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The Foe Within: Fantasies of Treason and the End of Imperial Russia

gender as a window on a larger process of state building, Feinberg convincingly argues that the demise of democratic governments in interwar Europe could not be attributed solely to outside forces of Nazism and fascism. Internal factors, such as societal anxieties regarding equal rights, contributed to the deterioration of democratic values. The Czech case was unique in that it traditionally placed a strong emphasis on women’s rights as part of national independence and democracy. None other than the most prominent Czech national leader, Tomás Masaryk, championed gender equality. In the early-twentieth century, rather than working in opposition to the state as was the case in most European countries, Czech feminists allied themselves with Masaryk and the nationalist cause. For these women, according to Feinberg, being Czech and being feminist was one and the same. After 1918 the leaders of independent Czechoslovakia enthusiastically granted voting rights to women, but they were less eager to support gender equality within the family. Marriage, divorce, and reproduction remained “outside the purview of the egalitarian impulses of the democratic system.” According to Feinberg, tensions between equality and the well-being of the national community, which was believed to rest on the subordinate role of women within the family, were central to understanding the demise of Czech and European democracy in the interwar period. Feinberg’s work makes a significant contribution to East–Central European historiography in which issues of gender have not been thoroughly studied. The book’s major strength lies in situating issues of gender have not been thoroughly studied. The book’s major strength lies in situating issues of gender and state firmly within a broader European context. Feinberg’s book is intended for a broad scholarly audience. Nevertheless, its subject matter and compelling personal stories behind the struggles for women’s rights in the Czech lands make this work excellent reading for undergraduate and graduate classes. This includes classes on modern European history and those dealing with larger issues of state building, citizenship, and rights.