Central European Papers 2020, 8(1):47-61 | DOI: 10.25142/cep.2020.001

A Victim Among Martyrs? Czech Victimhood Nationalism during the First World War

Mgr. Maeva Carla CHARGROS1
1 Faculty of Arts, Palacký University Olomouc

Victimhood nationalism has gained considerable attention in the past decade within nationalism studies. This theoretical article shows how recent research in the fields of international relations and victimology can help improve our understanding of Czech (Czechoslovak) nationalism. To do so, this study is using a selection of newspaper articles and unpublished archival materials from the period of the First World War, covering propaganda activities of Czechs (Masaryk, Beneš) and their allies or acquaintances in France, as well as those of Czech-Americans in the United States of America. By drawing on the definitions of victimhood nationalism within the context of the 20th century by Adam B. Lerner, and of Early Modern religious martyrdom by Brad S. Gregory, as well as on recent research conducted by Andrea Orzoff regarding the national identity of interwar Czechoslovakia, I highlight the importance and the singular aspect of the use of victimisation as a diplomatic and political strategy in the Czech case during the First World War.

Keywords: nationalism, Czechoslovakia, First World War, propaganda, myth, victimhood, martyrdom, victimhood nationalism

Received: July 21, 2020; Revised: September 28, 2020; Accepted: October 8, 2020; Prepublished online: October 8, 2020; Published: March 2, 2021  Show citation

ACS AIP APA ASA Harvard Chicago Chicago Notes IEEE ISO690 MLA NLM Turabian Vancouver
CHARGROS MC. A Victim Among Martyrs? Czech Victimhood Nationalism during the First World War. Central European Papers. 2020;8(1):47-61. doi: 10.25142/cep.2020.001.
Share...
Download citation
  • BibTeX (.bib)
  • Bookends (.ris)
  • EasyBib (.ris)
  • EndNote (.enw)
  • EndNote 8 (.xml)
  • ISI WoS (.isi)
  • Medlars (.medlars)
  • Mendeley (.ris)
  • MODS (.xml)
  • Papers (.ris)
  • RefWorks (.txt)
  • RefManager (.ris)
  • RIS (.ris)
  • MS Word (.xml)
  • Zotero (.ris)
    • Open full article

