Abstracts History

Separate Czechs: A history of national and regional identities in Moravia, 1848-1914

by Timothy Montgomery

When the Habsburg Empire granted broader autonomy and political representation to its various Lands in 1861, the leaders of Moravia rejected a proposal from the neighboring region of Bohemia to form parallel governing bodies across Bohemia and Moravia – one body representing the 'Czech' (or 'Slav') community in both regions, and the other body representing the 'German' communities. Paradoxically, Moravian Czechs rejected all-Czech unity precisely because of their Czech heritage and nationality. They argued that such a union violated Moravia's historical status of an autonomous, separate member of the centuries-old Czech Kingdom (or, 'Czech Crown lands'). When Moravian regionalists opposed full integration with the Bohemia-based Czech national movement, they effectively sidelined the Czech element of their identity in favor of Moravian statehood and regional land patriotism. Moravians were together with Bohemia in terms of Czech nationality and heritage, but crucially they were separate Czechs when it came to governance and regional identity. Over time, a fundamental shift in the way Moravian Czech leaders defined their Czech national identity created the necessary intellectual and political space for greater all-Czech unity in Moravia. Factors that contributed to the shift included: the continued influence of Germans in Moravian, which Moravians increasingly perceived as a threat to Czech 'national' rights; a correlated shift in defining rights from historical land rights, to national and civic rights; a broader, more robust Czech national movement; and generational change, namely the passing of a small, tight-knit influential group of conservative Moravians Czechs that had steadfastly opposed union with Bohemian for nearly half the century. By the turn of the century, Czechslav leaders in Moravia and Bohemia worked in concert for the advancement of Czech national rights in political, cultural, and civic life in Moravia. National Societies, clubs, and political parties spanned both regions and provided mutual assistance. By 1914 when World War I broke out across Europe, the lines between national and regional identities in Moravia had become sufficiently blurred, such that Moravians effectively sidelined statehood, regional land patriotism, and the 'separate' quality of Czech Moravia, in favor of the joining together with Czech Bohemia to form a Czech national state. Lorsque l'Empire des Habsbourg a accordé une plus grande autonomie et une représentation politique à ses différentes terres en 1861, les hommes d'État de la Moravie ont rejeté une proposition de la région avoisinante de la Bohême pour former des corps administratifs parallèles à travers la Bohême et la Moravie - l'un représentant la communauté « tchèque » (ou « slave ») dans les deux régions, et l'autre représentant les « communautés allemandes ». Paradoxalement, les Tchèques moraves ont rejeté une harmonie entièrement tchèque en raison de leur patrimoine et nationalité tchèque. Ils ont fait valoir qu'une telle harmonie violait le statut historique de… Advisors/Committee Members: James Krapfl (Internal/Supervisor).