ABOUT THIS BOOK

Renowned academics compare major features of imperial rule in the 19th century, reflecting a significant shift away from nationalism and toward empires in the studies of state building. The book responds to the current interest in multi-unit formations, such as the European Union and the expanded outreach of the United States. National historical narratives have systematically marginalized imperial dimensions, yet empires play an important role. This book examines the methods discerned in the creation of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Ottoman Empire, the Hohenzollern rule and Imperial Russia. It inspects the respective imperial elites in these empires, and it details the role of nations, religions and ideologies in the legitimacy of empire building, bringing the Spanish Empire into the analysis. The final part of the book focuses on modern empires, such as the German "Reich." The essays suggest that empires were more adaptive and resilient to change than is commonly thought.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Alfred J. Rieber has been teaching and writing Russian and Soviet history for more than fifty years. He began teaching at Northwestern and then moved to the University of Pennsylvania where he chaired the History Department, now holding the title of Professor Emeritus. For the past twenty-two years he has taught at Central European University in Budapest.

Alexei Miller is recurrent visiting professor, Central European University, Budapest and senior research fellow, Institute for Scientific Information in Social Sciences, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow.

REVIEWS

"It is perhaps appropriate that this new collection of essays should issue from the Central European University, itself a production ot postimperial Mitteleuropa. The broad perspective and comparative method used in many of these essays, their diverse foci, and the international roster of authors all add to the book's interest and value. This collection brings together new insights, methodologies, and views of how empires work and what constituted an empire. For anyone wanting a better grasp of this complex phenomenon or to get acquainted with the best recent scholarship on the topic, the volume is a must read."
-- American Historical Review

"Offers a helpful scan of the imperial disposition in this period, focusing in particular on the cases of four intertwined empires in central and eastern Europe (Tsarist Russia, the Ottoman Empire, the German Empire, and the Habsburg monarchy). Some of the essays are truly outstanding. The comparative emphasis is valuable, as is the editors' invitation that we approach the nineteenth-century empires as four members of an "imperial macrosystem", deeply entangled with each other as partners, rivals, pupils, and models. This macrosystem proved more flexible and adaptive in its response to the rising pressures of nineteenth century nationalism than is usually presumed. And this is a valuable observation."
-- Russian Review

"For historians of all the major empires treated here, there are many exciting suggestions of new research prospects; for scholars of state formations generally, imperial rule is posited as not always so drastically different from the "modern" nation-state orientation of our presentist social scienses (including, by the way, history)"
-- Slavic Review

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction: Imperial Rule Alexei Miller and Alfred J. Rieber 1. Nationalism and Imperial Rule The Empire and the Nation in the Imagination of Russian Nationalism Alexei Miller The Russians and the Turks: Imperialism and Nationalism in the Era of Empires Norman Stone, Sergei Podbolotov and Murat Yasar Imperial instead of National History: Positioning Modern German History on the Map of European Empires Philipp Ther 2. Legitimacy and Imperial Rule Justifying Political Power in 19th Century Europe: The Habsburg Monarchy and Beyond Maciej Janowski Schism Once Removed: Sects, State Authority and Meanings of Religious Toleration in Imperial Russia Paul W. Werth Redefining Identities in the Late Ottoman Empire: Policies of Conversion and Apostasy Selim Deringil 3. Core and Periphery Empire on Europe’s Periphery: Russian and Western Comparisons Dominic Lieven The Spanish Empire and its End: a Comparative View in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Europe Sebastian Balfour The Russian-American Company as a Colonial Contractor for the Russian Empire Ilya Vinkovetsky Comparative Ecology of Complex Frontiers Alfred J. Rieber List of Contributors Index