The Geography of Post-Socialist Central and Eastern Europe

1. The Geography of Post-Socialist Central and Eastern Europe Lecture 7 Ethnicity in Central and Eastern Europe Hilary Term 2008

2. Outline of Lecture Nationalism defined in 19th century History of Nationalism in the CEE before Communism Empires, Between the Wars, Nazism Nationalism and Communism Nationalism in the 1980s Theories Experiences

3. Nationalism Defined

4. Some Views Sense of a common past Common language, kinship, sense of belonging, culture, traditions Territorial traditions Principle of vision and division of the social world (Pierre Bordieux) Romantic vision of statehood, voice, independence

5. History of Nationalism in the CEE before Communism

6. Before World War I The slow decline of the Ottoman Empire The simultaneous slow disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian Empire Imperial rulers had not been concerned with homogenisation Ethnicity and aspiration for political independence mingled before WWI

7. States and Ethnicity in 1900

8. Hungarians in Slovakia Troubled relations and boundaries during decline of the Austro-Hungarian empire Hungarianisation of power in East, with Slovaks losing territory, becoming minority After WWI in Hungary, Slovaks gained status in new state with Czechs But Hungarian minority in Slovak areas lost all rights of citizenship

9. Division of Hungary, 1921

10. Between the Wars Central and Eastern European claims to territorial unification 19th early 20th century Independence of Serbia, Poland, Albania States emerge after World War I

11. Events across CEE and Balkans Nazi rule and new dislocations: In 1938 Slovaks gain autonomy from Czechs, who are occupied 1989-1990 Revolutions across CEE restore ethnically motivated desire for separate statehood 1991 Establishment of Independent States

12. Nationalism and Communism

13. After WWII Post-war settlements�further dislocation 1945 Yugoslavia created 1945-47 CEE dominated by Soviet Union Attempted revolutions 1956 Poland and Hungary 1968 Prague Spring 1979-1980 Rise of Solidarity in Poland

14. Communist Ethnicity Theory Stalinist state was justified as nationalist in form, socialist in content Depolitization of ethnicity

15. Particularly in Balkans Socialism allowed different groups within ethnically separate communities to combine and fuse Each group preserved its own separate identity As for the past 500 years, the Balkans were the subject of treaties and adjustment policies

16. Nationalism and Religion under Communism The range of suppression Albania, end of religion in 1967, priests executed, largely Moslem population deprived of possibilities of workshop In Poland, the Catholic Church remained a pillar of the state and strong source of opposition Elsewhere, religious practice was discouraged but not eliminated, and it revived in 1980s

17. Nationalist Movements in Yugoslavia 1960s and 1970s Croatian Nationalism Loose Federation Determination by Tito that after his death, the Presidency would rotate among the Federative units

18. Why Nationalism in the 1980s?

19. Ethnic diversity at the start of transition Poland Poles and Polish speaking 99.5% Czechoslovakia Czech (63%); Slovak (32%); Hungarian (4%) Hungary Hungarian (93%); German, Slovak and Romanian (2%); Roma (4.7%) Romania Romanian (79%); Hungarian (10%); Roma (10%); German (1%); Bulgaria Bulgarian (92%); Turkish (5%); Jewish, Armenian or Greek (2.7%) Yugoslavia Serbian (35%); Croat (19%); Turks, Roma, Slovaks, Romanians (12.8%); Muslim (8.5%); Slovenes (7.7%); Albanian (7.3%); Macedonian (5.5%); Montenegrin (2.6%); Hungarian (1.8%)

20. Globalization 20th century globalisation of financial networks, international organisation, border spanning jurisdictions, mass culture Beyond the nation-state: institutionalised supranationality

21. Global Issues: Beyond Nations Drug trafficking, ecological problems, nuclear weaponry Individual rights in a democracy supercede rights of ethnic groups Human Rights International Courts

22. Why, then, the Reemergence of Nationalism? Is it due the re-emergence of historical nationalisms? Is it due to unresolved problems from the past? Is it due to new problems, with popular feeling using symbols from the past for new objectives?

23. Some Political Analysis Sfikas, Williams, Parrot, et al Re-emergence of historically unresolved problems Different country experiences show impact of new policies Economic crisis has social spillovers Conclusions: these are the same impulses, adjusted to new historical situations and new forces, such as�

24. Theory: Triadic Nationalisms in the 21st century Links between National minorities (weakened under Communism) Claims regarding a core nation in ethnocultural terms Nationalising new states Strengthened bonds, which had been weakened during modernisation/communism Although granting individualistic democracy

25. Theories involving the Diaspora External national homelands Transborder nationalisms, where homeland nationalisms assert right, or obligation, to monitor, promote the welfare, support activities and claims, protect the interests of ethnonational kin in other states

26. Post-Modern theories Brubaker, Olson, Bordieux and others Shifting and uncertain reality, permeable borders, networks and agents can change dynamics Nationalism neither ended nor was reborn in the 1980s Collectivist behaviour is rational

