From Peoples into Nations

A History of Eastern Europe

John Connelly

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Hardback

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English

Princeton University Press
21 January 2020

History; General & world history; European history; 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000; Archaeology; Nationalism

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.

'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

By: John Connelly
Imprint: Princeton University Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 155mm,
ISBN: 9780691167121
ISBN 10: 0691167125
Pages: 824
Publication Date: 21 January 2020
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

John Connelly is professor of history and director of the Institute for East European, Eurasian, and Slavic 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.

Reviews for From Peoples into Nations: A History of Eastern Europe

[From Peoples into Nations] will doubtless emerge as a landmark contribution to the study of nationalism as a political force in Eastern Europe. * Survival: Global Politics and Strategy * 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