principal threads in Austrian history in the eighteenth century are
the foreign entanglements, including the war of the Spanish
Succession, the war of the Austrian Succession, and the Seven Years'
War, and the internal measures, of reform and otherwise, undertaken by
the successive sovereigns, especially Maria Theresa (1740-1780) and
Joseph II. (1780-1790). For Austria the net result of the wars was the
loss of territory and also of influence, among the states of the
Empire, if not among those of all Europe. On the side of internal
affairs it may be observed simply that Maria Theresa became virtually
the founder of the unified Austrian state, and that, in social
conditions generally, the reign of this sovereign marks more largely
than that of any other the transition in the Hapsburg dominions from
mediæval to modern times. Unlike her doctrinaire son and successor,
Joseph, Maria Theresa was of an eminently practical turn of mind. She
introduced innovations, but she clothed them with the vestments of
ancient institutions. She made the government more than ever
autocratic, but she did not interfere with the nominal privileges of
the old estates. In Hungary the constitution was left untouched, but
during the forty years of the reign the Diet was assembled only four
times, and government was, in effect, by royal decree. Joseph II.
assumed the throne in 1780 bent primarily upon a policy of "reform
from above." Utterly unacquainted with the actual condition of his
dominions and unappreciative of the difficulties inherent in their
administration, the new sovereign set about the sweeping away of the
entire existing order and the substituting of a governmental scheme
which was logical enough, to be sure, but entirely impracticable. The
attempt, as was inevitable, failed utterly.
*490. Austria and France, 1789-1815.*--Leopold II. inherited, in 1790, a
dominion substantially as it was at the death of Maria Theresa. Prior
to his accession Leopold had acquired a reputation for liberalism, but
apprehension aroused by the revolution in France was of itself
sufficient to turn him promptly into the traditional paths of Austrian
autocracy. His reign was brief (1790-1792), but that of his son and
successor, Francis II., which continued through the revolutionary
epoch, was essentially a continuation of it, and from first to (p. 445)
last there was maintained with complete success that relentless
policy of "stability" so conspicuously associated later with the name
of Metternich. Hardly any portion of Europe was less affected by the
ideas and transformations of the Revolution than was Austria.
Having resisted by every means at her disposal, including resort to
arms, the progress of revolution, Austria set herself firmly,
likewise, in opposition to the ambitions of Napoleon. Of the many
consequences of the prolonged combat between Napoleon and the Hapsburg
power, one only need be mentioned here. August 11, 1804, Francis II.,
archduke of Austria and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, assumed the
name and title of Francis I., emperor of Austria. To the taking of
this step the Hapsburg monarch was influenced in part by Napoleon's
assumption, three months previously, of the title of emperor of the
French, and in part by anticipation that the Holy Roman Empire would
soon be subverted completely by the conqueror. The apprehension proved
well-founded. Within two years it was made known definitely that the
Napoleonic plan of international readjustment involved as one of its
principal features the termination, once for all, of an institution
which, as Voltaire had already said, was "no longer holy, Roman, or an
empire." August 6, 1806, the title and functions of Holy Roman Emperor
were relinquished formally by the Austrian monarch. The Austrian
imperial title of to-day, dates, however, from 1804.
II. HUNGARIAN POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT TO 1815
*491. Beginnings.*--According to accounts which are but indifferently
reliable, the Magyars, or Hungarians, lately come as invaders from
Asia, made their first appearance in the land which now bears their
name in the year 895. Certain it is that during the first half of the
tenth century they terrorized repeatedly the populations of Germany
and France, until, in 955, their signal defeat at the Lechfeld by the
German king (the later Emperor Otto I.) checked effectually their
onslaughts and re-enforced the disposition already in evidence among
them to take on a settled mode of life. In the second half of the
tenth century they occupied definitely the valleys of the Danube and
the Theiss, wedging apart, as do their descendants to this day, the
Slavs of the north and those of the Balkan regions.
*492. Institutional Growth Under Stephen I., 997-1038.*--The principal
formative period in the history of the Hungarian nation is the long
reign of Stephen I., or, as he is more commonly known, St. Stephen.
In this reign were established firmly both the Hungarian state and (p. 446)
the Hungarian church; and in the organization of both Stephen
exhibited a measure of capacity which entitles him to high rank among
the constructive statesmen of mediæval Europe. Under his predecessor
the court had accepted Roman Christianity, but during his reign the
nation itself was Christianized and the machinery of the Church was
for the first time put effectively in operation. In the year 1001 Pope
Sylvester II. accorded formal recognition to Magyar nationality by
bestowing upon Prince Stephen a kingly crown, and to this day the
joint sovereign of Austria-Hungary is inducted into office as
Hungarian monarch with the identical crown which Pope Sylvester
transmitted to the missionary-king nine centuries ago. In the
elaboration of a governmental system King Stephen and the advisers
whom he gathered from foreign lands had virtually a free field. The
nation possessed a traditional right to elect its sovereign and to
gather in public assembly, and these privileges were left untouched.
None the less, the system that was set up was based upon a conception
of royal power unimpaired by those feudal relationships by which in
western countries monarchy was being reduced to its lowest estate. The
old Magyar tribal system was abolished and as a basis of
administration there was adopted the Frankish system of counties. The
central and western portions of the country, being more settled, were
divided into forty-six counties, at the head of each of which was
placed a count, or lord-lieutenant (_föispán_), appointed by the crown
and authorized in turn to designate his subordinates, the castellan
(_várnagy_), the chief captain (_hadnagy_), and the hundredor
(_százados_). This transplantation of institutions is a matter of
permanent importance, for, as will appear, the county is still the
basal unit of the Hungarian administrative system.
*493. The Golden Bull, 1222.*--During the century and a half which
followed the reign of Stephen the consolidation of the kingdom,
despite frequent conflicts with the Eastern Empire, was continued. The
court took on something of the brilliancy of the Byzantine model, and
in the later twelfth century King Béla III. inaugurated a policy--that
of crowning as successor the sovereign's eldest son while yet the
sovereign lived--by which were introduced in effect the twin
principles of heredity and primogeniture. In 1222 King Andrew II.
(1204-1235) promulgated a famous instrument, the _Bulla Aurea_, or
Golden Bull, which has been likened many times to the Great Charter
conceded to his barons by King John of England seven years earlier.
The precise purport of the Golden Bull is somewhat doubtful. By some
the instrument has been understood to have comprised a virtual
surrender on the part of the crown in the interest of a class of (p. 447)
insolent and self-seeking nobles with which the country was cursed. By
others it has been interpreted as a measure designed to strengthen the
crown by winning the support of the mass of the lesser nobles against
the few greater ones.[647] The exemption of all nobles from taxation
was confirmed; all were exempted likewise from arbitrary arrest and
punishment. On the other hand, it was forbidden expressly that the
titles and holdings of lords-lieutenant should become hereditary. The
most reasonable conclusion is that the instrument represents a
compromise designed to afford a working arrangement in a period of
unusual stress between crown and nobility. Although the document was
amplified in 1231 and its guarantees were placed under the special
guardianship of the Church, it does not appear that its positive
effects in the period immediately following were pronounced. The
Golden Bull, none the less, has ever been regarded as the foundation
of Hungarian constitutional liberty. As such, it was confirmed
specifically in the coronation oath of every Hapsburg sovereign from
the sixteenth to the eighteenth century.
[Footnote 647: J. Andrássy, Development of
Hungarian Constitutional Liberty (London, 1908),
93.]
*494. Three Centuries of Constitutional Unsettlement.*--The last century
of the Árpád dynasty, which was ended in 1308, was a period of
depression and of revolution. The weakness of the later Árpáds, the
ruin wrought by the Tatar invasion of 1241-1242, the infiltration of
feudalism, and perennial civil discord subverted the splendid
monarchical establishment of King Stephen and brought the country into
virtual subjection to a small body of avaricious nobles. The Árpáds
were succeeded by two Angevin princes from the kingdom of
Naples--Charles I. (1310-1342) and Louis I. (1342-1382)--under whom
notable progress was made toward the rehabilitation of the royal
power. Yet in the midst of their reforms appeared the first
foreshadowings of that great Turkish onslaught by which eventually the
independent Hungarian monarchy was destined to be annihilated
completely. The long reign of Sigismund (1387-1437) was occupied
almost wholly in resistance to the Ottoman advance. So urgent did this
sovereign deem the pushing of military preparations that he fell into
the custom of summoning the Diet once, and not infrequently twice, a
year, and this body acquired rapidly a bulk of legislative and fiscal
authority which never before had been accorded it. Persons entitled to
membership were regularly the nobles and higher clergy. But in 1397
the free and royal towns were invited to send deputies, and this
privilege seems to have been given statutory confirmation. By the
ripening of the Hungarian feudal system, however, and the (p. 448)
struggles for the throne which followed the death of King Albert V.
(1439), much that was accomplished by Sigismund and his diets was
undone. Ultimately, measures of vigilance were renewed under John
Hunyadi,--by voice of the Diet "governor" of Hungary, 1446-1456,--and,
under his son King Matthias I. (1458-1490). During the last-mentioned
reign fifteen diets are known to have been held, and no fewer than 450
statutes to have been enacted. The Hungarian common law was codified
afresh and the entire governmental system overhauled. But again
succeeded a period, from the accession of Wladislaus II. to the battle
of Mohács, during which turbulence reigned supreme and national spirit
all but disappeared.
*496. The Establishment of Austrian Dominion.*--In 1526 the long
expected blow fell. Under the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent the
Turks invaded the Hungarian kingdom and at the battle of Mohács,
August 28, put to rout the entire Hungarian army. The invading hosts
chose to return almost instantly to Constantinople, but when they
withdrew they left one-quarter of the Hungarian dominion in utter
desolation. It was at this point, as has been stated, that the
Hapsburg rulers of Austria first acquired the throne of Hungary. The
death of King Louis at Mohács was followed by the election of John
Zapolya as king. But the archduke Ferdinand, whose wife, Anne, was a
sister of Louis, laid claim to the throne and, in November, 1527,
contrived to procure an election thereto at the hand of the Diet. In
1529 the deposed Zapolya was reinstated at Buda by the Sultan. The
upshot was civil war, which was terminated in 1538 by a treaty under
whose terms the kingdom was divided between the two claimants. Zapolya
retained approximately two-thirds of the country, while to Ferdinand
was conceded the remaining portion, comprising Croatia-Slavonia and
the five westernmost counties. The government which Zapolya maintained
at Buda had rather the better claim to be considered the continuation
of the old Hungarian monarchy; but from 1527 onwards some portion of
Hungary, and eventually the whole, was attached regularly to the
Hapsburg crown.
In 1540 Zapolya died and the Diet at Buda elected as king his infant
son John Sigismund. On the basis of earlier pledges Ferdinand laid
claim to Zapolya's possessions, but the Sultan intervened and in 1547
there was worked out a three-fold division of the kingdom, on the
principle of _uti possedetis_, under which thirty-five counties
(including Croatia and Slavonia) were assigned to Ferdinand,
Transylvania and sixteen adjacent counties were retained by John
Sigismund, while the remaining portions of the kingdom were annexed to
the dominions of the Sultan. With frequent modifications in detail,
this three-fold division persisted through the next century and a (p. 449)
half. The period was marked by frequent wars, by political confusion,
and by the assumption on the part of the Hapsburg sovereigns of an
increasingly autocratic attitude in relation to their Hungarian
dependencies. It was brought to a close by the Peace of Karlowitz,
January 26, 1699, whereby the Hapsburg dynasty acquired dominion over
the whole of Hungary, except the banat of Tamesvár, which was acquired
nineteen years later.
*496. Austrian Encroachment: the Pragmatic Sanction.*--The immediate
effect of the termination of the Turkish wars was to enhance yet
further the despotism of the Hapsburgs in Hungary. In 1687 the Emperor
Leopold I. induced a rump diet at Pressburg to abrogate that clause of
the Golden Bull which authorized armed resistance to unconstitutional
acts of the sovereign, and likewise to declare the Hungarian crown
hereditary in the house of Hapsburg. After upwards of seven hundred
years of existence, the elective Hungarian monarchy was brought thus
to an end. In 1715 King Charles III.[648] persuaded the Diet to
consent to the establishment of a standing army, recruited and
supported under regulation of the Diet but controlled by the Austrian
council of war. By the diet of 1722 there was established a Hungarian
court of chancery at Vienna and the government of Hungary was
committed to a stadtholder at Pressburg who was made independent of
the Diet and responsible to the sovereign alone. The diet of 1722
likewise accepted formally the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 by which the
Emperor Charles settled the succession to his hereditary dominions, in
default of male heirs, upon his daughter Maria Theresa and her
heirs;[649] and in measures promulgated during the succeeding year the
Emperor entered into a fresh compact with his Hungarian subjects which
continued the basis of Hapsburg-Hungarian relations until 1848. On the
one hand, Hungary was declared inseparable from the Hapsburg
dominions, so long as there should be a legal heir; on the other, the
crown was sworn to preserve the Hungarian constitution intact, with
all the rights, privileges, laws, and customs of the kingdom. The net
result of all of these measures, none the less, was to impair
perceptibly the original autonomy of the Hungarian state.
[Footnote 648: Charles VI. as emperor.]
