ASN Books Back to ASN 2010 Books
Jonathan Gumz, The Resurrection and Collapse of Empire in Habsburg Serbia, 1914-1918 (Cambridge 2009)
This book examines the Habsburg Army's occupation of Serbia from 1914 through 1918. This occupation ran along a distinctly European-centered trajectory radically different from other great power colonial projects or occupations during the 20th century. Unlike these projects and occupations, the Habsburg Army sought to denationalize and depoliticize Serbia, to gradually reduce the occupation's violence, and to fully integrate the country into the Empire.
These aims stemmed from 19th-century conservative and monarchical convictions that compelled the Army to operate under broad legal and civilizational constraints. Gumz's research provides a counterpoint to interpretations of the First World War that emphasize the centrality of racially inflected, Darwinist worldviews in the war.
Chair in the Special Book Panel at ASN 2010: Holly Case (Cornell U, US)
Participants in the Special Book Panel at ASN 2010: Vejas Liulevicius (U of Tennessee, US), Pieter Judson (Swarthmore College, US), John Deak (U of Notre Dame, US), Jonathan Gumz (US Military Academy at Westpoint, US)