Nation and loyalty in a German-Polish borderland : Upper Silesia, 1848-1960 / Brendan Karch, Louisiana State University
"In the bloody twentieth-century battles over Central Europe's borderlands, Upper Silesians stand out for resisting pressure to become loyal Germans or Poles. This work traces nationalist activists' efforts to divide Upper Silesian communities, which were bound by their Catholic faith...
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| Main Authors: | Karch, Brendan (Author) |
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| Corporate Authors: | Deutsches Historisches Institut Washington DC (Issuing body) |
| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
| Published: | Washington, D.C. : German Historical Institute, 2018 Cambridge, UK ; New York, NY ; Port Melbourne ; New Delhi ; Singapore, 2018 |
| Series: | Publications of the German Historical Institute
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | Rezension (H-Soz-Kult) Inhaltsverzeichnis |
| Summary: | "In the bloody twentieth-century battles over Central Europe's borderlands, Upper Silesians stand out for resisting pressure to become loyal Germans or Poles. This work traces nationalist activists' efforts to divide Upper Silesian communities, which were bound by their Catholic faith and bilingualism, into two 'imagined' nations. These efforts, which ranged from the 1848 Revolution to the aftermath of the Second World War, are charted by Brendan Karch through the local newspapers, youth and leisure groups, neighborhood parades, priestly sermons, and electoral outcomes. As locals weathered increasing political turmoil and violence in the German-Polish contest over their homeland, many crafted a national ambiguity that allowed them to pass as members of either nation. In prioritizing family, homeland, village, class, or other social ties above national belonging, a majority of Upper Silesians adopted an instrumental stance towards nationalism. The result was a feedback loop between national radicalism and national skepticism"-- The battle before: Catholicism and the making of Upper Silesians, 1848-1890. - Nationalism's debut: imagining a Polish community, 1890-1914. - Breakdown: World War I and the Upper Silesian Plebiscite, 1914-1921. - The Weimar gap: democracy and nationalism, 1922-1933. - Reprieve: Jews between Germany, Poland, and the League of Nations. - The instrumental Volksgemeinschaft: making 'loyal' Germans, 1933-1944. - The postwar ultimatum: making 'loyal' Poles after 1945 |
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| Item Description: | Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 307-322 |
| Physical Description: | xv, 331 Seiten Illustrationen, Karten |
| ISBN: | 9781108487108 1108487106 |