[Footnote 649: The Pragmatic Sanction was accepted
at different dates by the various diets of the
Austro-Hungarian lands: in 1713 by Croatia, and
from 1720 to 1724 by the other diets. It was
finally proclaimed a fundamental law in 1724.]
*497. The Later Eighteenth Century.*--Maria Theresa cherished a genuine
interest in Hungarian affairs and was deeply solicitous concerning the
welfare of her Hungarian subjects. It was never her intent, however,
to encourage Hungarian self-government. The constitution of the (p. 450)
kingdom was not subverted; it was simply ignored. The Diet was
summoned but seldom, and after 1764 not at all. Reforms were
introduced, especially in connection with education, but through the
medium of royal decrees alone. Joseph II. continued nominally the
policy of enlightened despotism, but in so tactless a manner that most
of his projects were brought to nought. Approaching the problem of
Hungarian administration with his accustomed idealism, he undertook
deliberately to sweep away not only the constitution of the kingdom
but the whole body of Hungarian institutions and traditions. He
refused even to be crowned king of Hungary or to recognize in any
manner the established status of the country. His purpose was clearly
to build of Austria and Hungary one consolidated and absolute state--a
purpose which, it need hardly be remarked, failed of realization. The
statesmanship of Leopold II. averted the impending revolt. The
constitution was restored, the ancient liberties of the kingdom were
confirmed, and it was agreed that the Diet should be assembled
regularly every three years. Through a quarter of a century the
principal interest of Leopold's successor, Francis II. (1792-1835),[650]
was the waging of war upon revolutionary France and upon Napoleon, and
during this period circumstances conspired to cement more firmly the
relations between the Hapsburg monarchy and the Hungarian people. In
Hungary, as in Austria, the time was one of political stagnation.
Prior to 1811 the Diet was several times convened, but never for any
purpose other than that of obtaining war subsidies.
[Footnote 650: As emperor of Austria, Francis I.
(1804-1835).]
III. THE ERA OF METTERNICH
In the thoroughgoing reaction which set in with the Congress of Vienna
it fell to Austria to play the principal rôle. This was in part
because the dominions of the Hapsburgs had emerged from the
revolutionary epoch virtually unscathed, but rather more by reason of
the remarkable position occupied during the period 1815-1848 by
Emperor Francis I.'s minister and mentor, Prince Metternich. Easily
the most commanding personality in Europe, Metternich was at the same
time the moving spirit in international affairs and the autocrat of
Austro-Hungarian politics. Within both spheres he was, as he declared
himself to be, "the man of the _status quo_." Innovation he abhorred;
immobility he glorified. The settlement at Vienna he regarded as
essentially his own handiwork, and all that that settlement involved
he proposed to safeguard relentlessly. Throughout a full generation he
contrived, with consummate skill, to dam the stream of liberalism in
more than half of Europe.
*498. Condition of the Monarchy in 1815.*--In the dominions of the (p. 451)
Hapsburgs the situation was peculiarly such as to render all change,
from the point of view of Metternich, revolutionary and ruinous. In
respect to territory and prestige Austria emerged from the Napoleonic
wars with a distinctly improved status. But the internal condition of
the monarchy, now as ever, imparted a forbidding aspect to any policy
or movement which should give promise of unsettling in the minutest
degree the delicate, haphazard balance that had been arrived at among
the multiplicity of races, religions, and interests represented in the
Emperor's dominions. In the west were the duchies, essentially German,
which comprised the ancestral possessions of the Hapsburg dynasty; in
the north was Bohemia, comprising, besides Bohemia proper, Silesia,
and Moravia, and containing a population largely Czech; to the south
lay the lately acquired Italian kingdom of Lombardo-Venetia; to the
east lay the kingdom of Hungary, including the kingdom of Croatia and
the principality of Transylvania, with a population preponderantly
Slavic but dominated politically by the Magyars. Several of these
component states retained privileges which were peculiar to themselves
and were bound to the Hapsburg monarchy by ties that were at best
precarious. And the differences everywhere of race, religion,
language, tradition, and interest were such as to create for the
Vienna Government a seemingly impossible task.
So decadent and ineffective was the Austrian administrative system
when Metternich entered, in 1809, upon his ministry that not even he
could have supposed that change would not eventually have to come.
Change, however, he dreaded, because when change begins it is not
possible to foresee how far it will go, or to control altogether the
course it shall follow. Change, therefore, Metternich resisted by
every available means, putting off at least as long as might be the
evil day. The spirit of liberalism, once disseminated throughout the
conglomerate Empire, might be expected to prompt the various
nationalities to demand constitutions; constitutions would mean
autonomy; and autonomy might well mean the end of the Empire itself.
Austria entered upon the post-Napoleonic period handicapped by the
fact that the principle upon which Europe during the nineteenth
century was to solve many of her problems--the principle of
nationality--contained for her nought but the menace of
disintegration. Conservatism, as one writer has put it, was imposed
upon the Empire by the very conditions of its being.
*499. Metternich's System: the Rise of Liberalism.*--The key to Austrian
history during the period 1815--1848 is, then, the maxim of the
Emperor Francis, "Govern and change nothing." In Hungary government
was nominally constitutional; elsewhere it was frankly absolute. (p. 452)
The diets of the component parts of the Empire were not abolished, nor
were the estates of the several Austrian provinces. But, constituted
as they generally were on an aristocratic basis and convened but
irregularly and for brief periods, their existence was a source
neither of embarrassment to the Government nor of benefit to the
people. "I also have my Estates," declared the Emperor upon one
occasion. "I have maintained their constitution, and do not worry
them; but if they go too far I snap my fingers at them or send them
home." The Diet of Hungary was not once convened during the years
1812-1825. On the side of administration Metternich did propose that
the various executive departments, hitherto gathered under no common
management nor correlated in any degree whatsoever, should be brought
under the supervision of a single minister. But not even this project
was carried out effectively. Throughout the period the central
government continued cumbersome, disjointed, and inefficient.
With every passing decade the difficulties of the Government were
augmented. Despite a most extraordinary censorship of education and of
the press, western liberalism crept slowly into the Empire and the
spirit of disaffection laid hold of increasing numbers of people. The
revolutions of 1820 passed without eliciting response; those of 1830
occasioned but a ripple. But during the decade 1830-1840, and
especially after 1840, the growth of liberalism was rapid. In 1835 the
aged Francis I. was succeeded by Ferdinand I., but as the new
sovereign was mentally incapacitated the dominance of Metternich
continued unimpaired.[651] In Bohemia, Hungary, and elsewhere there
were revivals of racial enthusiasm and of nationalistic aspirations
which grew increasingly ominous. The Hungarian diet of 1844
substituted as the official language of the chambers Magyar for Latin,
and during the forties there was built up, under the leadership of
Louis Kossuth and Francis Deák, a flourishing Liberal party, whose aim
was the re-establishment of the autonomy of the kingdom and the
thoroughgoing reform of the government. By 1847-1848 this party was
insisting strenuously upon the adoption of its "Ten Points," in which
were included a responsible ministry, the abolition of serfdom,
equality of citizens before the law, complete religious liberty,
fuller representation in the Diet, taxation of the nobles, and (p. 453)
control by the Diet of all public expenditures.[652]
[Footnote 651: Technically the control of the
government was vested in a small group of
dignitaries known as the Staatskonferenz, or State
Conference. The nominal president of this body was
the Archduke Louis, representing the crown; but the
actual direction of its proceedings fell to
Metternich. H. von Sybel, Die Österreichische
Staatskonferenz von 1836, in _Historische
Zeitschrift_, 1877.]
[Footnote 652: On Austria during the period of
Metternich see Cambridge Modern History, X., Chap.
11, XI., Chap. 3; Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire
Générale, X., Chap. 17; A. Stern, Geschichte
Europas (Berlin, 1904-1911), I., Chap. 3; A.
Springer, Geschichte Österreichs seit dem Wiener
Frieden 1809 (Leipzig, 1863), I., 275-322; H.
Meynert, Kaiser Franz I. (Vienna, 1872).]
IV. THE REVOLUTION OF 1848
*500. The Fall of Metternich.*--The crash came in 1848. Under the
electrifying effect of the news of the fall of Louis Philippe at Paris
(February 24), and of the eloquent fulminations of Kossuth, translated
into German and scattered broadcast in the Austrian capital, there
broke out at Vienna, March 12-13, an insurrection which instantly got
quite beyond the Government's power to control. Hard fighting took
place between the troops and the populace, and an infuriated mob,
breaking into the royal palace, called with an insistence that would
not be denied for the dismissal of Metternich. Recognizing the
uselessness of resistance, the minister placed in the hands of the
Emperor his resignation and, effecting an escape from the city, made
his way out of the country and eventually to England. March 15 there
was issued a hurriedly devised Imperial proclamation, designed to
appease the populace, in which was promised the convocation of an
assembly with a view to the drafting of a national constitution.
*501. Hungary: the March Laws.*--On the same day the Diet of Hungary,
impelled by the oratory of Kossuth, began the enactment of an
elaborate series of measures--the so-called March Laws--by which was
carried rapidly toward completion a programme of modernization which,
in the teeth of Austrian opposition, had been during some years under
way. The March Laws fell into two principal categories. The first
dealt with the internal government of the kingdom, the second with the
relations which henceforth were to subsist between Hungary and the
Austrian Empire. For the ancient aristocratic machinery of the
monarchy was substituted a modern constitutional system of government,
with a diet whose lower chamber, of 337 members, was to be elected by
all Hungarians of the age of twenty who possessed property to the
value of approximately $150. Meetings of this diet were to be annual
and were to be held, no longer at Pressburg, near the Austrian border,
but at the interior city of Budapest, the logical capital of the
kingdom. Taxation was extended to all classes; feudal servitudes and
titles payable by the peasantry were abolished; trial by jury,
religious liberty, and freedom of the press were guaranteed. In the
second place, it was stipulated that henceforth Hungary should (p. 454)
have an entirely separate and a responsible ministry, thus ensuring
the essential autonomy of the kingdom. The sole tie remaining between
the two monarchies was to be the person of the sovereign. Impelled by
the force of circumstances, the Government at Vienna designated Count
Louis Batthyány premier of the first responsible Hungarian ministry
and, April 10, accorded reluctant assent to the March Laws. These
statutes, though later subverted, became thenceforth the _Grundrechte_
of the Hungarian people.
*502. The Austrian Constitution of 1848.*--In the meantime, the
Austrians were pressing their demand for constitutionalism. The
framing of the instrument which had been promised was intrusted by the
Emperor to the ministers, and early in April there was submitted to an
informal gathering of thirty notables representing various portions of
the Empire a draft based upon the Belgium constitution of 1831. This
instrument was given some consideration in several of the provincial
diets, but was never submitted, as it had been promised in the
manifesto of March 15 it should be, to the Imperial Diet, or to any
sort of national assembly. Instead it was promulgated, April 25, on
the sole authority of the Emperor. The territories to which it was
made applicable comprised the whole of the Emperor's dominions, save
Hungary and the other Transleithanian lands and the Italian
dependencies. By it the Empire was declared an indissoluble
constitutional monarchy, and to all citizens were extended full rights
of civil and religious liberty. There was instituted a Reichstag, or
general diet, to consist of an upper house of princes of the royal
family and nominees of the landlords, and a lower of 383 members, to
be elected according to a system to be devised by the Reichstag
itself. All ministers were to be responsible to this diet. July 22
there was convened at Vienna the first assembly of the new type, and
the organization of constitutional government was put definitely under
way.
*503. The Reaction.*--Recovery, however, on the part of the forces of
reaction was rapid. In Hungary the same sort of nationalistic feeling
that had inspired the Magyars to assert their rights as against
Austria inspired the Serbs, the Croats, and the Roumanians to demand
from the Magyar Government a recognition of their several traditions
and interests. The purpose of the Magyars, however, was to maintain
absolutely their own ascendancy in the kingdom, and every demand on
the part of the subject nationalities met only with contemptuous
refusal. Dissatisfaction bred dissension, and dissension broke
speedily into civil war. With consummate skill the situation was
exploited by the Vienna Government, while at the same time the armies
of Radetzky and Windischgrätz were stamping out every trace of (p. 455)
insurrection in Lombardo-Venetia, in Bohemia, and eventually in Vienna
itself. December 2, 1848, the easy-going, incompetent Emperor
Ferdinand was induced by the reactionaries to abdicate. His brother,
Francis Charles, the heir-presumptive, renounced his claim to the
throne, and the crown devolved upon the late Emperor's youthful
nephew, Francis Joseph I., whose phenomenally prolonged reign has
continued to the present day. Under the guidance of Schwarzenberg, who
now became the dominating figure in Austrian politics, the Hungarian
March Laws were abrogated and preparations were set on foot to reduce
Hungary, as other portions of the Imperial dominions had been reduced,
by force of arms. Pronouncing Francis Joseph a usurper, the Magyars
rose _en masse_ in defense of their constitution and of the deposed
Ferdinand. In the conflict which ensued they were compelled to fight
not only the Austrians but also their rebellious Roumanian, Croatian,
and Slavonian subjects, and their chances of success were from the
outset slender. In a moment of exultation, April 14, 1849, the Diet at
Budapest went so far as to declare Hungary an independent nation and
to elect Kossuth to the presidency of a supposititious republic. The
only effect, however, was to impart to the contest an international
character. Upon appeal from Francis Joseph, Tsar Nicholas I.
intervened in behalf of the "legitimate" Austrian power; whereupon the
Hungarians, seeking in vain for allies, were overcome by the weight of
the odds against them, and by the middle of August, 1849, the war was
ended.
