United Left (Old Austria)

The United Left was a political party in Cisleithanien from 1881 to 1885 , which was liberal and centralized . Its members were exclusively Germans , including some aristocrats who were not nationally defined .

history

Between the 1879 reigning conservative - federal government Taaffe and the German liberal opposition , there was an increasing polarization. This prompted the various groups of the German liberal opposition to found a common party . In the fall of 1881 they formed the United Left .

After the elections of 1885, which manifested the final loss of their former majority in the Reichsrat for the German liberals, the United Left split into two parties. A large minority of the members of the former United Left constituted themselves as the German Club . Its members gave up the former claim of the Liberals as a state party above nationalities and in future explicitly represented German interests in the Habsburg Monarchy . The remaining members of the United Left formed the German-Austrian Club from then on .

In 1888 the German Club and the German-Austrian Club again merged to form the United German Left .

literature

• Lothar Höbelt : Cornflower and Imperial Eagle. The German freedom parties of Old Austria 1882 - 1918. Munich 1993