Table Of ContentCreating Nationality in Central
Europe, 1880–1950
IntheimmediateaftermathoftheFirstWorldWar,UpperSilesiawasthesite
of the largest formal exercise in self-determination in European history, the
1921 Plebiscite. This asked the inhabitants of Europe’s second largest indus-
trialregionthedeceptivelystraightforwardquestionofwhethertheypreferred
tobeGermansorPoles,butspectacularlyfailedtoclarifytheirnationalidentity,
demonstrating instead the strength of transnational, regionalist and sub-national
allegiances, and of allegiances other than nationality, for instance, religion.
Upper Silesia, which waspartitioned and re-partitioned between1922 and1945,
and subjected to Czechization, Germanization, Polonization, forced emigration,
expulsionandextermination,thusillustratesthelimitsofnation-buildingprojects
andnation-buildingnarrativesimposedfromoutside.Thisbookexploresarange
oftopicsrelatedtonationalityissuesinUpperSilesia,puttingforwardtheresultsof
extensive new research. It highlights the flaws at the heart of attempts to shape
Europeascomposedofhomogeneouslynationalpolitiesandcomparesthefateof
Upper Silesia with the many other European regions where similar problems
occurred.
James Bjork is a senior lecturer at King’s College London, UK.
Tomasz Kamusella is a reader at the University of St Andrews, UK.
Tim Wilson is a lecturer at the University of St Andrews, UK.
Anna Novikov is a research fellow at the Cologne Centre for Central and
Eastern Europe, University of Cologne, Germany.
Routledge Studies in the History of Russia and Eastern Europe
1 Modernizing Muscovy 8 Cossacks and the Russian
Reform and social change in Empire, 1598–1725
seventeenth-century Russia Manipulation, rebellion and
Edited by Jarmo Kotilaine and expansion into Siberia
Marshall Poe Christoph Witzenrath
2 The USA in the Making of 9 The Many Deaths of Tsar
the USSR Nicholas II
The Washington conference, Relics, remains and
1921–1922, and ‘uninvited Russia’ the Romanovs
Paul Dukes Wendy Slater
3 Tiny Revolutions in Russia 10 Popular Religion in Russia
Twentieth century Soviet and ‘Double belief’ and the making of
Russian history in anecdotes an academic myth
Bruce Adams Stella Rock
4 The Russian General Staff and 11 Eastern Christianity and the Cold
Asia, 1800–1917 War, 1945–91
Alex Marshall Edited by Lucian N. Leustean
5 Soviet Eastern Policy and 12 The Caucasus under
Turkey, 1920–1991 Soviet Rule
Soviet foreign policy, Turkey Alex Marshall
and communism
Bülent Gökay 13Rural WomenintheSoviet Union
and Post-Soviet Russia
6 The History of Siberia Liubov Denisova
Igor V. Naumov Edited and translated by
(Edited by David N. Collins) Irina Mukhina
7RussianMilitaryIntelligenceinthe 14 Reassessing Cold
War with Japan, 1904–05 War Europe
Secret operations on land and at sea Edited by Sari Autio-Sarasmo
Evgeny Sergeev and Katalin Miklóssy
15 The Baltic States from the Soviet 22 The Warsaw Pact Reconsidered
Union to the European Union International relations in Eastern
Identity, discourse and power in the Europe, 1955–1969
Post-Communist transition of Laurien Crump
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania
Richard Mole 23 Reassessing Orientalism
Interlockingorientologiesduringthe
16 Life Stories of Soviet Women Cold War
The interwar generation Edited by Michael Kemper and
Melanie Ilic Artemy M. Kalinovsky
17 Brezhnev and the Decline of the 24 Governing Post-Imperial Siberia
Soviet Union and Mongolia, 1911–1924
Thomas Crump Buddhism, socialism, and
nationalism in state and
18 Women and Transformation autonomy building
in Russia Ivan Sablin
Edited by Aino Saarinen,
Kirsti Ekonen and 25 Creating Nationality in Central
Valentina Uspenskaia Europe, 1880–1950
Modernity, violence and (be)longing
19 Competition in Socialist Society in Upper Silesia
Edited by Katalin Miklóssy and Edited by James Bjork,
Melanie Ilic Tomasz Kamusella, Timothy Wilson,
and Anna Novikov
20 Young Jewish Poets Who Fell
as Soviet Soldiers in the Second 26 The Russian Liberals and the
World War Revolution of 1905
Rina Lapidus Peter Enticott
21 The Vernaculars of Communism 27 The Politics of Culture in Soviet
Language, ideology and power in Azerbaijan, 1920–40
the Soviet Union Audrey L Altstadt
Edited by Petre Petrov and
Lara Ryazanova-Clarke
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Creating Nationality in Central
Europe, 1880–1950
Modernity, violence and (be)longing in
Upper Silesia
Edited by
James Bjork, Tomasz Kamusella,
Tim Wilson and Anna Novikov
Add Add Add
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Firstpublished2016
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BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Names:Bjork,JamesE.,editor.|Kamusella,Tomasz,editor.|Wilson,Tim,
1971–editor.|Novikov,Anna,editor.
