Imperial Demopolitics and National Identity Formation in Central-Eastern Europe

Under what conditions do imperial powers transform the ethnic identities of the populations within their dominions? This study argues that if an imperial power rules over a multiethnic dominion, then the imperial power will direct ethnicization policies at ethnic groups that meet at least one of the following conditions of vulnerability: (1) their ethnic structure is similar to that of the imperial power in either language or religion, or (2) their ethnic structure has not yet been solidified by the experience of self-government. By drawing on novel primary source documents collected during four months of archival fieldwork in Poland, this study examines the ways in which the imperial powers of Central and Eastern Europe used ethnic identities as a means of exerting control over their dominions while simultaneously subverting foreign influence. The study’s principal findings challenge primordial and constructivist theories as well as intuitive expectations about imperial ethnic politics.