United States of Greater Austria

The United States of Greater Austria (also United States of Greater Austria ) were a never- implemented idea of ​​a group of political thinkers to the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand. It was actually drafted by lawyers and politicians Aurel Popovici and published in 1906.

Ethnic conflicts in Austria - Hungary

With the emerging nation-state thinking in the 19th century originated in the Habsburg Monarchy increasing problems. The boundaries of the individual crown lands of the monarchy were purely historical reasons and based not on ethnic and linguistic characteristics. A certain relaxation of the nationalities problem first arose after the Compromise of 1867, in which the Empire of Austria was transformed into the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Both the Austrian and in the Hungarian half were the two state-supporting nations, the Germans and the Magyars, but in the minority. The other living in the Danube monarchy ethnic groups - especially the Czechs, Poles, Ruthenians / Ukrainians, Romanians, Croats, Slovaks, Serbs, Slovenes and Italians - had initially little or no influence on policy.

In the Austrian half of it came in the years after 1867 to an increasing political emancipation of most ethnic groups, which in some state legislatures of the crown lands, the majority ( Poles in Galicia, Czechs in Bohemia and Moravia, Slovenes in Carniola, Croats in Dalmatia ) and a certain cultural autonomy ( Polish universities in Cracow and Lemberg, Czech University in Prague) obtained. This development was fostered by the introduction of universal suffrage in 1907 in the Austrian half of the empire. In the Kingdom of Hungary there were up to the disintegration of the Dual Monarchy no universal suffrage and the Hungarian government has pursued a strict Magyarization, which had the goal of total assimilation of the non-Magyar minorities. Within the Hungarian part of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia only was exempt, which enjoyed a partial autonomy.

Reform proposal by Aurel Popovici

The heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand saw this problem that threatened to shatter the state, and tried to work out ways of solution. One consideration was a radical new political order through the formation of a number of member states on ethno- linguistic basis, which "United States of Greater Austria " should all be part of the federation State. Through this project was the national aspirations of the various nationalities channeled that prevents given in the previous state structure control the weaker nations by stronger nationalities, and the unbalanced distribution of power in the state to be corrected.

Aurel Popovici planned in the project drawn up by a federal reform design of the federal or Reich territory in nearly 15 monolingual countries:

• German - Austria (approximately today territory of Austria with South Tyrol, the southern Sudetenland and the German western border of Hungary ( roughly today's Burgenland including Sopron and Bratislava ) )
• German Bohemia (northern part of present-day Czech Republic)
• German - Moravia (north part of Moravia and Austrian Silesia )
• Bohemia ( Czech populated part of Bohemia and Moravia )
• West Galicia (Polish populated part )
• Eastern Galicia (Ukrainian populated part of Galicia and Bukovina )
• Transylvania (Romanian Romanian populated part with adjacent populated areas of Hungary ( as the Banat ) and Bukovina )
• Croatia ( approximate territory of today's Croatia)
• Krain ( approximate territory of present-day Slovenia)
• Slovaks country ( approximate territory of today's Slovakia )
• Vojvodina (Vojvodina, the Serbian populated area in the south of Hungary )
• Hungary ( Magyar populated the closed area )
• Seklerland ( Székelyföld - the Magyar parts in eastern Transylvania )
• Trento (Trentino, Italian- populated south Tyrol )
• Trieste ( Italian-medium surrounding areas )

Bosnia - Herzegovina retained provisionally as an occupation area its previous position.

This ethno- geographical units would be as homogeneous as few nation states in Europe, and should form the Habsburg -ruled state of the United States of Greater Austria. In addition still German -speaking enclaves in eastern Transylvania and other places were some, mostly in the monarchy that should have limited autonomy status ( National autonomy).

Critical appraisal from a historical perspective

A realization of Popovici model would have a total of safe causes a more equitable distribution of power in the state as a whole. In particular, nationalities would come into play, which previously had almost no representation in politics, like the Slovaks, Ukrainians and Romanians.

The realization could only be enforced against considerable political resistance, as some nationalities have lost their privileges:

• First and foremost, the Hungarians would have to give up control of the non- Hungarian peoples, which would hardly be made up entirely voluntary,
• Poles would have to renounce their former rule over Ukrainians in eastern Galicia,
• Czechs and German would have to agree on the division of their dominions in Bohemia, Moravia, and Austrian Silesia, which would have been very difficult given the levied by both sides nationalist maximum demands.
• All the nations involved would have to compromise in defining the boundaries of the entities need to apply what would have been difficult to enforce in the nationalist heated discussions before the war, in which the monarchy has often been viewed as a " peoples dungeon ".
• A completely " ethnically pure" demarcation was not possible due to the strong mixing and large groups of people would have to live as a minority in other languages ​​States.

Overall, the implementation of such a plan would have required a major political power and great political stamina. Had the monarchy, however, survived this crisis, they would have been stabilized and perhaps still existed today. The reform was not in any case be tackled and the Austrian Government resorted to continue with a policy of " muddling through ", the only displaced the problem and did not solve.

Assessment in the science of history

Popovici appears as representative of the interests of the non-historical nations of the Hungarian half of the empire. But the very radicalism, with the author underlined the centuries-old Kronlandsgrenzen off the map, made the conservative sympathizers and reviewers a complete agreement is impossible. Popovici dissolution of the old historicopolitical was simply incompatible with the old principle indivisibiliter ac inseparabiliter ( indivisible and inseparable from ) the Pragmatic Sanction. Great Austria was temporarily to "Parole those saber-rattling, romanticized officers, aristocrats, journalists " who surrounded the throne Franz Ferdinand. You particularly liked a basic intention of the concept: the preservation of political power position of the Habsburg Empire in Europe. Robert A. Can draws as a conclusion that the ratios since 1867 even more unjust than were Popovici program, make sure

"But it's not the same to tread the beaten path long-standing deficiencies that have been mitigated, at least in Austria by the administrative practice to some extent, almost inevitably introduce as a new and imperfect order again by unconstitutional means. Namely, while the old inequities are tolerated by the power of tradition in the long run, it was highly unlikely that new albeit lesser evil - would have been accepted without violent struggle " - if at all.