constituted the majority, each in their own half.
The majority of the 21 million Slavs (approximate
1910 figures) in the empire as a whole were thus
turned into minorities.
The ‘Slavs’ were not unified in religion, social
structure or tradition. The rivalries and hostilities
between them were at least as important as their
supposedly common interests. The Magyar–
German compromise of 1867 led to parallel small
compromises within each half of the empire. In
Austria, the Polish gentry were given privileges
at the expense of the Ruthenes; the Czechs
were from time to time allowed special rights; but
Serb, Croat and Slovene cultural development
was restricted. The struggle between German-
speaking Habsburg subjects and the other nation-
alities was bitter at the local level and in parlia-
ment, but it was not, as in Hungary, systematic
government policy. In Hungary, the Magyars
allowed a special status to the Croats but
excluded the Slovaks and Serbs and Romanians
from any share of power or from exercising
autonomous rights.
The politics of ‘Austria’ and of Hungary also
diverged in other respects in the twentieth century.
In Austria one striking development was the emer-
gence of a socialist party led by Victor Adler which
gained a sizeable parliamentary following in 1907.
Austrian politics were marred by the antics of the
German nationalists and the anti-Semitic Christian
Socialists inspired by Karl Lueger. Conflicts bet-
ween nationalists in Austria frequently paralysed
parliament. The industrialised and prosperous
Czechs demanded autonomy. The Germans in
Bohemia sought to keep the Czechs in an inferior
national status. The focus of the struggle was over
the official use of language. When the emperor’s
ministers made concessions with the Czechs, the
Germans refused cooperation with the govern-
ment and when concessions were made to the
Germans the Czechs went into bitter opposition.
In any case parliament was regarded by the
emperor as no more than an ‘advisory body’.
The introduction of manhood suffrage in
Austria in 1907 was intended to break the nation-
ality deadlock. For a brief time the Social Demo-
crats sat together, irrespective of national origin,
whether German or Czech. It did not last. From
1908 to 1914 the old nationality conflict re-
asserted itself with as much vehemence as before.
The conflict of the national parties reduced the
parliament in its splendid and imposing building in
Vienna to impotence. With such a record, parlia-
mentary government could win little respect
among the population as a whole.
In Hungary, extensive franchise reforms were
blocked by the Magyar gentry as likely to under-
mine Magyar predominance. Relations with the
non-Magyar nationalities remained bad down to
- Repression was the only policy consistently
adopted. Hungarian politics revolved around
largely unsuccessful attempts to modify the com-
promise of 1867 so that the Magyars could gain
greater control over the army. But this was fiercely
resisted by Franz Josef, who threatened force
against any Hungarian government or parliament
seeking to tamper with the royal prerogatives.
When now we marvel at the continued resi-
lience of the Habsburg Empire, despite national
and constitutional conflicts, which seemed to
increase rather than diminish during the last years
of peace, we tend to overlook one question. Who
had anything to gain from driving the conflict to
extremes and threatening the Habsburg Empire
with disintegration? Not the Magyars, not the
Germans, nor the Poles, who enjoyed greater
liberties under Austrian than Russian and German
rule; not the Jews, whose talents transformed
cultural Vienna; not the Czechs who believed
their own security necessitated the empire; not
even the majority of Serbs and Croats in the
annexed provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
1
MULTINATIONAL RUSSIAN AND HABSBURG EMPIRES 49
Nationalities of the Dual Monarchy, 1910
Austria Hungary
Germans 9,950,000 2,037,000
Czechs 6,436,000 –
Poles 4,968,000 –
Romanians 275,000 2,949,000
Ruthenians 3,519,000 473,000
Serbs and Croats 783,000 2,939,000
Italians 768,000 –
Slovenes 1,253,000 –
Slovaks – 1,968,000
Magyars – 9,945,000
