Young Czechs
The Young Czechs (Mladočeši) , also known as the Radical National Party (Národní strana svobodomyslná) , were a Czech national liberal party in the Austro-Hungarian monarchy . It split off in 1874 from the Národní strana (National Party, "Old Czech"). In the 1890s she had a dominant position in Czech politics. From the beginning of the 20th century, it then split into a large number of smaller parties and groups.
Emergence
Národní listy
The first important event that contributed to the emergence of the Young Czech Party was the founding of the newspaper Národní listy on January 1, 1861. Its intellectual fathers were František Palacký and František Ladislav Rieger and it pursued the goal of raising the national and political consciousness of the Czechs sharpen. The editor of this newspaper was Julius Grégr , who at the time was still considered the mouthpiece of Palacký and Rieger, but was later to be a leading member of the Young Czech Party. Of course, one cannot speak of a real first appearance of the Young Czechs, but the appearance of the Národní listy marks an important step on the way. Because on the one hand the thoughts of the national masterminds were bundled in this newspaper and it thus served again and again as an articulation organ of the Young Czechs. On the other hand, with Julius Grégr, one of the key figures for its creation stepped into the public eye for the first time.
So it is not surprising that in 1863, when there was a break between Grégr and the leading Old Czechs, Palacký and Rieger also broke with the Národní listy and instead started a specifically Old Czech newspaper called Národ . In this way, a public mouthpiece for its politics emerged even before the Young Czech Party actually came into being. The Young Czech part within the National Party thus already had its first organ.
Relationship to the big landowners and the question of constitutional law
The actual conflict between the various camps within the Young Czechs began a little later, in 1861. At that time, the National Party entered into an alliance with the aristocratic landowners in order to be able to better enforce their demand for Bohemian state law. This politically motivated alliance was very reluctant to the more liberal party members. At this point there was no real crack, but the first time a clear bearing formation was noticeable.
However, that was to change in 1863: The two camps grew further and further apart and differences became more and more noticeable. In July 1863 , the Prager Morgenpost first coined the names Old Czech and Young Czech to identify these two groups. However, there had already been a certain break in March when the more liberal-minded state parliament members refused to agree to new privileges for the nobility and large landowners. Among other things, a law was brought down that was supposed to guarantee them certain rights of self-government. In April 1864, the law was introduced by František Ladislav Rieger and Jindřich Jaroslav Graf Clam-Martinic again in a weakened form and this time passed despite renewed opposition. As early as 1863, liberals such as Karel Sladkovský and Alois Pravoslav Trojan had called for the right to vote instead, since the large landowners were clearly overrepresented by the previous four-class system and were thus in opposition to large parts of their party. The Young Czech camp also took a different point of view when it came to constitutional law: they supported Palacký and Rieger's constitutional program. However, the aim was not to preserve constitutional law as a gift from Habsburg based on historical and natural law.
Dispute in the question of centralization
Probably the most important issue arose in another area. In April 1861 there had already been disputes within the party. It was triggered by the efforts of State Minister Anton Ritter von Schmerling and Prime Minister Adolf Carl Daniel von Auersperg to centralize the government of the empire. The left wing of the party voted with a majority in the state parliament against Rieger's proposal to counter this policy by boycotting the Reichstag.
Something similar happened on March 21, 1863, when Rieger suggested that the Bohemian state parliament should not send any delegates to fill seven orphaned seats in the Reichsrat. He justified his suggestion with the fact that a posting to the downsized Reichstag without Hungarian MPs would promote dualism and thus run counter to efforts to conform to Bohemian constitutional law. He substantiated this statement by reading a letter from 63 Czech MPs who shared his view. However, when this proposal was rejected by a clear majority, Rieger asked the Czech Reichstag members to boycott future sessions for this very reason. This proposal was passed by the National Party with a wafer-thin majority. This approach was based on the passive resistance of the Hungarian MPs in 1861. However, it was not particularly successful, as Prime Minister Schmerling simply declared the boycotters' mandates null and void after an ultimatum had expired and called new elections for the coming year.
As the close result of the vote shows, the National Party had already split into two large camps at this point. The disagreement over how to proceed in this particular case only deepened the rift.
