{"id":47598,"date":"2025-07-25T09:48:51","date_gmt":"2025-07-25T09:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=47598"},"modified":"2025-07-25T09:48:51","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T09:48:51","slug":"jakub-s-benes-the-last-peasant-war-violence-and-revolution-in-twentieth-century-eastern-europe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=47598","title":{"rendered":"Jakub S. Bene\u0161, \u201eThe Last Peasant War: Violence and Revolution in Twentieth-Century Eastern Europe\u201c"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>A history of the largely forgotten peasant revolution that swept central and eastern Europe after World War I\u2014and how it changed the course of interwar politics and World War II<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As the First World War ended, villages across central and eastern Europe rose in revolt. Led in many places by a shadowy movement of army deserters, peasants attacked those whom they blamed for wartime abuses and long years of exploitation\u2014large estate owners, officials, and merchants, who were often Jewish. At the same time, peasants tried to realize their rural visions of a reborn society, establishing local self-government or attempting to influence the new states that were being built atop the wreckage of the Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires. In The Last Peasant War, Jakub Bene\u0161 presents the first comprehensive history of this dramatic and largely forgotten revolution and traces its impact on interwar politics and the course of the Second World War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Sweeping large portions of the countryside between the Alps and the Urals from 1917 to 1921, this peasant revolution had momentous aftereffects, especially among Slavic peoples in the former lands of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It enabled an unprecedented expansion of agrarian politics in the interwar period and provided a script for rural resistance that was later revived to resist Nazi occupation and to challenge Communist rule in east central Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By shifting historical focus from well-studied cities to the often-neglected countryside, The Last Peasant War reveals how the movements and ambitions of peasant villagers profoundly shaped Europe\u2019s most calamitous decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis book promises to be a landmark work of European history, a bold and rare effort to advance knowledge by shifting our view from cities and states to villages and countryside: to the meadows, forests, and hillsides that produce food, shelter bandits, and elicit human stories and emotions\u2014places that make history of which we know nothing, a bit like the dark matter that physicists seek because without it the universe would collapse.\u201d\u2014John Connelly, author of&nbsp;<em>From Peoples into Nations: A History of Eastern Europe<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201c<em>The Last Peasant War<\/em>&nbsp;vividly tells the story of the long-forgotten peasant armies that played a crucial role in the violent upheavals that East-Central Europe experienced between the First World War and its sequel in the later 1930s. Jakub Bene\u0161 makes a crucial contribution to our understanding of that period by reminding us that these conflicts were more than just a three-way clash between the forces of democracy, communism, and fascism.\u201d\u2014Robert Gerwarth, author of&nbsp;<em>November 1918: The German Revolution<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>About the Author<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Jakub Bene\u0161 is associate professor of central European history at University College London. He is the author of the prize-winning <em>Workers and Nationalism: Czech and German Social Democracy in Habsburg Austria, 1890\u20131918.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Copyright<\/strong>: 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Pages<\/strong>: 400<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/press.princeton.edu\/books\/hardcover\/9780691212531\/the-last-peasant-war\">https:\/\/press.princeton.edu\/books\/hardcover\/9780691212531\/the-last-peasant-war<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47599,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-knjige","category-novosti"],"acf":{"facebook_opis":""},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/benes-scaled.jpg?fit=1696%2C2560&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55161,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=55161","url_meta":{"origin":47598,"position":0},"title":"James Howard-Johnston, \u201eByzantium in a Changing World\u201c","author":"Filip \u0160imunjak","date":"2. rujna 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Byzantium is commonly taken to be a somewhat exotic entity on the margin of medieval Europe\u2014bureaucratic, Greek- rather than Latin-speaking, Orthodox rather than Catholic, wealthy and effete, relying on cunning rather than martial exploits to foil its enemies. Since the great majority of primary sources emanate from the polity's capital,\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Knjige&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Knjige","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Byzantium-in-Changing-World.webp?fit=795%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Byzantium-in-Changing-World.webp?fit=795%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Byzantium-in-Changing-World.webp?fit=795%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Byzantium-in-Changing-World.webp?fit=795%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55942,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=55942","url_meta":{"origin":47598,"position":1},"title":"\u201eOur