*504. Restoration of Autocracy.*--In Austria and Hungary alike the
reaction was complete. In the Empire there had been promulgated, March
4, 1849, a revised constitution; but at no time had it been intended
by the sovereign or by those who surrounded him that constitutionalism
should be established upon a permanent basis, and during 1850-1851 one
step after another was taken in the direction of the revival of
autocracy. December 31, 1851, "in the name of the unity of the Empire
and of monarchical principles," the constitution was revoked by
Imperial patent. At a stroke all of the peoples of the Empire were
deprived of their representative rights. Yet so incompletely had the
liberal régime struck root that its passing occasioned scarcely a
murmur. Except that the abolition of feudal obligations was permanent,
the Empire settled back into a status which was almost precisely that
of the age of Metternich. Vienna became once more the seat of a
government whose fundamental objects may be summarized as (1) to
Germanize the Magyars and Slavs, (2) to restrain all agitation in
behalf of constitutionalism; and (3) to prevent freedom of thought and
the establishment of a free press. Hungary, by reason of her (p. 456)
rebellion, was considered to have forfeited utterly the fundamental
rights which for centuries had been more or less grudgingly conceded
her. She not only lost every vestige of her constitutional system, her
diet, her county assemblies, her local self-government; large
territories were stripped from her, and she was herself cut into five
districts, each to be administered separately, largely by German
officials from Vienna. So far as possible, all traces of her historic
nationality were obliterated.[653]
[Footnote 653: Brief accounts of the revolution of
1848-1849 in Austria-Hungary will be found in
Cambridge Modern History, XI., Chaps. 6-7
(bibliography, pp. 887-893), and Lavisse et
Rambaud, Histoire Générale, XI., Chap. 4. The most
important treatise is H. Friedjung, Österreich von
1848 bis 1860 (2d ed., Stuttgart and Berlin, 1908),
the first volume of which covers the period
1848-1851. There is a serviceable account in L.
Leger, History of Austria-Hungary from the
Beginning to the Year 1878, trans. by B. Hill
(London, 1889), Chaps. 30-33. Older accounts in
English include W. H. Stiles, Austria in 1848-9
(New York, 1852), and W. Coxe, History of the House
of Austria (3d ed., London, 1907). The Hungarian
phases of the subject are admirably presented in L.
Eisenmann, Le compromis austro-hongroise (Paris,
1904).]
V. THE REVIVAL OF CONSTITUTIONALISM: THE AUSGLEICH
*505. Constitutional Experiments, 1860-1861.*--The decade 1850-1860 was
in Austria-Hungary a period of political and intellectual torpor.
Embarrassed by fiscal difficulties and by international complications,
the Government at Vienna struggled with desperation to maintain the
_status quo_ as against the numerous forces that would have overthrown
it. For a time the effort was successful, but toward the close of the
decade a swift decline of Imperial prestige compelled the adoption of
a more conciliatory policy. The Crimean War cost the Empire both
allies and friends, and the disasters of the Italian campaigns of 1859
added to the seriousness of the Imperial position. By 1860 both the
Emperor and his principal minister, Goluchowski, were prepared to
undertake in all sincerity a reformation of the illiberal and
unpopular governmental system. To this end the Emperor called
together, March 5, 1860, representatives of the various provinces and
instructed them, in conjunction with the Reichsrath, or Imperial
Council, to take under consideration plans for the reorganization of
the Empire. The majority of this "reinforced Reichsrath" recommended
the establishment permanently of a broadly national Reichsrath, or
Imperial assembly, together with the reconstitution of the old
provincial diets. The upshot was the promulgation, October 20, 1860,
of a "permanent and irrevocable" diploma in which the Emperor made
known his intention thereafter to share all powers of legislation and
finance with the diets of the various portions of the Empire, and (p. 457)
with a central Reichsrath at Vienna, the latter to be made up of
members chosen by the Emperor from triple lists of nominees presented
by the provincial diets.
In Hungary this programme was received with favor by the conservative
magnates, but the Liberals, led by Deák, refused absolutely to approve
it, save on the condition that the constitutional régime of the
kingdom, abrogated in 1849, should be regarded as completely restored.
At Vienna there had been no intention that the proposed innovation
should entail such consequences, and within four months of its
promulgation the diploma of 1860 was superseded by a patent of
February 26, 1861, whereby the terms demanded by the Deák party were
specifically denied. In this patent--the handiwork principally of
Anton von Schmerling, Goluchowski's successor in the office of
Minister of the Interior--was elaborated further the plan of the new
Reichsrath. Two chambers there were to be--an upper, or House of
Lords, to be made up of members appointed by the Emperor in
consideration of birth, station, or merits and a lower, or House of
Representatives, to consist of 343 members (Hungary sending 85 and
Bohemia 54), to be chosen by the provincial diets from their own
membership. Sessions of the body were to be annual. The new instrument
differed fundamentally from the old, not simply in that it substituted
a bicameral for a unicameral parliamentary body, but also in that it
diverted from the local diets to the Reichsrath a wide range of
powers, being designed, indeed, specifically to facilitate the
centralization of governmental authority.
*506. The Hungarian Opposition.*--By reason chiefly of the refusal of
the Deák party to accept for Hungary anything short of the autonomy
which had been enjoyed prior to 1849, the new scheme of government was
for a time only partially successful. In one after another of the
component parts of the Empire the provincial diets were called back to
life, and the Reichsrath itself was started upon its career. But the
Hungarians held aloof. The position which they assumed was that
Hungary had always been a separate nation; that the union with Austria
lay only through the person of the monarch, who, indeed, in Hungary
was king only after he should have sworn to uphold the ancient laws of
Hungary and should have been crowned in Hungary with the iron crown of
St. Stephen; that no change in these ancient laws and practices could
legally be effected by the emperor-king alone; that the constitution
of 1861 was inadequate, not only because it had been "granted" and
might as easily be revoked, but because it covered both Austria and
Hungary; reduced Hungary to the position of a mere province, and was
not at all identical with the Hungarian fundamental law abrogated in
1849. April 6, 1861, the Hungarian Diet was assembled for the first
time since the termination of the revolution of 1848, and the (p. 458)
patent of the preceding February 26 was laid forthwith before it.
After four months of heated debate the body refused definitely to
accept the instrument and, on the contrary, adopted unanimously an
address drawn up by Deák calling upon the Vienna authorities to
restore the political and territorial integrity of the Hungarian
kingdom. The sovereign's reply was a dissolution of the Diet, August
21, and a levy of taxes by military execution. Hungary, in turn,
refused to be represented in the Reichsrath, or in any way to
recognize the new order.
*507. Influences toward Conciliation.*--Through four years the deadlock
continued. During the period Hungary, regarded by the authorities at
Vienna as having forfeited the last vestige of right to her ancient
constitution, was kept perpetually in a stage of siege. As time went
by, however, it was made increasingly apparent that the surrender by
which concord might be restored would have to be made in the main by
Austria, and at last the Emperor was brought to a point where he was
willing, by an effectual recognition of Hungarian nationality, to
supply the indispensable condition of reconciliation. In June, 1865,
the sovereign paid a visit to the Hungarian capital, where he was
received with unexpected enthusiasm, and September 20 the patent of
1861, which the Hungarians had refused to allow to be put into
execution, was suspended. For the moment the whole of the Hapsburg
dominion reverted to a state of absolutism; but negotiations were set
on foot looking toward a revival of constitutionalism under such
conditions that the demands of the Hungarians might be brought into
harmony with the larger interests of the Empire. Proceedings were
interrupted, in 1866, by the Austro-Prussian war, but in 1867 they
were pushed to a conclusion. In anticipation of the international
outbreak which came in June, 1866, Deák had reworked a programme of
conciliation drawn up in the spring of 1865, holding it in readiness
to be employed as a basis of negotiation in the event of an Austrian
triumph, as an ultimatum in the event of an Austrian defeat. The
Austrians, as it proved, were defeated swiftly and decisively, and by
this development the Hungarians, as Deák had hoped would be the case,
were given an enormously advantageous position. Humiliated by her
expulsion from a confederation which she had been accustomed to
dominate, Austria, after the Peace of Prague (August 20, 1866), was no
longer in a position to defy the wishes of her disaffected sister
state. On the contrary, the necessity of the consolidation of her
resources was never more apparent.
*508. The Compromise Effected, 1867.*--July 3 occurred the disaster at
Sadowa. July 15 the Emperor summoned Deák to Vienna and put to (p. 459)
him directly the question, What does Hungary want? Two days later he
accorded provisional assent to the fundamentals of the Deák _projet_
and designated as premier of the first parliamentary ministry of
Hungary Count Julius Andrássy. The working out of the precise
settlement between the two states fell principally to two men--Deák,
representing the Hungarian Liberals, and Baron Beust, formerly chief
minister of the king of Saxony but in 1866 brought to Vienna and made
Austrian chancellor and minister-president. After prolonged
negotiation a _projet_, differing from the original one of Deák in few
respects save that the unity of the monarchy was more carefully
safeguarded, was made ready to be acted upon by the parliaments of the
two states. February 17, 1867, the Andrássy ministry was formed at
Budapest and May 29, by a vote of 209 to 89, the terms of the
Ausgleich, or Compromise, were given formal approval by the Diet. At
Vienna the Reichsrath would probably have been disposed to reject the
proposed arrangement but for the fact that Beust held out as an
inducement the re-establishment of constitutionalism in Austria. The
upshot was that the Reichsrath added some features by which the
_projet_ was liberalized still further and made provision at the same
time for the revision and rehabilitation of the Imperial patent of
1861. During the summer two deputations of fifteen members each,
representing the respective parliaments, drew up a plan of financial
adjustment between the two states; and by acts of December 21-24 final
approval was accorded on both sides to the whole body of agreements.
Already, June 8, in the great cathedral at Buda, Francis Joseph had
been crowned Apostolic King of Hungary and the royal succession under
the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713, after eighteen years of
suspension, had been definitely resumed.[654]
[Footnote 654: On Austro-Hungarian affairs in the
period 1860-1867 see Cambridge Modern History, XI.,
Chap. 15, XII., Chap. 7 (bibliography, pp.
876-882), and Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire
Générale, XI., Chap. 13. The best treatise is L.
Eisenmann, Le compromis austro-hongroise (Paris,
1904). An account by an active participant is J.
Andrássy, Ungarns Ausgleich mit Österreich von
Jahre 1867 (Leipzig, 1897). The best detailed
account in English is Leger, History of
Austria-Hungary, Chaps. 34-35. Two important
biographies are: A. Forster, Francis Deák, a Memoir
(London, 1880), and E. Ebeling, F. F. Graf von
Beust (Leipzig, 1870-71).]
CHAPTER XXV (p. 460)
THE GOVERNMENT AND PARTIES OF AUSTRIA
I. THE CONSTITUTION
*509. Texts.*--The fundamental law of the Austrian Empire,[655] in so
far as it has been reduced to writing, exists in the form of a series
of diplomas, patents, and statutes covering, in all, a period of some
two hundred years. Of these instruments the most important are: (1)
the Pragmatic Sanction of the Emperor Charles VI., promulgated
originally April 19, 1713, and in final form in 1724, by which is
regulated the succession to the throne; (2) the Pragmatic Patent of
the Emperor Francis II., August 1, 1804, in accordance with which the
sovereign bears in Austria the Imperial title; (3) the diploma of the
Emperor Francis Joseph I., October 20, 1860, by which was introduced
in the Empire the principle of constitutional government; (4) the
patent of Francis Joseph, February 26, 1861, by which was regulated in
detail the nature of this government; and (5) a series of five
fundamental laws (_Staatsgrundgesetze_), all bearing the date December
21, 1867, and comprising a thoroughgoing revision and extension of the
patent of 1861. In a narrower sense, indeed, the constitution may be
said to consist of these five documents, all of which were sanctioned
by the crown as a portion of the same general settlement by which the
arrangements comprehended in the Ausgleich were effected. Of them,
one, in twenty articles, is essentially a bill of rights; a second, in
twenty-four sections, is concerned with Imperial representation; a
third, in six articles, provides for the establishment of the
Reichsgericht, or Imperial court; a fourth, in fifteen articles,
covers the subject of the judiciary; and the fifth, in twelve
articles, deals with the exercise of administrative and executive
powers.
[Footnote 655: It should be emphasized that the
phrase "Austrian Empire," properly used, denotes
Austria alone. Hungary is no part of the Empire.
Throughout the following description effort has
been made to avoid inaccuracy of expression by
referring to Austria-Hungary as the "dual
monarchy," or simply as "the monarchy." The
nomenclature of the Austro-Hungarian union is
cumbersome, but therein it merely reflects the
character of the union itself.]