Final break with the old Czech parliamentary group
On March 31, 1867, František Ladislav Rieger proposed again not to send any members of the Bohemian state parliament to demonstrate against the election of the First Curia in February. This proposal was categorically rejected by the Young Czech representatives around the brothers Grégr and Karel Sladkovský. However, at that time the party discipline was still great enough that the outvoted Young Czechs signed a protest note together with the other members of their party on April 13 and then withdrew from the state parliament. On August 22nd, 1868, they also agreed to the declaration of state law and another boycott, which was to last until August 30th, 1870. However, it was becoming increasingly clear that the Young Czechs actually wanted more active and liberal politics. From May 1868, the Young Czechs finally began to organize the so-called tábory . These were large demonstrations held in the open air, which were intended to induce the authorities to support the constitutional program and the demand for universal male suffrage. These tábory enjoyed a brisk influx, which gave the Young Czech movement some impetus. The large masses who supported their policies reinforced their opinion that a party that pursued an active patriotic and liberal policy in parliament could win the support of most Czechs.
The self-confidence gained thereby accelerated the process of secession, which in fact happened on September 15, 1874, when the seven Young Czech MPs around Alois Pravoslav Trojan and Edvard Grégr appeared in the state parliament, although the National Party had once again declared a boycott. With this procedure they only followed their opinion that Rieger's policy of passive resistance could not lead to any constructive result. In addition, they made the practically completed split of the Národní strana evident, even if it had not yet taken place formally.
But now this last step was not long in coming. The official establishment of the Národní strana svobodomyslná took place only a few months later, on December 27, 1874.
Structure and concerns of the Young Czech Party
Self-image
The Young Czechs saw themselves in the tradition of the journalist Karel Havlíček , who was considered a patriotic martyr. He was the “political awakening” of the Czechs, as he used the possibilities of the press and representative institutions to achieve national autonomy. He was very critical of both the Habsburg monarchy and the authoritarian government in Russia and therefore advocated the independence of the Slavic peoples based on mutual aid. With this view he was of course a thorn in the side of the Austrian authorities and so the unpleasant ghost was sent into exile in Brixen, where he fell ill with consumption and died shortly afterwards.
There were some weighty reasons that spoke in favor of choosing Havlíček, of all people, as the model of the newly founded party: On the one hand, he was highly valued by Czechs from all walks of life and they therefore had a mentor who met Palacký, the "forefather" of the old Czechs could measure. On the other hand, he had already formulated and justified a number of the most important goals of Young Czech politics in his famous style. In addition, during this period of strict state press censorship, Havlíček stood for free and honest expression and thus represented an idol for young Czech journalists.
program
The program of the Young Czech Party was decided at the first party congress on December 27, 1874 and supplemented again at the third party congress on September 14, 1879. From then on, this program formed the basis for all future party and election programs. The first part of this program dealt with the long-term goals, such as the education of the Czech people and the anchoring of democratic institutions in their society. The second part, however, again summarized the criticism of the passive resistance of the Old Czechs and declared closer cooperation between the Slavic peoples as the goal.
However, the third paragraph is really programmatic. Because this calls for an autonomous Czech state within Austria-Hungary. Furthermore, in contrast to that of the old Czechs, the program demanded universal suffrage for the state parliament. In addition, it also called for its own Czech university in Bohemia and some improvements in the school system, as well as support for technical progress and economic development.
All in all, the Young Czech Party adopted a program that should clearly stand out from that of the Old Czechs. Similar goals were pursued with regard to constitutional law, but there were also a number of differences that were emphasized in the program. They wanted to stand out clearly from the old party and present themselves as a party of progress. It is for this reason that very progressive objectives have been added to the program in everything from suffrage to economic policy. Nevertheless, there was a great deal of agreement with the concerns of the Old Czechs, so it can be said that the main difference between the two parties was in the question of the method of enforcement of the program rather than its content.
Composition of the party
The management level of the Young Czechs was basically made up of six groups: One was revolutionaries from 1848 like Karel Sladkovský. Another important group consisted of radical newspaper editors such as Julius Grégr. What these two groups had in common was that many of them had already suffered seriously under the Habsburg authorities because of their political convictions. The third group was ultimately formed by doctors and scientists. Furthermore, there were also many elected representatives at the district level and representatives of patriotic agricultural organizations and Prague lawyers among the leading figures of the party. What all these groups had in common was their basic attitude, which was shaped by liberalism, nationalism and anti-clericalism and, above all, they all faced the policy of passive resistance as propagated by Rieger with the greatest rejection.
Significance in Czech politics
.jpg)
Ascent
In 1879 the Young Czechs first drew attention to themselves with radical demands in the Reich and Landtag. On the one hand, they demanded universal suffrage and the guarantee of civil rights, using the Third Republic in France as an example, and on the other hand they demanded the unconditional independence of the Bohemian crown lands. With these demands they naturally incurred the displeasure of Emperor Franz Joseph , but within a short time they managed to outstrip the old Czechs as the most important political force in the country.
