Rebels into Loyalists, or Loyalists into Rebels? Habsburg Officials and Their International Contacts during the Age of Revolutions

Abstract

ABSTRACT During the Age of Revolutions, the Habsburg monarchy initially opposed nationalist movements as revolutionary. While the monarchy later sought to co-opt loyal patriots, historical memory often imagines the Habsburg state as implacably opposed to both nationalism and nationalist movements. In practice, however, Habsburg officials and central European nationalisms overlapped and engaged with each other in surprising ways. Their interaction problematizes a sharp line between monarchism and nationalism. This essay speficially introduces a special issue of Central Europe, consisting of two papers presented at a 2022 conference on the Habsburg state apparatus. The two papers explored the tensions and interactions between Habsburg officials and patriot circles as they played out in international relations. Polish exiles sought to recruit Habsburg officials to the national cause, while Habsburg agents sought to recruit patriots to the spy network of the Habsburg political police.