ABSTRACT
In autumn 1918, Austria-Hungary disintegrated, and new successor states began to emerge. This process of parcellation of the defunct Empire was based on the principle of self-determination, an idea formulated by Woodrow Wilson. In this chapter, actions of Austrian and Yugoslav politicians, civil servants, officials, and teachers who used the newly acquired levers of power to influence the school organization and curriculum in order to impose specific nationalist worldviews were analysed and compared in order to gain an understanding of the notions of “Germanness” and “Slovenenness” and their implications on compulsory education around 1918 and in the following two decades. In conclusion, the interrelation of state schooling and nation state ideology was critically assessed to provide a deeper understanding of nation and nationalism for future studies.