27. Post-Modern Assumptions Collectivist behaviour is rational (Olson) Nothing is clear or simple: claims conflict and shift Political use of symbols Nation is a concept continuously available, endemic in all historical eras, a category of thought and discourse Representations are not essentially historical or modern

28. The Experience in the CEE

29. Dislocation and Transition Tens of mlns of people became citizens and residents of states where the main ethnicity was different than their own Citizens were mismatched by borders Russians now had their own state, but at considerable cost to territory and prestige

31. Ethnicity and politics in SEE transition Ex-communists used nationalism to hang on to political power; distorted democratic development Direct rule by authoritarian nationalists, as in Serbia and Croatia Ex-communists, using nationalist symbols, merged with the former opposition (Ukraine) Nationalism provides a common discourse between old elites and opposition

32. Isetbegovic: Islam between East and West (Bosnian)

33. Croatia and Serbia Ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Kosovo New states initially drew on supportive structures in Stalinism Control over the instruments of state enforcement (army and police) and the media

34. Milosevic in Serbia Broke taboos of Communism -- Invoked ethnic fears, hatreds Focused on the Albanian population in Kosovo Defeated opposition within ranks and in Montenegro and Vojvodina, annexing these two autonomous provinces Aggressive campaign against Croatia and Bosnia, identified as historical enemies Use of mass media

35. Milosevic�s Supporters: Berane in 2000

36. Tudjman in Croatia Transformation from Communist general to nationalist politician Voters and citizens were marginalised In the state of emergency, nationalism was proposed as the practical meaning of democracy

37. Kravchuk in Ukraine Kravchuk sealed alliance between the opposition, whose nationalism combined with a democratic core, and former Stalinist apparat The bureaucracy rallied around the nationalism and opposition to Russian dominance Popularity of independent statehood

38. Orange: Ukraine Regionalism of ethnicity Role of the Constitutional Court: Trust, legitimacy Territoriality of statehood�ethnic Ukrainian and western Russian-speaking Ukrainians unite

39. Nationalism in East Germany Opposition-led democratic revolt tore down Berlin wall Nationalism undercut by western and opposition leaders Slogans demobilized East Germans Transition from Wir sind das Volk to Wir sind ein Volk Renunciation of sovereignty by East Germans

40. Nationalism in Czechoslovakia Czech/Slovak democratisation was a model of civic reform Nationalism, however, had institutional roots Federal structure Authoritarian politics Break-up: No vote or referendum Czechs and Slovaks, independently polled, opposed break-up

41. Nationalism and Democracy State socialism fostered ethnic nationalism and political forces used this in non-democratic means These activated forces continue to cause obstacles to democratic development in Slovakia and smoothing out of nationalist tensions against, particularly, the Roma in both countries

42. Nationalism in the Baltics Non-Baltic minorities: In Estonia, 600,000 out of 1,600,000 In Latvia, 48% In Lithuania, only 20% Citizenship Issue Restrictions everywhere except in Lithuania, to those residing before Soviet occupation, ie, excluding Russians Applications for citizenship made difficult, in Latvia, a quota of 2000 per year

43. Western Acceptance of Ethnically determined Statehood By the Dayton Accord, 1995, over Bosnia, western powers endorsed the ethnic idea Bosnia was split essentially along ethnic lines Croatia and Serbia formed by conclusion of military struggle

44. Slovakia and Hungarians in 1990s During the Velvet Revolution of 1989, Slovak policies toward Hungarians became unclear Attention devoted to division from Czechs After 1993, during state-building ethnic determination emphasised over civic

45. Linguistic discrimination Hungarians almost 11 % of population Lack of clarity continued until Language law of 1995 Hungarians became Hungarian-speaking Slovaks Slovak made the language of state, overturning a 1990 law on multi-lingualism

46. Albania Greeks are the substantial minority with some Slavs, Roma, Armenians and Turks Moslem predominance As elsewhere in Balkans, assimilation had not been practiced The road to pluralistic democracy was made difficulty by large conservative rural population

47. Albania: the Past Xoxha�s rule in Communist era had been totalitarian Contact with outside world suppressed No freedoms; religion banned This ended in long general strike against Communists

48. Albania: the Greeks After Xoxha�s death in 1985, relations with Greece improved under Alia, as did position of minorities A civic human rights organisation, Omonia, formed to protect rights of minority in 1990 As land reform moved forward, however, Greeks were removed from land, and situation became unclear Much variation depended on political relations with Greece

49. Albania: the Albanian Diaspora Albanian government did not concern itself with Kosovo in the Communist era Yugoslav possession was troubled 1988 demonstrations human rights violations accumulated

50. Albania: Unification? Democratic post-Communist government talked about greater Albania New democratic regime in 1990s (initially under Berisha), however, did not wish to put at risk of civil disorder neighboring states and Albania during transition

51. Conclusions Re-emergence of nationalism in 21st century Complex causes: historical roots, symbols, elite responses to transition, political dislocations, triadic nationalist forces Political and ethnic factors differed by country, by region Local solutions were required because of intensity of political problems

52. Conclusions, cont. Local solutions are dominant Western powers largely accept and endorse them This led to support for the independence of Montenegro and then Kosovo, once independence seemed the locally dictated solution