![]() ![]() The civil war paradigm can be seen in many different territories in the region where the borders shifted after the Treaty of Versailles, often stemming from pockets of a newly minoritized ethnicities. During this time of indeterminacy (and this is Böhler’s second major contribution), life in northeastern Europe was characterized by extraordinary levels of violence, often carried out by groups with unclear, overlapping, or shifting allegiances. Poles might celebrate November 11, 1918, as the moment when independence was restored, but it would take several years before even the most rudimentary state structures would be instituted. ![]() This vantage point reminds us that descriptions of “Polish-Lithuanian” or “Polish-Ukrainian” conflicts presuppose the existence of distinct historical agents called “Poland,” “Lithuania,” and “Ukraine.” In the midst of the postwar chaos, it was by no means foreordained that these polities would consolidate beyond the declarations of a handful of national activists in the major cities. Jochen Böhler’s book title captures the author’s core insight: that we need to shift our perspective on the years immediately following World War I, moving away from triumphant teleologies about national state-building and towards a much messier picture of confusion and violence. The 2019 Kulczycki Book Prize Co-Winner was Jochen Böhler for Civil War in Central Europe, 1918-1921: The Reconstruction of Poland (Oxford University Press) ![]()
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