Studies on National Movements

Abstract

The emergence of nation-states in Central and Eastern Europe at the beginning of the 20th century created the need to manage ethnic diversity and issues associated with drawing boundaries between ethnic communities. One of the results of the respective societal processes was the minority activism, aimed not only at protecting the interests of minorities, but also at ensuring their survival. This article focuses on the latter aspect building on the assumption that research on country-level minority activism helps better understand majority-minority relations and their impact on the functioning of society. This complex of problems is discussed, focusing on the example of interwar Estonia. The German minority elite’s perceptions of ethnicity will be analysed, based on the documentation reflecting the inclusion policy of the German Cultural Self-Government, the autonomous institutional body of the German minority in Estonia. The article demonstrates the remarkably constructivist views of the German minority elite and explains their genesis and background. It will be argued that first, German elite’s constructivist perceptions had historical roots; second, the elite needed to be pragmatically open rather than primordially protectionist for their dwindling community to survive; and third, they had no reason for protectionism stemming from the fear of malicious infiltration of members of other ethnic groups. Since such an open inclusion policy turned out to be relatively successful, it can be concluded that the German minority, which formed the ruling elite in Estonia earlier centuries, continued to be attractive, and this in turn caused significant social tensions, making the Estonians, now being in a dominant position and in the numerical majority, doubt their own survival. The results of this article ultimately highlight the relevance of instrumentalisation of ethnic ambiguities in forming minority activism and drawing boundaries between majority and minorities.

Keywords: Ethnicity, Constructivism, Instrumentalism, Minority activism, German minority, Interwar Estonia

How to Cite:

Tark, T., (2025) “‘Ethnicity is not a Physiological Moment’: German Minority Elite’s Constructivist Perceptions of Ethnicity in Interwar Estonia”, Studies on National Movements 14(1), 18. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/snm.90367