This book examines how local elites from the dissolved Austria-Hungary managed to survive and often thrive despite the empire's collapse in 1918. When faced with national and social revolutions, these figures—many of whom suddenly found themselves ethnic minorities—seemed destined to lose their positions entirely. Yet a surprising number not only persisted but became essential to the state-building efforts of Austria-Hungary's successor states.

Through detailed case studies of Catholic priests from Tyrol, postmen and teachers in Czechoslovakia, a vocational school director from Southern Moravia, a forestry magnate from Romania, and bank and industrial managers and politicians from Transylvania, this book reveals how these elites successfully navigated the transition from empire to nation-state. The analysis traces how they leveraged material and social resources accumulated before 1918, converting capital from one form to another as they moved from local elite positions in the old empire to new elite roles in emerging states. In doing so, they knowingly or unintentionally strengthened the very states that had initially threatened their existence, leading these new governments to relax their homogenizing efforts in exchange.

This book will appeal to historians specializing in Central and Eastern European history, scholars of empire and nationalism, and researchers interested in elite studies and social mobility. It contributes to the broader fields of Habsburg studies, post-imperial transitions, state formation, and the sociology of elites, making it valuable for both academic researchers and advanced students in history, political science, and sociology.

The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of European Review of History.