Countries of the World/COUNTRYS.BIN/dp/0025/00253.txt

Text File | 1991-06-24 | 21KB | 341 lines

$Unique_ID{COW00253}
$Pretitle{376}
$Title{Austria
The First Republic 1918-1938}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Federal Press Service}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Austria, Washington DC}
$Subject{austria
social
austrian
republic
german
national
first
party
political
economic}
$Date{1986}
$Log{}
Country:     Austria
Book:        First Republic 1880-1938
Author:      Federal Press Service
Affiliation: Embassy of Austria, Washington DC
Date:        1986

The First Republic 1918-1938

Introduction

     As 1918 - the fourth year of the Great War - drew to a close it became
increasingly evident that the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was doomed. The
conglomerate empire of the Habsburgs began to disintegrate. Emperor Karl I
made a last-ditch attempt to ward off the inevitable by declaring the Austrian
dominions a federal republic; but the time for such concessions had already
passed. The peoples of the empire no longer wished to live together under
Habsburg rule. The final days of October saw the pace of events quicken
drastically. On 28th the Czechoslovakian Republic was proclaimed in Prague. On
the very next day the South Slav territories belonging to the Monarchy united
with the Kingdom of Serbia. And one day later the Provisional National
Assembly for German-Austria approved a constitution that had been drawn up by
the Social Democrat Karl Renner. The Assembly had been constituted nine days
previously by the German-speaking delegates to the Chamber of Deputies of the
Imperial Council, the legislative body which had existed since 1867. The first
German-Austrian government, headed by State Chancellor Renner, had been formed
during the night of October 21/22.

     The days that followed witnessed the complete disintegration of the
existing political structures. The armistice between Austria-Hungary and the
Entente Powers was signed in the Villa Giusti near Padua on November 3. Eight
days later Emperor Karl formally foreswore any role in government (without
explicitly abdicating). On the next day, November 12, the Provisional Assembly
enacted a law making German-Austria a democratic and republican state. Article
1 of this law decreed: "German-Austria is a democratic republic"; Article 2
read: "German-Austria is an integral part of the German republic."

From Empire to Small Nation

     At the hour of its birth the Austrian republic faced a daunting future.
The vast political and economic hinterland of the empire had been lost
overnight; the adjustment of mental attitudes to the new reality of a small
nation would be a protracted process. So it was that the responsible
politicians and a majority of the population were drawn to the idea of
"Anschluss" (annexation) with Germany. This orientation was subsequently to
prove a major obstacle in the emergence of an individual national identity and
was not the least factor in the general scepticism about the Austrian
republic's ability to survive.

     The full impact of the upheavals of 1918 can be appreciated only if one
is aware of the dimensions involved. The Dual Monarchy had been comprised not
only of modern-day Austria and Hungary but also of a large number of states or
provinces like South Tyrol (incorporating Trentino), Trieste and Istria,
Dalmatia, Carniola, Bohemia, Moravia, Austrian Silesia, Galicia, Bukovina,
Transylvania, Croatia (Slovenia), Bosnia and Hercegovina. The Habsburg
emperors had ruled some 53 million subjects living in an area of 264,453
square miles. Modern-day Austria has a population of approximately 7.5 million
and a surface area of around 33,000 square miles. Of the 36 European nations
Austria ranks 18th by population, 21st by size. In the list of European OECD
states Austria occupies 12th place in terms of per capital gross domestic
product.

     The title of Emperor of Austria went back to the year 1804 when Franz II,
goaded by Napoleon's self-proclamation as French Emperor, instituted a
hereditary Austrian imperial title invested in the Habsburg dynasty. In 1806
Franz (now known as Franz I in his capacity as Austrian Emperor) surrendered
the crown of the Holy Roman Empire which, long politically defunct, thus came
to an end after an unbroken though chequered history going back to the tenth
century.

     Austria subsequently joined the German Confederation which was set up by
the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and was not disbanded until after the Austrian
defeat at the Battle of Sadowa (Koniggratz) in 1866. The new political
configuration necessitated a settlement with Hungary. The Dual Monarchy of
Austrian-Hungary, instituted in 1867, was held together by its ruler, who was
Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary in one person.

     This complex structure fell apart under the pressure of the events of
1918. After the loss of the so-called succession states the small nation of
Austria which remained was far from secure in its territorial integrity.
Material hardship, the country's diminutive size and the desirability of
backing by a larger nation induced many to see the solution to Austria's
problems in "Anschluss" with Germany.

The Idea of "Anschluss" (annexation) and its Roots

     Merely defining Austria's borders proved a vexed issue in itself. In the
light of a statement made by US President Woodrow Wilson the Austrian
government hoped to secure those areas of the former Monarchy whose population
was mainly German-speaking. The Treaty of Saint Germain (September 10 1919)
dashed all such hopes; indeed, the succession states began laying claim to the
one-time German lands. Czechoslovakia took possession of parts of northern
Lower Austria. In the South and Southeast the army of the South Slav state
occupied parts of Styria and Carinthia. On the basis of the London Agreement
with the Allies concluded in 1915 Italy claimed German-speaking South Tyrol up
to the Brenner. In the East Austria laid claim to German-speaking areas of
western Hungary which had been ceded to Austria by the terms of the Treaty of
Saint Germain. But Hungary delayed handing over this territory until 1921, by
which time the Hungarian government - with Italian backing - had pushed
through a plebiscite for the Odenburg region as a result of which Austria
lost the town of Odenburg (today's Sopron).

     In view of these mounting political difficulties and the disastrous
economic situation, it is hardly surprising that identification with the new
Austrian state failed to strike deep roots in the population. Public attitudes
had not yet adjusted to thinking in terms of a small country. Accordingly, the
lack of national identity and adverse conditions on the domestic front
provided fertile ground for the idea of "Anschluss" with Germany.

     Efforts to forge closer ties with Germany can be traced right back to the
days of the Monarchy, and particularly to the years of the first world war.
The explanation is to be sought in the ethnic composition of the conglomerate,
multilingual empire. In the heartlands of the Habsburg territories - and thus
in the regions constituting the Austrian republic - German was the predominant
language. It was also the language of the army.

     The gradual spread of nationalism throughout Europe during the second
half of the nineteenth century by no means left the Dual Monarchy unscathed.
As the nationality issue came to a head, so this polarization also affected
the German-speaking groups. The German nationalist movement which thus emerged
was further strengthened by the German Empire's efforts to promote the
interests of German-speaking minorities. One of the goals which the German
nationalist movement set itself was to preserve or establish the predominance
of the pockets of German-speaking minorities scattered throughout the lands of
the Dual Monarchy (Saxons in Transylvania, Swabians in the Banat, and other
ethnic German groups).

     This vexed problem also affected the new Austrian republic in that a
preponderant majority of Austrians at the time felt themselves to be German,
and many saw in "Anschluss" with Germany the way out of the i