payment page
The Germanic Bourgeoisie in Control
The Empire of Austria-Hungary was a multinational empire that controlled the region of Eastern Europe to the south of Russia’s Polish lands. In 1860, the Habsburg monarchs were forced to accept a constitutional government and parliamentary system based on a very limited suffrage. As a result, the largely Germanic bourgeoisie, who identified their interests with those of the landed and inherited aristocracy, took control of Austrian politics and society. However, this control led to a popular backlash that limited its longevity.
Mass Movements from the Right in Austria
Austrian liberal bourgeois politicians who favored free trade and little government involvement in economic affairs were being eliminated by mass politics movements from the right that were based on charisma , prejudice, and appearances by 1900. These mass parties were formed out of any number of views: anti-Germanic feelings (supported by most ethnic minorities in the empire), anti-capitalist opinions (supported by millions of farmers, peasants, and the very small worker population), anti-Semitic perspectives (supported by virtually everyone), and nationalist hopes (supported by the lower-middle class). These groups used demagoguery and scapegoating policies to rouse opposition to Jews, who were associated with capitalists and Germanic peoples for irrational reasons, and thus sweep themselves to political victory throughout the empire.
The Emergence of the Masses as a Political Force
Though it manifested somewhat differently in Austria, the domestic events in Britain, Germany, and France between 1871 and 1914 follow a similar trend: the emergence of the masses as a political force. In Britain and Germany, the masses were workers; in France, the mases were agrarian poor and non-Parisians; in Austria, the masses were everyone except the elite, Germanic bourgeoisie. Each and every group became a powerful force in politics and society during this time period.
Revolutions Without Blood Across Europe
The growth of popular power—not just in Austria, but across Europe in general—suggests that the 40 years before World War I can be seen as the beginning of “late modernity,” setting the stage for a 20th century in which the western democracies dedicated themselves to the expansion of democratic civil and individual rights. The domination of traditional aristocratic elements in European society came to its final end in this period of history and, by virtue of that fact alone, the years after 1871 were a revolutionary time, even if it was a revolution without blood.
