Cornelius Goop

Cornelius Goop

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Cornelius Goop is a doctoral candidate at the Department of History at the University of Vienna. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in History and Political Science at the University of Zurich. In 2020, he finished his Master’s degree at the University of Heidelberg with a thesis on elite migration to the Principality of Liechtenstein in the 19^th century. His PhD project is funded by a scholarship from the Liechtenstein Institute in Bendern (LIE). He did traineeships at the German Historical Institute in Paris and the Liechtenstein Institute.

Research interests: Nationalism, intellectual history, historiography, cultural memory, history of small states, modern German and Austrian history 

Current research project: “The Microstate and the Nation. The Principality of Liechtenstein Between German Nationalism and the Construction of an Own National Identity” (working title)
Microstates in Europe are often described as insignificant or “pre-modern” relics of the formation of modern nation-states in the 19^th and 20^th century. However, a closer empirical look shows that the need to legitimize the existence of small sovereign territories, the imitation of processes in other states, and the challenge of larger nationalisms led to a process that carried aspects of modern nation building in microstates as well. This PhD-Project examines the case study of Liechtenstein in the period between the mid-19^th century and the Second World War in comparison with other European microstates. With a focus on historical narratives, the influence of the “Heimat”-movement, education policies and the organization of local associations, it investigates how national identity in this small territory was constructed and how it was challenged by German nationalism. It wants to show that the modern European microstate is in fact itself a product of the age of nation-states.