Belief on Display : Central European countries at interwar world’s fairs
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| Year of publication | 2019 |
| Type | Conference abstract |
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| Description | The collapse of Austria Hungary in 1918 did not only mean a creation of new states but also of their new identities. For Austria and Hungary, it was allegedly easy to re-connect with their prewar symbols and beliefs in nationhood. Other new states, especially Czechoslovakia, had to invent their identity based on a new geopolitical and ethnic composition. This paper examines the belief in the existence of national identity of these three political entities in the interwar period – Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Austria. While it was crucial to construct an image of the new nation internally, its presentation to the outside world was equally important. For this reason, participation of these new entities in world’s fairs around the world was particularly important. Where else can one create a desired image of its own history, present and future, while comparing and contrasting it with that of others? Out of the three countries, Czechoslovakia was the most active, taking part in more than fifteen international exhibitions from Rio de Janeiro to Stockholm. Yet Austria and Hungary also realised the importance of exhibiting economy, culture and ideology and made a mark in a number of fairs. The three countries met at several of them, e.g. in Philadelphia, 1926, Cologne, 1928, Barcelona, 1929 and Brussels 1935, and it is my aim to examine some these national presentations, their content, aims and strategies. What beliefs in a nation-state were put on show here and how successful were they? What were they based on and how did they compare with each other? |
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