The course attempts to analyse the development of present-day Austria from the multi- national Habsburg Empire at the beginning of the 20th century to a new multi-national “Empire”, the European Union, at the beginning of the 21st century. It will start with a look at the political system and ethnic tensions within the Habsburg Empire and discuss the way these tensions contributed to the decision to start a war in 1914 that effectively killed the cosy liberal middle-class world of the 19th century. German-speaking Austrians who had dominated the Habsburg Empire regarded themselves as the real losers of that war: They had lost great power-status; their claims to self-determination went largely unheeded; inflation had done away with their savings; war-time controls had effectively converted the economy into a socialist one; defeat in 1918 was followed by outbreaks of revolutionary violence.
The brief period of stabilization from 1922 to 1929 was shattered by the Great Depression that exacerbated social tensions between rival political camps (“Lager”) that were armed to the teeth. During the 1930’s Austria was caught between rival authoritarian and totalitarian movements, became a dictatorship in 1933, suffered two civil wars in 1934 and was finally taken over by Adolf Hitler in 1938. Austrians formed a more or less normal part of Hitler’s Third Reich but were encouraged to set up shop again as an independent state by the victorious allies in 1945.
Post-war Austria was able to avoid partition along German lines, received generous help under the Marshall-Plan and was established as a neutral buffer state between East and West in 1955. In contrast to the divisive politics of the “First Republic”, the “Second Republic” was characterized by an unusual, almost suffocating system of consensus between the two biggest parties and a “shadow government” of organized interest groups (“Social Partnership”) that presided over an economy with a large element of state control. Fairly successful during the “Reconstruction” years, this “neo-corporatist” system showed signs of strain from the 1980’s onwards when faced with the challenges of uneven growth, immigration and “globalisation”. Internationally, the collapse of the Soviet Empire allowed Austria to join the EU in 1994; domestically, the growth of new political movements (from the Greens to Jörg Haider’s version of the Freedom Party) challenged the old-established duopoly of power and helped to bring Austria into line with European developments.
Prerequisites:
Some basic instruction in modern history
Learning outcomes:
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
• Understand the historical foundations of present-day Austria
• Be aware of the complexity of Austrian contemporary history
• Be able to name the principal historical develompents of Austria’s History in the 20th century
Written midterm (30%) and final exam (30%), one written assignment (30%), attendance and class participation (10%).
content:
1. The Old Empire: “Historic Nations” and others: “Well-tempered Discontent” ? – Checks and Balances: Authoritarian liberals and anti-liberal Democrats – Fin de siecle Vienna: “The Conditions of excellence”
2. World War I, the Seminal Catastrophe: “To Die Honourably”: 1914 and the Frightened Aggressor – “Tyranny plus Sloth”: The war-time economy – 1918: Neither German Unity nor Proletarian Revolution
3. The First Republic: The Parties and the State – Territorial Losses from the Sudeten lands to South
Tyrol – Ignaz Seipel, the Machiavellian Healer: Foreign Controls and Domestic Virtue
4. The Crisis Years: The After-Effects of the War and the Crisis of Capitalism - The Totalitarian Temptation: Fascism as a post-democratic Phenomenon – The End of the Bourgeois Cabinets and the Slide into Dictatorship
5. The Third Reich: The Nazi Version of Fascism – “Anschluss”: Elation and Employment – Totalitarianism in Practice: Party, Police and Persecution – Holocaust and Heroics: Austrians in WW II
6. The Second Republic: Stalin, Renner and the Usurpation of the old Elites – The Four Powers, Reconstruction and De-Nazification – Barrier between North and South: The State Treaty of 1955
7. Neo-Corporatism: Great Coalition and Social Partnership – Bruno Kreisky and the “Austrian Way” - Inverted Fronts: The Elitist Left and the Populist Right
8. Far from the End of History: Waldheim and the Passing of the War Generation – The End of the post- war World and the reunification of Europe – The Politics of Immigration and Identity – 21st Century: From Consensus to Competition?
Required readings:
Jelavich, Barbara. Modern Austria. Empire and Republic, 1815-1986. 1987.
Johnson, Lonnie. Central Europe. Enemies, Neighbours, Friends. 1996.
Sully, Melanie. A Contemporary History of Austria. 1990.
Recommended readings:
Cornwall, Marc (Ed.). The Last Years of Austria-Hungary. 2002.
Carsten, Francis. The First Austrian Republic, 1918-1938. 1986.
Cronin, Audrey. Great Power Politics and the Struggle over Austria. 1986.
Johnson, Lonnie. Introducing Austria. A Guide of Sorts. 1987.
Von Klemperer, Klemens. Ignaz Seipel. Christian Statesman in a Time of Crisis. 1972.
Luza, Radomir. Austro-German Relations in the Anschluss Era. 1975.
Pauley, Bruce. From Prejudice to Persecution. A History of Austrian Anti-Semitism. 1992.
Thaler, Peter. The Ambivalence of Identity. The Austrian Experience of Nation-Building in a Modern
Society. 2001.
Valiani, Leo. The End of Austria-Hungary. 1973.
Brief Biography of Instructor:
Stefan Wedrac graduated with honors in History from the University of Vienna. He worked for the Austrian General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism and collaborated on the 2007/2008 exhibition of the Austrian State Archives about the 12th battle of the Isonzo. Presently he teaches at IES Vienna and works as an research assistant at the Department of Roman Law of the University, mainly researching the department’s history during National Socialism.