    References

    1. Masarykův Ústav a Archiv Akademie věd České republiky, fond Edvard Beneš, IV/1, carton 73, sign. 240, folder R48/1/A1, doc. 48-50, letter from Louis Eisenman to Edvard Beneš, 11/12/1916.
    2. Masarykův Ústav a Archiv Akademie věd České republiky, fond Edvard Beneš, IV/1, carton 73, sign. 240, folder R48/1/A2, doc. 94, p. 2.
    3. Masarykův Ústav a Archiv Akademie věd České republiky, fond Edvard Beneš, IV/1, carton 73, sign. 240, folder R48/1/A2, doc. 94, p. 14.
    4. CHOPIN, Jules: L'Autriche-Hongrie: Brillant Second, Le Mercure de France, 1916, 16 March.
    5. CHOPIN, Jules: La Préméditation Austro-Hongroise, Le Mercure de France, 1916, 16 June. La Bohême Indépendante et l'Italie, in: La Nation Tchèque, 1917, 1 February.
    6. Rozvoj, 1915, July 10.
    7. Slavie, 1915, 7 December.
    8. Německý Socialista proti Malým Narodům, in: Slavie,1917, 29 June.
    9. BAKKE, Elisabeth: Doomed to failure? The Czechoslovak Nation Project and the Slovak Autonomist Reaction 1919-1938, PhD Thesis., Oslo 1998.
    10. CAPLAN, Neil: Victimhood in Israeli and Palestinian National Narratives, in: The Middle East Book Review, 3, 2012, 1-19. Go to original source...
    11. COHEN, B. Gary: Recent Research on Czech Nation-Building, in: The Journal of Modern History, 51, 1979, 4, 772. Go to original source...
    12. DENIS, Ernest: La Bohême depuis la Montagne Blanche, 1902.
    13. FERGUSON, Neil - BURGESS, Mark - HOLLYWOOD Ian: Who Are the Victims? Victimhood Experiences in Postagreement Northern Ireland, in: Political Psychology, 31, 2010, 6, 857- 886. Go to original source...
    14. GREGORY, Brad S., Salvation at Stake: Christian Martyrdom in Early Modern Europe, Cambridge Mass. 2001. Go to original source...
    15. HÁJKOVÁ, Dagmar - ŠEDIVÝ, Ivan (eds.): Korespondence T. G. Masaryk - Edvard Beneš (1914-1918), Praha 2004.
    16. HÁJKOVÁ, Dagmar - WINGFIELD, Nancy: Czech(-Oslovak) National Commemorations during the Interwar Period: Tomáš G. Masaryk and the Battle of White Mountain Avenged, in: Acta Historiae, 18, 2010, 3, 425-452.
    17. HASLINGER, Peter: Nation und Territorium im tscheschischen politischen Diskurs 1880- 1938, Munich 2010.
    18. HEIMANN, Mary: Czechoslovakia: The State that Failed, New Haven 2009.
    19. HEALY, Maureen: Vienna and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire: Total War and Everyday
    20. HSIA, Ke-chin: 'War Victims': Concepts of Victimhood and the Austrian Identity after the
    21. Habsburgs, in: Austrian Environmental History 27, LANDRY, Marc - KUPPER, Patrick (eds.), Innsbruck 2018, 251.
    22. HUNT, Lynn: Writing History Today: From Postmodern Challenge to Global History, in: Czech and Slovak Journal of Humanities, 2, Olomouc 2018, 13.
    23. INGRAO, Charles: The Changing Face of Habsburg History: Truth or Consequences?, in: Czech and Slovak Journal of Humanities, 2, Olomouc 2018, 18.
    24. JOHNSON Lonnie R.: Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends, New York 2002.
    25. KEARON, Tony - GODFREY, Barry S.: Setting the Scene: A Question of History, in: Handbook of Victims and Victimology, WALKLATE, Sandra (ed.), Devon 2007, 17.
    26. LASS, Andrew: Romantic Documents and Political Monuments: The Meaning-Fulfillment of History in 19th-Century Czech Nationalism, in: American Ethnologist, 15, 1988, 3, 456-71. Go to original source...
    27. LERNER, Adam B.: The Uses and Abuses of Victimhood Nationalism in International Politics, in: European Journal of International Relations, 2019, 2-4, 7, 18-19.
    28. OKAWARA, Kentaro: A Critical and Theoretical Re-imagining of 'Victimhood Nationalism': The Case of National Victimhood of the Baltic Region, in: Baltic Journal of European Studies, 9, 2019, 4, 206-217. Go to original source...
    29. ORZOFF, Andrea: Battle for the Castle: The Myth of Czechoslovakia in Europe 1914-1948, New-York 2009. Go to original source...
    30. ROCK, Paul: Theoretical Perspectives on Victimisation, in: Handbook of Victims and Victimology, WALKLATE, Sandra (ed.), Devon 2007, 37-61.
    31. RYCHLÍK, Jan (eds.): Korespondence T. G. Masaryk - slovenští veřejní činitelé (do r. 1918), Praha 2008.
    32. SUDA, Zdeněk: The Curious Side of Modern Czech Nationalism, in: Czech Sociological Review, 9, 2001, 2, 225-234. Go to original source...
    33. SULLIVAN, Terry: Nationalism and the Nation State in Central Europe, in: The Politics of Ethnicity in Central Europe, London 2000.
    34. WALKLATE, Sandra: Perspectives on the Victim and Victimisation, in: Handbook of Victims and Victimology, WALKLATE, Sandra (ed.), Devon 2007, 13.

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original publication is properly cited. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.


    Return to the content