German National Association

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The German National Association was a loose amalgamation of several German freedom parties in the Austrian Reichsrat, founded in 1911 . These included the German People's Party , the German Progressive Party , the German Radical Party , the German Agrarian Party , the German Workers' Party and the Pan-German Association . The German National Association was founded to enable the individual parties to continue after the Reichsrat election in 1907 .

history

prehistory

After the plural suffrage had failed in Cisleithanien , there was a universal suffrage , which was used for the first time in May 1907 in the Reichsrat elections in Cisleithanien. Both the agrarians and the German radicals did very well, which is why they were considered the winners of the elections. In contrast, the election result for the liberal parties halved their power. The German People's Party and the Progress Party were particularly affected. Since "[the] melted heap of free members of parliament [made] unity to the outside appear twice as necessary", after this Reichsrat election a "call for a unity party, [...] the great liberal, national, popular middle class party" was repeated. Although this was discussed during the Reichsrat conference in 1907, calling for the various groups to "merge into a German-free general association," however, in 1907 a unified party was no longer established, since each individual organization, v. a. the German radicals and progressives did not want to give up on themselves. Thus, for the time being, only a management committee was set up.

founding

While the German radicals and progressives were not yet ready to unite, the agrarians and the People's Party had already taken this step. So the German National Association was founded on February 26, 1910, and Carl Freiherr von Chiari became its chairman. The deputy chairmen were Franz Peschka , Julius Sylvester and Otto Steinwender . The merger that came about was justified by various media on the grounds that the People's Party would no longer have been able to continue to exist alone and that the association therefore arose out of necessity. There was also hope that the two anti-Semitic blocs would unite. The merger of the two parties was also seen as a shift to the right and thus a rapprochement with the Christian Socials and the clericals.

Development until 1911

When the German National Association was founded, areas of conflict later emerged. While the People's Party was still regarded as a "subliminal protest movement against the dominance of the Sudetenland in the liberal camp" when it rose, the national association now had over two thirds Sudeten German members. In addition, there was a preponderance of members of the Agricultural Party, which should lead to disagreements in the trade policy negotiations, as they continued to insist on their independence. The German radicals also continued to demand their independence within the association. "Nonetheless, there was generally cooperation, provided that there were no fundamental differences of opinion or those that arose out of consideration for certain constituencies and then led to often mocked, inconsistent behavior." At the end of 1908 the progressives, the radicals and the German nationals had met finally affiliated to the National Association of German Freedom Parties. The individual organizations remained, however, which was changed in 1910. Instead of the parties, there were weekly plenary meetings of the parties, with the exception of the German radicals, who "continued to enjoy a certain solitude". In the Reichsrat election in 1911 , the German-free parties achieved a result of 32 percent and thus had more votes than the Social Democrats. They received over 100 seats in the Reichsrat. This election result was accompanied by a consolidation of the association, even if there was no joint program, "whereby the principles of the groups belonging to it were tacitly upheld". Nevertheless, the parties now represented largely the same opinions and views, "in particular the idea of ​​a national policy based on the Austrian state was common to them."

