[Discussion] EUROPEAN FATHERLANDS THAT DISAPPEARED IN THE 20TH CENTURY

[sule tarakcioglu]

CONFERENCE OF THE EUROPEAN FATHERLANDS THAT DISAPPEARED IN THE 20TH=20
CENTURY CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS
DEADLINE *April 30, 2004*

Dr Tomasz Kamusella Dr Sergei Zhuk, fellows, John W Kluge Center,=20
Library of Congress, Washington DC, USA are in the preliminary stages of=20
organizing a conference on the European Fatherlands that disappeared in=20
the 20th c. Now we are looking for prospective members of the core group=20
who will meet for 10 days in May 2005 at Bellagio, Italy before the full=20
fledged conference is organized in 2006. The contributions will be=20
published as a book.

We are looking for interested scholars who could contribute:

   * opening essay on Joseph Roth and Istvan Bib=F3 concentrating on
     their mourning of Austria-Hungary and their criticisim of the
     successor 'little nation-states';
   * Austria-Hungary as a fatherland looking at it from the center of
     Vienna and/or Budapest;
   * Austria-Hungary as a fatherland but looking at it from the
     erstwhile periphery (eg Bukovina, Upper Hungary or Bosnia, for
     that matter);
   * Yugoslavia as a fatherland looking at it from the center of Belgrade=
;
   * Yugoslavia as a fatherland looking at it from the periphery (eg
     Macedonia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo or Croatia for that matter);
   * Czechoslovakia as a fatherland looking at it from the center of
     Prague and Bohemia;
   * Czechoslovakia as a fatherland looking at it from the periphery
     (especially Slovakia, but also Moravia and Silesia);
   * Carpathian Rus as a fatherland that achieved only a week-long
     independence in 1939 and used to change hands between
     Austria-Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, the Soviet Union and
     Ukraine.

We hope that the contributors may be scholars who besides their=20
scholarly expertise on the problematic would be able to draw on their=20
personal/family experiences caused by the disappearance of their=20
erstwhile fatherland. It is so because we would expect the contributions=20
to be readable essays that would mix the point of view of the average=20
man with historiography.

DEADLINE: *April 30, 2004*, due to the application procedure for the=20
Bellagio event.

REQUIREMENTS: please include:

   * short letter of interest, and
   * CV with the list of your publications.

ADDRESS FOR CORESPONDENCE
Dr Tomasz Kamusella, THRU AUG 2004 tkam@loc.gov , AFTER AUG 2004=20
tomek672@poczta.onet.pl
Dr Sergei Zhuk, THRU SEPT AUG 2004 szhu@loc.gov

DETAILED INFORMATION ON THE PROJECT

Conference and Book Project

Title: European Fatherlands That Disappeared in the 20th Century:=20
Nostalgia or Looking Back in Anger?

Editors: Tomasz Kamusella and Sergei Zhuk

Outline of the problematic: In Europe the 20th century was the age of=20
colossal changes. In 1918 Austria-Hungary and the Ottoman Empire broke=20
up. The Russian and German empires collapsed. In their place a plethora=20
of new nation-states emerged and the Soviet Union. The German Anschlu=DF=20
of Austria (1938) commenced the period of dramatic border changes during=20
World War II. Some states disappeared, some were created, while others=20
were seriously truncated or enlarged. The danse macabre of frontiers was=20
frozen upon the Allies' imposition of the Cold War order. The=20
overhauling of the extant borders started anew with the break-ups of the=20
Soviet bloc (1989), Yugoslavia (1990-?), the Soviet Union (1991) and=20
Czechoslovakia (1993).

The post-World War I changes replaced empires with nation-states and the=20
communist empire that, in vain, hoped to transcend nationalism and=20
imperialism. The westward expansion of the Soviet Union in 1945 did not=20
spread communist order but a communist-national order. The geopolitical=20
transformations of the 1990s made nationalism into the only source of=20
statehood legitimization. This short 20th century marked by the=20
transition from the a- or pre-national via the communist-national to the=20
national constitutes the background against which contributions are=20
painted.

