Viribus Unitis: Myths and Narratives of Habsburg and Ottoman Multinationalism 1848-1918

Description

November 11th 2018 marked the one hundredth anniversary of the conclusion of the First World War and with it the disintegration of the two last pre-modern multi-ethnic political units of Europe: the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires. Although often depicted in contemporary Islamist and right-wing discourses as archetypal adversaries, the two not only died as allies: in many ways, they shared a common approach to the challenges of modernity. Both managed to
survive a series of political crises from the late eighteenth to early nineteenth century, embarking on ambitious reform programs that were unusual for the very fact that they attempted to understand the challenge of their inner diversity as an asset. The empires were and often continue to be depicted as anomalies, anachronisms, and even impossibilities in an era that associated modernity with nation-states. Yet their political narratives of pluralism and
coexistence have turned out to strike a chord with the post-modern world. The painful experiences of the twentieth century and the increasing stress on multicultural coexistence as an essential good of liberal democracy have led to a sneaking re-evaluation of their rule –
sometimes even an outright nostalgia. In some cases, such as contemporary Turkey, this goes hand in hand with rhetoric that serves obvious geopolitical purposes, but it is also – at least unconsciously – evoked in the integration efforts of the European Union that have a no less political agenda. As mundane powers that claimed religious legitimacy through, respectively, Roman Catholicism and Sunni Islam until the very end, their legacy has, in some cases, withstood and even outlived many of the atheist ideologies of the twentieth century, raising important questions about the nature of the modern paradigm. This conference wants to draw attention to the centennial of the defeat and subsequent dissolution of the Habsburg and Ottoman empires in 1918 and its relevance to post-imperial discourses of multinationalism.

Period	1 Nov 2018 → 4 Nov 2018
Event type	Conference
Location	DenmarkShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International