Page - 137 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

the national question 137 atedwith the question of the so-called political nation, i.e. a national com- munitycontainedinitsownstate(amongAustromarxists,KarlRennerstressed thepolitical aspectofnations).36Bauerdescribed those thatwerealreadyon the cusp of forming capitalist relations of production and displayed a fully developed social structure, especially its own propertied class, as historical nations.Forexample,Germany, Italy,PolandandHungaryall constitutedhis- torical nations because they lacked their own native upper classes; Bauer viewed Czechia, Slovakia, Serbia and Romania as still being non-historical nationsinthenineteenthcentury.AsMarxhaddoneinTheCommunistMani- festo, Bauer argued that the late nineteenth century had seen a change in circumstances: capitalismhadcreated theconditions for thedevelopmentof nationalcultures, leadingtoarevivalofnations ‘withouthistory’. To further demonstrate the process of rebirth of non-historical nations, Baueranalysedthelast twohundredyearsofCzechia’sdevelopment.Hecited five factorswhichcontributedtotheemergenceofamatureCzechnation: (1) The development of a domestic ruling class accompanied the development of capitalismandweakened the influenceof theGermanbourgeoisie. Bauer noted that the 1848bourgeois revolution inAustriahadalsobeenanational revolution.Nationalrevolutions,heconcluded,wereadrivingforceinthegen- esisofnations.Theleadingroleintheprocessofnationalintegrationfelltothe Czechbourgeoisie. (2)TheCzechbourgeoisieadoptedtheliberalandhuman- ist slogansof theFrenchenlightenment. (3)Thedevelopmentof thenational educationsystemandlanguageallowedbroadpopular layers toparticipate in nationalculture.(4)Theproletariatbecameincreasinglyclass-conscious.(5)In thecourseofstruggleagainsttheGermanrulingclass,theintelligentsiabecame politically conscious and increasingly solidaristicwith other classes. Chiefly, Bauerdidnot see the intelligentsia as an intrinsic agentof thenational idea. Rather,hebelievedthat itdidnotpossess thenecessarymaterialandpolitical strengthtoaccomplishtheprojectofnationalunification.Duetothesefactors, theCzechpeople,whohadpreviously lacked anypolitical or administrative tradition forhundredsof years, roseupand fortified themselves as ahistoric nationinpossessionofanationstate. 36 Renner 1964, p. 11. It has to be emphasised that the terms ‘nation’ and ‘nationality’ are ratherdiffuse inBauer’sTheNationalitiesQuestion.Particularly inrelationtotheopposi- tionbetweencommunityandsocietythatBauerhaddescribedwhendefiningtheessence of thenation, it is fair to say that hedidnot apply the term ‘nation’ consistently to the ‘statelynation’(‘historicalnation’).Moreover,heused‘nationality’todenotetwodifferent things:(1)belongingtoanation,and(2)anethno-culturalcommunitythatlackspolitical rightsandconstitutionalguarantees(‘non-historicalnation’).