The Habsburg Empire (1790-1918)

by C A Macartney

  The standard work in the cultural field is that of Kornis, G., available in German as U. Kulturideale, 1777–1848, Leipzig, 1930. For the linguistic revival, Tolna, A., A Nyelvujitás (The Linguistic Revival), Bp., 1929, and an essay on Vörösmarty in Mervyn Jones, op. cit. The spirit of Magyar nationalism, Spohr, A., Die Geistigen Grundlagen des Nationalismus in U., Berlin, 1936, good; analyses the thought of Kossuth, Széchenyi, Eötvös, etc. very fairly. The article by Steinacker, H., ‘Das Wesen des Madjarischen Nationalismus’, in Walter and Steinacker, Die Nationalitätenfrage im alten Ungarn, Munich, 1959, contains some acute observations, but is over-hostile and often unjust; when you find a German writer spelling the national name ‘Madjar’ you can, for some reason, bet that this will be the case. Thoughtful works in Hungarian, Joó, T., A M. Nemzeti Szellem (The H. National Spirit), Bp., 1938, id. M Nationalismus, ibid., 1940, Szekfü, G., ed. Mi a Magyar? (What is the Magyar?), ibid., 1939, Recent, Barany, G., The Awakening of M. Nationalism before 1848, A.H. Yearbook, II, 1966. The ‘Nationalities’ legislation before 1848, Szekfü, Élat et Nation, Bp. 1945.

  The Nationalities: the latest, and far the best work on the Slovaks in this period is Gogolák, L., Die Nationswerdung der Slowakei, etc., Vienna, 1963. Denis and other writers on the Czechs include many Slovaks in their surveys; Fischel, Panslawismus, is also useful. For the Roumanians and Serbs of Inner Hungary, I have found little beyond the works listed in previous sections; for the Swabians, Annabring, N., Volksgesch. der Deutschen in U., Stuttgart, 1954. Croatia, the Croat question: for the legal position, Miskolczy, G., A Horvátkérdés Története (History of the Croat question), Bp., 1927–8, 2 vols, fundamental. For Illyrianism, besides the general Croat histories and Fischel, Panslawismus, there is an essay on Gaj in Wendel’s Aus dem Südslawischen Risorgimento, Gotha, 1921. Transylvania: both Horváth and Szekfü cover the history from the H. side; see also the works on the Roumanians and Saxons in Section I, C. A descriptive work: de Gerando, A., La Transylvanie et ses Habitants, Paris, 1845, 2 vols. Paget’s work includes a description of Transylvania, where he ended by settling.

