ABSTRACT
It was noted in section 1.1 that nationalism was essentially a western European concept transferred to the very different conditions of central and eastern Europe. It was also noted that it contrasted markedly with the dynastic principle. That is not to suggest that central and eastern European nationalism had no local roots. On the contrary, it was often rooted in a strong sense of cultural and often religious identity, which the ruling imperial powers had normally tolerated. Ironically, perhaps, the Muslim Turks had often been more tolerant than the Christian Austrians and Russians. The Austrians had forcibly suppressed Czech protestantism and national rights, and Austrians, Germans and Russians alike had sought to suppress the Polish sense of identity after the partitions at the end of the eighteenth century.