*510. The Style of Government.*--Under the provisions of these
instruments Austria is constituted a limited monarchy, with a responsible
ministry, a bicameral legislative body, and a considerable (p. 461)
measure of local self-government. For the exercise, upon occasion, of
essentially autocratic power, however, the way was left open through
the famous Section 13 of the patent of 1861, become Section 14 of the
Law concerning Imperial Representation of 1867. Around no portion of
the constitution has controversy raged more fiercely during the past
generation. The article reads: "If urgent circumstances should render
necessary some measure constitutionally requiring the consent of the
Reichsrath, when that body is not in session, such measure may be
taken by Imperial ordinance, issued under the collective
responsibility of the ministry, provided it makes no alteration of the
fundamental law, imposes no lasting burden upon the public treasury,
and alienates none of the domain of the state. Such ordinances shall
have provisionally the force of law, if they are signed by all of the
ministers, and shall be published with an express reference to this
provision of the fundamental law. The legal force of such an ordinance
shall cease if the Government neglects to present it for the approval
of the Reichsrath at its next succeeding session, and indeed first to
the House of Representatives, within four weeks of its convention, or
if one of the houses refuses its approval thereto."[656] The prolonged
exercise of autocratic power might seem here to be sufficiently
guarded against, but in point of fact, as was demonstrated by the
history of the notable parliamentary deadlock of 1897--1904[657], the
government can be, and has been, made to run year after year upon
virtually the sole basis of the article mentioned. It is only fair to
add, however, that, but for some such practical resource at the
disposal of the executive, constitutional government might long since
have been broken down completely by the recurrent obstructive tactics
of the warring nationalities.
[Footnote 656: Dodd, Modern Constitutions, I., 81.]
[Footnote 657: See p. 479.]
*511. Amendment.*--The constitution promulgated March 4, 1849, made
provision for a definite process of amendment. Upon declaration by the
legislative power that any particular portion of the fundamental law
stood in need of revision, the chambers were to be dissolved and newly
elected ones were to take under consideration the proposed amendment,
adopting it if a two-thirds majority could be obtained in each house.
Upon all such proposals the veto of the Emperor, however, was
absolute. Neither the diploma of October 20, 1860, nor the patent of
February 26, 1861, contained any stipulation upon the subject, nor did
any one of the fundamental laws of 1867 as originally adopted. By act
of April 2, 1873, however, passed at the time when the lower house (p. 462)
of the Reichsrath was being converted into an assembly directly
representative of the people, the Law concerning Imperial Representation
was so modified as to be made to include a specific stipulation with
respect to constitutional amendment in general. Under the terms of
this enactment all portions of the written constitution are subject to
amendment at the hand of the Reichsrath. As in European countries
generally, no essential differentiation of powers that are constituent
from those that are legislative is attempted. The process of revision
is made even easier than that prescribed by the ill-fated instrument
of 1849. It differs in no respect from that of ordinary legislation
save that proposed amendments require a two-thirds vote in each of the
chambers instead of a simple majority. Since 1873 there have been
adopted several amendments, of which the most notable were those of
1896 and 1907 relative to the election of representatives.
*512. The Rights of Citizens.*--For all natives of the various kingdoms
and countries represented in the Reichsrath there exists a common
right of Austrian citizenship. The complicated conditions under which
citizenship may be obtained, exercised, and forfeited are prescribed
in legislative enactments of various dates. One of the five
fundamental laws of 1867, however, covers at some length the general
rights of citizens, and certain of its provisions are worthy of
mention.[658] All citizens, it is declared, are equal before the law.
Public office is open equally to all. Freedom of passage of persons
and property, within the territory of the state, is absolutely
guaranteed, as is both liberty of person and inviolability of
property. Every one is declared free to choose his occupation and to
prepare himself for it in such place and manner as he may desire. The
right of petition is recognized; likewise, under legal regulation,
that of assemblage and of the formation of associations. Freedom of
speech and of the press, under legal regulation, and liberty of
religion and of conscience are guaranteed to all. Science and its
teaching is declared free. One has but to recall the repression of
individual liberty and initiative by which the era of Metternich was
characterized to understand why, with the liberalizing of the Austrian
state under the constitution of 1867, it should have been deemed
essential to put into the fundamental law these and similar guarantees
of personal right and privilege.[659]
[Footnote 658: Law concerning the General Rights of
Citizens. Dodd, Modern Constitutions, I., 71-74.]
[Footnote 659: The texts of the fundamental laws at
present in operation are printed in E. Bernatzik,
Die österreichischen Verfassungsgesetze (2d ed.,
Vienna, 1911), and in a collection issued by the
Austrian Government under the title Die
Staatsgrundgesetze (7th ed., Vienna, 1900). The
statutes of 1867 are in Lowell, Governments and
Parties, II., 378-404, and, in English translation,
in Dodd, Modern Constitutions, I., 71-89. The best
description in English of the Austrian governmental
system is Lowell, _op. cit._; II., Chap. 8. The
best extended treatise is J. Ulbrich, Lehrbuch des
österreichischen Staatsrechts (Vienna, 1883).
Excellent briefer works are L. Gumplowicz, Das
österreichische Staatsrecht (3d ed., Vienna, 1907);
J. Ulbrich, Österreichisches Staatsrecht (3d ed.,
Tübingen, 1904), in Marquardsen's Handbuch; and R.
von Herrnritt, Handbuch des österreichischen
Verfassungsrechtes (Tübingen, 1910). On the
workings of the governmental system something may
be gleaned from G. Drage, Austria-Hungary (London,
1909); S. Whitman, Austria (New York, 1879) and H.
Rumbold, Francis Joseph and his Times (New York,
1909).]
II. THE CROWN AND THE MINISTRY (p. 463)
*513. The Emperor's Status.*--The sovereign authority of the Empire is
vested in the Emperor. Duties are assigned to the ministers, and
privileges are granted to the legislative bodies; but all powers not
expressly conferred elsewhere remain with the Emperor as supreme head
of the state. The Imperial office is hereditary in the male line of
the house of Hapsburg-Lothringen, and the rules governing the
succession are substantially those which were laid down originally in
the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713[660] promulgated by the Emperor Charles
VI. to render possible the succession of his daughter Maria Theresa.
Females may inherit, but only in the event of the failure of male
heirs. By the abdication of the direct heir, the throne may pass to a
member of the royal family who stands farther removed, as it did in
1848 when the present Emperor was established on the throne while his
father was yet living. By reason of the unusual prolongation of the
reign of Francis Joseph, there has been no opportunity in sixty years
to put to a test the rules by which the inheritance is regulated.
Since the death of the Crown Prince Rudolph the heir-presumptive has
been the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, son of the Archduke Charles
Louis, and nephew of the ruling Emperor. It is required that the
sovereign be a member of the Roman Catholic Church.
[Footnote 660: Issued definitely in 1724.]
*514. His Powers.*--By fundamental law it is declared that the Emperor
is "sacred, inviolable, and irresponsible." His powers of government
are exercised largely, however, through ministers who are at least
nominally responsible to the Reichsrath, and through officers and
agents subordinate to them. Most important among the powers expressly
conferred upon the Emperor, and indirectly exercised by him, are: (1)
the appointment and dismissal of ministers; (2) the naming of all
public officials whose appointment is not otherwise by law provided
for; (3) supreme command of the armed forces, with the power of (p. 464)
declaring war and concluding peace; (4) the conferring of titles,
orders, and other public distinctions, including the appointment of
life peers; (5) the granting of pardons and of amnesty; (6) the
summoning, adjourning, and dissolving of the various legislative
bodies; (7) the issuing of ordinances with the provisional force of
law, and (8) the concluding of treaties, with the limitation that the
consent of the Reichsrath is essential to the validity of treaties of
commerce and political treaties which impose obligations upon the
Empire, upon any part thereof, or upon any of its citizens. Further
than this, the right to coin money is exercised under the authority of
the Emperor; and the laws are promulgated, and all judicial power is
exercised, in his name. Before assuming the throne, the Emperor is
required to take a solemn oath in the presence of the two houses of
the Reichsrath "to maintain inviolable the fundamental laws of the
kingdoms and countries represented in the Reichsrath, and to govern in
conformity with them, and in conformity with the laws in
general."[661] The present Emperor-King has a civil list of 22,600,000
crowns, half of which is derived from the revenues of Austria and half
from those of Hungary. The Imperial residence in Vienna, the Hofburg,
has been the seat of the princes of Austria since the thirteenth
century.
[Footnote 661: Law concerning the Exercise of
Administrative and Executive Power, December 21,
1867, § 8. Dodd, Modern Constitutions, I., 88.]
*515. The Ministers: Responsibility.*--The Austrian ministry comprises
portfolios as follows: Finance, the Interior, Railways, National
Defense, Agriculture, Justice, Commerce, Labor, and Instruction and
Worship. Three important departments--those of War, Finance, and
Foreign Affairs and the Imperial and Royal House--are maintained by
the affiliated monarchies in common.[662] And there are usually from
one to four ministerial representatives of leading racial elements
without portfolio, there being in the present cabinet one such
minister for Galicia. All ministers are appointed and dismissed by the
Emperor. Under the leadership of a president of the council or premier
(without portfolio), they serve as the Emperor's councillors, execute
his will, and administer the affairs of their respective branches of
the public service. It is provided by fundamental law that they shall
be responsible for the constitutionality and legality of governmental
acts performed within the sphere of their powers.[663] They are
responsible to the two branches of the national parliament alike, and
may be interpellated or impeached by either. For impeachment an (p. 465)
elaborate procedure is prescribed, though thus far it has not proved
of practical utility. Every law promulgated in the Emperor's name must
bear the signature of a responsible minister, and several sorts of
ordinances--such as those proclaiming a state of siege or suspending
the constitutional rights of a citizen--require the concurrent
signature of the entire ministry. Every minister possesses the right
to sit and to speak in either chamber of the Reichsrath, where the
policy of the Government may call for explanation or defense, and
where there are at least occasional interpellations to be answered.
[Footnote 662: There is a joint ministry of
finance, though each of the monarchies maintains a
separate ministry for the administration of its own
fiscal affairs. On the joint ministries see p.
510.]
[Footnote 663: Law concerning the Exercise of
Administrative and Executive Power, December 21,
1867, § 9. Dodd, Modern Constitutions, I., 88-89.]
Nominally, the parliamentary system is in vogue, but at best it
operates only indifferently. Supposedly responsible, collectively and
individually, to the Reichsrath, the ministers are in practice far
more dependent upon the Emperor than upon the chambers. In France the
inability of political parties to coalesce into two great opposing
groups largely defeats the best ends of the parliamentary system. In
Austria the numerous and ineradicable racial divisions deflect the
system further still from the lines upon which theoretically it should
operate. No political group is sufficiently powerful to rule alone,
and no working affiliation can long be made to subsist. The
consequence is, not only that the Government can ordinarily play off
one faction against another and secure pretty much its own way, but
also that the responsibility of the ministers to the chambers is much
less effective in practice than on paper it appears to be.[664]
[Footnote 664: W. Beaumont, Cabinets éphémères et
ministères provisoires en Autriche, in _Annales des
Sciences Politiques_, March, 1900; H. Hantich,
Nouvelle phase du parlementarisme en Autriche, in
_Questions Diplomatiques et Coloniales_, February
1, 1910.]
III. THE REICHSRATH--THE ELECTORAL SYSTEM
*516. The House of Lords.*--The Reichsrath consists of two chambers. The
upper is known as the Herrenhaus, or House of Lords; the lower, as the
Abgeordnetenhaus, or House of Representatives. The Herrenhaus consists
of a somewhat variable number of men who sit in part by _ex-officio_
right, in part by hereditary station, and in part by special Imperial
appointment. At the close of 1910 there were in the chamber 266
members, distributed as follows: (1) princes of the Imperial family
who are of age, 15; (2) nobles of high rank qualified by the
possession of large estates and nominated to an hereditary seat by the
Emperor, 74; (3) ecclesiastics--10 archbishops and 8 bishops--who are
of princely title inherent in their episcopal seats, 18; and (4) persons
nominated by the Emperor for life in recognition of special service
rendered to the state or the Church, or unusual distinction (p. 466)
attained in literature, art, or science, 159. By law of January 26,
1907, the number of members in the last-mentioned group may not exceed
170, nor be less than 150.[665] Within these limits, the power of the
Emperor to create life peers is absolute. The prerogative is one which
has several times been exercised to facilitate the enactment of
measures upon whose adoption the Government was determined. The
president and vice-president of the chamber are appointed from its
members by the Emperor at the beginning of each session; but the body
chooses all of its remaining officers. The privileges and powers of
the Herrenhaus are co-ordinate with those of the Abgeordnetenhaus,
save that money bills and bills fixing the number of military recruits
must be presented first in the lower chamber.
[Footnote 665: It is interesting to observe that
this guarantee against the wholesale creation of
peers was brought forward with the object of
winning for the Government's Universal Suffrage
Bill the assent of the upper chamber.]
*517. The House of Representatives: Composition.*--The lower chamber, as
constituted by fundamental law of 1867, was made up of 203
representatives, apportioned among the several provinces and elected
by the provincial diets. The system worked poorly, and a law of 1868
authorized the voters of a province to elect the stipulated quota of
representatives in the event that the Diet failed to do so. Still
there was difficulty, arising largely from the racial rivalries in the
provinces, and by an amendment of April 2, 1873, the right of election
was vested exclusively in the enfranchised inhabitants of the Empire.