Title:CreatingnationalityinCentralEurope,1880–1950:modernity,
violenceand(be)longinginUpperSilesia/editedbyJamesBjork,
TomaszKamusella,TimothyWilson,andAnnaNovikov.
Description:NewYork,NY:Routledge,2016.|Series:Routledgestudiesin
thehistoryofRussiaandEasternEurope;25|Includesbibliographical
referencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2015032543|ISBN9780415835961(hardback)|
ISBN9781315641324(ebook)
Subjects:LCSH:Silesia,Upper(PolandandCzechRepublic)–Politicsand
government–20thcentury.|Silesia,Upper(PolandandCzechRepublic)
–Politicsandgovernment–19thcentury.|Nationalism–Silesia,Upper
(PolandandCzechRepublic)–History.|Silesians–Ethnicidentity.
Classification:LCCDK4600.S468C742016|DDC320.5409438/509041
–dc23
LCrecordavailableathttp://lccn.loc.gov/2015032543
ISBN:978-0-415-83596-1(hbk)
ISBN:978-1-315-64132-4(ebk)
TypesetinTimesNewRoman
byTaylor&FrancisBooks
Contents
List of figures ix
List of contributors x
Preface xiii
Introduction 1
TOMASZKAMUSELLA,TIMWILSON,ANNANOVIKOVANDJAMESBJORK
1 Upper Silesia in modern Central Europe: on the significance of
the non-national/a-national in the age of nations 8
TOMASZKAMUSELLA
2 Fatal violence in Upper Silesia, 1918–1922 53
TIMWILSON
3 ‘Scoundrels’ and desperate mothers: gendering German and
Polish propaganda in the Upper Silesian plebiscite, 1919–1921 87
ALLISONRODRIGUEZ
4 Monoglot norms, bilingual lives: readership and linguistic loyalty
in Upper Silesia 106
JAMESBJORK
5 Creating a citizen: politics and the education system in the
post-plebiscite Silesian Voivodeship 128
ANNANOVIKOV
6 Polish nationalism and national ambiguity in Weimar
Upper Silesia 149
BRENDANKARCH
7 The Nazi ‘recovered territories’ myth in the eastern Upper
Silesian borderland, 1939–1945 170
PETERPOLAK-SPRINGER
viii Contents
8 Upper Silesia in the age of the ethnically homogeneous
nation-state, 1939–49 185
HUGOSERVICE
9 Ascribing identity: public memory of the plebiscite and uprisings 210
KAISTRUVE
Index 230
List of figures
2.1 Violent fatalities from the German Revolution to the end of
German rule: November 1918–January 1920 60
2.2 Violent fatalities from the start of Allied rule until the Third
Polish Uprising: February 1920–April 1921 65
2.3 Violent fatalities in the end period of Allied rule:
July 1921–July 1922 69
2.4 ViolentfatalitiesbymonthinUpperSilesia:November1918–July
1922 71
