The collapse of the Habsburg monarchy in the aftermath of World War I marked a foundational shift in the histories of Austria and Hungary. Previously part of the Habsburg’s Austro-Hungarian Empire, this event stripped the two new states of a long-established territorial order, triggering a controversial redrawing of their borders. Whilst scholarship often focuses on the role played by state actors in Vienna and Budapest, The Disputed Austro-Hungarian Border refreshingly re-examines this event through investigating how processes of state and nation-building manifested within the contested region of Western Hungary and Burgenland. In doing so, this book innovatively resituates this border region within the larger context of post-Habsburg historical development taking place across Central Europe.
A refreshing re-examination of the history of Austria and Hungary in the wake of World War I and the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy, The Disputed Austro-Hungarian Border refocuses attention on the contested region of Western Hungary/Burgenland, considering how the process of building state borders shaped the region’s political, cultural, and social dynamics.