The number of members was at the same time increased to 353, though
without modifying the proportion of representatives of the various
provinces. Further amendment, in 1896, brought up the membership to
425, where it remained until 1907, when it was raised to the present
figure, 516.
*518. Early Electoral Arrangements: Law of 1873.*--The broadly
democratic electoral system which prevails in the Austrian dominions
to-day is a very recent creation. With the introduction of
constitutionalism in 1867 the problem of the franchise became one of
peculiar and increasing difficulty, and the process by which the
Empire has been brought laboriously to its present condition of
democracy has constituted one of the most tortuous chapters in recent
political history. The conditions by which from the outset the problem
was complicated were three in number: first, the large survival of
self-assertiveness on the part of the various provinces among whom
parliamentary representatives were to be distributed; second, the
keenness of the ambitions of the several racial elements for parliamentary
power; and third, the utter lack of experience and of traditions (p. 467)
on the part of the Austrian peoples in the matter of democratic
government.
When, in 1873, the right of electing deputies was withdrawn from the
provincial diets it was conferred, without the establishment of a new
electorate, upon those elements of the provincial populations which
had been accustomed to take part in the election of the local diets.
These were four in number: (1) the great landowners, comprising those
who paid a certain land tax, varying in the several provinces from 50
to 250 florins ($20 to $100), and including women and corporations;
(2) the cities, in which the franchise was extended to all males of
twenty-four who paid a direct tax of ten gulden annually; (3) chambers
of commerce and of industry; and (4) rural communes, in which the
qualifications for voting were the same as in the cities. To each of
these curiæ, or classes, the law of 1873 assigned a number of
parliamentary representatives, to be elected thereafter in each
province directly by the voters of the respective classes, rather than
indirectly through the diets. The number of voters in each class and
the relative importance of the individual voter varied enormously. In
1890, in the class of landowners there was one deputy to every 63
voters; in the chambers of commerce, one to every 27; in the cities,
one to every 2,918; and in the rural districts, one to every
11,600.[666]
[Footnote 666: Hazen, Europe since 1815, 399.]
*519. The Taaffe Electoral Bill of 1893.*--During the period covered by
the ministry of Count Taaffe (February, 1879, to October, 1893) there
was growing demand, especially on the part of the Socialists, Young
Czechs, German Nationalists, and other radical groups, for a new
electoral law, and during the years 1893-1896 this issue quite
overshadowed all others. In October, 1893, Taaffe brought forward a
sweeping electoral measure which, if it had become law, would have
transferred the bulk of political power to the working classes, at the
same time reducing to impotence the preponderant German Liberal party.
The measure did not provide for the general, equal, and direct
suffrage for which the radicals were clamoring, and by which the
number of voters would have been increased from 1,700,000 to
5,500,000. But it did contemplate the increase of the electorate to
something like 4,000,000. This it proposed to accomplish by abolishing
all property qualifications of voters in the cities and rural
communes[667] and by extending the voting privilege to all adult males
who were able to read and write and who had resided in their electoral
district a minimum of six months. To avoid the danger of an excess of
democracy Taaffe planned to retain intact the curiæ of landed
proprietors and chambers of commerce, so that it would still be (p. 468)
true that 5,402 large landholders would be represented in the lower
house by 85 deputies, the chambers of commerce by 22, and the
remainder of the nation--some 24,000,000 people--by 246. Impelled
especially by fear of socialism, the Conservatives, the Poles, the
German Liberals, and other elements opposed the project, and there
never was any real chance of its adoption. By reason of its halfway
character the Socialists, in congress at Vienna in March, 1894,
condemned it as "an insult to the working classes." Even in Hungary
(which country, of course, the measure did not immediately concern)
there was apprehension, the ruling Magyars fearing that the adoption
of even a partial universal suffrage system in the affiliated state
would prompt a demand on the part of the numerically preponderant
Slavic populations of Hungary for the same sort, of thing.
Anticipating defeat, Taaffe resigned, in October, 1893, before the
measure came to a vote.
[Footnote 667: By a law of 1882 the direct-tax
qualification had been reduced to 5 florins.]
*520. The Electoral Law of 1896.*--Under the Windischgrätz and
Kielmansegg ministries which succeeded no progress was realized, but
the cabinet of the Polish Count Badeni, constituted October 4, 1895,
made electoral reform the principal item in its programme and
succeeded in carrying through a measure which, indeed, was but a
caricature of Taaffe's project, but which none the less marked a
distinct stage of progress toward the broad-based franchise for which
the radicals were clamoring. The Government's bill was laid before the
Reichsrath, February 16, 1896, and was adopted unchanged within the
space of two weeks. The general suffrage which the Socialists demanded
was established, for the election, however, not of the 353
representatives already composing the lower chamber, but merely of a
body of 72 new representatives to be added to the present membership.
In the choice of these 72 additional members every male citizen
twenty-four years of age who had resided in a given district as much
as six months prior to an election was to be entitled to participate;
but elections were to be direct only in those districts in which
indirect voting had been abolished by provincial legislation. Votes
were to be cast, as a rule, by ballot, though under some circumstances
orally. All pre-existing classes of voters were left unchanged, and to
them was simply added a fifth. The aggregate number of electors in the
Empire was raised to 5,333,000. Of the number, however, the 1,732,000
comprised in the original four curiæ were still to elect 353 of the
425 members of the chamber, with the further inequity that many of the
persons who profited by the new arrangement were included already in
one or another of the older classes, and hence were vested by it with
a plural vote. Although, therefore, the voting privilege was now (p. 469)
conferred upon millions of small taxpayers and non-taxpayers who never
before had possessed it, the nation was still very far from a fair and
democratic suffrage system.
*521. Renewed Agitation: the Universal Suffrage Law of
1907.*--Throughout the decade following 1896 electoral agitation was
continuous and widespread, but not until 1905 did the situation become
favorable for further reform. In September of the year mentioned
Francis Joseph approved the proposal that universal suffrage be
included in the programme of the Fejérváry cabinet in Hungary, and the
act was taken at once to mean that the sovereign had arrived at the
conclusion that the democratizing of the franchise was inevitable in
all of his dominions. In point of fact, by reason of the prolonged
parliamentary crisis of late years at Vienna, the Emperor was fast
arriving at precisely such a conclusion. Stimulated by current
developments in Hungary and in Russia, the Austrian Socialists, late
in 1905, entered upon a notable series of demonstrations, and,
November 28, Premier Gautsch was moved to pledge the Government to
introduce forthwith a franchise reform bill based upon the principle
of universal suffrage. February 23, 1906, the promise was redeemed by
the presentation in the Reichsrath of proposals for (1) the abolition
of the system of electoral curiæ, (2) the extension of an equal
franchise to all males over twenty-four years of age and resident in
their district a year, (3) the division of Austria racially into
compartments so that each ethnic group might be protected against its
rivals, and (4) the increase of the number of seats from 425 to 455, a
fixed number to be allotted to each province, and in each province to
each race, in accordance with numbers and taxpaying capacity.
The outlook for the bill in which these proposals were incorporated
was at first not promising. The Social Democrats, the Christian
Socialists, and the Young Czechs were favorable; the Poles were
reserved in their attitude, but inclined to be hostile; practically
all of the German Liberals were opposed; and the landed proprietors,
long accustomed to dominate within the preponderant German element in
the Reichsrath, were violently hostile. In April, 1906, while the bill
was pending, the Gautsch ministry found itself without a parliamentary
majority and was succeeded by a ministry made up by Prince
Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst. This ministry lasted but six weeks, and
June 2 the coalition cabinet of Baron Beck assumed office. Convinced
that the establishment of universal and direct suffrage would afford
the best means of stimulating loyalty to the dynasty, as well as the
only practicable means of freeing the Government from parliamentary
obstructionism, Emperor Francis Joseph accorded the Beck ministry his
earnest support in its purpose to push to a conclusion the task of (p. 470)
electoral reform. The effort attained fruition in the memorable
Universal Suffrage Law passed by both houses of the Reichsrath in the
closing days of 1906 and approved by the Emperor January 26 of the
following year. The measure, which was in form an amendment of the
fundamental law of December 21, 1867, concerning Imperial
Representation, was opposed by the conservative and aristocratic
members of both houses and by the extremer representatives of the
various nationalities; but, like other portions of the constitutional
system of the Empire, it may not be amended save by a two-thirds vote
of both houses, and it is likely to endure through a considerable
period unchanged.
*522. Racial and Geographical Distribution of Seats.*--In the course of
the prolonged negotiations between the Government and representatives
of the various nationalities by which the preparation of the law was
attended there was worked out a fresh allotment of seats to the
several racial groups of the Empire, in proportion, roughly, to
taxpaying capacity. The total number of seats was raised from 425 to
516. Their distribution among the races, as compared with that
formerly existing, was arranged as follows:[668]
_Before 1907_ _After 1907_
Germans of all parties 205 233
Czechs 81 108
Poles 71 80
South Slavs (Slovenes, Croats, Serbs) 27 37
Ruthenes 11 34
Italians 18 19
Roumanians 5 5
--- ---
418 516
[Footnote 668: For tables exhibiting comparatively
the distribution of seats in 1867, 1873, 1896, and
1907, see W. Beaumont, Le suffrage universel en
Autriche: la loi du 26 janvier 1907 in _Annales des
Sciences Politiques_, Sept., 1907.]
The striking feature of this readjustment is, of course, the increased
number of seats assigned to the non-German nationalities. In
proportion strictly to population, the Germans still possess a larger
number of seats than that to which they are entitled. But the
aggregate is only 233, while the aggregate of Slavic seats is 259.
Even if the former German-Italian _bloc_ were still effective it could
control a total of only 257 votes; but, in point of fact, the Italians
in the Reichsrath to-day are apt to act with the Slavs rather than
with the Germans.
After decision had been reached regarding the distribution of seats in
accordance with races it remained to effect a distribution
geographically among the provinces of the Empire. To each of the
several provinces was assigned an aggregate quota which, in turn, (p. 471)
was distributed within the province among the racial groups represented
in the provincial population. The allotment made, in comparison with
that prevailing under the law of 1896, was as follows:
_Before 1907_ _After 1907_
Kingdom of Bohemia 110 130
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, with
the grand-duchy of Cracow 78 106
Archduchy of Lower Austria 46 64
Margravate of Moravia 43 49
Duchy of Styria 27 30
Princely County of Tyrol 21 25
Archduchy of Upper Austria 20 22
Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia 12 15
Duchy of Bukovina 11 14
Duchy of Carniola 11 12
Kingdom of Dalmatia 11 11
Duchy of Carinthia 10 10
Duchy of Salsburg 6 7
Margravate of Istria 5 6
Princely County of Görz and Gradisca 5 6
City of Trieste and its territory 5 5
Territory of Vorarlberg 4 4
--- ---
425 516
*523. Electoral Qualifications and Procedure.*--By the law of 1907 the
class system of voting was abolished entirely in national elections,
and in its stead was established general, equal, and direct manhood
suffrage. With insignificant exceptions, every male citizen who has
attained the age of twenty-four, and who, at the time the election is
ordered, has resided during at least one year in the commune in which
the right to vote is to be exercised, is qualified to vote for a
parliamentary representative. And any male thirty years of age, or
over, who has been during at least three years a citizen, and who is
possessed of the franchise, is eligible to be chosen as a
representative. Voting is by secret ballot, and an absolute majority
of all votes cast is necessary for a choice. In default of such a
majority there is a second ballot between the two candidates who at
the first test received the largest number of votes. It is stipulated,
further, that when so ordered by the provincial diet, voting shall be
obligatory, under penalty of fine, and in the provinces of Lower
Austria, Upper Austria, Silesia, Salsburg, Moravia, and Vorarlberg
every elector is required by provincial regulation to appear at every
parliamentary election in his district, and to present his ballot, the
penalty for neglect (unless explained to the satisfaction of the
proper magistrate) being a fine ranging from one to fifty crowns. In
the House of Lords, where there was strong opposition to the (p. 472)
principle of manhood suffrage, effort was made to introduce in the act
of 1907 a provision for the conferring of a second vote upon all
voters above the age of thirty-five. By the Emperor and ministry it
was urged, however, that the injection of such a modification would
wreck the measure, and when the lower chamber tacitly pledged itself
to enact a law designed to prevent the "swamping" of the peers by
Imperial appointment at the behest of a parliamentary majority, the
plural voting project was abandoned.[669]
[Footnote 669: As has been pointed out, the pledge
was redeemed in 1907 by a measure fixing the
minimum number of life peers at 150 and the maximum
at 170. See p. 466.]
So far as practicable, the electoral constituencies in the various
provinces are arranged to preserve the distinction between urban and
rural districts and to comprise racial groups that are essentially
homogeneous. In regions, as Bohemia, where the population is
especially mixed separate constituencies and registers are maintained
for the electors of each nationality, and a man may vote on only the
register of his own race and for a candidate of that race. Germans,
thus, are obliged to vote for Germans, Czechs for Czechs, Poles for
Poles; so that, while there may be a contest between a German Clerical
and a German Liberal or between a Young Czech and a Radical Czech,
there can be none between Germans and Czechs, or between Poles and
Ruthenes. In general, each district returns but one representative.
