Heinrich Clam-Martinic

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Heinrich Karl Maria ( count until April 10, 1919 ) Clam-Martinic (born January 1, 1863 in Vienna ; † March 7, 1932 in Klam , Upper Austria ) was a leading politician in Austria-Hungary and Imperial and Royal Prime Minister in the First World War .

Heinrich Clam-Martinic

Life

Heinrich Clam-Martinic was the son of Richard Clam-Martinic, who took over the leading position in the aristocratic party after the death of his brother Heinrich Jaroslav Graf Clam-Martinic .

Heinrich Karl was the friend and confidante of the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand , whom he had accompanied on his world tour in 1892/93. Together with the heir to the throne, he brought together a large collection of ethnographic objects during this world tour, which was then donated to the Völkerkundemuseum in Vienna. A room in the Artstetten Castle museum is dedicated to this collection. From 1894 Clam-Martinic was a member of the Bohemian Landtag and from 1902, appointed by Franz Joseph I for life, a member of the manor house of the Reichsrat (the manor house was declared abolished on November 12, 1918).

During the World War he fought as a major general on the Russian and Italian fronts. Clam-Martinic was appointed to the Koerber government in October 1916 as a representative of the Czechs who were ready to compensate and was appointed Minister of Agriculture. After the death of Emperor Franz Joseph, the new Emperor Karl I appointed him Austrian Prime Minister on December 20, 1916 ( Ministry Clam-Martinic ). He held this office until June 23, 1917, when Seidler's ministry succeeded him.

Clam suggested to the emperor that the Reichsrat , the parliament of Cisleithania , which had been suspended since spring 1914 , be reconvened; however, his attempt to include all nationalities in parliament and government ( let's be Austrians above all! ) failed. On May 30, 1917, at the first session of the House of Representatives, the representatives of the nationalities made fundamental declarations about the interests of their peoples. They anticipated the events of autumn 1918 , but were evidently given too little attention or not taken seriously by the Kaiser and the Prime Ministers of Austria and Hungary.

Clam-Martinic was a pure Bohemian aristocrat , represented the German course, but without exposing himself to the outside world . An important political goal for him was the introduction of the German language in Bohemia and Moravia as the sole official language, a goal that was completely unrealistic in view of the majority of the Czech population.

The national conditions should be adapted to the pre-war demands of the German side. By separating Galicia from Cisleithanien , the voting proportions were to be changed in favor of a German majority in the Reichsrat. The fact that the Czechs, in the majority in the Bohemian countries, did not want to allow themselves to be governed from Vienna in the long term was ignored.

The South Slavic territories united with Serbia and Montenegro (with the exception of Slovenia with its own autonomy) were to be annexed to Hungary in subdualistic form , just as the Kingdom of Poland, united with (Western) Galicia, to Austria. However, these plans failed, among other things, because of the Hungarian resistance and the Russian February Revolution . In any case, they would have failed because the dualism guarded by Hungary (and defended against heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand before 1914) was designed to prevent the desired unity of Czechs and Slovaks and the unification of all Croatians.

July 10, 1917 Clam was until the end of the First World War as a successor Viktor Weber Edler von Webenaus military governor of the Imperial Army occupied Montenegro . On February 21, 1918, the Emperor appointed him Knight of the Order of the Golden Fleece . With the Nobility Repeal Act , which was passed by the German-Austrian National Assembly on April 3, 1919 and came into force on April 10, 1919, Clams's title became obsolete.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Wladimir Aichelburg: Archduke Franz Ferdinand and Artstetten. Orac, Vienna 1986, ISBN 3-85368-931-0 (multilingual).
  2. ^ A b Clam-Martinic Heinrich Graf. In: Austrian Biographical Lexicon 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volume 1, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna 1957, p. 149.
  3. ^ A b Reinhold Lorenz:  Clam-Martinic, Heinrich Karl Maria Graf von. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 3, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1957, ISBN 3-428-00184-2 , p. 259 f. ( Digitized version ).
  4. ↑ Stenographic Protocols. House of Representatives. - 1st (opening) meeting of the XXII. Session on May 30, 1917. p. 33 ff.
  5. ↑ Helmut Rumpler: The Sixtus action and international manifesto of Emperor Charles. On the structural crisis of the Habsburg Empire in 1917/18. In: Karl Bosl (ed.): Versailles - St.Germain - Trianon. Upheaval in Europe fifty years ago. Oldenburg / Munich / Vienna 1971, pp. 111–125, here: p. 122.
  6. ^ Felix Höglinger: Prime Minister Count Clam-Martinic . Verlag Böhlau, Graz / Cologne 1964, p. 210ff.
  7. ^ Wiener Zeitung , No. 48, February 28, 1918, p. 1, official part

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personal data
SURNAME Clam-Martinic, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Clam-Martinic, Heinrich Karl Graf von; Clam-Martinic, Jindrich Karel hrabě
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bohemian nobleman and Austrian politician
DATE OF BIRTH January 1, 1863
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH March 7, 1932
Place of death Klam