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New Studies in European History
European Elites and Ideas of Empire, 1917–1957
Who thought of Europe as a community before its economic integration in 1957? Dina Gusejnova illustrates how a supranational European mentality was forged from depleted imperial identities. In the revolutions of 1917 to 1920, the power of the Hohenzollern, Habsburg and Romanoff dynasties over their subjects expired. Even though Germany lost its credit as a world power twice in that century, in the global cultural memory, the old Germanic families remained associated with the idea of Europe in areas reaching from Mexico to the Baltic region and India. Gusejnova's book sheds light on a group of German-speaking intellectuals of aristocratic origin who became pioneers of Europe's future regeneration. In the minds of transnational elites, the continent's future horizons retained the contours of phantom empires. This title is available as Open Access.
360 pages, Hardcover
Published July 13, 2016
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March 26, 2023
From my discussion post:
European Elites and Ideas of Empire is about the reconstruction of the noble class in the twentieth century in the context of falling empires. Gusejnova’s key move is to explain that in attempting to preserve their social status the elites also attempted to save the cosmopolitan quality of empire. From Cudenhove’s paneuoropa to Veltheims widespread cultural influence the elites formed social networks that upheld transnational relations. Gusejnova’s writing and organization is stellar. The opening two chapters, as well as the introduction, paint a convincing picture of the significance of noble celebrity culture and of the noble’s reaction to its decline writ large. The following two sections of the book center around individual elites who are each biographied and analyzed in nuanced detail. Importantly, each chapter still is grounded at the outset in a larger European context. Too often, intellectual historians miss the larger milieu that surrounds their chosen thinkers. This is not a problem Gusejnova suffers from, largely.
While Gusejnova sees their work as distanced from the question of the endurance of the nineteenth century, the book certainly seems to speak to some lengthening of the already long nineteenth century. Yet, the extension of one century into the next is unlike what we saw with the 17th and 18th in our previous readings. Rather than a continuation because of a lack of intervention, the old appears here to remain because of a concerted effort to keep it there. Gusejonova’s analogy of the bank restructuring seems apt. In the wake of revolution and stark change that risked the political power of the elites they engaged in a restructuring that “is neither a miracle, nor a revolution; it is merely an attempt to preserve the status quo and the continued political functioning of society after a moment of crisis.”
European Elites and Ideas of Empire is about the reconstruction of the noble class in the twentieth century in the context of falling empires. Gusejnova’s key move is to explain that in attempting to preserve their social status the elites also attempted to save the cosmopolitan quality of empire. From Cudenhove’s paneuoropa to Veltheims widespread cultural influence the elites formed social networks that upheld transnational relations. Gusejnova’s writing and organization is stellar. The opening two chapters, as well as the introduction, paint a convincing picture of the significance of noble celebrity culture and of the noble’s reaction to its decline writ large. The following two sections of the book center around individual elites who are each biographied and analyzed in nuanced detail. Importantly, each chapter still is grounded at the outset in a larger European context. Too often, intellectual historians miss the larger milieu that surrounds their chosen thinkers. This is not a problem Gusejnova suffers from, largely.
While Gusejnova sees their work as distanced from the question of the endurance of the nineteenth century, the book certainly seems to speak to some lengthening of the already long nineteenth century. Yet, the extension of one century into the next is unlike what we saw with the 17th and 18th in our previous readings. Rather than a continuation because of a lack of intervention, the old appears here to remain because of a concerted effort to keep it there. Gusejonova’s analogy of the bank restructuring seems apt. In the wake of revolution and stark change that risked the political power of the elites they engaged in a restructuring that “is neither a miracle, nor a revolution; it is merely an attempt to preserve the status quo and the continued political functioning of society after a moment of crisis.”
Displaying 1 of 1 review