School of Social & Political Sciences

Ending Nationalism? The Quest for Cultural Autonomy in Inter-War Europe

AHRB Award Ref: MRG-AN10102/APN16232
Term of Project: September 2003-August 2007
Value of Award: £43,890

Award Holder: Dr David J Smith
Co-Applicant: Professor John Hiden

This project re-evaluates the historical background to current debates on nationalism and minority rights in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Specifically, it examines how inter-war minority activists sought to achieve a definitive solution to the ‘national question’ through their promotion of non-territorial cultural autonomy (NTCA). For its proponents, this principle - first applied in Estonia and Latvia during the 1920s – was couched as one of the key building blocks in the construction of a United Europe. In spite of impending European Union enlargement to CEE, however, this original contribution from the region remains largely unexplored.