Comrades in Havana. Cuba, the Soviet Union, and Eastern Europe, 1959\u20131991\u201c \u2013\u00a0Radoslav Yordanov","author":"Filip \u0160imunjak","date":"22. listopada 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"Using the Soviet-Cuban economic, political, military, and intelligence ties as a basis for analysis, this book aims to break new ground by more prominently factoring in Havana\u2019s relations with Moscow\u2019s Eastern European allies. The book uses an extensive range of material obtained from the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Ministerio\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Knjige&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Knjige","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Our-Comrades-in-Havana.webp?fit=640%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Our-Comrades-in-Havana.webp?fit=640%2C960&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Our-Comrades-in-Havana.webp?fit=640%2C960&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55062,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=55062","url_meta":{"origin":47598,"position":2},"title":"CfP: The Making of Solidarity: A\u00a0Conference on Eastern and Central European Dissidents, 1945-1991","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"24. kolovoza 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"This open call invites proposals for an interdisciplinary conference on Eastern and Central European dissidence, solidarity, and anti-imperial thought. The Making of Solidarity: A\u00a0Conference on Eastern and Central European Dissidents, 1945-1991 16.-17. November 2026 A close reading of Ivan Dziuba\u2019s classic\u00a01965 essay Internationalism or Russification? offers a\u00a0useful lens through which\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/The-Making-of-Solidarity.png?fit=883%2C662&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/The-Making-of-Solidarity.png?fit=883%2C662&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/The-Making-of-Solidarity.png?fit=883%2C662&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/The-Making-of-Solidarity.png?fit=883%2C662&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55426,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=55426","url_meta":{"origin":47598,"position":3},"title":"HISTORY ON THE EDGE: LIVING IN THE AFTERMATH: NARRATIVES OF LOSS AND VICTORY IN POSTWAR YUGOSLAVIA","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"23. rujna 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"You are kindly invited to a new lecture in the History on the Edge series, which will take place on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, at the INZ premises or via the ZOOM link: https:\/\/us06web.zoom.us\/j\/84664422400?pwd=b61EIvRBkMcapTCUwbscnA3NtuNS6K.1 . In the new season, lectures will take place at 3 p.m. and if you will\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ZNS_predavanja_23.9.jpg?fit=1200%2C879&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ZNS_predavanja_23.9.jpg?fit=1200%2C879&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ZNS_predavanja_23.9.jpg?fit=1200%2C879&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ZNS_predavanja_23.9.jpg?fit=1200%2C879&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/ZNS_predavanja_23.9.jpg?fit=1200%2C879&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55119,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=55119","url_meta":{"origin":47598,"position":4},"title":"Anthony Kaldellis, \u201ePhantom Byzantium: Europe, Empire, and Identity from Late Antiquity to World War II\u201c","author":"Filip \u0160imunjak","date":"28. kolovoza 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"How the West appropriated aspects of the eastern Roman empire while portraying it as inferior.Unveiling the ideological foundations of Byzantine studies, Phantom Byzantium is a pioneering survey of western European perceptions of the eastern Roman empire (also known as Byzantium) spanning late antiquity to World War II. Through ten chronological\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Knjige&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Knjige","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Phantom-Byzantium.webp?fit=795%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Phantom-Byzantium.webp?fit=795%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Phantom-Byzantium.webp?fit=795%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/historiografija.hr\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Phantom-Byzantium.webp?fit=795%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":55870,"url":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?p=55870","url_meta":{"origin":47598,"position":5},"title":"CfP: War Virtues in Science and Scholarship: Historical perspectives on cultivating the images of combat-ready scholars and scientists","author":"Branimir Jankovi\u0107","date":"16. listopada 2026.","format":false,"excerpt":"The concept of virtue has become an important analytical tool within the History of Science. Scholars employing this concept have shifted their focus from scientific ideas themselves to the practices involved in cultivating the \u201cepistemic virtues\u201d that made the emergence of these ideas possible. By \u201cvirtue,\u201d this scholarship understands cultivated\u2026","rel":"","context":"U &quot;Novosti&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Novosti","link":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47600,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47598\/revisions\/47600"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/historiografija.hr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}