Local internationalists : Polish and Central European Esperantist networks between the local, national, and global, c. 1890s-1910s

Abstract

This doctoral thesis examines the early Esperanto movement, its entanglements, and actors among Polish supporters of the language. The chronological framework takes the publication of the language in 1887 as the starting point and ends with the beginning of the First World War, which also interrupted Esperanto activities as a historical caesura. The geographical starting point is Warsaw, but the emerging transnational language community quickly overcomes geographical categories, so that actors from different countries equally find themselves involved. A transnational perspective is utilised as far as possible, which breaks down the strongly interwoven structures into their individual parts and also examines individuals, their environment, and their personal involvement at appropriate points on a micro-historical level. A special feature of the study is the examination of address books, journal subscribers, or congress participants, the contents of which were transferred to databases and, in the form of different visualisations as map material, enable further approaches to analysis. By linking the local anchoring of the actors and their transnational commitment, the work therefore uses the concept of "local internationalists" referred to in the title, who used Esperanto to connect with an international community that united cultures and nations.

The first part deals with Esperanto life in Warsaw and focuses on the various forms of organised Esperanto life. This investigation is supplemented by a local-spatial embedding of the activities in the Warsaw cityscape. Significant local characteristics include the cooperation of Esperantists with local trade associations and a large number of medical practitioners.

The second part deals with the Esperanto movement and its connections to the field of medicine. In this field, a Worldwide Esperanto Medical Association was founded in 1908, mainly on the initiative of Polish Esperantists. In addition to analysing the history of the association's origins and the involvement of various actors, the study also examines its influence on the International Medical Congresses of the time. It concludes with an analysis of the Esperanto medical journals that emerged from the movement.