ItwouldnotbeanexaggerationtosaythatthecentraleventinthepoliticalhistoryofEuropeinthetwentiethcenturywastheunmakingofgreatempiresandthemakingofsuccessornationalstates.FromtheHohenzollernGermanEmpiretotheformerYugoslavia,almostallgreatmultinationalstatesofthecontinentroseandeventuallyfellintheaftermathoftheGreatWar,theSecondWorldWar,andtheColdWar.Amongallspectacularimperialcollapsesandsometimeseventheirrebuildingandre-collapse,theonce-for-allfalloftheHabsburgEmpirein1918,arelativelylightweightamongstrongEuropeanstates,appearnotespeciallysignificant.Butashistorianshaverecentlybegantorecognize,thepoliticalcultureoftheHabsburgEmpireinitslastyearsandthesuccessorstateshadexercisedadisproportionallylargeinfluenceonthemakingofmodernEuropeandtheworld.Amongtheimportantquestionsdiscussedinrecentliteraturearetheterritorialdisputesofnewnationstates,1thecultivationofscienceanddomesticlife,2politicsandideologyofliberalism,3andthemakingofmultinationalempire.4
