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The Habsburg Empire and the Modern State

On this episode of American Prestige, Natasha Wheatley on the transformation of the Habsburg Empire from a multinational collection of polities to discrete nation-states.

Derek Davison and Daniel Bessner

July 22, 2024

The coronation of Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth of Austria as King and Queen of Hungary, on June 8, 1867, in Buda, the capital of Hungary. (Edmund Tull / Wikimedia Commons)

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The Habsburg Empire and the Modern State w/ Natasha Wheatley | American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of American Prestige, Natasha Wheatley, assistant professor of history at Princeton, sits down with our hosts, Danny and Derek, to talk about the transformation of the Habsburg Empire from a multinational collection of polities to discrete nation-states and how this century of radical change informs our ideas of sovereignty and the subsequent international order. The discussion explores the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, how the Empire navigated emerging nationalisms in the late 19th century compared with the Ottoman Empire, problems of post-Habsburg states after WWI and how they helped engender WWII, and more.

Grab a copy of Natasha’s book The Life and Death of States: Central Europe and the Transformation of Modern Sovereignty.

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On this episode of American Prestige, Natasha Wheatley, assistant professor of history at Princeton, sits down with us to talk about the transformation of the Habsburg Empire from a multinational collection of polities to discrete nation-states and how this century of radical change informs our ideas of sovereignty and the subsequent international order.

The discussion explores the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, how the empire navigated emerging nationalisms in the late 19th century compared with the Ottoman Empire, problems of post-Habsburg states after WWI and how they helped engender WWII, and more.

Grab a copy of Natasha’s book The Life and Death of States: Central Europe and the Transformation of Modern Sovereignty.

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

The Ongoing Catastrophe of Sudan's Civil War w/ Khalid Medani | American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

On this episode of American Prestige, Derek and Danny are joined by Khalid Medani, associate professor of political science, director of the Institute of Islamic Studies, and chair of the African Studies Program at McGill University, to talk about the state of play in Sudan's civil war. They delve into the military stalemate between the Sudanese Army and Rapid Support Forces (RSF), the humanitarian crisis reaching 13 million displaced and 26 million on the brink of starvation, involvement from outsider actors including Egypt and the UAE, the strategic importance of the besieged city El Fasher in Darfur, the defection of the RSF’s Gezira commander, Abuagla Keikal, over to the Sudanese military, and more.

Note: After the recording of this episode, the RSF massacred 120 people in eastern Sudan.

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Derek DavisonDerek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in international affairs and US foreign policy. He is the publisher of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, cohost of the American Prestige podcast, and former editor of LobeLog.


Daniel BessnerTwitterDaniel Bessner is an historian of US foreign relations, and cohost of American Prestige, a podcast on international affairs.


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