This book seeks to reassess and shed new light on pan-nationalisms in general and on Scandinavianism/Nordism in particular, by seeing them as possible futures and as interconnected ideas and practices across and beyond Europe. An actor and practice oriented approach is applied at the expense of more essentialist categorizations of what pan-nationalism is, or is not to underline both the synchronic and diachronic diversity of various pan-national movements. A range of expert international scholars discuss encounters, transfers, similarities and differences among pan-movements in Norden and Europe based on a broad empirical material, focusing on Scandinavianism/Nordism, pan-Slavism, pan-Turanism, pan-Germanism and Greater Netherlandism, and the position of Britishness in Great Britain. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of nationalism, European history, European studies and Scandinavian studies, history, social science, political geography, civil society and literary studies.

This book seeks to reassess and shed new light on pan-nationalisms in general and on Scandinavianism/Nordism in particular, by seeing them as possible futures and as interconnected ideas and practices across and beyond Europe. An actor- and practice-oriented approach is applied at the expense of more essentialist categorisations of what pan-nationalism is, or is not, to underline both the synchronic and diachronic diversity of various pan-national movements. A range of expert international scholars discuss encounters, transfers, similarities and differences among pan-movements in Norden and Europe based on a broad empirical material, focusing on Scandinavianism/Nordism, pan-Slavism, pan-Turanism, pan-Germanism and Greater Netherlandism, and the position of Britishness in Great Britain. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of nationalism, European history, European studies and Scandinavian studies, history, social science, political geography, civil society and literary studies.

This is a stunning book about Scandinavianism, based on huge archival work, demonstrating that a unification nationalism was close to the success enjoyed by Italy and Germany. Another consideration deserves stark highlighting: this is the most exciting book in nationalism studies to have appeared for many years, offering a novel realist theory of nationalism that destroys many taken for granted assumptions, about the nineteenth century for surebut with implications quite as much for present circumstances as well. -John A. Hall, Professor emeritus, McGill This book explores the intellectual grounds of Scandinavianist ideology and its political development into a national unification movement. Denmark, Norway and Sweden were nearly annihilated during the Napoleonic Wars. The lesson learned was that survival was a matter of size. Whereas their union of 1814 offered Sweden-Norway geostrategic security tempered by fear of Russia, Denmark was the biggest territorial loser of the Napoleonic Wars and faced separatism connected to German nationalism in the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein. This evolved into a national conflict that threatened Denmarks survival as a nation. Meanwhile, a new generation of Danes, Swedes and Norwegians had come to regard kindred language, culture and religion as a case for Scandinavian union that could offer protection against Russia and Germany. When the European revolutions of 1848 unleashed the First Schleswig War, the influence of Scandinavianism was such that it nearly turned into a Scandinavian war of unification. Rasmus Glenthj is Associate Professor of History at the University of Southern Denmark. Morten Nordhagen Ottosen is Professor of History at the Norwegian Defence University College.

This book accounts for Scandinavian unification efforts in a time of great upheaval. The ideological repercussions of the European revolutions of 1848-1849 and the Crimean War (1853-1856) transformed both the international political system and nationalism into more realist types. The First Schleswig War (1848-1851) having nearly turned into one of Scandinavian unification, the influence of Scandinavianism extended into the Danish, Swedish and Norwegian courts, cabinets and parliaments, attracting interest from the great powers. The Crimean War offered another window of opportunity for Scandinavian unification, before the Danish-German conflict over the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein nearly united Scandinavia upon the outbreak of the Second Schleswig War in 1864. The ultimate failure of Scandinavianism in its unification efforts was not predetermined, although historiography has made it appear as such. Napoleon III, Cavour and Bismarck all actively contributed to plans for Scandinavian unification, the latter even declaring himself as very strongly Scandinavian. Rasmus Glenthj is Associate Professor of History at the University of Southern Denmark. Morten Nordhagen Ottosen is Professor of History at the Norwegian Defence University College.

What makes a magazine in South Africa promote Scandinavian unity among its immigrant readers and why does a Swedish king endorse attempts to influence pan-Scandinavian opinion through a transnational media event in Sweden, Norway and Denmark? Can portraits of exotic Lapplanders in the British press, enthusiastic accounts of the welfare state in post-war travel literature and descriptions of the liberal Nordic woman as a metaphor for a freer society in Franco Spain really be bundled together under a joint label of 'Nordicness'? How is it that despite the variety of images of the Nordic region that are circulating, we still find this recurring idea of a shared Nordic identity? These are some of the questions the current volume seeks to answer. Covering the time period from the early nineteenth century up until the present and encompassing case studies from Britain, Spain, Poland, and South Africa, as well as from the Nordic countries, contributors to the volume investigate the images that have been presented of the Nordic region in the media in and outside of the Nordic countries, how such images have been shaped by mechanisms of mediation, and the channels through which they have been distributed. The chapters address both specific cases such as media events and individual publications, as well as the structural and institutional settings for mediating the Nordic region.

This book is a compilation of scholarly articles on a wide variety of subjects pertaining to the cultures of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden. Nordic Experiences discusses music, art, literature, folkore, and the social fabric of past and present to offer the reader a many-faceted image of what the term Scandinavia stands for today. There are now some 12-13 million people of Nordic descent living in the United States, and their culture has played a part in shaping the American experience. The cultural contacts and exchanges between the United States and the Nordic countries, thanks in large part to immigration, remains strong and varied, adding a significant dimension to the close ties that have existed for many years. This book is a celebration of Nordic culture and its harmonious and enduring relationship with the United States. As such, it will be of considerable interest to scholars and students alike of Scandinavian or European civilization.

Using an interdisciplinary approach, this book brings together work in the fields of History, Literary Studies, Music and Architecture to examine the place of folklore and representations of ‘the people’ in the development of nations across Europe during the nineteenth century.