  CHAPTER IX

  1848

  A. General. Here, exceptionally, it is possible to recommend a book covering the subject comprehensively and accurately: Kiszling, R. (and others), *Die Revolution im Kaisertum Oe. 1848–9, Vienna, 1949, 2 vols. This work, the editor and chief contributor to which is a retired military man, covers the whole Monarchy, and gives all that any but the most advanced specialist needs to know on all the military operations. The political sections are less uniformly good, but some are excellent. It is fortunate that this should have appeared, for the other modern works are not satisfactory for the inquirer who wants more than a surface view. The best is M.K.P.; but Hantsch gives the whole revolution only 10 pages, mostly interpretation, and Zöllner, only 5. Novotny, A., 1848, Graz, 1948, is short and popular; Endres, D., Revolution in Oe., 1848, Vienna, 1947, purports to re-write Bach (below), but is far inferior to him. Fischer, E., Oe., 1848, Vienna, 1949, by a Communist, brings nothing new. The only modern works which add anything to Kiszling’s are Corti’s Von Kind bis Kaiser (below) for the Court, including especially the alleged role of the Archduchess Sophie, and Walter’s latest vols in the Zentralverwaltung series, III. 1 (narrative) and III. 2 (texts). These, which are far the most informative volumes in the entire Zentralverwaltung series, cover the Ministries up to Schwarzenberg’s inclusive, and constitute the last word on affairs at the top level. Most of the older narrative accounts are superseded by Kiszling, but the following still have their value: Springer, A., op. cit., vol II; Reschauer, H. and Smets, M., Gesch. der Wiener Revolution in Jahre 1848, Vienna, 1898, 2 vols; Bach, M., same title and year, an excellent work, Left-wing sympathies, full social background; Helfert, A. von, Gesch. der oe. Revolution, etc., Freiburg, 1907–9, 2 vols, not confined to the Monarchy, covers only the first months. Friedjung, Oe. von 1848–1860, Stuttgart, etc., 1908, 2 vols, unfinished work, is short on the revolution itself, but rescues a few documents. Hartig’s narrative (the continuation of his Genesis, above) is over-personal and ill-tempered, but in places a primary source. Eisenmann is not always accurate. Redlich, Problem, discourses learnedly on the ‘forces and ideas on the solution of the problem’, but gets down to narrative only with Kremsier. A good recent book, less exhaustive, is Rath, A. J., *The Viennese Revolution of 1848, Austin, Texas, 1957. Robertson, P., *Revolutions of 1848, N.Y., 1952, not confined to the Monarchy, is lively but very often inaccurate, as is the chapter (XV) in the New Cambridge Modern History, vol X, Cambridge, 1960. B. The March Days and their sequel in Vienna. Besides the above, Srbik, Metternich, II, 245ff. Personal reminiscences, Pillersdorf, Rückblicke, etc., Vienna, 1849; Ficquelmont, Aufklärungen, etc., Leipzig, 1850; (Montecuccoli), Die Nieder-Oe. Stände, etc., Vienna, 1850; ‘Ein Mitglied des Aufgelösten Reichstages’ (Violand), Enthüllungen aus Oe.s jüngster Vergangenheit, Hamburg, 1849; Füster, A., Memoiren, etc., Frankfurt, 1850 (on the students). The biography of Windisch-Graetz by Müller, D., Fürst W., Vienna, 1934, is useful; that of the Archduke Albrecht by von Dunker, C., Vienna, 1892, is valueless.

  Text of the Pillersdorf Constitution in Bernatzik, Die oe. Verfassungsgesetze, Leipzig, 1906, pp. 73–82, and of the revised franchise of May 1848, id., pp. 82–3

  For the social question, Bach, op. cit., is valuable, as are Violand, Soziale Gesch. der Wiener Revolution, Hamburg, 1852, first-hand, and Zenker, A., Die Wiener Revolution in 1848, Vienna, 1897. Less useful, Endres and Fischer (above).

  C. The revolutionary months in the West. General, Burian, op. cit., is often useful whether other accounts fail, e.g., for the Slovenes, and his bib. is excellent. There are only small, local works on the Alpine Lands. On the Czechs, all the general works previously quoted are fairly good (Burian best of all), as are Denis and Mach, but all older versions need checking against Walter. See also “Dr Boemus”, ‘Die Entwicklung des tschechischen staatsrechtlichen Programmes’, etc. in Oe. Jahrbucher, I. 6 (1918); also the opening pages of Sutter, B., Die Badenischen Sprachverordnungen, 2 vols, Graz, 1960.

  Galicia. Of the general histories, only Helfert pays much attention to Galicia, and he must be checked with Walter. The Cambridge History of Poland is useless here. Papers in the A.H. Yearbook, 1967, are slight on 1848. Besides Sacher-Masoch, op. cit., I have used an unpublished dissertation by Sommergruber, J., Die Nationalpolitischen Verhältnisse in Galizien, 1848–1867, Vienna, 1941. Burian helps. For the Bukovina, Prokopowitsch, op. cit. German Austria and the German question: here Friedjung and Bibl are the best of the Austrians, but better is Veit, V., Gesch. der deutschen Revolution, 1848–9, Berlin, 1930, 2 vols. There is also a special study-by Telle, G. H., Das oe. Problem, etc., Kiel, 1933.

  On the Slav Congress, besides the historians of Bohemia, Springer and Fischel.

  D. Hungary, the first phase. The latest accounts of the revolution in H. are F. és. Sz (above), emotional, and Spira, G., *A. M. Forradalom 1848–9ben (The H. Revolution in 1848–9), ditto, but thorough, and good bib. Old, but still valuable for its detail, Horváth, M., Gesch. der Unabhängigkeit, etc., Bp. 1872, 3 vols. The indispensable primary source for the first days is the Emlékiratai (Reminiscences) of Szögyéni-Marisch, L., Bp., 1861, 3 vols. The Austrian historians are usually inaccurate on the ‘March Days’; Friedjung is the best of them. Steinitz ap. Kiszling overestimates Hungarian extremism at this stage, but his general picture is good. Text of the April Laws in Bernatzik, op. cit., pp. 49–73.