The 36 Galician districts, however, return two apiece. Each elector
there, as elsewhere, votes for but one candidate, the device
permitting the representation of minorities. The population comprising
a constituency varies from 26,693 in Salsburg to 68,724 in Galicia.
The average is 49,676.[670]
[Footnote 670: On the electoral law of 1907 see W.
Beaumont, Le suffrage universel en Autriche: la loi
du 26 janvier 1907, in _Annales des Sciences
Politiques_, Sept., 1907; H. Hantich, Le suffrage
universel en Autriche, in _Questions Diplomatiques
et Coloniales_, Feb. 16, 1907; M. E. Zweig, La
réforme électorale en Autriche, in _Revue du Droit
Public_, April-June and July-Sept., 1907.]
*524. The Reichsrath: Sessions and Procedure.*--By the law of 1867 no
limit was fixed for the period of service of the parliamentary
representative. The life of the Reichsrath, and consequently the
tenure of the individual deputy, was terminated only by a dissolution.
Under provision of an amendment of April 2, 1873, however, members of
the lower chamber are elected for a term of six years, at the
expiration of which period, as also in the event of a dissolution, a
new election must be held. Representatives are indefinitely eligible
for re-election. Vacancies are filled by special elections, which may
be held at any time, according to procedure specified by law.
Representatives receive a stipend of 20 crowns for each day's
attendance, with an allowance for travelling expenses.
The fundamental law prescribes that the Reichsrath shall be (p. 473)
convened annually, "during the winter months when possible."[671] The
Emperor appoints the president and vice-president of the Herrenhaus,
from among the members of the chamber, and for the period of a
session. The Abgeordnetenhaus elects from its members its president
and vice-president. Normally, the sessions of both houses are public,
though upon request of the president, or of at least ten members, and
by a decision taken behind closed doors, each house possesses the
right, in exceptional instances, to exclude spectators. Projects of
legislation may be submitted by the Government or by the individual
members of the chambers. Measures pass by majority vote; but no act is
valid unless at the time of its passage there are present in the lower
house as many as 100 members, and in the upper house as many as 40. A
curious provision touching the relations of the two houses is that if,
on a question of appropriation or of the size of a military
contingent, no agreement can be reached between the two houses after
prolonged deliberation, the smallest figure approved by either house
shall be regarded as voted.[672] By decree of the Emperor the
Reichsrath may at any time be adjourned, or the lower chamber
dissolved. Ministers and chiefs of the central administration are
entitled to take part in all deliberations, and to present their
proposals personally or through representatives. Each house may,
indeed, require a minister's attendance. Members of the chambers may
not be held responsible for any vote cast; and for any utterances made
by them they may be held responsible only by the house to which they
belong. Unless actually apprehended in a criminal act, no member of
either house may be arrested or proceeded against judicially during
the continuance of a session, except by the consent of the chamber to
which he belongs.[673]
[Footnote 671: Law of December 21, 1867, concerning
Imperial Representation, § 10. Dodd, Modern
Constitutions, I., 77.]
[Footnote 672: Law of December 21, 1867, concerning
Imperial Representation, § 13. Dodd, Ibid., I.,
81.]
[Footnote 673: For a collection of the rules of
order of the Austrian Parliament see K. and O.
Neisser, Die Geschäftsordnung des Abgeordnetenhaus
des Reichsrates, 2 vols. (Vienna, 1909).]
*525. The Reichsrath: Powers.*--The powers of the Reichsrath are, in
general, those ordinarily belonging to a parliamentary body. According
to fundamental law of 1867, they comprise all matters which relate to
the rights, obligations, and interests of the provinces represented in
the chambers, in so far as these matters are not required to be
handled conjointly with the proper representatives of the Hungarian
portion of the monarchy. The Reichsrath examines and ratifies or
rejects commercial treaties, and likewise political treaties which
place a fiscal burden on the Empire or any portion of it, impose (p. 474)
obligations upon individual citizens, or involve any change of
territorial status. It makes provision for the military and naval
establishments. It enacts the budget and approves all taxes and
duties. It regulates the monetary system, banking, trade, and
communication. It legislates on citizenship, public health, individual
rights, education, criminal justice and police regulation, the duties
and interrelations of the provinces, and a wide variety of other
things. It exercises the right of legalizing or annulling Imperial
ordinances which, under urgent circumstances, may be promulgated by
the Emperor with the provisional force of law when the chambers are
not in session.[674] Such ordinances may not introduce any alteration
in the fundamental law, impose any lasting burden upon the treasury,
or alienate territory. They must be issued, if issued at all, under
the signature of all of the ministers, and they lose their legal force
if the Government does not lay them before the lower chamber within
the first four weeks of its next ensuing session, or if either of the
two houses refuses its assent thereto. Each of the houses may
interpellate the ministers upon all matters within the scope of their
powers, may investigate the administrative acts of the Government,
demand information from the ministers concerning petitions presented
to the houses, may appoint commissions, to which the ministers must
give all necessary information, and may give expression to its views
in the form of addresses or resolutions. Any minister may be impeached
by either house.[675]
[Footnote 674: Issued under warrant of the
much-controverted Section 14. See p. 461.]
[Footnote 675: Law of December 21, 1867, concerning
Imperial Representation, § 21. Dodd, Modern
Constitutions, I., 83. A work of value is G.
Kolmer, Parlament und Verfassung in Österreich
(Vienna, 1909).]
IV. POLITICAL PARTIES
*526. Racial Elements in the Empire.*--The key to the politics of
Austria is afforded by the racial composition of the Empire's
population. In our own day there is a tendency, in consequence of the
spread of socialism and of other radical programmes which leap across
racial and provincial lines, toward the rise of Austrian parties which
shall be essentially inter-racial in their constituencies. Yet at the
elections of 1907--the first held under the new electoral law--of the
twenty-six party affiliations which succeeded in obtaining at least
one parliamentary seat all save possibly two comprised either
homogeneous racial groups or factions of such groups. Fundamentally,
the racial question in Austria has always been that of German _versus_
non-German. The original Austria was preponderantly German; the
wealthiest, the best educated, the most widespread of the racial (p. 475)
elements in the Empire to-day is the German; and by the Germans it has
regularly been assumed that Austria is, and ought to be, essentially a
German country.[676] In this assumption the non-German populations of
the Empire have at no time acquiesced; and while they have never been
able to combine long or effectively against the dominating Germanic
element, they have sought persistently, each in its own way, to compel
a fuller recognition of their several interests and rights.
[Footnote 676: Lowell, Governments and Parties,
II., 95.]
The nationalities represented within the Empire fall broadly into
three great groups: the German, the Slavic, and the Latin. In an
aggregate population of 26,107,304 in 1900 the Germans numbered
9,171,614, or somewhat more than 35 per cent; the Slavs, 15,690,000,
or somewhat more than 60 per cent; and the Latins, 958,065, or
approximately 3.7 per cent. The Germans, comprising the most numerous
of the individual nationalities, occupy exclusively Upper Austria,
Salsburg, and Vorarlberg, the larger portion of Lower Austria,
north-western Carinthia, the north and center of Styria and Tyrol,
and, in fact, are distributed much more generally over the entire
Empire than is any one of the other racial elements. The Slavs are in
two principal groups, the northern and the southern. The northern
includes the Czechs and Slovaks, dwelling principally in Bohemia and
Moravia, and numbering, in 1900, 5,955,397; the Poles, comprising a
compact mass of 4,252,483 people in Galicia and Silesia; and the
Ruthenes, numbering 3,381,570, in eastern Galicia and in Bukovina. The
southern Slavic group includes the Slovenes, numbering 1,192,780, in
Carniola, Görz, Gradisca, Istria, and Styria, and the Servians and
Croats, numbering 711,380, in Istria and Dalmatia. The peoples of
Latin stock are the Italians and Ladini (727,102), in Tyrol, Görz,
Gradisca, Dalmatia, and Trieste, and the Roumanians (230,963) in
Bukovina. Within many of the groups mentioned there is meager survival
of political unity. There are German Clericals, German Progressives,
German Radicals, German Agrarians; likewise Old Czechs, Young Czechs,
Czech Realists, Czech Agrarians, Czech Clericals, and Czech Radicals.
Austrian party history within the past fifty years comprises largely
the story of the political contests among the several nationalities,
and of the disintegration of these nationalities into a bewildering
throng of clamorous party cliques.
*527. Centralists and Federalists.*--The more important of the party
groups of to-day trace their origins to the formative period in recent
Austro-Hungarian constitutional history, 1860-1867. During this period
the fundamental issue in the Empire was the degree of centralization
which it was desirable, or possible, to achieve in the reshaping (p. 476)
of the governmental system. On the one hand were the centralists, who
would have bound the loosely agglomerated kingdoms, duchies, and
territories of the Empire into a consolidated state. On the other were
the federalists, to whom centralization appeared dangerous, as well as
unjust to the Empire's component nationalities. Speaking broadly, the
Germans, supported by the Italians, comprised the party of
centralization; the Slavs, that of federalism. The establishment of
the constitution of 1867, as well as of the Compromise with Hungary in
the same year, was the achievement of the centralists, and with the
completion of this gigantic task there gradually took form a compactly
organized political party, variously known as the National German
party, the German Liberals, or the Constitutionalists, whose
watchwords were the preservation of the constitution and the
Germanization of the Empire. For a time this party maintained the
upper hand completely, but its ascendancy was menaced not only by the
disaffected forces of federalism but by the continued tenseness of the
clerical question and, after 1869, by intestine conflict. As was
perhaps inevitable, the party split into two branches, the one radical
and the other moderate. During the earlier months of 1870 the
Radicals, under Hasner, were in control; but in their handling of the
vexatious Polish and Bohemian questions they failed completely and,
April 4, they gave place to the Moderates under the premiership of the
Polish Count Potocki. The new ministry sought to govern in a
conciliatory spirit and with the support of all groups, but its
success was meager. February 7, 1871, a cabinet which was essentially
federalist was constituted under Count Hohenwart. Its decentralizing
policies, however, were of such a character that the racial question
gave promise of being settled by the utter disintegration of the
Empire, and after eight months it was dismissed.
*528. Rule of the German Liberals, 1871-1879.*--With a cabinet presided
over by Prince Adolf Auersperg the German Liberals then returned to
power. Their tenure was prolonged to 1879 and might have been
continued beyond that date but for the recurrence of factional strife
within their ranks. The period was one in which some of the
obstructionist groups, notably the Czechs, fell into division among
themselves, so that the opposition which the Liberals were called upon
to encounter was distinctly less effective than otherwise it might
have been. At no time since 1867 had the Czechs consented to be
represented in the Reichsrath, a body, indeed, which they had
persisted in refusing to recognize as a legitimately constituted
parliament of the Empire. During the early seventies a party of Young
Czechs sprang up which advocated an abandonment of passive (p. 477)
resistance and the substitution of parliamentary activity in behalf of
the interests of the race. The Old Czechs were unprepared for such a
shift of policy, and in 1873 they played directly into the hands of
the Liberal government by refusing to participate in the consideration
of the electoral reform by which the choice of representatives was
taken from the provincial diets and vested in the four classes of
provincial constituencies. For the carrying of this measure a
two-thirds majority was required, and if the Czechs had been willing
to vote at all upon it they might easily have compassed its defeat. As
it was, the amendment was carried without difficulty. A tenure of
power which not even the financial crisis of 1873 could break was,
however, sacrificed through factional bickerings. Within both the
ministry and the Reichsrath, the dominant party broke into three
groups, and the upshot was the dissolution, February 6, 1879, of the
ministry and the creation of a new one under the presidency of Count
Taaffe, long identified with the Moderate element. Three months later
the House of Representatives was dissolved. In the elections that
followed the Liberals lost a total of forty-five seats, and therewith
their position as the controlling party in both the Reichsrath and the
nation. Taaffe retained the premiership, but his Liberal colleagues
were replaced by Czechs, Poles, Clericals, and representatives indeed
of pretty nearly all of the existing groups save the Germans.[677]
[Footnote 677: As at first reconstituted, the
ministry contained a German Liberal, but he soon
resigned.]
*529. The Taaffe Ministry, 1879-1893.*--The prolonged ministry of Count
Taaffe comprises the second period of Austrian parliamentary history.
Of notably moderate temper, Taaffe had never been a party man of the
usual sort, and he entered office with an honest purpose to administer
the affairs of the nation without regard to considerations of party or
of race. The establishment of his reconstituted ministry was
signalized by the appearance of Czech deputies for the first time upon
the floor of the national parliament. The Taaffe government found its
support in what came to be known as the Right--a quasi-coalition of
Poles, Czechs, Clericals, and the Slavic and conservative elements
generally.[678] It was opposed by the Left, comprising principally the
German Liberals, In 1881 the various factions of the German party,
impelled by the apprehension that German ascendancy might be lost
forever, drew together again and entered upon a policy of opposition
which was dictated purely and frankly by racial aspirations. (p. 478)
Attempts to embarrass the Government by obstruction proved, however,
only indifferently successful. In 1888 the party was once more
reconstructed.
