Imperial Rule
Edited by:
Alexei Miller is Professor of History at Central
European University, formerly research fellow at the
Russian Academy of the Sciences, and
Alfred J. Rieber is Professor of History at Central
European University, Budapest.
Renowned academics compare major features of imperial
rule in the 19th century, reflecting a significant shift
away from nationalism and toward empires in the studies
of state building. The book responds to the current
interest in multi-unit formations, such as the European
Union and the expanded outreach of the United States.
National historical narratives have systematically marginalized
imperial dimensions, yet empires play an important role.
This book examines the methods discerned in the creation
of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Ottoman Empire, the Hohenzollern
rule and Imperial Russia. It inspects the respective
imperial elites in these empires, and it details the
role of nations, religions and ideologies in the legitimacy
of empire building, bringing the Spanish Empire into
the analysis. The final part of the book focuses on
modern empires, such as the German "Reich."
The essays suggest that empires were more adaptive and
resilient to change than is commonly thought.
"It is perhaps appropriate that this new collection
of essays should issue from the Central European University,
itself a production ot postimperial Mitteleuropa.
The broad perspective and comparative method used in
many of these essays, their diverse foci, and the international
roster of authors all add to the book's interest and
value.
This collection brings together new insights, methodologies,
and views of how empires work and what constituted an
empire. For anyone wanting a better grasp of this complex
phenomenon or to get acquainted with the best recent
scholarship on the topic, the volume is a must read."
- The American Historical Review
"For historians of all the major empires treated
here, there are many exciting suggestions of new research
prospects; for scholars of state formations generally,
imperial rule is posited as not always so drastically
different from the "modern" nation-state orientation
of our presentist social scienses (including, by the
way, history)". - Slavic Review
"Offers a helpful scan of the imperial disposition
in this period, focusing in particular on the cases
of four intertwined empires in central and eastern Europe
(Tsarist Russia, the Ottoman Empire, the German Empire,
and the Habsburg monarchy).
Some of the essays are truly outstanding. The comparative
emphasis is valuable, as is the editors' invitation
that we approach the nineteenth-century empires as four
members of an "imperial macrosystem", deeply
entangled with each other as partners, rivals, pupils,
and models. This macrosystem proved more flexible and
adaptive in its response to the rising pressures of
nineteenth century nationalism than is usually presumed.
And this is a valuable observation." - The Russian
Review
"Renowned
academics compare major features of imperial rule in
the 19th century, reflecting a significant shift away
from nationalism and toward empires in the studies of
state building. The book responds to the current interest
in multi-unit formations, such as the European Union
and the expanded outreach of the United States."
- Amazon (from
a reader's review)
Contents
Introduction I. Nationalism and Imperial
Rule The Empire and the Nation
in the Imagination of Russian Nationalism, Alexei Miller.
The Russians and the Turks: Imperialism and Nationalism
in the Era of Empires. Norman Stone, Sergei Podbolotov,
Murat Yasar. Imperial instead of National History: Positioning
Modern German History on the Map of European Empires.
Philipp Ther. II. Legitimacy and Imperial Rule
Justifying Political Power in 19th Century Europe: the
Habsburg Monarchy and Beyond. Maciej Janowski. Schism
Once Removed: Sects, State Authority, and Meanings of
Religious Toleration in Imperial Russia. Paul W. Werth.
Redefining Identities in the late Ottoman Empire: Policies
of Conversion and Apostasy. Selim Deringil. III.
Core and Periphery Empire on Europe's Periphery:
Russian and Western Comparisons. Dominic Leven. The
Spanish Empire and its End: a Comparative View in Nineteenth
and Twentieth Century Europe. Sebastian Balfour. The
Russian-American Company as a Colonial Contractor for
the Russian Empire. Ilya Vinkovetsky. Comparative Ecology
of Complex Frontiers. Alfred J. Rieber. Index
2004
220 pages
ISBN 978-963-9241-92-3 cloth $47.95 / €39.95 / £32.00
ISBN 978-963-9241-98-5 paperback $24.95 / €19.95 /
£15.95
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