NEGOTIATING SOVEREIGNTY: CHALLENGES OF SECULARISM AND NATION BUILDING IN CENTRAL EASTERN EUROPE SINCE 1780

Introduction

Why does the modern state, with its claim to sovereignty, care so much about secularization and (re)sacralization? In order to address this question, the project examines the (pre)history of the conflict-ridden relationship between transnational institutions and the modern state. It also looks at the players who stood at the point of intersection of the two by analyzing the shifts in relations between the state and one of the oldest transnational institutions in the world, the Catholic Church.

Conflicts Between Church and State

The project examines the conflicts between church and state and the various processes involved in attempts to address these conflicts. This is primarily achieved by studying the history of the oaths of loyalty that the (chief) pastors of the Catholic Church were obliged to take.

Historical Context

The tensions which arose because of these conflicts in the Habsburg Monarchy and its successor states between 1780 and 1990 are a focal point of this research. Oaths of loyalty to the state bear the marks of the changing relationships between the nation state and the transnational Catholic Church.

Negotiations of Sovereignty

These oaths were generated directly through the negotiations of sovereignty among these actors. The project will offer a comprehensive interpretation of oaths of loyalty in the context of:

1. Josephinism
2. Nation building
3. Communism

Transformations of Loyalties

It will also explore their transformations in the context of the shifting relationships of national, state, and transnational loyalties. Thus, it will provide much-needed tools for a longue durée and comparative analysis of state-church relations in Central Eastern Europe.

Patterns of Continuity and Discontinuity

The project will discuss patterns of continuity and discontinuity between the church policy of different regimes. It will examine the common and different features of the role of Catholicism in nation building, as well as the related change of function of the Catholic hierarchy among the peoples of the Habsburg Monarchy.

Global Historical Insights

On the plane of global history, it will offer new insights into the roots and the prehistory of the conflicted relationship between transnational institutions and state sovereignty.