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The Bear and His Protégés: Life in the Balkan Kettle According to the German-Language Caricatures
Russian women. In 1905, 36% of all university students in Switzerland were Rus¬
sians and two thirds of the students were females (Briigger 1996: 488).
Finally, I chose Germany and Switzerland because of the differences in the in¬
ternational situation of both countries during the mentioned period. The German
Empire was a large monarchy with great ambitions for power, and it was strengthen¬
ing its alliance with Austria-Hungary—the rival of Russia.* On the other hand, the
Swiss Confederation was a small, democratic, and neutral republic, and the Swiss
perceived themselves as a freedom-loving nation giving political asylum to refugees
persecuted by authoritarian regimes throughout Europe (Collmer 2004: 296).
Germany actively participated in European politics, was an integral part of the
European system of alliances, and, during the Otto von Bismarck era,’ represented
the nineteenth century idea of European order. It was, first of all, Bismarck who
personified the dominant geopolitical concept of that time—the idea of a balance of
power. As Karen Mingst said, “The independent European states, each with relative¬
ly equal power, feared the emergence of any predominant state (hegemon) among
them. Thus, they formed alliances to counteract any potentially more powerful fac¬
tion—creating the balance of power.” (Mingst 2003: 32-33). This system worked
well until the waning years of the nineteenth century, when the previously fluid and
flexible alliances with changeable allies had solidified and two camps had emerged:
the Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy) in 1882 and the Triple
Entente (France, Russia, and Great Britain) from 1893 to 1904 (Ibidem: 35). In this
way, Germany was to play a significant role in nineteenth-century European history,
not only as a pillar of a system with a balance of power, but also as its gravedigger.
Switzerland, on the other hand, was a unique country during that period. It was
the only non monarchical country in Europe, besides France after 1870. Being a
neutral state—which was officially recognized by the European powers in 1815—it
did not participate in wars or in any political alliances. Switzerland was also strongly
involved in the pacifist movement. In Geneva, a convention was signed that gave
birth to the International Red Cross (1863) and the subsequent conventions that
established the standards of international law for the humanitarian treatment of
victims of war (1864, 1906).
My research concept is based on the constructivist theory—the concept of a col¬
lective identity as the most important factor in determining social and even political
life. According to the constructivist approach,
state behaviour is shaped by elite beliefs, identities, and social norms. Indi¬
viduals in collectivities forge, shape, and change culture through ideas and
* That is, within the Triple Alliance—between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy (as opposed to
the Triple Entente, which consisted of an alliance between Britain, France, and Russia)—that lasted
from 1882 until the start of World War I in 1914.
> Otto von Bismarck was Prussian prime minister and German chancellor from 1862 to 1890.
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