The End of the Beginning

Abstract

This last chapter of the book forms a bridge between it and its sequel, Scandinavia and Bismarck. The point of departure is the classic arguments against the feasibility of political Scandinavianism already raised and discussed. The preliminary conclusion in Chap. 6 was that these mainly structuralist arguments could not stand on their own. However, the failure of political Scandinavianism in the summer of 1848 can be seen as proof of some of the tenets of the master narrative. According to these, geography, and Russian interests, explains why a Scandinavian union was impossible. To counter this line of argumentation, the scope of the comparative analysis is widened further in time and space. Political Scandinavianism is compared to different types of Pan-Slavism and parallels the geopolitical circumstance that made not only the unification of Italy and Germany, but also the creation of Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia possible. The point being made is that while the window of opportunity was very small indeed in 1848, a general European window of opportunity for major changes opened with the Crimean War. Russia’s defeat changed the balance of power and made (pan)nationalist projects more feasible, just as the First World War did some 60 years later. Moreover, the failure of the revolutions of 1848 made many liberal and radical (pan)nationalist across Europe open to collaborating with conservative statesmen and royals to reach their goals. Royals and conservatives, on the other hand, embraced nationalism to preserve their power. The result was Realpolitik and a type of realist approach to nationalism that corresponds to Hobsbawm’s idea of a threshold principle. While traditionalist Scandinavian historiography argues that the great powers were against the creation of new medium-seized ‘nation states’ such as a united Scandinavia, the chapter points to the fact that the great powers created numerous medium-sized ‘nation states’ as useful allies or vassal states. Hence, nationalism, geopolitics and dynastic ambitions became intertwined post-1848 and made major changes possible. How this panned out in the Scandinavian case will be explored in depth in Scandinavia and Bismarck.