[Footnote 678: In the Chamber the Czechs, Poles,
and Clericals controlled each approximately 55
votes.]
Among the diverse groups by which the Taaffe government was supported
there was just one common interest, namely, the prevention of a return
to power on the part of the German Liberals. Upon this preponderating
consideration, and upon the otherwise divergent purposes of the
Government groups, Taaffe built his system. Maintaining rigidly his
determination to permit no radical alteration of the constitution, he
none the less extended favors freely to the non-Germanic
nationalities, and so contrived to prolong through nearly a decade and
a half, by federalist support, an essentially centralist government.
Government consisted largely, indeed, in perennial bargaining between
the executive authorities on the one hand and the parliamentary groups
on the other, and in the course of these bargainings it was ever the
legislative chambers, not the Government, that lost ground. The
bureaucracy increased its hold, the administrative organs waxed
stronger, the power of the Emperor was magnified. The ministry became
pre-eminently the ministry of the crown, and despite strictly observed
constitutional forms the spirit of absolutism was largely
rehabilitated.[679]
[Footnote 679: The forcefully expressed view of an
eminent Austrian authority, written during the
parliamentary deadlock which marked the close of
the last century, is of interest. "His [Taaffe's]
prolonged ministry had decisive effects upon the
political life of Austria. It rendered forever
impossible a return to Germanizing centralism. It
filled the administrative hierarchy with Slavs,
who, remaining Slavs, placed at the service of
their national propaganda their official influence.
In combatting the Liberal party it restored the
power of the court, of the aristocracy, of the
Church, and it facilitated the obnoxious
restoration of clericalism, by which Austria to-day
is dominated. It at the same time aroused and
corrupted the nationalities and the parties. It
habituated them to give rein unceasingly to their
ambitions and to seek to attain them less by their
own force and labor than by intrigue. The public
demoralization, illustrated to-day so clearly by
the Austrian crisis, is properly the result of the
Taaffe system." M. L. Eisenmann, in Lavisse et
Rambaud, Histoire Générale, XII., 177.]
*530. The German Recovery: Badeni, 1895-1897.*--To the eventual
breakdown of the Taaffe régime various circumstances contributed. Two
of principal importance were the defection of the Young Czechs and the
failure of the several attempts to draw to the support of the
Government the moderate German Liberals. At the elections of 1891 the
Young Czechs obtained almost the entire quota of Bohemian seats, and
at the same time the Liberals recovered enough ground to give them the
position of the preponderant group numerically in the lower chamber.
Neither of these two parties could be persuaded to accord the (p. 479)
Government its support, and during 1891-1893 Taaffe labored vainly
to recover a working coalition. Finally, in 1893, as a last resource,
the Government resolved to undermine the opposition, especially German
Liberalism, by the abolition of the property qualification for voting
in the cities and rural communes. The nature of Taaffe's electoral
reform bill of 1893 has been explained elsewhere, and likewise the
reason for its rejection.[680] Anticipating the defeat of the measure,
the premier retired from office October 23, 1893.
[Footnote 680: See p. 467.]
The Germans now recovered, not their earlier power, but none the less
a distinct measure of control. November 12 there was established,
under Prince Windischgrätz a coalition ministry, comprising
representatives of the German Liberals, the Poles, and the Clericals,
and this cabinet was very successful until, in June, 1895, it was
wrecked by the secession of the Liberals on a question of language
reform in Styria. After four months, covered by the colorless ministry
of Count Kielmansegg, Count Badeni became minister-president (October
4, 1895) and made up a cabinet, consisting largely of German Liberals,
but bent upon an essentially non-partisan administration. The two
tasks chiefly which devolved upon the Badeni ministry were the reform
of the electoral system and the renewal of the decennial economic
compromise with Hungary, to expire at the end of 1897. The first was
accomplished, very ineffectively, through the electoral measure of
1896; the second, by reason of factional strife, was not accomplished
at all.
*531. The Language Question: Parliamentary Deadlock.*--The elections of
1897 marked the utter dissolution of both the United German Left and
the coalition which had borne the designation of the Right. Among the
200 Germans elected to the Chamber there were distinguishable no fewer
than eight groups; and the number of groups represented in the
aggregate membership of 425 was at least twenty-four. Of these the
most powerful were the Young Czechs, with 60 seats, and the Poles,
with 59. Profiting by the recently enacted electoral law, the
Socialists at this point made their first appearance in the Reichsrath
with a total of 14 seats. Taking the Chamber as a whole, there was a
Slavo-Clerical majority, although not the two-thirds requisite for the
enactment of constitutional amendments. The radical opponents of the
Government were represented by the 51 German Liberals only. But no one
of the Slavic groups was disposed to accord its support save in return
for favors received. In the attempt to procure for itself a dependable
majority the Badeni government succeeded but in creating confusion
twice confounded. The Young Czechs, whose support appeared (p. 480)
indispensable, stipulated as a positive condition of that support that
Czech should be recognized as an official language in Bohemia and
Moravia, and by ordinances of April-May, 1897, the Government took it
upon itself to meet this condition. Within the provinces named the two
languages, Czech and German, were placed, for official purposes upon a
common footing. The only result, however, was to drive the Germans,
already hostile, to a settled course of parliamentary obstruction, and
before the year was out the Badeni cabinet was compelled to retire.
The Gautsch ministry which succeeded proposed to maintain the equality
of the Czech and German tongues in Bohemia; wherefore the German
Liberals persisted in their obstructionist policy and declared that
they would continue to do so until the objectionable ordinances should
have been rescinded. March 5, 1898, the Government promulgated a
provisional decree in accordance with which in one portion of Bohemia
the official tongue was to be Czech, in another German, and in the
third the two together. But no one was satisfied and the ministry
resigned. The coalition government of Count Thun Hohenstein which
succeeded labored in the interest of conciliation, but with absolutely
no success. Parliamentary sittings became but occasions for the
display of obstructive tactics, and even for resort to violence, and
legislation came to a standstill. By the use of every known device the
turbulent German parties rendered impossible the passage of even the
most necessary money bills, and the upshot was that, in the summer of
1898, the Government was obliged to fall back upon that extraordinary
portion of the Austrian constitution, commonly known as Section 14, by
which, in default of parliamentary legislation, the crown is
authorized to promulgate ordinances with the force of law. The period
of extra parliamentary government here inaugurated was destined to be
extended through more than six years and to comprise one of the most
remarkable chapters in recent political history.
*532. The Nadir of Parliamentarism.*--Following the retirement of the
Thun Hohenstein ministry, at the end of September, 1899, the
government of Count Clary-Aldingen revoked the language decrees; but
the parliamentary situation was not improved, for the Czechs resorted
forthwith to the same obstructionist tactics of which the Germans had
been guilty and the government had still to be operated principally on
the basis of Section 14. A provisional government under Dr. Wittek, at
the close of 1899, was followed by the ministry of Dr. Körber,
established January 20, 1900; but all attempts at conciliation
continued to be unavailing. In September, 1900, the Reichsrath was (p. 481)
dissolved and the order for the new elections was accompanied by the
ominous declaration of the Emperor that the present appeal to the
nation would be the last constitutional means which would be employed
to bring the crisis to an end. Amid widespread depression, threats of
Hungarian independence, and rumors of an impending _coup d'état_, the
elections took place, in January, 1901. The German parties realized
the largest gains, but the parliamentary situation was not materially
altered, and thereafter, until its fall, December 31, 1904, the Körber
ministry continued to govern substantially without parliamentary
assistance. In 1901-1902, by various promises, the premier induced the
combatants to lay aside their animosities long enough to vote the
yearly estimates, a military contingent, and certain much-needed
economic reforms. But this was virtually the sole interruption of a
six-year deadlock.
*533. Electoral Reform and the Elections of 1907.*--With the
establishment of the second Gautsch ministry, December 31, 1904, a
truce was declared and interest shifted to the carrying out of the
Imperial programme of electoral reform. From the proposed
liberalization of the suffrage many of the party groups were certain
to profit and others had at least a chance of doing so; and thus it
came about that the great electoral law of 1907 was carried through
its various stages under parliamentary conditions which were
substantially normal. Its progress was attended by the fall, in April,
1906, of the Gautsch ministry and, six weeks later, by that of its
provisional successor. But by the coalition government of Baron Beck
(June 2, 1906 to November 8, 1908) the project was pushed to a
successful conclusion, and in its final form the law was approved by
the Emperor, January 26, 1907.
The promulgation of the new electoral measure was followed, May 14, by
a general election, the results of which may be tabulated as shown on
the following page.
Each of the twenty-six groups here enumerated maintained at the time
of the election an independent party organization, although in the
Chamber the representatives of certain of them were accustomed to act
in close co-operation. To the clericals and conservatives of all
shades fell an aggregate of 230 seats; but among the various groups of
this type there has never been sufficient coherence to permit the
formation of a compact conservative party. Among the liberal and
radical groups lack of coherence was, and remains, still more
pronounced. The most striking feature of the election of 1907 was the
gains made by the Social Democrats and the Christian Socialists, to be
explained largely by the extension of the franchise to the
non-taxpaying and small taxpaying population.
(p. 482)
_Seats after _Seats in
election of previous
1907_ Chamber_
Social Democrats 90 11
Christian Socialists 67 26
German Clericals 29 29
German Progressives 23 60
German Radicals 24 46
German Agrarians 21 4
Independent Pan-Germans 8 7
Pan-Germans 3 15
Polish Club 54 66
Polish Radicals 16 0
Polish Independent Socialists 3 0
Ruthenes 28 9
Jewish Zionists 3 0
Young Czechs 19 47
Old Czechs 6 3
Czech Realists 2 0
Czech Agrarians 25 5
Czech Clericals 19 2
Czech Radicals 10 8
Slovene Clericals 22 19
Slovene Liberals 3 6
Italian Liberals 4 12
Italian Clericals 10 6
Croats 9 7
Serbs 2 0
Roumanians 5 4
*534. The Elections of 1911.*--The truce by which the election of 1907
was accompanied was not of long duration, and November 8, 1908, the
ministry of Baron Beck was driven by German obstructionism to resign.
After three months as provisional premier Baron von Bienerth, former
Minister of the Interior, made up a cabinet which included
representatives of a number of parties and which, despite occasional
readjustments of portfolios, exhibited a fair measure of stability
throughout upwards of two years. In December, 1910, the Czechs and
Poles precipitated a cabinet crisis in consequence of which the
ministry was reconstructed (January 9, 1911) in such a manner as to
strengthen the Slavic and weaken the Germanic element. But the forces
of opposition were not appeased, and as a last resort the Government
determined upon a dissolution and an appeal to the country. The
results, however, were by no means those which were desired. At the
general elections, which took place June 13 and 20, the Christian
Socialists, from whom the Government had drawn its most consistent
support, were roundly beaten, and June 26 Baron von Bienerth and his
colleagues resigned. The ministry thereupon made up was presided (p. 483)
over by Baron Gautsch. It, however, endured only until October 31,
when it was succeeded by that of Count Stuergkh.
The elections of 1911 were hotly contested. The 516 seats to be filled
were sought by 2,987 candidates, representing no fewer than fifty-one
parties and factions, and second ballotings were required in almost
two-thirds of the constituencies. The Czechs returned with
undiminished strength, and the German Radicals and Progressives
realized substantial gains. The most notable feature, however, was the
victory of the Social Democrats over the Christian Socialists,
especially in the capital, where the quota of deputies of the one
party was raised from ten to nineteen and that of the other was cut
from twenty to four. The Christian Socialists, it must be observed,
are not socialists in the ordinary meaning of the term. The party was
founded by Dr. Lüger a few years ago in the hope that, despite the
establishment of manhood suffrage in the Empire, the Social Democrats
might yet be prevented from acquiring a primacy among the German
parties. It is composed largely of clericals, and in tone and purpose
it is essentially reactionary. By maintaining an active alliance with
the German Clerical party it contrived to hold in check the Social
Democracy throughout the larger portion of the period 1907-1911. But
it was handicapped all the while by internal dissension, and the
defeat which it suffered at the last elections has relegated it, at
least for the time being, to a subordinate place.[681]
[Footnote 681: On Austrian party politics see
Lowell, Governments and Parties, II., 94-123;
Drage, Austria-Hungary, Chaps, 1, 3, 12; K.
Schwechler, Die österreichische Sozialdemokratie
(Graz, 1907); S. Marmorek, L'Obstruction au
parlement autrichien (Paris, 1908); and E. Benés,
Le problème autrichien et la question tchèque;
étude sur les luttes politiques des nationalités
slaves en Autriche (Paris, 1908). Among valuable
articles in periodicals may be mentioned: W.
Beaumont, La crise du parlementarisme au Autriche;
les élections législatives et la situation
politique, in _Annales des Sciences Politiques_,
March 15, 1901; K. Kramer, La situation politique
en Autriche, ibid., October 15, 1901; G. L. Jaray,
L'Autriche nouvelle: sentiments nationaux et
préoccupations sociales, ibid., May 15 and Sept.
15, 1908, and La physionomie nouvelle de la
question austro-hongroise, in _Questions
Diplomatiques et Coloniales_, Dec. 16, 1910;
Kolmer, La vie politique et parlementaire en
Autriche, in _Revue Politique et Parlementaire_,
July 10, 1911; and G. Blondel, Les dernières
élections en Autriche-Hongrie, in _La Réforme
Sociale_, Aug. 1 and 15, 1911.]
