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Because of German Affairs’: Sorbian Soldiers’ Memories of the War of 1866

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2023

Abstract

The paper presents an unusual view of the war conflict of 1866 through the lens of a small nation of Lusatian Sorbs. Lusatia, one of the historic lands of the Bohemian Crown, was divided between Prussia and Saxony during this war, and men from one nation, often from one family, frequently joined each other's armies.

This paradox may have contributed to the fact that the recollections of the Sorbian participants in this war offer a novel 'view from below', free from the traditional dichotomous discursive framework of the War of 1866 and instead contain a considerable amount of sources for studying the war in question through a historical-anthropological lens.