Slavs in Post-Nazi Austria: Carinthian Slovenes and the Politics of Assimilation, 1945-1960

Robert Knight's book examines how the 60,000 strong Slovene community in the Austrian borderland province of Carinthia continued to suffer in the wake of Nazism's fall. It explores how and why Nazi values continued to be influential in a post-Nazi era in postwar Central Europe and provides valuable insights into the Cold War as a point of interaction of local, national and international politics. Though Austria was re-established in 1945 as Hitler's 'first victim', many Austrians continued to share principles which had underpinned the Third Reich. Long treated as both inferior and threatening prior to the rise of Hitler and then persecuted during his time in power, the Slovenes of Carinthia were prevented from equality of schooling by local Nazis in the years that followed World War Two, behavior that was tolerated in Vienna and largely ignored by the rest of the world. Slavs in Post-Nazi Austria uses this vital case study to discuss wider issues relating to the stubborn legacy of Nazism in postwar Europe and to instill a deeper understanding of the interplay between collective and individual (liberal) rights in Central Europe. This is a fascinating study for anyone interested in knowing more about the disturbing imprint that Nazism left in some parts of Europe in the postwar years.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments Note on Slovene List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Assimilation and Coercion 2. Provincial politics 3. Cold War politics 4. Lobbying against Slovene 5. The demolition of the bilingual school 1958-9 Conclusion Notes Appendix I - Slovene and German speakers in Southern Carinthia, 1945-1961 Sources and Bibliography Index

About the Author :
Robert Knight is Senior Lecturer in International History at Loughborough University, UK. He is the editor of Ethnicity, Nationalism and the European Cold War (Bloomsbury, 2012).

Review :
The volume is extremely well researched, drawing material from more than 15 archives in Germany, Austria, and the former Yugoslavia, oral histories, numerous periodicals, and no fewer than 80 published, primary sources … [It contributes] much-needed insight into Austria's perception and place as western Cold War ally and how that status shaped Austrian reception to the continuities and contours of Nazism that impacted the Slovene minority. Robert Knight has written a passionate, much needed and readable book. Robert Knight's engrossing new books [...] provides important insights into the history of modern Austria ... Knight's analysis, based on extensive archival and printed sources, is meticulous and judicious, and based on a profound understanding of the deep historical context. [An] excellent study that profoundly questions some theses of Austrian historians. Slavs in Post-Nazi Austria provides a shrewd and insightful analysis of the methods by which the Austrian Republic dealt with the pressures of pro-German right-wing lobbying groups and protestors seeking to curtail Slovenian language rights and bilingual educational opportunities in the southern border province of Carinthia in the aftermath of collapse of Nazi rule in 1945 and the onset of the Cold War. The book is a study of remarkable political continuities over one hundred years of modern Austrian history Robert Knight's exemplary study of the political battles over the national and linguistic status of Slovene in post-war Austria analyses domestic events following the School Decree of 1945 which was originally designed to introduce bilingualism into Carinthian schools. The author's extensive and meticulous research also widens the discussion to examine the practical problems of Austrian de-nazification and the 'victimhood thesis' as German nationalists inflated the threat of Yugoslav intervention. This is essential reading for serious students of post-war Europe. Robert Knight's compelling account of ethnic tensions, diplomatic game-playing and political chicanery at the crossroads of Cold-War Europe reflects in microcosm the issues facing the continent in the aftermath of Nazism. It contributes enormously to our knowledge and understanding of nationality politics in central Europe, and at the same time has a striking contemporary resonance. This book will be a valuable point of reference both for students and for scholars working in the field. Robert Knight's study provides important new insights on Cold War diplomacy, internal Austrian politics, and the struggle to negotiate a State Treaty. Based on meticulous archival research in the United Kingdom, Austria, Slovenia, and Germany, as well as a mastery of the literature, Knight's outstanding study casts light on the resurgence of ethnic and religious tensions in the 21st century. Why should we care about the twentieth-century history of the little-known Austrian province of Carinthia and the treatment of its forgotten, beleaguered Slovene-speaking minority? If the question were posed in this manner, historian Robert Knight has given us an entire book of very good reasons, which should attract the interdisciplinary interest of, among others, historians, experts in education, and contemporary political watchers worried about Europe's dangerous inability to accommodate forced migrants and refugees. One test of a strong regional history is its ability to connect with wider national, continental, and global trends. On this level, and others, Knight's work has given us much to ponder.