City Research Online

Abstract

This article re-examines the international thought of British historian Robert W. Seton-Watson during a period of intense national and imperial transformation across Britain and Continental Europe. Long recognised as a leading Slavophile and a pioneer in the academic study of eastern Europe, Seton-Watson is best known for his support of Austria–Hungary’s dissolution in the name of national self-determination and his defence of the inter-war settlement. While his political activism has attracted scholarly attention, the full range of his historical and political thinking remains insufficiently explored. This article addresses that gap by situating Seton-Watson’s views on democracy, nationalism, internationalism and imperial order within both British and Continental contexts. It reveals the overlooked entanglements between his Continental engagements and debates on imperial reform in the British Isles. By foregrounding these connections, the article contributes to recent historiographical efforts to rethink liberal imperial legacies and shows how Seton-Watson’s vision of eastern Europe projected a romanticised model of the British empire as a tolerant multinational polity.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons CC BY license, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) J Political Science > JA Political science (General)
Departments:	School of Policy & Global Affairs School of Policy & Global Affairs > Department of International Politics
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

Export

Downloads