However, the beginnings were rather modest. In August 1879, the old and young Czechs formed a "state law association", which joined together with some other parties in the conservative government under Count Eduard Taaffe in October of that year . The primary purpose of this alliance was to end a decade of German-liberal government, and the Young Czechs, as a liberal party, only reluctantly joined forces with their largely conservative and aristocratic ally. Therefore, this merger was on a shaky ground from the start.
During the early Taaffe government, some social and labor laws fell, such as the Factory Inspection Act of 1883, laws regulating working hours in 1884 and 1885, and an accident insurance law in 1887. There was also a language ordinance in 1880. In it, Czech was also recognized as the official language in the German-populated areas of Bohemia, thus implementing an important requirement of the Young Czechs. Nevertheless, one can assume that the Young Czechs were by no means satisfied.
Finally, in January 1888, the shaky alliance broke up and the Young Czechs again formed their own faction in the Reichsrat. The result was a tough exchange of blows with the old Czechs, from which, however, the young Czechs clearly emerged victorious, as the next elections should prove. In July 1889, the Young Czechs and their new ally, the Peasant Union, won 30 of 39 seats in the fourth curia.
Taaffe then tried to strengthen the parties that supported him, and on January 4, 1890, assembled the Old Czechs, the German Liberals and two of the landowning parties in Vienna to reach an agreement on questions of Bohemian nationality and language use in Bohemia. The old Czechs took part in the hope that if these negotiations were successful, they would be able to stop their loss of votes in favor of the young Czechs. By January 19, most institutions, such as schools and courts, were broken down by nationality. The Bohemian Landtag was also to be divided into two chambers, each of which had a right of veto. This would have allowed the German minority to continue to exert a great deal of influence and the large landowners would have continued to hold an important position.
However, Taaffes' move turned out to be unsuccessful. The fact that he had excluded the Young Czechs from the negotiations from the outset naturally turned them against the agreement and also played into their hands for propaganda purposes. Many young Czech journalists and editors, above all Gustav Eim and Julius Grégr, criticized the result of the negotiations as a poorly disguised draft to strengthen the political privileges of the German minority and to prevent the Czechs from gaining an influence corresponding to their proportion of the population in Bohemia .
Heyday
At the beginning of this there was a grandiose electoral success of the Young Czechs in March 1891 and they used their newly won power to thwart the authorization of the Compensation Agreement of 1890 in Parliament. They even managed to get a large number of the old Czech MPs on their side, on the one hand because they saw Czech institutions in predominantly German-populated areas at risk, and on the other hand because they feared a further loss of votes if they approved. Since the governor Franz Graf von Thun , who politically belongs to the conservative landowners, feared a further advance of the young Czechs in the event of a new election, he did not dare to dissolve the state parliament. However, in the period that followed, there were increased repressive measures against the Czech progressive socialist movement and also against the Young Czechs and their party organ, the Národní listy . As a result of the so-called Omladina conspiracy, several members of the Czech youth movement and some newspaper publishers were arrested. Anonymous letters and police spies were primarily responsible for these mass arrests.
On October 8, 1893, representatives of the Young Czechs met in Nymburk to bring the party back on a unified course. Many representatives of the more radical wing, such as Edvard Grégr, wanted resolute action against this course of state repression. The more moderate majority around Emanuel Engel, on the other hand, wanted to hold back this radical wing, but keep it in the party, probably mainly because a break with party icons like the Grégr brothers would also have meant the loss of many voters. A third group around Karel Kramář would have preferred a separation from the radical wing.
At the end of the conflict-ridden negotiations, there was a resolution that clearly supported the electoral program of 1889 and 1891 and established eight further key points: One was clearly in opposition to the current government. Furthermore, the state law of the Bohemian countries and a reform of the electoral law were called for. They also wanted uniform statement guidelines for all MPs, journalists and members of the party. A national resistance movement should also be formed outside parliament. The parliamentary group should be given the power to reject apolitical proposals of the government, if these were designed to strengthen the previous system. This guideline should also apply in parliamentary committees. The content of discussions in party associations should be kept secret and finally it was agreed to defend all forms of Czech self-government.
All in all, this program represented a clear defeat for the radical wing of the party, and it should not recover from this blow. Although the leading radicals all remained in the party, they were no longer able to assert their demands against a new generation of politicians around Karel Kramář. To make matters worse, many of the radical masterminds died in the period that followed. So Julius Grégr had to withdraw from active politics in the spring of 1894 for health reasons and in 1896 he blessed the temporal.