  Hungary’s ‘foreign policy’, Hajnal, K., A Batthyány kormány külpolitikája (The Foreign Policy of the Batthyány Government), Bp., 1957; some glimpses in Pulszky, F., Mein Zeit, mein Leben, Pressburg, etc., 1880–3, 4 vols. Social problems: besides F. és Sz., Szabo, E., Tarsadalmi és Partharcok, etc. (Social and Party struggles), Bp., 2nd. ed., 1949, very brilliant pioneer work. Also Szabó, I., A Jobbágybirtokok Problémája 1848–1849 (The problem of the peasant holdings, 1848–9), Bp., 1948. Some interesting side-lines on general internal
developments in Pulszky, op. cit.

  The Nationalities: the picture usually drawn is far too generalized. For the Slovaks, besides the histories of Slovakia, Steier, L., A Tót nemzetiségi Kérdés 1848–1849ben (The Slovak national question in 1848–9), Bp. 1937, 2 vols. The Serbs: Thim, J., A M-g, 1848–1849iki szerb fölkelés, etc. (The rising of the Hungarian Serbs in 1848–9), Bp., 1930, 3 vols, very fully documented but confused reading. For the Croats and Jellačić, it is safer to read accounts from more than one side, e.g., Springer, Horváth and Hubka ap. Kiszling; also Kiszling’s own Kroatien (above). For Transylvania, the works quoted in Section I above, and the H. histories. There is a biography of Avram Jancu in the N. Oe. B.

  E. The Reichstag, etc. Springer, Ehnl ap. Kiszling and Rath are good on the deteriorating situation in Vienna; Ehnl’s account of October in Vienna is first-class. Hübner, A., Ein Jahr meines Lebens, Leipzig, 1891, is a valuable and much-used first-hand source for this period. The investigation into the murder of Latour is given as an appendix to vol 4 of Coxe’s House of A (above). Springer published the records of the Constitutional Committee of the Reichstag – Protokolle des Verfassungsausschusses, etc., Leipzig, 1885. His general account of the work of the Reichstag is still among the best. Lengthy analysis of the Kremsier Constitution in Redlich, Problem, I.II. I.2 (vol I, pp. 221–323); shorter, in Wierer, R., Der Föderalismus im Donauraum, Graz, 1960, pp. 36 ff. Text of the Constitution in Bernatzik, pp. 85–102.

  For the debates on the national question, Geist-Lányi, P., Das Nationalitätenproblem auf dem Reichstag zu Kremsier, Munich, 1920, very useful.

  For Olmütz and the pre-history of the abdication, Walter and Corti op. cit. are indispensable, as is Hübner. Biographies of Schwarzenberg, Schwarzenberg, A., Prinz Felix zu S, N.Y., 1948, and Kiszling, Fürst Felix zu S., Graz, 1956. Bruck: Charmatz, R., Minister Frh. von Bruck, Leipzig, 1918. Wessenberg, Arneth, A., Johann von W., Vienna, 1898, 2 vols. Fischof, Charmatz, Adolf Fischof Stuttgart, 1910. There are no full-length biographies of the other new men, but sketches of Bach and Stadion in Gestalter and the N. Oe. B., and of Krausz in the latter work; of Bach, also in Charmatz, Lebensbilder, and Friedjung, Historische Aufsätze.

  Text of the Stadion Constitution in Bernatzik, pp. 102–48; commentary, Redlich, Problem, I.IV.I.

  F. The fighting in Hungary in 1848–9 is dealt with sufficiently in Kiszling; further works listed in his bib. The Russian intervention, Andics, E., Der Bündniss Habsburg-Romanov, Bp., 1964, shortened version from the Hungarian original: extremely biased, but documented. There is a flood of memoirs on these months; the most important, Görgei, Mein Leben und Wirken in U. 1848 und 1849, Leipzig, 1852, 2 vols; on the ‘Görgei question’, Kosáry, D., A Görgey-kérdés története (History of the Görgey question), Bp., 1956. British policy, Sproxton, A. C., Palmerston and the H. Rev., Cambridge, 1919, short.

