A). The Austro- Hungarian Empire certainly does count, since it is the actually state existing BEFORE Wilson;
B). Many of these states are no more mono- ethnic than the United States or Australia, which for most of their history had majorities of British extraction. As I said, "racially", even countries like Italy, Spain, and France diverge regionally, given the ancient peoples involved in their settlement, from Phoenicians to Goths, and in other respects, like language, they were not unequivocally one people. Since Czechoslovakia was one country, even after the break- up of the Austro- Hungarian Empire, it is a mistake to gloss over their separation. They are a good example of how two groups you or I might consider to be one "people" consider themselves separate, like the Serbs and Croats. Certainly, Britain is not "mono- ethnic", and the minorities I cited for Poland, while individually small enough, in aggregate were almost have the population, which is significant dilution of the dominant group;
C). I have no objection to the second paragraph, supposing a true balance is struck;
D). It is not "interesting" that I think of fascism, it is the point<VBG>;
E). Actually, the Jews did pretty well under the Reichstaat developed by Bismark. Although I think that minority culture should be treated with some respect, if the primary complaint is pressure to assimilate, such pressure is not unreasonable. There is a big difference between a certain degree of favoritism shown a dominant group and intolerable depredations against minorities. For example, under the Hapsburgs, those of German extraction tended to get privileges, but increasingly, minority aspirations were being accommodated, as may be measured by the prominence of Jewish professionals in Vienna at the turn of the century. (Jews, as a particularly despised group, traditionally, are a good measure of tolerance and minority mobility);
F). I am happy to support secession, if the case is sufficient, but I do not have a knee- jerk approval. If everyone with a grievance were allowed to secede without challenge, there would be no rule of law....... |
