An intellectual and political history of non-territorial autonomy – or, what Moravia, Ukraine and Estonia have in common

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Department of History

An intellectual and political history of non-territorial autonomy – or, what Moravia, Ukraine and Estonia have in common.

The lecture explores the idea and political practice of non-territorial autonomy in European history. Non-territorial autonomy is a concept to deal with national diversity within states. The paper explores developments in the Habsburg Monarchy and in Russia - analyzes transfer processes, and relates these to the idea and practice in the interwar period. Between the revolution of 1848 and the beginning of the Second World War, non-territorial autonomy proved to be an extremely flexible instrument. It was able to adapt to different political and ideological conditions and yet always retained the two basic parameters - namely a national group as a legal entity and the self-administration of certain areas of responsibility. In his presentation, Kuzmany will point in particular to the Moravian part of this story, as the national compromise (Moravské vyrovnání) of 1905 contained many elements of non-territorial autonomy.

The talk is based on his recent monograph Vom Umgang mit nationaler Vielfalt. Eine Geschichte der nicht-territorialen Autonomie in Europa and is the synthesis of the ERC project Non-Territorial Autonomy. History of a Travelling Idea.

Dr. Börries Kuzmany

(Institut für Osteuropäische Geschichte, Universität Wien)

Thursday June 6^th 2024, 15:00-17:00
Room DM528, Building DM - Reální 5.

Updated: 09. 05. 2024