The Inconveniences of Nationality: German Bohemians, the Disintegration of the Habsburg Monarchy, and the Attempt to Create a "Sudeten German" Identity

In: Nationalities papers: the journal of nationalism and ethnicity, Band 27, Heft 3, S. 375-405

Abstract

The complex nature of different kinds of nationalism is discussed, focusing on the nationalism of the Sudenten Germans after 1918 & in the context of the failing Habsburg Monarchy concomitant with WWI. It is argued that Sudenten German nationalism swung back & forth between classic nationalistic secession demands & culturally based, moderate identifications with German Bohemian identity. The history of Bohemian Germans is reviewed, looking at how German identity in this region was formed & how Bohemians' national, regional, & state identities were separate from each other. The impact of WWI is addressed, as is the resulting nationalism of the Bohemians who found a solely German national identity limiting. It is contended that the Sudenten German case illustrates differences that need to be acknowledged between nationalism & national identity or consciousness. D. Weibel.