The course attempts to analyse the development of present-day Austria from the multi- national Habsburg Empire at the beginning of the 20th century to a new multi-national “Empire”, the European Union, at the beginning of the 21st century. It will start with a look at the political system and ethnic tensions within the Habsburg Empire and discuss the way these tensions contributed to the decision to start a war in 1914 that effectively killed the cosy liberal middle-class world of the 19th century. German-speaking Austrians who had dominated the Habsburg Empire regarded themselves as the real losers of that war: They had lost great power-status; their claims to self-determination went largely unheeded; inflation had done away with their savings; war-time controls had effectively converted the economy into a socialist one; defeat in 1918 was followed by outbreaks of revolutionary violence.
The brief period of stabilization from 1922 to 1929 was shattered by the Great Depression that exacerbated social tensions between rival political camps (“Lager”) that were armed to the teeth. During the 1930’s Austria was caught between rival authoritarian and totalitarian movements, became a dictatorship in 1933, suffered two civil wars in 1934 and was finally taken over by Adolf Hitler in 1938. Austrians formed a more or less normal part of Hitler’s Third Reich but were encouraged to set up shop again as an independent state by the victorious allies in 1945.
Post-war Austria was able to avoid partition along German lines, received generous help under the Marshall-Plan and was established as a neutral buffer state between East and West in 1955. In contrast to the divisive politics of the “First Republic”, the “Second Republic” was characterized by an unusual, almost suffocating system of consensus between the two biggest parties and a “shadow government” of organized interest groups (“Social Partnership”) that presided over an economy with a large element of state control. Fairly successful during the “Reconstruction” years, this “neo-corporatist” system showed signs of strain from the 1980’s onwards when faced with the challenges of uneven growth, immigration and “globalisation”. Internationally, the collapse of the Soviet Empire allowed Austria to join the EU in 1994; domestically, the growth of new political movements (from the Greens to Jörg Haider’s version of the Freedom Party) challenged the old-established duopoly of power and helped to bring Austria into line with European developments.
Some basic instruction in modern history
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
• Understand the historical foundations of present-day Austria
• Be aware of the complexity of Austrian contemporary history
• Be able to name the principal historical develompents of Austria’s History in the 20th century
Lecture, discussion, assigned readings, excursions.
Written midterm (30%) and final exam (30%), one written assignment (30%), attendance and class participation (10%).
1. The Old Empire: “Historic Nations” and others: “Well-tempered Discontent” ? – Checks and Balances: Authoritarian liberals and anti-liberal Democrats – Fin de siecle Vienna: “The Conditions of excellence”
2. World War I, the Seminal Catastrophe: “To Die Honourably”: 1914 and the Frightened Aggressor – “Tyranny plus Sloth”: The war-time economy – 1918: Neither German Unity nor Proletarian Revolution
3. The First Republic: The Parties and the State – Territorial Losses from the Sudeten lands to South
Tyrol – Ignaz Seipel, the Machiavellian Healer: Foreign Controls and Domestic Virtue
4. The Crisis Years: The After-Effects of the War and the Crisis of Capitalism - The Totalitarian Temptation: Fascism as a post-democratic Phenomenon – The End of the Bourgeois Cabinets and the Slide into Dictatorship
5. The Third Reich: The Nazi Version of Fascism – “Anschluss”: Elation and Employment – Totalitarianism in Practice: Party, Police and Persecution – Holocaust and Heroics: Austrians in WW II
6. The Second Republic: Stalin, Renner and the Usurpation of the old Elites – The Four Powers, Reconstruction and De-Nazification – Barrier between North and South: The State Treaty of 1955
7. Neo-Corporatism: Great Coalition and Social Partnership – Bruno Kreisky and the “Austrian Way” - Inverted Fronts: The Elitist Left and the Populist Right
8. Far from the End of History: Waldheim and the Passing of the War Generation – The End of the post- war World and the reunification of Europe – The Politics of Immigration and Identity – 21st Century: From Consensus to Competition?
Jelavich, Barbara. Modern Austria. Empire and Republic, 1815-1986. 1987.
Johnson, Lonnie. Central Europe. Enemies, Neighbours, Friends. 1996.
Sully, Melanie. A Contemporary History of Austria. 1990.
Cornwall, Marc (Ed.). The Last Years of Austria-Hungary. 2002.
Carsten, Francis. The First Austrian Republic, 1918-1938. 1986.
Cronin, Audrey. Great Power Politics and the Struggle over Austria. 1986.
Johnson, Lonnie. Introducing Austria. A Guide of Sorts. 1987.
Von Klemperer, Klemens. Ignaz Seipel. Christian Statesman in a Time of Crisis. 1972.
Luza, Radomir. Austro-German Relations in the Anschluss Era. 1975.
Pauley, Bruce. From Prejudice to Persecution. A History of Austrian Anti-Semitism. 1992.
Thaler, Peter. The Ambivalence of Identity. The Austrian Experience of Nation-Building in a Modern
Society. 2001.
Valiani, Leo. The End of Austria-Hungary. 1973.
Stefan Wedrac graduated with honors in History from the University of Vienna. He worked for the Austrian General Settlement Fund for Victims of National Socialism and collaborated on the 2007/2008 exhibition of the Austrian State Archives about the 12th battle of the Isonzo. Presently he teaches at IES Vienna and works as an research assistant at the Department of Roman Law of the University, mainly researching the department’s history during National Socialism.