| Popis: |
In this paper, I will look at the ways in which historians working on Czech nationalism differed from the mainstream that used to – and perhaps still does – favor the prolonged decline thesis. I will argue that for all the details with which hitherto written monographs have enriched our understanding of the Habsburg state and its relationship with numerous component nationalities, as of yet more questions have been raised than have been answered. This paper will rst seek to present a brief survey of the English language historiography on the rise of nationalism in the post-1848 Habsburg Empire. I examine the changing perceptions in 20th century scholarship, mainly from the 1930s until the present, vis-à-vis the role of liberalism in the Czech National Revival, the impact of Ausgleich on other non-German non-Magyar subjects of Cis-Leithania, and the ensuing political conict over imperial organization on ethnic versus historic lines. Although this subject relates closely to such over-studied questions as the "viability of the Empire," it touches on a number of other issues: How effective was Franz Joseph in his domestic policies regarding the administration of the Czech lands? How modern was the late Habsburg Empire in its dealings with nationalities compared to its West European contemporaries? Ultimately, was the Habsburg monarchy's fate unquestionably doomed to oblivion due to its static structure in an exponentially growing world system, or was its downfall an abrupt incident, which owed more to its defeat in World War I than to its own inner contradictions? |
