Agrarianism As Modernity in 20th-Century Europe : The Golden Age of the Peasantry

Whilst Soviet communism and its relationship with modernity has been widely studied to date, the agrarian experiment in Eastern Europe has been relegated to the margins of historical analysis. In this comparative study, Alex Toshkov uncovers the history of agrarianism after the First World War and explores its place as an alternative modernity to liberal democracy and capitalism. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, this book explores the transnational connections between the paradigmatic cases of Bulgaria, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, as well as the International Agrarian Bureau in Prague, teasing out contradictions, hidden records and silenced interpretations of agrarianism. In addition, it uses a microhistorical approach to present an innovative theoretical framework which adds to our understanding of nationalism, political corruption, and alterity and the subaltern. This fascinating study restores interwar agrarianism to its rightful place as one of the most original and significant political currents in 20th-century Europe. Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Contents 8 Abbreviations 9 Introduction 10 Chapter 1: The Crucible of War 30 The war decade and the BANU 33 Agrarians in the service of the nation and the republic 41 Prewar origins 46 Chapter 2: Projecting the Peasant on the World Stage 50 Chapter 3: Reimagining the Nation 70 Nationalism in the context of agrarianism 70 The case study 74 The theoretical problematic 76 The centrality of the language question 80 The orthography debate of the 1920s 86 Chapter 4: Between Aspirations and Limitations 104 Chapter 5: Delegitimizing the Agrarian Alternative: The Diptych of Stamboliiski’s Corruption and Radić’s Treason 130 A micro-history of the corruption trial 132 The agrarian response 135 The restitution court 139 Making sense of “corruption” 144 Radić’s treason charge 151 Chapter 6: Drawing the Curtain 162 Recapitulation 176 Notes 184 Introduction 184 Chapter 1 186 Chapter 2 189 Chapter 3 192 Chapter 4 197 Chapter 5 201 Chapter 6 206 Bibliography 210 Archives 210 Contemporary periodicals 212 Published documents and memoirs 213 Secondary literature 214 Index 235 List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. The Crucible of War 2. Projecting the Peasant on the World Stage 3. Reimagining the Nation 4. Between Aspirations and Limitations 5. Delegitimizing the Agrarian Alternative: The Diptych of Stamboliiski's Corruption and Radic's Treason 6. Drawing the Curtain Conclusion Bibliography Index