Frontiers of Violence
«An important contribution to the historiography of inter-communal conflict»
Robert Gerwarth, Times Literary Supplement
In the years after the First World War both Ulster and Upper Silesia saw violent conflicts over self-determination. The violence in Upper Silesia was more intense both in the numbers killed and in the forms it took. Les mer
Examining the nature of communal boundaries, Timothy Wilson explains the profound contrasts in these experiences of plebeian violence. In Ulster the rival communities were divided by religion, but shared a common language. In Upper Silesia, the rival sides were united in religion-92 per cent of the local population being Catholic-but ostensibly divided on linguistic grounds between German and Polish speakers. In practice, language in Upper Silesia proved a far more porous boundary than did
religion in Ulster. Language could not always be taken as a straightforward indication of national loyalties.
At a local level, boundaries mattered because without them there could not be any sense of security. In Ulster, where communal identities were already clearly staked out, militants tended to concentrate on the limited task of boundary maintenance. In Upper Silesia, where national identities were so unclear, they focused upon boundary creation. This was a task that required more 'transgressive' violence. Hence atrocity was more widely practised in Upper Silesia because it could, and did, act as
a polarizing force.
Detaljer
- Forlag
- Oxford University Press
- Innbinding
- Innbundet
- Språk
- Engelsk
- ISBN
- 9780199583713
- Utgivelsesår
- 2010
- Format
- 22 x 15 cm
Anmeldelser
«An important contribution to the historiography of inter-communal conflict»
Robert Gerwarth, Times Literary Supplement
«This fine study...advances our understanding of the nature of communal violence...What impresses most about this study is its forensic rigor, its attention to detail, and its balance.»
David R. C. Hudson, Journal of British Studies
«His set of questions constitutes a step forward in the methodology of writing the history of political and ethnic violence, and his research is excellent... the book is an important one.»
T. Hunt Tooley, English Historical Review
«this is a book which displays an immense knowledge of the region, and an admirable insistence that the people of the region - and thair conflicts - should be understood on their own terms, and in the context of their own history.»
Justn Willis, Africa
«a refreshingly bold and original take on Northern Ireland's troubled beginnings ... highly recommended.»
N. C. Fleming, 20th Century British History