Religious organizations in many countries of the communist world have served as agents for the preservation, defense, and reinforcement of nationalist feelings, and in playing this role have frequently been a source of frustration to the Communist Party elites. Although the relationship between governments and religious groups varies according to the particular country and group in question, the mosaic of these relationships constitutes a revealing picture of the political reform shaping the lives of Soviet and East European citizens.

The multi-national region of Europe situated between the German-speaking lands and those of the former Soviet Union has witnessed many varied manifestations of nationalism over the last two centuries. Professor Sugar has been in the forefront of those seeking to understand and explain these Eastern European nationalisms, and eleven of his essays on the subject are included in this second selection of his studies. The first two essays deal with problems of ethnicity and its specific manifestations in the region; the next three present the growth of national antagonisms during the 19th century. The third, and longest, section then sets out to examine the interaction of fully developed nationalism in Eastern Europe with the various political movements and religious organizations that impacted upon these lands.

The multi-national region of Europe situated between the German-speaking lands and those of the former Soviet Union has witnessed various forms of nationalism over the last 200 years. This book seeks to explain these Eastern European nationalisms.

The “bulwark” or antemurale myth—whereby a region is imagined as a defensive barrier against a dangerous Other—has been a persistent strand in the development of Eastern European nationalisms. While historical studies of the topic have typically focused on clashes and overlaps between sociocultural and religious formations, Rampart Nations delves deeper to uncover the mutual transfers and multi-sided national and interconfessional conflicts that helped to spread bulwark myths through Europe’s eastern periphery over several centuries. Ranging from art history to theology to political science, this volume offers new ways of understanding the political, social, and religious forces that continue to shape identity in Eastern Europe.

This book explores Orthodox religion and politics in Eastern Europe, Russia and Georgia. It shows how the relationship between religion and politics is complex, and how they complement, reinforce, influence, and sometimes contradict each other.

Religious and Sexual Nationalisms in Central and Eastern Europe: Gods, Gays, and Governments. presents case studies from some ten countries that serve to explore the ways in which religion, nationalism, and (homo)sexuality intersect in public discourse. It shows how religious leaders, political and social movements, LGBT-organizations, governments, and media negotiate the powers of religion and state in taking position regarding sexual diversity. These negotiations are as much about sexual morality as they are about national identity, anti-EU sentiments, and the efforts of religious institutions to regain power in post-communist societies. Contributors are: Alar Kilp, Dorota Hall, Koen Slootmaeckers, Magda Dolinska-Rydzek, Marek Mikuš, Mariecke van den Berg, Martina Topić, Mihai Tarta, Miloš Jovanović, R. Ruard Ganzevoort, Srdjan Sremac, Tamara Pavasović Trošt, Zlatiborka Popov-Momčinović.

Nation-building processes in the Orthodox commonwealth brought together political institutions and religious communities in their shared aims of achieving national sovereignty. Chronicling how the churches of Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, and Serbia acquired independence from the Patriarchate of Constantinople in the wake of the Ottoman Empire’s decline, Orthodox Christianity and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century Southeastern Europe examines the role of Orthodox churches in the construction of national identities. Drawing on archival material available after the fall of communism in southeastern Europe and Russia, as well as material published in Greek, Serbian, Bulgarian, Romanian, and Russian, Orthodox Christianity and Nationalism in Nineteenth-Century Southeastern Europe analyzes the challenges posed by nationalism to the Ecumenical Patriarchate and the ways in which Orthodox churches engaged in the nationalist ideology.