Table Of ContentOUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,7/4/2022,SPi
Paths out of the Apocalypse
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,7/4/2022,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,7/4/2022,SPi
Paths out of the
Apocalypse
Physical Violence in the Fall and Renewal
–
of Central Europe, 1914 1922
Č
OTA KONRÁD AND RUDOLF KU ERA
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,7/4/2022,SPi
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Acknowledgments
Althoughitstitlepagelistsonlyourtwonames,thisbookwouldneverhavecome
about without generous supportfrom many institutions,colleagues,andfriends.
Firstofall,wewouldliketothanktheCzechScienceFoundation,whosefinancial
support made possible the archival research and other work essential for the
preparationofthis book.Anotherwordofthanksgoestoourtwohomeinstitu-
tions,theMasarykInstituteandArchivesoftheCzechAcademyofSciencesand
the Faculty of Social Sciences of Charles University, which over the course of
severalyearscreatedastimulatingenvironmentforresearchandprovideduswith
thenecessaryfreedomforourefforts.VáclavŠmidrkal,asthethirdparticipantin
the above project, contributed to all our research, participated actively in our
frequentdebates,andhelped ustostraightenoutourthoughts farmorethanhe
himselfwouldbewillingtoadmit.Thisbookwouldnotevenhavebeenconceiv-
able without the generous cooperation of a number of archives and libraries,
which were always willing to assist us in our research and are all named in the
bibliography of the sources and literature. Particular thanks are due to Harald
Toniatti,who,astheDirectoroftheStateArchivesofBolzano/Bozen,providedus
withexcellentconditionsforstudy.
In the course of our work on this book, we regularly tried to present partial
results to Czech and foreign scholars by attending conferences, participating in
variousworkshops,andacceptinginvitationstolecture.Wealsopublishedseveral
articlesinwhichwerefinedourthesesandarguments.Inthatregard,thanksare
due to the organizers and participants of the conference “The End of the First
WorldWarandtheBreak-upoftheEuropeanEmpires,”whichtookplaceatthe
Russian Academy of Sciences in Moscow and the conference on “Wartime
Violence: The Experience and Image of Conflict,” held at University College
London. Wereceived valuable critical suggestions from colleagues on the panels
at two major congresses: the 47th Annual Convention of the Association for
Slavic, Eastern European and Eurasian Studies (ASEEES), which met in
Philadelphia, and the 23rd International Conference of Europeanists held in the
same city. In Germany, the Herder Institute in Marburg offered us two great
opportunitiesforconstructivedialoguebyenablingustopresentourconclusions
at the international conference on “The Beginnings of Democracy in Interwar
East-CentralEurope,”andattheworkshopon“Security—Rights—Violence.”
Besidestheselargemeetings,wehadthehonorofparticipatinginsomesmaller,
moreintensiveworkshopsandlectures,whichplayedasignificantroleinhoning
ouropinions.GreatthanksareparticularlyowedtoMartinaWinkler,whoinvited
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,7/4/2022,SPi
vi
ustopresentourmostpreliminary,andinmanywaysveryincomplete,resultsata
colloquium on the modern history of Central and Eastern Europe at the
University of Bremen. Joachim von Putkammer and Włodzimierz Borodziej,
together with other colleagues from the Imre Kertész Kolleg Jena, provided us
withvaluablefeedback.ChadBryantgaveusaslotinthelectureseries“Russiaand
its Neighbors to the East and West,” organized by the University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill, while colleagues from the Collegium Carolinum in
Munich invited us to present our final, comprehensive thesis at a colloquium
held at their institution. We also thank our colleagues at the Berlin Center for
Researchon Antisemitism for the lively debate thatfollowed the presentation of
the partial results of our research project. The discussion at these events greatly
assistedusintargetingfurtherresearchandraisedquestionsthathadnotoccurred
to us before. A similar role was played by our concluding presentation of the
projectresultsatanacademiccolloquiumorganizedbytheMasarykInstituteand
Archives of the Czech Academy of Sciences and the Institute of International
Studies of Charles University, where we had a final opportunity to test and
sharpen our overall conclusions in a productive dialogue with the local research
community.
