Dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1867-1918,The

141 Pages·2014·3.292 MB·English

by  Mason, John W

THE DISSOLUTION OF THE
AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EMPIRE,
1867-1918
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The Dissolution of the
Austro-Hungarian
Empire, 1867-1918
SECOND EDITION
JOHN W. MASON
j J Routledge
Taylor &. Francis Group
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published 1985 by Pearson Education Limited
Second Edition 1997
Published 2013 by Routledge
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Copyright © 1985, 1997, Taylor & Francis.
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ISBN 13: 978-0-582-29466-0 (pbk)
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Mason, John W., 1939-
The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1867-1918 / John W.
Mason. - 2nd ed.
p. cm. — (Seminar studies in history)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-582-29466-5
1. Austria—History-1867-1918. 2. Austria-Ethnic relations.
3. Austria—Economic conditions-To 1918. 4. Nationalism—Austria.
I. Title. II. Series.
DB86.M36 1997
943.6’044—dc20 96-32785
CIP
Set by 7 in 10/12 Sabon
CONTENTS
An Introduction to the Series vii
Note on referencing system viii
Acknowledgements viii
Foreword x
Note on the Second Edition xi
Map: South-eastern Europe, showing the main national groups xii
PART ONE: THE BACKGROUND 1
1. THE HABSBURG MONARCHY IN EUROPEAN HISTORY 1
From the origins of the House of Habsburg to 1848 1
The period of constitutional experiments: 1848-67 4
2. 1867: THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN COMPROMISE 6
PART TWO: DOMESTIC AFFAIRS 9
3. THE NATIONALITY QUESTION 9
The Germans 10
The Czechs 12
The Poles and Ruthenians 13
The Slovenes and Italians 15
The Magyars 16
The Rumanians and Slovaks 18
The Croats and Serbs 19
The Jews 21
4. THE ECONOMY 23
The ‘backwardness’ of the economy and the role
of the banks 23
The position of Hungary in the dual economy 27
Economic progress and the nationality question in Austria 28
vi Contents
5. THE POLITICS OF DUALISM: 1867-1914 32
Liberal predominance: 1867-79 32
The ‘iron ring’ and the collapse of liberalism: 1879-93 35
The Social Democrats 36
The Christian Socials 37
The Pan-Germans 38
The end of parliamentary government: 1893-1914 39
Austro-Hungarian conflict: 1903-14 43
6. VIENNA: CULTURAL CENTRE OF THE EMPIRE 46
The cultural rebellion against liberalism 47
The 1870s 47
The 1890s: ‘Young Vienna’ 48
The post-1900 period: Kraus, Loos and Schoenberg 49
Vienna: the birth of a ‘modern’ outlook 50
PART THREE: FOREIGN AFFAIRS 53
7. THE DUAL ALLIANCE: 1867-1906 53
Beust and Andrassy, 1867-79 53
Austria and the alliance system, 1879-95 57
Austro-Russian co-operation, 1895-1906 60
8. THE DRIFT TO WAR: 1906-1914 62
Aehrenthal and the policy of expansion, 1906-12 62
Berchtold and the Balkan crises, 1912-13 66
Sarajevo and the outbreak of war 68
9. ‘WAR GUILT’ AND THE SOUTH SLAV QUESTION 73
The Habsburg Monarchy and Serbia 74
The Austro-Hungarian administration of
Bosnia-Herzegovina 75
Dualism and the South Slav problem 76
10. WORLD WAR ONE AND THE COLLAPSE OF THE EMPIRE 79
The Austro-Hungarian army and the war 79
The nationalities and the war 80
1917 and 1918: military defeat and disintegration 82
PART FOUR: ASSESSMENT 87
PART FIVE: DOCUMENTS 92
Bibliography 112
Index 121
Related titles 124
AN INTRODUCTION TO THE SERIES
Such is the pace of historical enquiry in the modern world that there
is an ever-widening gap between the specialist article or monograph,
incorporating the results of current research, and general surveys,
which inevitably become out of date. Seminar Studies in History are
designed to bridge this gap. The series was founded by Patrick
Richardson in 1966 and his aim was to cover major themes in
British, European and World history. Between 1980 and 1996
Roger Lockyer continued his work, before handing the editorship
over to Clive Emsley and Gordon Martel. Clive Emsley is Professor
of History at the Open University, while Gordon Martel is Professor
of International History at the University of Northern British
Columbia, Canada and Senior Research Fellow at De Montfort
University.
All the books are written by experts in their field who are not
only familiar with the latest research but have often contributed to
it. They are frequently revised, in order to take account of new
information and interpretations. They provide a selection of
documents to illustrate major themes and provoke discussion, and
also a guide to further reading. The aim of Seminar Studies is to
clarify complex issues without over-simplifying them, and to
stimulate readers into deepening their knowledge and understanding
of major themes and topics.
NOTE ON REFERENCING SYSTEM
Readers should note that numbers in square brackets [5] refer them
to the corresponding entry in the Bibliography at the end of the
book (specific page numbers are given in italics). A number in
square brackets preceded by Doc. [Doc. 5] refers readers to the
corresponding item in the Documents section which follows the
main text.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The publishers would like to thank the following for permission to
reproduce copyright material;
Cambridge University Press for extracts from Neo-Slavism and the
Czechs 1894-1914, by P. Vysny published in 1977; Banking and
Industrialization in Austria-Hungary, The Role of Banks in the
Industrialization of the Czech Crownlands 1873-1914, by R.L.
Rudolph published in 1976; Austria-Hungary by L. Eisenmann in
The Cambridge Modern History, Vol 12 published in 1910; Thames
and Hudson Ltd. for an extract from My Life by Oscar Kokoschka
published in 1974; Papermac for an extract from Last Waltz in
Vienna, by George Clare; Thomas Barry-Braunthal for an extract
from In Search of the Millenium, by Julius Braunthal; Professor
Solomon Wank for an extract from Central European History, Vol
26 published in 1993; Excerpts from Mein Kampf by Adolf Hitler,
Acknowledgements ix
translated by Ralph Manheim. Copyright © 1943, renewed 1971
by Houghton Mifflin Company. Reprinted by permission of
Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved; The Estate of
Ralph Manheim for an extract from Mein Kampf published by
Pimlico.
Whilst every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright
material, in a few cases this has proved to be problematic and so we
take this opportunity to offer our apologies to any copyright holders
whose rights we may have unwittingly infringed.