MAEVA BERGHMANS: Towards a Czechoslovak Nation: Victimhood as Identity

The next event of the Nepostrans seminar series will be held on February 1, 17:00 CET in the Library of the Institute of Political History, 1114 Budapest, Villányi út 11-13, and online.

Registration is required:
https://forms.gle/M8tvwidERHz4W25z8

(Zoom link will be sent after registration)

„As the Czech nation was being built by the political elite in Prague, one challenge remained at the end of the nineteenth century: being fully recognised as such – a united and legitimate nation – by the Habsburg Emperor, Franz Joseph, and therefore being granted a similar political status as Budapest within the Dual Monarchy. At first, the main key was to ensure people understood what the Czech nation was and meant. As the First World War started, though, a new strategy surfaced for Czech politicians: having their demands acknowledged and supported by foreign powers such as France, Great Britain, and the United States. For this strategy to work, though, they needed to convince them thanks to a carefully worded plea: the Czech nation had been the victim of Habsburg oppression for centuries and deserved to receive compensation for all the damages and suffering Czechs had had to withstand. Victimhood was indeed such an important part of this plea that it became one of the most important aspects of the Czech national identity during the war, thus suggesting that victimhood nationalism was essential to the Czech nation-building process.”

Maeva Berghmans is a doctoral candidate at the Palacky University in Olomouc. Her thesis analyses the role of victimhood narrative in the Czech efforts of state foundation. She attended the University of Reims, Caen and Taru and holds an MA in European Studies from the Palacky University and the Jagellonian University Cracow. She was the coordinator of Yale University’s online graduate student workshop Kruzok in 2021-2022. Besides her academic activities she is active in journalism and civic engagement, having been editor-in-chief of Euroculturer Magazine and an electoral observer.

HYBRID SEMINAR