So far much attention has been devoted to the questions:

   * why empires and some states disappeared;
   * why communism engulfed half of Europe;
   * why nationalism won the ideological struggle with communism;
   * and what these developments may mean for the future.

What is missing is the reflection on the fate of those inhabitants who=20
grew up and made their careers in the countries that disappeared. They=20
were loyal to their states and hoped to live their lives within the=20
network of stability these states provided. The sudden and completely=20
unexpected collapse of their fatherlands proved a shock to them. Not=20
even having left their homes the inhabitants were deserted by their own=20
states. Many would never come to terms with this loss. They would remain=20
eternal immigrants with no hope to return to their homelands that were=20
completely erased not only from the political map but also from the very=20
social reality. There are not any more Soviet people but the Russians,=20
the Ukrainians, the Uzbeks, the Georgians and many more. The nations of=20
the Czechs and the Slovaks replaced the Czechoslovaks. Similarly=20
Yugoslavs remain homeless their former state partitioned into the=20
nation-states of the Serbs, the Slovenes, the Croats and others.

Anther problem, which was prominent during 'the age of empires' and=20
still shapes mentality of small nations, is the relations between a=20
center and province (periphery) of the states. A legacy of imperial=20
centralism and cultural condescension of 'central elites' toward=20
provinces affected a development of national consciousness especially=20
among small nations for many years to come. New intellectual elites and=20
entire progress of the new post-imperial small nations still suffer=20
because of their 'provincialism.'

The tremendous loss of the world one knew and one expected to last for=20
centuries is an anathema to the current political elites. Frequently,=20
they justify the existence of the new states and the current policies in=20
opposition to the 'disappeared fatherlands'. These new politicians term=20
the erstwhile countries as 'prisons of nations', 'failed states' or=20
'rogue countries'. They live for the future and it will always look more=20
appealing when one denigrates the past. Few could oppose this=20
future-oriented thrust of events. If displeased with the present they=20
usually kept their opinions to themselves and muddled through. But in=20
these disappeared states of the past not everything was wrong even if=20
they happened to be as oppressive as the Soviet Union or East Germany.=20
And, above all, if one lived one's childhood, first love and youth in=20
such a country that is not around any more; what else can one recollect=20
with fondness natural to these periods of life, but one's fatherland=20
that is not?

The three renowned critics of the new, who sang qualified praises of the=20
disappeared European empires, were Joseph Roth, Istv=E1n Bib=F3, and=20
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. The first one attained posthumous worldwide fame=20
only in the 1990s. Suddenly, his elegiac stories and novels on=20
Austria-Hungary began to make sense to millions of readers all over the=20
globe. Bib=F3 wrote his seminal 1946 essay 'The Poverty of East European=20
Small States', having observed petty but murderous nationalisms that=20
followed the destruction of Austria-Hungary. Not surprisingly, these=20
small and constantly bickering nation-states had no necessary strength=20
or willingness to oppose together the two totalitarian juggernauts of=20
national socialism and communism that engulfed Central and Eastern=20
Europe from 1939 to 1989.

Solzhenitsyn, the bitterest critic of the Soviet Empire, contrasted the=20
positive moments of the Russian Empire before 1917 with the catastrophic=20
and anti-humane developments in post-Soviet Russia.

This partial redress of the black legend of Austria-Hungary and imperial=20
Russia was achieved during the 1990s. Similar analysis of other=20
disappeared states are still due though it is obvious that some black=20
legends do not veer much away from how life looked like in disappeared=20
states. But legends conveniently write out jarring details from the=20
grand picture they propagate.

Truth is better to a simplistic stereotype. Hence, this collection of=20
essays expedites this process of looking into the ironies and aspects=20
that official history and received opinion swept under the carpet of the=20
established view on the past. The standpoint from which the authors of=20
the contributions look at their disappeared fatherlands, is that of the=20
average man who had to shoulder the cost and burden of changes. The=20
average man knows best how the past compares to his current life and=20
remembers these details that never made it to textbooks and newspapers.=20
Often his memories are crucial for understanding what happened.

