolution) • Phase B started under the old regime, but Phase C (mass movement) was delayed after a constitutional revolution either by uneven economic development or foreign oppression: Lithuania, Latvia, Slovenia, Croatia – Slovakia, Ukraine • Phase C started under the old regime, before the establishment of a civil society or constitutional order: Serbia, Greece, Bulgaria • Phase B (national agitation) began under constitutional conditions and Phase C was sometimes early reached (Basque, Catalonia), after a long delay (Flanders) or not at all (Wales, Scotland, Britanny)

17. Outline 1. Introduction 2. Nations as Imagined Communities 3. Ethno-Symbolism 4. Miroslav Hroch and the ‘Small Nations‘ 5. Conclusion

18. Pattern of a successful national movement (M. Hroch) • A crisis of legitimacy • A certain amount of vertical social mobility (educated people from the non-dominant group) • High level of social communication (literacy, schooling, market relations) • Nationally relevant conflicts of interest