Economy, politics and identity: Galicia and the Habsburg Monarchy in the 19th century in the light of a historiographical debate on the empire, nation and region

This article takes a fresh look on the status of Galicia within the Habsburg Monarchy between the late 18th and the early 20th century, presenting the obstacles and opportunities of economic growth faced by imperial policy-makers. At the same time, an analysis is presented of the impact of the imperial experience on the process of forging national identities. The emphasis has been placed on how the increasing national fragmentation in a multi-cultural region affected economic prosperity.

Hospodářství, politika a identita: Halič a Habsburská monarchie v dlouhém 19. století na pozadí historiografické debaty o impériu, národě a regionu

This paper focuses on the depiction of the Slavs in a work by a French naturalist Marcel de Serres, published in 1814 and entitled Voyage en Autriche. This work is an example of the analysis including a very detailed reflection on Slavdom, made in time of the increasing political engagement of Napoleonic France in Southeastern and Central Europe. The author of the work deliberated on the character of the Slavs and their presumed national unity, simultaneously searching for the ways to explain very apparent differences between various Slavic populations. According to Marcel de Serres the Slavs of the Habsburg Monarchy formed two geographical branches (western and oriental) and were divided into seven principal races, and twenty-seven “secondary branches”. Voyage en Autriche depicted regularities, which were supposed to characterize all of the Slavs, but Marcel de Serres devoted much attention to some details which were considered as exotic and later were described by the writers of the Romantic period fascinated with the Slavic culture.

From November to November. The consensual parting of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Poles

The author of the text analyses the reasons why Poles from Galicia, southern Poland, departed from the so-called Austro-Polish conception and matured towards the ideal of full independence. He draws attention to the significance of the Act of 5 November 1916 for the initiation of emancipation processes among Poles living under the Habsburg rule.