October diploma

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Basic data
Title: Imperial diploma of October 20, 1860, to regulate the internal constitutional relationships of the monarchy
Abbreviation: October diploma
Type: Imperial diploma
Scope: Empire of Austria
Legal matter: Constitutional law
Reference: RGBl. No. 226/1860 (= LIV.Piece, p. 336)
Date of law: October 20, 1860, announced October 25, 1860
Legal text: Original , text format
Please note the note on the applicable legal version !

In Austrian historiography, the Austrian constitutional law of October 20, 1860, which is shaped by federalism, is called the October diploma . It was superseded by the centralized February patent as early as 1861 ; after the settlement with Hungary in 1867, it was replaced by the December constitution , which was valid in the non-Hungarian countries of the monarchy until its end in 1918. The title of the law was Imperial Diploma of October 20, 1860, to regulate the internal constitutional relations of the monarchy .

The neo-absolutist system of government was introduced in 1851 with the New Year's Eve patent. However, in 1859 Emperor Franz Joseph I failed militarily in northern Italy (battles at Magenta and Solferino ) and politically in the entire monarchy. The economically growing bourgeoisie demanded political participation on the Western European model. The October diploma was a half-hearted attempt to give the weakened emperor more support in his countries.

content

The October diploma was issued by the emperor in the form of a manifesto and a diploma (RGBl. No. 225 and 226/1860). It contained the main features of a new constitution in the form of a constitutional monarchy . A Reichsrat with 100 members was created, which was to have an advisory role in financial and economic policy issues, but was to have little significance in legislative terms. Foreign and war policy remained in the sole decision-making authority of the emperor.

The diploma was a compromise between the centralistic tendencies of the German-speaking population (then known as German) and the federalistic aspirations of the other nationalities. The diets of the individual crown lands were to be given extensive autonomy vis-à-vis the Reichsrat.

The compromise could not satisfy neither the German liberals nor the Magyars , who responded to their inclusion in the joint Reichsrat by refusing to pay taxes. The general resistance four months later led to a revision of the October diploma in the February patent of February 26, 1861, which kept the constitutional promises made in the October patent , but was again rejected by Hungary until an agreement was reached in 1867.

literature

  • Walter Goldinger : From Solferino to the October diploma . In: Festschrift for Leo Santifaller on the occasion of his sixtieth birthday, dedicated by the Austrian State Archives and by archivists and friends from home and abroad, July 24, 1950 (= communications from the Austrian State Archives, vol. 3). Vienna 1950, pp. 106–126.

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Individual evidence