Neo-Slavism was a short-lived movement originating in

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

around 1908 and influencing nearby Slavic states in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

as well as

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

. Neoslavists promoted cooperation between Slavs on equal terms in order to resist

Germanization Germanisation, or Germanization, is the spread of the German language, people and culture. It was a central idea of German conservative thought in the 19th and the 20th centuries, when conservatism and ethnic nationalism went hand in hand. In ling ...

, pursue modernization as well as liberal reforms, and wanted to create a democratic community of Slavic nations without a dominating influence of Russia. It was a branch of a larger and older

Pan-Slavism Pan-Slavism, a movement which crystallized in the mid-19th century, is the political ideology concerned with the advancement of integrity and unity for the Slavic people. Its main impact occurred in the Balkans, where non-Slavic empires had rule ...

ideology. Unlike Pan-Slavism, Neo-Slavism did not attach importance to religion and did not discriminate between Catholics and Orthodox believers, did not support the creation of a single Slavic state, and was mostly interested in a non-violent realization of its program.

History

The movement originated among the Slavs of Austria-Hungary who wished to achieve equal status in that state with the Austrians and Hungarians. It was particularly popular with the

Young Czech Party The Young Czech Party ( cz, Mladočeši, officially National Liberal Party, ''Národní strana svobodomyslná'') was formed in the Bohemian crown land of Austria-Hungary in 1874. It initiated the democratization of Czech political parties and l ...

and has been described as "essentially a Czech creation" instigated by the Young Czech leader

Karel Kramář Karel Kramář (27 December 1860 – 26 May 1937) was a Czech politician. He was a representative of the major Czech political party, the Young Czechs, in the Austrian Imperial Council from 1891 to 1915 (where he was also known as Karl Kramarsc ...

. The Neo-Slav movement held two congresses. The founding congress took place in Prague in July 1908, the second was held in Sofia in July 1910. Two other, less formal, gatherings of Neo-Slav activists were held in St Petersburg in May 1909 and February 1910. Despite this activity, the movement made little progress before dissipating in the wake of the Bosnian crisis and subsequent Balkan Wars and the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It also suffered from the differences between various Slavic groups, with antagonism between Poles and Ukrainians, between different Balkans nations, and lack of support from those nations for either Austria-Hungary and Russia. The movement declared itself

apolitical Apoliticism is apathy or antipathy towards all political affiliations. A person may be described as apolitical if they are uninterested or uninvolved in politics. Being apolitical can also refer to situations in which people take an unbiased po ...

, but it was nonetheless viewed with suspicion by Austro-Hungarian officials. One of the few effects of the movement was the creation of the Federation of Slavic Sokols (the

Sokol The Sokol movement (, ''falcon'') is an all-age gymnastics organization first founded in Prague in the Czech region of Austria-Hungary in 1862 by Miroslav Tyrš and Jindřich Fügner. It was based upon the principle of " a strong mind in a ...

movement was highly supportive of Neo-Slavism).

Characteristics

Neo-Slavism aimed to build a barrier against German expansion, reliant on Russia. Germany was seen as a threat due to its

policies, and slow but steady expansion of influence over the Slavic lands. Compared to

, seen as subservient to the Russian interests, instead of a Russian dominance over all the Slavs advocated by Pan-Slavism it aimed at a more balanced

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-govern ...

of Slavic states, which was hoped to emerge from a reformed Austria-Hungary. It has also been described as a final evolution of

Austro-Slavism Austro-Slavism or Austrian Slavism was a political concept and program aimed to solve problems of Slavic peoples in the Austrian Empire. It was most influential among Czech liberals around the middle of the 19th century. First proposed by Karel ...

. Outside of Austria it aimed at reconciliation between Poles and Russians, with Russian neo-slavists declaring their support to recreation of independent Poland, while Polish neoslavists accepted that reconciliation was needed to counter the German threat. Russian Neoslavs were interested, among others, in fostering equal relations between the nations of the Russian Empire, creating a constitutional-liberal system, and by doing so modernizing Russia; their overall views were non-expansionistic, and pursued a balance of power in Europe against increasing German power. In addition to Karel Kramář, prominent Neo-Slav activists included the Slovene banker and politician

Ivan Hribar Ivan Hribar (19 September 1851 – 18 April 1941) was a Slovene and Yugoslav banker, politician, diplomat and journalist. During the start of the 20th century, he was one of the leaders of the National Progressive Party, and one of the mos ...

and, until he distanced himself from the movement in protest against the Russification policies of the authorities in Russian Poland, the Polish politician

Roman Dmowski Roman Stanisław Dmowski (Polish: , 9 August 1864 – 2 January 1939) was a Polish politician, statesman, and co-founder and chief ideologue of the National Democracy (abbreviated "ND": in Polish, "''Endecja''") political movement. He saw th ...

. Vyšný, Paul, ''Neo-Slavism and the Czechs, 1898-1914'', Cambridge, 1977, pp. 58, 178. While Neo-Slavism was short-lived, it has nonetheless been described as having exerted significant influence on inter-Slavic politics of the period.

History

Characteristics

See also

References

Further reading