ABSTRACT
Nationalism, hence the concept of the nation, was the main driving force of the realignment of polities in Central Europe. The emerging national communities made claims upon territories and the right to administer themselves; later these movements strived almost universally for sovereignty. WWI brought about the realization of these programs with the dissolution of the empires (Russia, Austria-Hungary, partly Germany), and after WWII, the change of regime led to further fragmentation along supposedly national lines.