The Young Czechs, however, remained a rather moderate opposition party until they rejoined the government in 1897 under Casimir Count Badeni . In the run-up to the Reichsrat elections of 1897, there was a rapprochement between the conservative Badeni and the young Czechs, who were initially rather skeptical of him. This had required the Young Czechs to come to terms with the large landowners again; in return, Badeni had also granted non-German parliamentary speeches immunity from legal prosecution. Under the leadership of Badeni's personal friend Gustav Eim, exploratory talks were held for the first time in early 1896. Although the radical wing could not be convinced of cooperation, there was nevertheless a clear majority within the party, provided that the Czechs should be given equal rights in all areas of public life in Cisleithanien .
In December 1897, Badeni submitted an ordinance to the Reichsrat for a vote, according to which Czech and German should be given equal rights as the official language in Bohemia and Moravia with the exception of taxation. At the imperial command, this remained uniformly German. Therefore, despite Gustav Eim's death in January 1897, a cooperation with Badeni found a majority in the Young Czech Party in March of the same year. After difficult negotiations with envoys from the German government parties, the coalition finally joined. To do this, however, they had to make a compromise that German would continue to be the “innermost official language”; H. all communication with the central administration in Vienna still had to be in German.
As can be clearly seen, participation in the government forced the Young Czechs to make some compromises. Together with the increasing loss of the radical wing, this also meant the loss of a sharp party profile. In many respects you were simply bound and therefore had to keep your own demands moderate. Of course, you also risked the loss of some of the regular voters and in fact joining the Badeni government marked a clear turning point in the party's history, as this marked the end of the rapid rise.
Decline
At the beginning of the 20th century, the Young Czechs began to lose their political leadership role. The main reason for this was the emergence of new political currents, which recruited their voters from the same strata of the population and thus deprived the young Czechs of part of their influx. One of these increasingly demarcating movements was that of the working class. The Czech Social Democratic Workers' Party tied ever larger sections of the lower classes to itself and withdrew a large part of their petty-bourgeois clientele from the young Czechs. Finally, a few moderate parties emerged who were dissatisfied with liberalism and pursued their own policies, and the agrarians also manifested themselves more and more clearly as their own political currents and matured into a considerable competitive force, especially in rural regions. This should soon turn out to be the biggest competitor of the Young Czechs within Bohemia.
However, there was further competition: In 1894, Rudolf Horský conceived a Christian social party, which from 1904 also actively intervened in political events. After the electoral reform of 1907, the Christian forces succeeded better and better in opposing the national parties in the Czech Republic. These adopted national goals in their program and were able to create mass organizations, especially in rural areas. In this way they tied large sections of the peasant-petty-bourgeois electorate to themselves.
This development not only weakened the long-established parties, but also the constitutional efforts of the Czechs. Because of the fragmentation of the Czech political landscape, it was hardly possible for the Czech members of the Reichsrat to proceed uniformly in these matters. In the end, the Labor Party withdrew entirely from the front united by the national question, since the workers' parties in other countries were hoping for more support in the struggle for social issues than the bourgeois-dominated national parties. As a result, the question of constitutional law and thus an important concern of the Young Czechs fell out of sight.
This decline was also noticeable in the distribution of seats in the Bohemian state parliament. In the 1901 election they fell from 90 to 66 seats, but they remained the strongest party. In the election of 1908, however, they suffered further losses and only came to 38. They fell behind the Agrarian Party and were not the strongest force in the Bohemian state parliament for the first time in 17 years.
It can be stated that the Young Czechs soon lost their supremacy at the beginning of the 20th century. They went from a mass party that could move entire sections of the population to a fringe group that only aroused the interest of certain bourgeois circles. The Young Czechs could not define themselves like the competing parties through identity-creating similarities and with their rather abstract concerns were also less interesting for many people. They have simply been ousted by more specialized parties that are more specific to the concerns of their voters.
Although the Young Czech Party became increasingly insignificant from the turn of the century, a real political leader appeared in this party for the first time in that period before the First World War: Karel Kramář. This was perceived, at least in western Europe, as the central figure in Czech politics, similar to Palacký and Rieger a few years earlier. In this way, the Young Czechs still fulfilled an important function, at least in the eyes of their western neighbors, even if they were no longer able to meet their demands in the country.
literature
- Karl Bosl (Ed.): The Bohemian Lands in the Habsburg Empire 1848-1919. Bourgeois nationalism and the formation of an industrial society (= handbook of the history of the Bohemian countries. Vol. 3). Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1968.
- Bruce M. Garver: The Young Czech Party. 1874-1901 and the Emergence of a Multi-Party System (= Yale Historical Publications. Series 3: Miscellany. 111). Yale University Press, New Haven CT et al. 1978, ISBN 0-300-01781-2 .
- William A. Jenks: Austria under the Iron Ring 1879-1893. University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville VA 1965.