Workers and Nationalism
Tells the story of how nationalism spread among industrial workers in central Europe in the twentieth century, addressing the far-reaching effects, including the democratization of Austrian politics, the collapse of internationalist socialist solidarity before World War I, and the twentieth-century triumph of Social Democracy in much of Europe.
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What makes nationalism so appealing to ordinary people? Are they manipulated by nationalist elites, or has their level of nationalist commitment been grossly exaggerated? Workers and Nationalism offers a different answer, showing that, in the early twentieth century, industrial workers in central Europe became nationalists in their own, class-specific ways, which have been overlooked. In fact, nationalist movements were (and are) often internally divided, with fierce competition over their leadership. Revealing the rich and neglected culture of one of modern Europe's largest workers' movements, this volume shows that ordinary workers felt empowered to claim leadership of the Czech and German nations in multi-ethnic Habsburg Austria. This had far-reaching effects, including the democratization of Austrian politics, the collapse of internationalist socialist solidarity before World War I, and the twentieth-century triumph of Social Democracy in much of Europe.