V. THE JUDICIARY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT
*535. General Principles: the Ordinary Tribunals.*--All judicial power
in the Austrian Empire is exercised, and all judgments and sentences
are executed, in the name of the Emperor. Judges are appointed for
life, by the Emperor or in his name, and they may be removed from (p. 484)
office only under circumstances specified by law and by virtue of
a formal judicial sentence. On taking the oath of office all judicial
officials are required to pledge themselves to an inviolable
observance of the fundamental laws. The Law of December 21, 1867,
concerning the Judicial Power withholds from the courts the power to
pronounce upon the validity of statutes properly promulgated, though
they may render judgment on the validity of Imperial ordinances
involved in cases before them.[682] With some exceptions, fixed by
law, proceedings in both civil and criminal cases are required to be
oral and public; and in all cases involving severe penalties, as well
as in all actions arising from political crimes and misdemeanors and
offenses committed by the press, the guilt or innocence of the accused
must be determined by jury.
[Footnote 682: Art. 7. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
I., 86.]
By the law of 1867 it is stipulated that there shall be maintained at
Vienna a Supreme Court of Justice and Cassation (_Oberste Gerichts-und
Kassationshof_) for all of the kingdoms and countries represented in
the Reichsrath, and that the organization and jurisdiction of inferior
courts shall be determined by law. Of inferior tribunals there have been
established 9 higher provincial courts (_Oberlandesgerichte_),[683]
74 provincial and district courts (_Landes-und Kreisgerichte_), and 96
county courts (_Bezirksgerichte_). The provincial and district courts
and the county courts, together with a group of jury courts maintained
in connection with the provincial and district tribunals, are courts
of first instance; the higher provincial courts and the Supreme Court
exercise a jurisdiction that is almost wholly appellate. There exist
also special courts for commercial, industrial, military, fiscal, and
other varieties of jurisdiction.
[Footnote 683: Located at Vienna, Graz, Trieste,
Innsbrück, Zara, Prague, Brünn, Cracow, and
Lemberg.]
*536. The Imperial Court.*--In Austria, as in France and other
continental countries, cases affecting administration and the
administrative officials are withheld from the jurisdiction of the
ordinary courts and are committed to special administrative tribunals.
By law of 1867 provision was made for an Imperial Court (_Reichsgericht_),
to exercise final decision in conflicts of jurisdiction between the
two sets of courts and, in general, in all disputed questions of
public law, after the manner of the Court of Conflicts in France. The
Imperial Court was organized by law of April 18, 1869. It sits at
Vienna, and it is composed of a president and deputy president,
appointed by the Emperor for life, and of twelve members and four
substitutes, also appointed for life by the Emperor upon nomination by
the Reichsrath. It decides finally all conflicts of competence (p. 485)
between the administrative and the ordinary judicial tribunals,
between a provincial diet and the Imperial authorities, and between
the independent public authorities of the several provinces of the
Empire. Very important in a country so dominated by a bureaucracy as
is Austria is the power which by fundamental law is vested in the
Imperial Court to pass final verdict upon the merits of all complaints
of citizens arising out of the alleged violation of political rights
guaranteed to them by the constitution, after the matter shall have
been made the subject of an administrative decision. The purpose
involved is to afford the citizen who, believing himself deprived of
his constitutional rights, has failed to obtain redress in the
administrative courts, an opportunity to have his case reviewed by a
tribunal constituted with special view to permanence, independence,
and impartiality. High-handed administrative acts which are covered by
statute, however, are beyond its reach, for, like all Austrian
tribunals, it is forbidden to question the validity of a duly
promulgated law.[684]
[Footnote 684: Dodd, Modern Constitutions, I.,
84-85.]
*537. The Provincial Governments: Composition of the Diet.*--Each of the
seventeen political divisions of the Empire has a government of its
own, established on the basis of its Landesordnung, or provincial
constitution. The executive, for affairs that are considered strictly
divisional, consists of a provincial council, the _Landesausschuss_,
composed of the president of the diet (nominated by the Emperor) as
_ex-officio_ chairman and from four to eight members variously elected
within the province. Imperial interests are specially represented in
the province, however, by a _Statthalter_, or _Landespräsident_,
appointed by the crown, and independent of local control.
Functions of legislation are vested in a Landtag, or diet. The
provincial diet of the modern type came into being under the operation
of the Imperial diploma of October 20, 1860 (superseded by that of
February 26, 1861), replacing the ancient assembly of estates which in
most provinces had persisted until 1848. From 1860 onwards diets were
established in one after another of the provinces, until eventually
all were so equipped. Originally the diets were substantially uniform
in respect to both composition and powers. Aside from certain
_ex-officio_ members, they were composed of deputies chosen for six
years by four electoral curiæ: the great proprietors, the chambers of
commerce, the towns, and the rural communes; and, until 1873, one of
their principal functions was the election of the provincial
delegation in the lower house of the Reichsrath. Each of the seventeen
provincial diets as to-day constituted consists of a single chamber,
and in most instances the body is composed of (1) the archbishops (p. 486)
and bishops of the Catholic and Orthodox Greek churches; (2) the
rectors of universities, and, in Galicia, the rector of the technical
high school of Lemberg and the president of the Academy of Sciences of
Cracow; (3) the representatives of great estates, elected by all
landowners paying land taxes of not less than 100, 200, 400, or 500
crowns, according to the provinces in which their estates are
situated; (4) the representatives of towns, elected by citizens who
possess municipal rights or pay a stipulated amount of direct taxes;
(5) the representatives of boards of commerce and industry, chosen by
the members of these bodies; and (6) representatives of the rural
communes, elected in eight provinces directly, in the others
indirectly, by deputies (Wahlmänner) returned by all inhabitants who
pay direct taxes to the amount of 8 crowns yearly. In a few of the
provinces there is, besides these, a general electoral class composed
of all qualified male subjects of the state over twenty-four years of
age;[685] and there are some other variations, as for example, in
Moravia, where, by a law of November 27, 1905, the proportional system
of representation was introduced. The diets vary in membership from 26
in Vorarlberg and 30 in Görz and Gradisca to 151 in Moravia, 161 in
Galicia, and 242 in Bohemia. The deputies are elected in all cases for
a period of six years, and the diets assemble annually. But a session
may be closed, and the diet may be dissolved, at any time by the
presiding officer, under the direction of the Emperor.
[Footnote 685: When the class system of voting for
members of the Reichsrath was on the point of being
abolished by the law of January 26, 1907, there was
raised the question as to whether a similar step
should not be taken in respect to provincial
elections. It was generally agreed, however, that
the absence of an aristocratic upper chamber in the
provincial diet renders the class system within the
province not wholly undesirable. The provinces were
encouraged to liberalize their franchise
regulations, but not to abandon the prevailing
electoral system. The province of Lower Austria led
the way by increasing the membership of its diet
from 79 to 127, to be elected as follows: 58 by
manhood suffrage throughout the province, 31 by the
rural communes, 16 by the large landholders, 15 by
the towns, and 4 by the chambers of commerce. Two
bishops and the rector of the University of Vienna
were continued as members.]
*538. Functions of the Diet.*--The powers of the diets are not
enumerated, but, rather, are residual. By fundamental law of 1867 it
is stipulated that "all matters of legislation other than those
expressly reserved to the Reichsrath by the present law belong within
the power of the Provincial Diets of the kingdoms and countries
represented in the Reichsrath and are constitutionally regulated by
such Diets."[686] In certain matters, naturally those of an (p. 487)
essentially local character, the diet may act with absolute freedom,
save that it is within the competence of the Emperor to veto any of
its measures. In other matters, such as education and finance, which
fall within the range of the Reichsrath's competence, the powers of
the diet are limited and subsidiary. A policy very generally pursued
has been that of formulating at Vienna general regulations for the
entire Empire, leaving to the diets the task of devising legislation
of a local and specific character for the execution of these
regulations; though it can hardly be maintained that the results have
been satisfactory. The diets are not infrequently radical, and even
turbulent, bodies, and it has been deemed expedient ordinarily by the
Imperial authorities to maintain a close watch upon their proceedings.
[Footnote 686: Law of December 21, 1867, concerning
Imperial Representation, § 12. Dodd, Modern
Constitutions, I., 79.]
*539. The Commune.*--Throughout the Empire the vital unit of local
government is the commune. As is true of the province, the commune is
an administrative district, and one of its functions is that of
serving as an agency of the central government in the conduct of
public affairs. Fundamentally, however, the commune is an autonomous
organism, rooted in local interest and tradition. As such, it
exercises broad powers of community control. It makes provision for
the safety of person and property, for the maintenance of the local
peace, for the supervision of traffic, for elementary and secondary
education, and for a variety of other local interests. Except in
respect to affairs managed by the commune as agent of the Imperial
government, the local authorities are exempt from discipline at the
hand of their superiors, and, indeed, an eminent Austrian authority
has gone so far as to maintain that the communes of Austria possess a
larger independent competence than do the communes of any other
European state.[687]
[Footnote 687: J. Redlich, Das Wesen der
österreichischen Kommunalverfassung (Leipzig,
1910).]
Except in the case of some of the larger towns, which have special
constitutions, the rural and urban communes of the Empire are
organized upon the same pattern. The executive authority is vested in
an elective committee, or council, presided over by a _Vorsteher_, or
burgomaster, chosen from the members of the committee. The _Vorsteher_
is not removable by the central authorities, and over his election
they possess no control. In certain of the towns the place of the
communal committee is taken by a corporation. In every commune there
is an assembly (the _Gemeindevertretung_), the members of which are
elected for three (in Galicia six) years by all resident citizens who
are payers of a direct tax. For the purpose of electing assemblymen
the voters are divided into three classes, very much as under the (p. 488)
Prussian electoral system, and this arrangement, indeed, comprises
virtually the only non-democratic aspect of the communal constitution.
In Galicia, Styria, and Bohemia there exists also a district assembly,
elected for three years (in Galicia six) and made up of
representatives of great estates, the most highly taxed industries and
trades, towns and markets, and rural communes. A committee of this
body, known as the _Bezirksausschuss_, administers the affairs of the
district.
CHAPTER XXVI (p. 489)
THE GOVERNMENT AND PARTIES OF HUNGARY
I. THE CONSTITUTION
*540. Antiquity.*--By reason of both its antiquity and its adaptability
to varying conditions, the constitution of the kingdom of Hungary
deserves to be considered one of the most remarkable instruments of
its kind. Like the fundamental law of England, it is embodied in a
maze of ancient statutes and customs, and it is the distinctive
creation of a people possessed of a rare genius for politics and
government. On the documentary side its history is to be traced at
least to the Golden Bull of Andrew II., promulgated in 1222; though
that instrument, like the contemporary Great Charter in England,
comprised only a confirmation of national liberties that were already
old.[688] Under Hapsburg domination, from the early sixteenth century
onwards, the fundamental political system and the long established
laws of the Hungarian kingdom were repeatedly guaranteed. Much of the
time they were, in practice, disregarded; but the nationalistic vigor
of the Hungarian people invested them with unlimited power of
survival, and even during the reactionary second quarter of the
nineteenth century they were but held in suspense.
[Footnote 688: There is an interesting comparative
study of the _Bulla Aurea_ and the Great Charter in
E. Hantos, The Magna Carta of the English and of
the Hungarian Constitution (London, 1904).]
*541. Texts: the "March Laws."*--In large part, the constitution to-day
in operation took final form in a series of measures enacted by the
Hungarian parliament during the uprising of 1848. Thirty-one laws, in
all, were at that time passed, revising the organization of the
legislative chambers, widening the suffrage, creating a responsible
cabinet, abolishing feudal survivals, and modernizing, in general, the
institutions of the kingdom. The broad lines which remained were those
marked out in the ancient constitutional order; the new measures
merely supplemented, revised, and imparted definite form to
pre-existing laws, customs, and jealously guarded rights. Not all of
these inherited constitutional elements, however, were included in the
new statutes; and to this day it is true that in Hungary, as in (p. 490)
Great Britain, a considerable portion of the constitution has never
been put into written form. The fate of the measures of 1848 was for a
time adverse. The Austrian recovery in 1849 remanded Hungary to the
status of a subject province, and it was not until 1867, after seven
years of arduous experimentation, that the constitution of 1848 was
permitted again to come into operation. The Ausgleich involved as one
of its fundamentals a guarantee for all time of the laws, constitution,
legal independence, freedom, and territorial integrity of Hungary and
its subordinate countries. And throughout all of the unsettlement and
conflict which the past half-century has brought in the Austro-Hungarian
world the constitution of kingdom and empire alike has stood firm
against every shock. The documents in which, chiefly, the written
constitution is contained are: (1) Law III. of 1848 concerning the
Formation of a Responsible Hungarian Ministry; (2) Law IV. of 1848
concerning Annual Sessions of the Diet; (3) Law XXXIII. of 1874
concerning the Modification and Amendment of Law V. of 1848, and of
the Transylvanian Law II. of 1848; and (4) Law VII. of 1885 altering
the organization of the Table of Magnates.[689]