Page - 141 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

the national question 141 2 TheNationalitiesQuestionintheAustro-HungarianMonarchy Aswehaveseeninthepreviouschapter,OttoBauerplacedgreatemphasison theintegral linkbetweentheprocessofnationformingandtheculturalrealm inthebroadestsense.Theculturaltheoryofthenationfocusedontheroleand valueofa society’s intellectual cultureandtradition. Itwasbasedonastrong belief that class antagonisms and social contradictions are reducedwhen a nationmatures,andareentirelyabolishedundersocialismwhenbroadsocial layersareable toparticipate innationalculture.Theseelementsprovidedthe foundationforBauer’sprogrammetosolvethenationalitiesquestionunderthe Habsburgmonarchy.It isentirelyjustifiedtoclaimthatuntil 1918,allofBauer’s observationsonthenationalproblemweresubordinatedtothepoliticalaims ofSocialDemocracy, i.e. theyservedtoresolvetheferociousconflictsbetween thenations incorporated intoAustria-Hungary.Fromthe 1880sonwards, they manifestedthemselvesmoresharply. Nationalconflictswereanelementinseparablefrompolitical lifeunderthe Habsburgmonarchysinceits inception,evenif inthetimesofcentralistabso- lutism, the causesweredifferent from those in the era of constitutional fed- eralism. During the first period, the so-calledHungarian question – i.e. the struggle surroundingHungarian independence –was prevalent. The second revolved around thedecentralist and separatist aspirations of Poles, Slovaks, Italians,Croats andSouthSlavs. Tobe sure, the lands ruledby themonarchy were granted autonomy in the 1861 constitution: tasks of self-administration weredelegatedtolocalparliaments.Atthesametime,thepositionofthearis- tocracyandwealthybourgeoisie,whichwasoverwhelminglyofGermandes- cent,was strengthened in their respective territories.Contrary to theexpect- ations entertained by liberal politicians in the empire, the introduction of dualism in 1867 – i.e. the establishment of Austria-Hungary – did not end national conflicts. Rather, it only strengthened thecentral powers in the two dividedstates.Therulingnationstriedtokeepthelessdevelopednationseco- nomically andpolitically subordinated, and–understandably–encountered resistance from the latter. National struggles sharpened particularly in the 1890s. A closer look at the fundamental issues underlying these conflicts reveals thatsocio-economicandpoliticalreasonswereprevalent.However,oneshould notminimise psychological and emotional factors either. Let us remember that at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Austria-Hungary madeupaterritoryof260,242squaremilesandcomprisedapopulationof51 million–amongthem,twomillionGermans, 10millionHungarians,ninemil- lionCzechsandSlovaks, sevenmillionCroatsandSlovenes, sixmillionPoles,