Politicizers of the Past

Here is a quote from 1991 (when the fear of Eastern European nationalism filled the pants of most academics who studied the area). Published, we kid you not, by a German (Austrian, but that’s a fake country always on the brink of not being around in a few years) who decided to apply the training he received on deconstructing German nationalism (indeed the concept of the German nation which still exists, barely) to other European nations. An individual well-schooled in criticizing his own people might find no trouble in criticizing other “lesser” (this time as regards their sensitivity/multiculturalism/spirit of tolerance) peoples when called upon to do so. And this proves true here.

He thinks our nationalism could be just like his so now that his people have stopped killing us, he thinks it’s time to start to lecture us. He says:

“existence of Romans, Germans or Slavs in the 5th or 7th centuries became important arguments in an endless series of national struggles…”

There it is – he is saying history should be a tool of current politics, to ensure the Slavs do not cause another holocaust… wait, what!? So, if in fact you come across claims that the Veneti are not Slavs or that something “definitely is not Slavic” or similar stuff, take them with a grain of salt, because the person may just be an ideologic propagandist who tailors his work to fit his preconceived political needs.

Not with a tinge of irony we note that in the 19th century the Slavic-Veneti connection was questioned by German nationalists – now it seems the very existence of Slavs prior to some period is being questioned by German “citizens of the world”. Someone asked whether we thought this individual was a covert German nationalist. We do not think so. Sincere lunacy though is no less problematic.