Empire Building and Nation Building in Central Europe

This book reconstructs the intellectual and political trajectory of Zoltán László (1881–1961), a representative figure of the East-Central European middle-class intelligentsia. His shifting positions—on nationalism, imperialism, colonialism, antisemitism, racism, and anticommunism—mirror the broader ideological and political transformations of the region from the nineteenth century to the aftermath of the Second World War. Before 1914, László established himself as a journalist, writer, academic, and willing agent of Austro-Hungarian imperial policy. In the interwar period and during the Second World War, his expertise as a propagandist found expression in racist circles. By examining László’s life as a case study, the book offers a microhistorical perspective on how members of the educated middle classes became implicated in, and often willing participants of, imperial, racist, and totalitarian projects. It demonstrates how the lived experience of one individual illuminates the complex entanglement of ideology, identity, and power in East-Central Europe’s modern history.