The Transylvanian Question--the struggle between Hungary and Romania for control of Transylvania--seems at first sight a side-show in the story of the Nazi New Order and the Second World War. These two allies of the Third Reich spent much of the war arguing bitterly among themselves over Transylvania's future, and Europe's leaders, Germany and Italy, were drawn into their dispute to prevent it from spiraling into a regional war. But precisely as a result of this interaction, the story of the Transylvanian Question offers a new way into the history of the European idea--how state leaders and national elites have interpreted what "Europe" means and what it does. For tucked into the folds of the Transylvanian Question's bizarre genealogy is a secret that no one ever tried to keep, but that has remained a secret nonetheless: small states matter. The perspective of small states puts the struggle for mastery among its Great Powers into a new and perhaps chastening perspective. In short, when we look closely at what people in small states think and how they behave, the history of twentieth-century Europe looks suddenly very different.
Industry Reviews
"[Between States] focuses chiefly on events between 1940 and 1944, in what is a stellar blend of classic diplomatic history with microhistory ... Holly Case's microhistorical analysis of Cluj serves to caution us that ethnic identity, often depicted as static, is indeed hardly spontaneous; instead it is the product of a state-supported or state-obstructed situative process of identification. Case's book offers much not only to those Hungarian historians engaged in re-elaborating our understanding of the [era] ... but also to scholars of the region who seek to finally supersede the national narratives that followed the collapse of state socialism with another approach, that of transnational and comparative social history." - Stefano Bottoni, Hungarian Historical Review "Between States is the product of much diligent and original research, bringing together a great deal of material in different languages from archives in a number of countries." - Alex Drace-Francis, European History Quarterly "This well-written and meticulously researched study advances large and provocative claims. At its center stands the 'Transylvanian Question': the struggle, particularly bitter during World War II, between Hungary and Romania for possession of the borderland made famous by Bram Stoker. It is not Holly Case's purpose to side with one country or the other but to demonstrate the importance of this and, by extension, other territorial disputes to the larger history of Europe." - Lee Congdon, American Historical Review "On the basis of impeccable research in multiple languages, and with a clear mind and lucid pen, Holly Case has written an existential account of nationalism ... [Case] creates a form of analysis that every student of nationality and nationalism will have to consider." - Timothy Snyder, Austrian History Yearbook "Between States is an impressive book in breadth of coverage, the author's careful balancing of perspectives and evenhandedness of presentation, as well as in terms of readability. It will certainly become a book read and discussed by specialists in east European history, and it will contribute to moving the field of World War II historiography toward a more comparativist transnational perspective." - Maria Bucur, Indiana University, The Journal of Central European History
