The stu
dy explores the phenomenon of popular violence in the first months an
d years after the en
d of Worl
d War I on the basis of a comparison between the Bohemian lan
ds, forming the central part of the newly establishe
d Czechoslovakia, an
d Austria, as another successor state to the former Habsburg monarchy. Asi
de from the continuities, new forms of violence increasingly emerge
d in the first years after the en
d of the war, an
d also the “language” of violence was transforme
d. While in Czechoslovakia, the framework within which people were learning to un
derstan
d the new worl
d was shape
d by the national an
d republican
discourse oriente
d to the future, in Austria the collective i
dentities an
d mentalities were being forme
d along the lines of particular party political blocks. In both cases, the nationalization an
d politicization of violence respectively contribute
d to the emergence of new forms of popular violence; but at the same time they coul
d also be use
d for its
de-escalation, necessary for the re-integration of society
disrupte
d by the wartime experience. However, even if both countries went out from the war on
different paths, the violence staye
d part of their political culture an
d it coul
d be mobilize
d again.
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