From Peoples into Nations: A History of Eastern Europe

by John Connelly

Overview

A sweeping narrative history of Eastern Europe from the late eighteenth century to today

In the 1780s, the Habsburg monarch Joseph II decreed that henceforth German would be the language of his realm. His intention was to forge a unified state from his vast and disparate possessions, but his action had the opposite effect, catalyzing the emergence of competing nationalisms among his Hungarian, Czech, and other subjects, who feared that their languages and cultures would be lost. In this sweeping narrative history of Eastern Europe since the late eighteenth century, John Connelly connects the stories of the region's diverse peoples, telling how, at a profound level, they have a shared understanding of the past.

An ancient history of invasion and migration made the region into a cultural landscape of extraordinary variety, a patchwork in which Slovaks, Bosnians, and countless others live shoulder to shoulder and where calls for national autonomy often have had bloody effects among the interwoven ethnicities. Connelly traces the rise of nationalism in Polish, Austro-Hungarian, and Ottoman lands; the creation of new states after the First World War and their later absorption by the Nazi Reich and the Soviet Bloc; the reemergence of democracy and separatist movements after the collapse of communism; and the recent surge of populist politics throughout the region.

Because of this common experience of upheaval, East Europeans are people with an acute feeling for the precariousness of history: they know that nations are not eternal, but come and go; sometimes they disappear. From Peoples into Nations tells their story.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691167121
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	01/21/2020
Pages:	968
Sales rank:	657,318
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.40(h) x 2.40(d)

About the Author

John Connelly is the Sidney Hellman Ehrman Professor of History and director of the Institute of Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Captive University: The Sovietization of East German, Czech, and Polish Higher Education and From Enemy to Brother: The Revolution in Catholic Teaching on the Jews. He lives in Kensington, California.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

Part I The Emergence of National Movements

1 Peoples of East Central Europe 31

2 Ethnicity on the Edge of Extinction 63

3 Linguistic Nationalism 80

4 Nationality Struggles: From Idea to Movement 108

5 Insurgent Nationalism: Serbia and Poland 130

Part II The Decline of Empire and the Rise of Modern Politics

6 Cursed Were the Peacemakers : 1848 in East Central Europe 157

7 The Reform That Made the Monarchy Unreformable: The 1867 Compromise 187

8 The 1878 Berlin Congress: Europe's New Ethno-Nation-States 210

9 The Origins of National Socialism: Fin de Siècle Hungary and Bohemia 241

10 Liberalism's Heirs and Enemies: Socialism versus Nationalism 266

11 Peasant Utopias: Villages of Yesterday and Societies of Tomorrow 296

Part III Independent Eastern Europe

12 1919: A New Europe and Its Old Problems 327

13 The Failure of National Self-Determination 362

14 Fascism Takes Root: Iron Guard and Arrow Cross 390

15 Eastern Europe's Antifascism 409

Part IV Eastern Europe as Part of the Nazi and Soviet Empires

16 Hitler's War and Its East European Enemies 435

17 What Dante Did Not See: The Holocaust in Eastern Europe 465

18 People's Democracy: Early Postwar Eastern Europe 501

19 The Cold War and Stalinism 533

20 Destalinization: Hungary's Revolution 561

21 National Paths to Communism: The 1960s 590

22 1968 and the Soviet Bloc: Reform Communism 622

23 Real Existing Socialism: Life in the Soviet Bloc 648

Part V From Communism to Illiberalism

24 The Unraveling of Communism 685

25 1989 715

26 Eastern Europe Explodes: The Wars of Yugoslav Succession 741

27 Eastern Europe Joins Europe 763

Conclusion 787

Acknowledgments 801

Appendix: Tables 805

Abbreviations 811

Notes 813

Index 939

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"John Connelly has written a history of Eastern Europe that is vast in scope, yet rich in detail. The work of a skilled historian at the peak of his scholarly powers, From Peoples into Nations will no doubt be discussed and debated within the field—and beyond—for years to come."—Holly Case, author of The Age of Questions

"John Connelly's From Peoples into Nations combines the sweep of grand narrative with revealing, often touching detail. Connelly writes with passion, verve, erudition, and insight and he offers a compelling answer to the key question in Eastern European history: why ethnic nationalism remains the organizing principle of politics and culture in a region where nationalism has produced such tragic consequences. I can't recommend it highly enough."—Michael Ignatieff, president and rector of Central European University, Budapest

"In this powerful book, John Connelly makes sense of one of Europe's most complex regions for a new generation of readers. Often moving and always engaging, From Peoples into Nations will captivate both those familiar with old narratives about Eastern Europe and those looking for an introduction to the center of European political action and thought in the twentieth century."—Alison Frank Johnson, Harvard University

"From Peoples into Nations is a consistently interesting and lively narrative from a terrific and highly engaging writer. Connelly does much more than just tell the story of the making of contemporary Eastern Europe. He is a master at helping us understand events through his interpretations."—Norman M. Naimark, author of Genocide: A World History

"In this powerful synthesis of Eastern European history, John Connelly illuminates the region's common problems as well as its rich diversity. Everyone interested in Europe's past and present should read this book."—James J. Sheehan, Stanford University

Editorial Reviews

"If you want to understand why illiberal democracy is not the newest of ideas, or how a raft of leaders has emerged in Hungary, Poland and the Balkans who seem to echo a dark time in our continent’s history, this compelling book, covering the last 200 years in the region, is a good place to start. . . . Few recent works have made the past so relevant to our times."—-Victor Sebestyen, Sunday Times

"Connelly captures superbly the divergences and rivalries within his basket of nationalities: how little coordination took place between them; how little they recognised what he calls their ‘common predicament.’"—-R.J.W. Evans, Literary Review

"A rich narrative history of Central and Eastern Europe."—-Damir Marusic, Washington Examiner

From the Publisher

"[From Peoples into Nations] will doubtless emerge as a landmark contribution to the study of nationalism as a political force in Eastern Europe."

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