A complete list of the individuals who over the course of nearly five years
contributedfrankadvice,criticalcomments,andrecommendationswouldinitself
takeupseveralpages.Weappreciateallthatadviceandaredeeplythankfulforit.
Oswald Überegger of the Free University of Bolzano/Bozen deserves special
thanksforofferingtoactasourfirstguidetothehistoricalandarchivalcollections
ofSouth Tyrol,introducingustotheliteratureandothersourceswithoutwhich
thisbookwouldneverhavebeenpossible.
All the aforementioned encounters greatly enriched and contributed to the
preparationofseveralarticlesinwhichwepublishedsomeofthebasicideasand
themesthatwerelaterelaboratedinthisbook.Themainpublicationsweretwoby
Ota Konrád: “Two Post-War Paths: Collective Violence in the Bohemian Lands
andinAustriaintheAftermathoftheFirstWorldWar”and“JenseitsderNation?
Kollektive Gewalt in den böhmischen Ländern 1914–1918.” The former was
publishedinNationalitiesPapers,46,no5(2018),andthelatterinBohemia,56,
no. 2 (2016). A third article entitled “Exploiting Victory, Sinking into Defeat:
Uniformed Violence in the Creation of the New Order in Czechoslovakia and
Austria 1918–1922” was published by Rudolf Kučera in the last issue of the
Journal of Modern History for the year 2016. We thank the editors of those
journals for the space that they devoted to our work, and also the anonymous
reviewers, who often succeeded in uncovering problems and shortcomings that
were not obvious to us at first glance. The advice of Jakub Beneš and Volker
Zimmermann,whomwealsothankforthetimeandefforttheyputintotheentire
manuscript of this book, played a role that in principle was equal to that of the
reviewers,butforuswasofevengreaterextentandimportance.Wealsothankthe
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,7/4/2022,SPi
vii
fouranonymousreviewers,whoreadourtextsubmittedtotheOxfordUniversity
Press. Their suggestions have greatly helped to improve the book. We are also
mostthankfultoRobertKienefortranslationandAndreaTalabérandVáclavŽák
forthoroughproofreadingandassistancewiththeindex.
Howevermuchthesedozensofcolleagues,institutions,andmeetingscontrib-
uted to this book, there are still two people whose patience and love was tested
muchmoreoverthepastyearsthanitshouldhavebeen.Thelastbutnevertheless
thegreatestthanksthereforebelongstoourwives,VeronikaandMarkéta,whotoo
oftenandfortoolonghadtoacceptourabsencesfromhearthandhomeandour
enthusiasticdiscussionsaboutthevariousdetailsofmurders,shootings,robberies,
riots, and other acts of violence. That they could not always view these matters
withthedetachmentofsomeonewhoisaccustomedtospendinglongperiodsof
timestudyingdepressingarchivalmaterials,weunderstand.Thattheyalwayskept
theirsenseofhumorandwerewillingtosupportusunselfishlythewholetimeis,
however,somethingthatwewillneverfullybeabletounderstand.Whichiswhy
weappreciateitallthemore.
OtaKonrádandRudolfKučera
Prague,
January2022
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,7/4/2022,SPi
OUPCORRECTEDAUTOPAGEPROOFS–FINAL,7/4/2022,SPi
Contents
ListofFigures xi
NotesonPlaceNames xiii
Introduction 1
PART I. BLOODY IMAGES
1. UncleRudolf 21
2. Degenerates 25
3. SeekingtheTruth 32
4. MentalIllnessinCourt 45
5. PovertyinCourt 60
6. ImprovisinginCourt 76
7. JacktheRipperandSherlockHolmes 88
8. Cannibals,Poachers,andDeserters 95
9. Crime,orPolitics? 111
10. ThatthePresidentMayLongGovern 125
11. OminousEagles 141
PART II. BLOODY STREETS
12. YouthsOutsidetheHouse 157
13. ProstitutesandWorkers 162
14. AppeasementinthePublicSquare 173
15. FatOnes,RichOnes,Jews,andGendarmes 189
16. TheRussianHunter 208
17. DisintegratingSocieties 221
18. TheWildWestoraNewRepublic? 229
19. TheVictorsandtheVanquished 241