Development until 1917

Gustav Gross

After Chiari was still head of the association during the 1911 elections, Gustav Groß took over management of the organization after him . Together with a board consisting of seven other politicians, Groß now headed the German National Association. Together with the Christian Socials, the German National Association took a loyal attitude towards the government. The government and the German Nationals worked closely together, especially during Bienerth's heyday (1909/10). The German National Association also played a key role in enforcing the 1912 Defense Act. However, the association continued to pursue plans for reforming the empire. This included ideas for the division or tripartite division of Bohemia. However, with the assassination attempt in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, these projects were initially postponed. Even before the official declaration of war, Groß spoke out in favor of war and formulated war goals . He expected a quick victory, wanted to reorganize the Reich and create German hegemony, even if a coup would be necessary. Since Groß was also ready to enter into closer ties with the Christian Socials, conflicts and arguments arose with younger members within the German National Association. This led to the formation of smaller, more extreme interest groups within the association. The already loose amalgamation of the individual parties in the German National Association was divided into 17 individual organizations in 1917.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Lothar Höbelt: Cornflower and Imperial Eagle. The German freedom parties of Old Austria 1882–1918. Vienna 1993, pp. 259f.
  2. ^ Hanno Rebhan: Austria becomes a constitutional state. Origin and development of modern constitutional statehood (1848–1918) . Tectum Wissenschaftsverlag, Marburg 2012, ISBN 978-3-8288-5532-8 , p. 218 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
  3. ↑ Lothar Höbelt: Cornflower and Imperial Eagle. The German Freedom Parties of Old Austria 1882-1918. Vienna 1993, p. 260.
  4. ↑ Lothar Höbelt: Cornflower and Imperial Eagle. The German freedom parties of Old Austria 1882–1918. Vienna 1993, p. 256.
  5. ^ Paul Molisch: History of the German national movement in Austria. From its beginnings to the fall of the monarchy. Jena 1925, p. 226.
  6. ↑ a b Lothar Höbelt: Cornflower and Imperial Eagle. The German freedom parties of Old Austria 1882–1918. Vienna 1993, p. 258.
  7. ↑ a b c d Paul Molisch: History of the German national movement in Austria. From its beginnings to the fall of the monarchy. Jena 1925, p. 227.
  8. ↑ Lothar Höbelt: Cornflower and Imperial Eagle. The German freedom parties of Old Austria 1882–1918. Vienna 1993, pp. 258f.
  9. ^ Leopold Schönbauer: Chiari, Ottokar Freiherr von. in: New German Biography. Volume 3 (1957), p. 203.
  10. ^ Lothar Höbelt: Peschka, Franz. In: New German Biography. Volume 20 (2001), pp. 210-211.
  11. ↑ Lothar Höbelt: Cornflower and Imperial Eagle. The German freedom parties of Old Austria 1882–1918. Vienna 1993, p. 260.
  12. ↑ a b Lothar Höbelt: Cornflower and Imperial Eagle. The German freedom parties of Old Austria 1882–1918. Vienna 1993, p. 261.
  13. ↑ Lothar Höbelt: Cornflower and Imperial Eagle. The German freedom parties of Old Austria 1882–1918. Vienna 1993, p. 270.
  14. ↑ Lothar Höbelt: Cornflower and Imperial Eagle. The German freedom parties of Old Austria 1882–1918. Vienna 1993, p. 271.
  15. ↑ Carter-Sinclair, Michael: Viennese Culture and Politics, 1861-1938. Everyday Expressions of 'German' Identity. London 2011. p. 143.
  16. ^ A b Paul Molisch: History of the German national movement in Austria. From its beginnings to the fall of the monarchy. Jena 1925, p. 228.
  17. ↑ Lothar Höbelt: Cornflower and Imperial Eagle. The German freedom parties of Old Austria 1882–1918. Vienna 1993, p. 277.
  18. ↑ Lothar Höbelt: Cornflower and Imperial Eagle. The German freedom parties of Old Austria 1882–1918. Vienna 1993, p. 267.
  19. ^ Paul Molisch: History of the German national movement in Austria. From its beginnings to the fall of the monarchy. Jena 1925, p. 229f.
  20. ↑ Michael Carter-Sinclair: Viennese Culture and Politics, 1861-1938. Everyday Expressions of 'German' Identity. London 2011, pp. 143-146.
  21. ^ John W. Boyer: Culture and Political Crisis in Vienna. Christian Socialism in Power. 1897-1918. Chicago 1995, pp. 381-385.
  22. ↑ Entry on the German National Association in the Austria Forum  (in the AEIOU Austria Lexicon )

Web links

literature

  • John W. Boyer: Culture and Political Crisis in Vienna . Christian Socialism in Power. 1897-1918. Chicago 1995.
  • Lothar Höbelt : Cornflower and Imperial Eagle . The German freedom parties of Old Austria 1882–1918. Vienna, Munich 1993.
  • Michael Carter-Sinclair: Viennese Culture and Politics, 1861-1938 . Everyday Expressions of 'German' Identity. London 2011.
  • Paul Molisch: The German National Movement in Austria . from its beginnings to the fall of the monarchy. Jena 1925.