Overview

This book questions the prevalent assumption that ethnicity and nationalist politics had nothing to do with the Cold War and that, far from being 'frozen' until the fall of communism, they remained central to the conflict in Europe. Leading scholars bring their understanding of particular regions to bear on the wider issue of why ethnic explanations were written out of the discourse and whether this was a failure on the part of Western observers. This in turn has led to an overly simple understanding of power flowing downwards, from superpower to nation state and from state to society. Engaging with key thinkers such as Gaddis, Moynihan and Adam Roberts this collection ultimately allows such speculation to be replaced by historical research and bridges the gap between 'high politics' and ethnic concerns.

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9781472529312

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Reviews

By looking at the history of ethnic conflict under communism in a variety of locales both inside and outside the Iron Curtain, contributors to the volume edited by Robert Knight are able to document that far from being a minor issue, ethnic and national identities had played an important role in the politics of both communist and anti-communist officials, parties and media ... Overall, the volume succeeds in providing an overview of the varieties of Cold War ethnic conflict both inside and across the countries divided by the Iron Curtain. With its focus on both sides of the divide, it complicates and challenges narratives that have seen developments in the Eastern Bloc as being isolated from what was happening on the western side of the Curtain. -- Alexander Vari, Marywood University, USA European History Quarterly

By looking at the history of ethnic conflict under communism in a variety of locales both inside and outside the Iron Curtain, contributors to the volume edited by Robert Knight are able to document that far from being a minor issue, ethnic and national identities had played an important role in the politics of both communist and anti-communist officials, parties and media . Overall, the volume succeeds in providing an overview of the varieties of Cold War ethnic conflict both inside and across the countries divided by the Iron Curtain. With its focus on both sides of the divide, it complicates and challenges narratives that have seen developments in the Eastern Bloc as being isolated from what was happening on the western side of the Curtain. -- Alexander Vari, Marywood University, USA European History Quarterly

Author Information

Robert Knight is Senior Lecturer in International History at Loughborough University, UK.

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