It is high time for the sustained reflection on the disappeared European=20
states of the 20th century, when the European Union enlarges with 10 new=20
members in May 2004. Small nation-states realized they have no chance of=20
going it alone in the new brave world of globalization. Size matters. On=20
the other hand, people do not wish their travels, thoughts, desires and=20
dreams to be limited by the national borders any more. Although there is=20
no end of the nation-state in sight, as some predicted in the 1990s, but=20
the national is gradually subjected to the supranational of the European=20
Union. A new quality is born. It is too early to say what it will be,=20
but one principle of the coming changes is clear. The new will not be=20
obliterating the past. The past in the form of the member nation-states=20
is incorporated into the European Union in an evolutionary manner.

Let us hope that no more states, fatherlands will suffer sudden,=20
unexpected and unexplained deaths that leave millions flabbergasted and=20
without homelands.

Contributions:

Scholars and thinkers who stem from or do research on the European=20
fatherlands that disappeared during the 20th century will write the=20
essays. They deftly combine the personal reflection with the scholarly=20
approach, their own experience of every-day life with theoretical=20
analysis. This allows preserving the academic value of these=20
contributions, while providing the reader with the picture of the past=20
to which he or she can relate at the level of everyday human experience.

Essays on the times and writings of Joseph Roth, Istv=E1n Bib=F3 and=20
Alexandr Solzhenitsyn open the volume, while the conclusion is naturally=20
devoted to the European Union as a new fatherland, which arose without=20
the necessity of destroying other fatherlands. Beyond the exclusivist=20
logic of nationalism, it turned out that one can enjoy several (often=20
spatially overlapping) fatherlands. At last, with the hindsight of two=20
World Wars, the Holocaust and numerous ethnic cleansings politicians=20
espoused this view too.

Other essays are devoted to the following fatherlands that disappeared:

Austria-Hungary (demise: 1918) - a view from the center=20
(Vienna/Budapest). Austria-Hungary (demise: 1918) - a view from the=20
periphery (some distant region [e.g. Bukovina] or a minority group [e.g.=20
Jews, Roma]). The Ottoman Empire (demise: 1923) - a view from the center=20
(Constantinople/Ankara). The Ottoman Empire (demise: 1923) - a view from=20
the periphery (the Balkan provinces and/or opinions of the=20
Turkish/Muslim minorities left behind). Carpathian Rus (birth and=20
demise: 1939). Prussia (demise: 1947 - dissolved by the Allies, its=20
territory incorporated into Poland and the Soviet Union, the population=20
- expelled). East Germany (demise: 1990 - incorporation into the Federal=20
Republic of Germany). Yugoslavia (demise: 1990-?) - a view from the=20
center (Belgrade). Yugoslavia (demise: 1990-?) - a view from the=20
periphery (e.g. Macedonia). The Russian Empire/Soviet Union (demise:=20
1991) - a view from the center (Moscow and Saint Petersburg). The=20
Russian Empire/Soviet Union (demise: 1991) - a view from the European=20
periphery (Ukraine). The Russian Empire/Soviet Union (demise: 1991) - a=20
view from the Eurasian periphery (Kazakhstan and/or Uzbekistan).=20
Czechoslovakia (demise: 1993) - a view from the center (Prague).=20
Czechoslovakia (demise: 1993) - a view from the periphery (Bratislava).

The total of 15 or 16 contributions of around 10-15 pages each, together=20
with the introduction and index, adds up to 250 - 300 pages.

Contributors:

Scholars and thinkers who stem from or do research on the=20
above-mentioned disappeared fatherlands. Appropriate contributors will=20
be approached via the institutional networks available to the Editors as=20
well as through posting a call for papers via the Internet. Preferably=20
the contributors will write in English. But in few cases it may be=20
necessary to commission translation of some crucial essays. The authors=20
will meet during the special international conference where they discuss=20
their papers and select an appropriate material for a publication.

Dr Tomasz Kamusella

Dr Sergei Zhuk Email: tkam@loc.gov, szhu@loc.gov=20
<mailto:tkam@loc.gov,%20szhu@loc.gov>