Filologija, No. 86, 2026.
Studija slučaja
Neutral Moresnet: A unique micro-country where languages colide and peoples divide (Ethnolinguistic and historical-sociological reflections)
Nikola Rašić
Sažetak
The paper presents ethnolinguistic and historical-sociological reflections on Neutral Moresnet. It was one of the smallest countries ever in the history of Europe and the world, created in 1816, after the Vienna Congress following the Napoleonic Wars. It developed over a hundred years in a very particular way, in direction of an independent micro-state. Its population (which, in the meanwhile, grew from 250 to about 4,500 people) developed a peculiar identity and special sense of belonging, despite of its multiplicity of languages and origins. This is also the place where Dutch and German languages meet in the form of transitional vernaculars that cannot be attributed to any of both languages or can be taken as either of them. Although this ambiguity is rather symbolic, the seeds of discord were not languages or ethnicities, but a rich zinc mine, impossible to divide. Here we also find the external boundaries of French, which dominates in that part of Belgium, making it the most common choice of standard language also for local speakers of Germanic dialects, be it Dutch, German or transitional idioms. All this gave rise to a complex relationship between languages and social identities, all the way from local levels to the national or state level. This makes the history of this country, otherwise insignificant regarding its area or population, extremely complex but also instructive for various comparative studies. The local context in Belgium and the political system of that country, based on linguistic and ethnic criteria, are pointed out in detail. This reveals unique relations, unknown elsewhere, that could nevertheless be observed in tiny Neutral Moresnet. Examples of human destinies and social identities in Neutral Moresnet and its immediate environs were therefore an occasion to consider once again the relationship between language and ethnicity (i.e. nationality or statehood) from a new and fresh angle of an almost experimental situation of Neutral Moresnet. Finally, an overview of various microstates and disputed territories in Europe is given, with special reference to the relationship between language and ethnicity in the Balkans and Croatia.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
349173
URI
Datum izdavanja:
11.7.2026.
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