Page - 161 - in Otto Bauer (1881–1938) - Thinker and Politician

the national question 161 Bauerciteddemographicaspects suchas small sizeanddispersal, butpar- ticularly cultural features suchas similarity in language, religionandculture as factors thatacceleratedthisprocess.Heattachedcrucial importancetothe latter.Hisanalysiswasespeciallyvaluable insofarashehighlightedthedegree ofdifferentiation that existedwithin the respective classes and social groups during theprocess of assimilation.He found that theassimilationprocess in oppressedcountriesprimarily involved thepropertiedclasses,whichmerged withtherulingclassesoftheoppressornationprovidedthattheycouldbenefit fromtheireconomicandpoliticalposition.Astothepeasantryandproletariat of theoppressedcountries, theireconomicandcultural levelsdeterminedthe paceof theassimilationprocess:peasantsassimilated fasterandwith lessdif- ficulty if their economic and cultural levelsweremore advanced. The exact oppositewastruefortheworkingclass. WecanconcludefromourobservationsthusfarthatBauerregardedassim- ilation in amultinational state as a desirable process. Therefore, he sugges- ted integrating the slogan fornationalassimilation into thenationalitiespro- grammeofSocialDemocracy.Althoughitcontradictedthepersonalprinciple that he supported, Bauer bypassed this inconvenient fact for political reas- ons. As a politician defending the concerns of Austrian Social Democracy, he hoped that assimilationwould proceed in one direction only: he expec- ted that non-German peoples would assimilate to Germany due to its eco- nomic and cultural superiority.WhenGerman andCzech Social Democrats fought over the latter group’s proposal to open Czechminority schools, it shouldthereforecomeasnosurprisethatBaueropposedtheidea.Heclaimed that it would upset the peaceful assimilation process and would aggravate thenationalitiesconflictbetweenGermansandCzechs,whomadeup26per- centof theViennapopulation.Notably, thisdidnot stophimfromestablish- ingmiddle schools for theGermanpopulation inCzechia.95A similar incon- sistency is apparent inBauer’s positiononCzechworkers.On theonehand, he opposed their forced Germanisation, fearing that it might put the Ger- manminority in Czechia at risk. In contrast, he called on Social Democrats 95 The followingpicture emerges fromBauer’s discussionof the school system:minorities thatassimilate (non-historicalnations) shouldnothavetheirownschools,whileminor- ities that assimilate (historical nations, in this case theGermans) shouldhave the right tonational schools.Onmixed territories,minorities thatdoordonotassimilate should have the right to formnationalandbilingual schools– in theSudetenland, for instance, thereshouldbebothGermanandCzechschools.Thiseducationsystemmodelwasclearly biasedtowardsGermans.AstoBauer’ssuggestiontoestablishGermanschoolsinCzechia, compareMommsen1963,p.211.