Page - 279 - in Österreich-Ungarns imperiale Herausforderungen - Nationalismen und Rivalitäten im Habsburgerreich um 1900

© 2020, V&R unipress GmbH, Göttingen ISBN Print: 9783847110606 – ISBN E-Lib: 9783737010603 SlovenesandSlovaksbutthefirsthadtostruggleagainstItaliannationalismand thesecondagainstHungariandomination.Therefore thevisitsof thesovereign inthecitieswereofteninterpretedbytheminoritiesasasupportfortheirclaims and they sawhere the opportunity tomake them loud. Indeed Francis Joseph gaveaudiences toeveryone: religious leaders, associations, interestgroups,but notexplicitly to linguisticminoritiessincethiswouldhavebeencontrary tothe state policy; he attended services in churches, temples and synagogues. The audienceswere theoccasion for theminoritiesnotonly to show their faithful- nessbut indoing thatalsotoappeal tothe interventionof thesovereignagainst thedominantgroup.Therewassomething likeacompetitionover loyalty, each groupbeingeagertopresentitscredentials.Theemperorwasseenasawarrantof religious tolerance, a characteristic inherited from Joseph II. So, as Peter Ur- banitsch remarks, religionwas instrumentalizedbothby thedynasty – for ex- ampleFrancis Joseph leading theCorpusChristiprocessionbare-headed–and bysomenationalmovementsclaiming religionasabasisof their identity.12 Francis Josephtravelledextensively inbothpartsof theempireso thatmany citizenshavehadtheopportunity toseethesovereignat leastonce.Eachyearin Septemberthemaneuverstookplaceinanotherplaceoftheterritorythusgiving thepossibility tovisit theneighboringcities.Whenthechoiceof theplacewas announcedtherewasconsiderableexcitementoverwhichcitywasgoingtohost the emperor or the king. As soon as the route was known, the chosen city mobilizedinordertowelcomethesovereigninthebestwaypossible.Apartfrom theseyearlyvisitsFrancisJosephalsotravelledwhentherewasaparticularevent or commemoration.13The inaugurationof an important buildingormemorial wasonecriterionandsowasalsothecommemorationofhistoricaldateslikethe 500thanniversaryofTrieste’sbelonging to theHabsburgmonarchy.Asseen for Lembergthecombinationofcommemorationwithexhibitionmadethecoming oftheemperornearlyanobligation.Hencethereseemtohavebeenno‘distance dependency’ in the agenda of the visits: the emperor was concerned not to advantageanyofhislands(apartfromresidencecitieslikeViennaandBudapest) and as king ofHungary he did not neglect Transleithania either. Yet he never visitedSzabadkaalthoughhetravelledrelativelyoftentoSouthernHungarybut the townhadno relevance in termsof strategy so thatmaneuversdidnot take placenearby; it didnotorganize anymeaningful event thatwouldhaveneces- sitatedroyalattendance.IngeneralFrancisJosephtendedtotravel lessinhisold 12 Peter Urbanitsch, Pluralist Myth and Nationalist Realities: The Dynastic Myth of the HabsburgMonarchy – a Futile Exercise in the Creation of Identity?, in: AustrianHistory Yearbook35(2004),p. 108. 13 Urbanitsch,PluralistMythandNationalistRealities (seenote12),p. 122. ImperialChallenges inAustro-HungarianMulticulturalCities 279