  Francis Joseph and his Family

  Far the best psychological study of F.J. is Margutti, A. Frh. von, Kaiser F.J., Vienna, 1924, a work based on intimate knowledge of the Emperor in his old age (M. was employed in the ‘Adjutancy-General’) and very sensitive and perceptive. Of the shorter studies that by Novotny, A., in Gestalter, pp. 433 ff., is perhaps the most understanding. Some brilliant lines in Wickham Steed, The Habsburg Monarchy, London, 1911, pp. 55–8. The most exhaustive personal biography is Corti’s trilogy, Von Kind bis Kaiser, Graz, 1950, Mensch und Herrscher, id., 1952, and Der Alte Kaiser, id., 1955, which are supplemented by his Elisabeth, die seltsame Frau, Salzburg, 1934, easily the best life of the Empress, although there are quantities more of novelettish products. Corti’s books go into every detail of their subjects’ personal lives, often in excessive detail, and occasionally quote some document which throws light not found elsewhere on some public event, but such flashes are incidental. F.J.’s correspondence with his mother ed. by Schnürer, F., Briefe Kaiser F.J.s an seine Mutter, Salzburg, 1930, sometimes important; with Elisabeth, Briefe Kaiser F.J. an Kaiserin Elisabeth, ed. Corti, Graz, 1966, 2 vols; with Frau Schratt, Bourgoing, J. de, Briefe Kaiser F.J.s und Frau K.S., Vienna, 1949, totally uninteresting, as are his letters collected by Ernst, O., F.J. in seinen Briefen, English tr., F.J. as revealed by his letters, London, 1927. The best political biography is Redlich, J., Kaiser F.J., etc., Berlin, 1929, English tr. The Emperor F.J.., London, 1930. Works straddling biography and history are Steinitz, E. von, Erinnerungen an F.J., sometimes important, Berlin, 1931; Tśchuppik, K., F.J., der Untergang eines Reiches, Hellerau, 1928, English tr., The Reign of the Emperor F.J., London, 1930, underrated work: T. was a well-informed journalist who sometimes knew more than the professional historians; *Crankshaw, E., The Fall of the House of Habsburg, London, 1963, readable but very inaccurate. Bagger, E., F.J., N.Y., 1927, is inferior.

  Far the best life of the Crown Prince is Mitis, O., Das Leben des Kronprinzen Rudolf, Leipzig, 1928. Most of the vast literature on the ‘tragedy of Mayerling’ is romance rather than history.

  CHAPTER X

  The Decade of Absolutism

  Useful short general accounts, the relevant vols of Charmatz (see Section I); also M.K.P., III, 161–88. Springer gives out now, but in his place we get Rogge, W., Oe. von Világos bis zur Gegenwart, Leipzig, 1872, 3 vols; vol I covers this decade, spiteful and irritating, by a rabid Liberal, but well-informed; R. was a journalist attached to the Press Bureau. Friedjung, Oe. von 1848–1860 covers the beginning.

  Austria and Germany, the general histories and Friedjung, op. cit., II.I., Books 1–3; also Charmatz, Bruck. The ‘Provisoria’ conveniently in Friedjung, vol I; comment in Rogge. For Hungary, from now to 1865, Berzeviczy, A., Az Absolutismus Kora Mg.-on (The Age of Absolutism in H.), Bp., 1922–32, 4 vols, comprehensive, and Walter, F., ‘Von Windisch-Graetz über Weiden zu Haynau’ in Die Nationalitätenfrage im alten Ungarn (above). The economic union with H., Charmatz, Bruck, and Sieghart, A., Zolltrennung und Zolleinheit, Vienna, 1915.

  The transition to pure absolutism, Walter’s vols in Zentralverwaltung, Redlich. Problem, I. IV, 2–3, with the biographies of Schwarzenberg (above), and Walter’s ed. of Kübeck’s Nachlass. Text of the ‘Sylvesterpatent’ in Bernatzik, pp. 172–85.