Utopien der Nation: Landes- und Nationalausstellungen in Ostmitteleuropa vor und nach dem Ersten Weltkrieg
Utopias of Nations: Regional and National Expositions in East Central Europe Before and After World War I

Summary/Abstract: An idea born in the mid-nineteenth century, great expositions were meant to provide a survey of human progress in the fields of science, technology, education, and culture, by way of peaceful competition. In East Central Europe, by the turn of the century expositions were rather used to illuminate the predominance of the state nation within a multinational empire, or the achievements of a national movement striving for cultural autonomy and political independence. After 1918 with their national independence achieved, Poland and Czechoslovakia celebrated their sovereignty with huge national exhibitions that were intended to epitomize the utopia of a national state within a region characterised by large percentages of ethnic minorities. The paper introduces four expositions (Prague 1891, Posen/Poznań 1911, Brno 1928 and Poznań 1929), focussing on the intentions of their respective organisers, and exposition politics within the framework of minority and state policies, local and central politics, as well as the shaping of national consciousness and identities.

• Details
• Contents