Nationality before Internationalism in the Age of Empire: Robert W. Seton-Watson and the Shifting Landscape of Eastern Europe, 1900–1940

This article re-examines the international thought of British historian Robert W. Seton-Watson during a period of intense national and imperial transformation across Britain and Continental Europe. Long recognised as a leading Slavophile and a pioneer in the academic study of eastern Europe, Seton-Watson is best known for his support of Austria–Hungary’s dissolution in the name of national self-determination and his defence of the inter-war settlement. While his political activism has attracted scholarly attention, the full range of his historical and political thinking remains insufficiently explored. This article addresses that gap by situating Seton-Watson’s views on democracy, nationalism, internationalism and imperial order within both British and Continental contexts. It reveals the overlooked entanglements between his Continental engagements and debates on imperial reform in the British Isles. By foregrounding these connections, the article contributes to recent historiographical efforts to rethink liberal imperial legacies and shows how Seton-Watson’s vision of eastern Europe projected a romanticised model of the British empire as a tolerant multinational polity.