Czechoslovakia was so funny because in 90% of Czech writing from the period they've either forgotten Slovaks exist or only remember they exist halfway through and suddenly switch from talking about Czechs to Czechs and Slovaks
I feel like this is actually a great illustration of why Italy was so useless in WWII. It didn’t even really have the capacity to fight the total war that everyone else was fighting.
Have logged onto here for the first time in months and the main topic of conversation on Bluesky seems to be Bluesky
The dichotomy of Western civic & Eastern ethnic nationalism is both influential and enduring. Its origin lies in a fundamental misreading of Central European history, as an attempt to understand how it resulted in the catastrophy of WWII. Me for Aeon: aeon.co/essays/the-m...
Two distinct and conflicting forms of nationalism – civic and ethnic – helped create the nation-states of Europe
'Over its long and complex history, #Saxonyengelsbergideas.com/essays/saxon...@ljukic.bsky.social@hurstpublishers.bsky.social
The citizens of Saxony and Thuringia elected new state parliaments on 1 September, voting overwhelmingly for extremes of left and right. Over its long and complex history, Saxony has been home to alte...
I reviewed three recent histories of modern Germany for Newlines Magazine to see what they had to say about its winding road out of the darkness of WWII. For better or worse, they reveal an exceptional postwar experience that produced an unexceptional country. newlinesmag.com/review/looki...
Three new histories of the country since WWII reveal continuing debates about how its current incarnation came to be
For years, Putin has argued that Ukrainian nationhood is a Polish invention aimed at destroying a Russia of which Ukraine is an integral part. Strange as it sounds, he follows in a long Russian imperial tradition. My latest @engelsbergideas.bsky.socialengelsbergideas.com/essays/why-p...
Just as the Russian Empire claimed to be fighting Polish influence, Vladimir Putin has cast his soldiers as the liberators of Ukraine from domination by Poland. It is a distorted historical vision wit...
What are some of the best/peoples' favourite books on the Kingdom of Hungary in the dualist period from 1867-1918? Kind of shocked there doesn't seem to be (at least not a recent) synthesis focused purely on Hungary.