Gerald Stourzh. From to Chicago and Back: Essays on intellectual history and political thought in Europe and America. Chicago: Press, 2007. 396 S. $45.00, cloth, ISBN 978-0-226-77636-1.

Reviewed by Jonathan Kwan

Published on HABSBURG (October, 2008)

Commissioned by Cathleen M. Giustino (Auburn University)

Gerald Stourzh, professor of modern history William Blackstone, Charles Beard, Max Diamant, at Vienna University from 1969 until his retire‐ Gustav Mahler, Karl Kraus, and Alexis de Toc‐ ment in 1997, is a familiar name to scholars of the queville, from seventeenth-century English and Habsburg Monarchy and its successor states. His American political theory to the judicial courts of monographs on the nationality struggle in the late imperial Vienna, from the details of the 1909/1910 Habsburg Monarchy and the genesis of the Austri‐ national compromise in the Bukovina to the polit‐ an State Treaty (Die Gleichberechtigung der Na‐ ical machinations leading to ’s State Treaty tionalitaeten in der Verfassung und Verwaltung of 1955, Stourzh’s range and craftsmanship in‐ Oesterreichs 1848-1918 [1985] and Um Einheit spire admiration. Signifcantly, there are two fore‐ und Freiheit. Staatsvertrag, Neutralitaet und das words to this volume. One is from the distin‐ Ende der Ost-West-Besetzung Oesterreichs guished historian of colonial and revolutionary 1945-1955 [2005]) are meticulously researched America, Bernhard Bailyn (who praises Stourzh’s and occupy central positions in their respective scholarship as exemplary), and the other from historiographies. Paradoxically, his English-lan‐ John Boyer, the indefatigable chronicler of the guage work, including articles and books on Eng‐ Christian Social Party in imperial Vienna. lish and American history, is probably less well Yet, from the disparate essays, common known. This collection of Stourzh’s English-lan‐ themes and preoccupations emerge over the guage essays invites refections on the shape of course of the book. First, there is his interest in his career and the unity of his work.[1] the relation between political thought and con‐ At frst glance, the essays seem impressively crete action, particularly with respect to the mak‐ and incredibly diverse. Beginning with Benjamin ing and interpreting of constitutions. In his fore‐ Franklin and ending with , via word, Boyer highlights Stourzh’s “interest in how H-Net Reviews politics shapes constitutions and how constitu‐ Stourzh’s essays on English and American legal tions shape politics” (p. xii). Stourzh has written and political thinking focus on the emergence of a on the intellectual and political backgrounds to “Culture of Rights” (chapter 13) and the “Break‐ the American Constitution (1787), the 1867 Aus‐ through of the Modern Liberal State” (chapter 12). gleich in the Habsburg Monarchy, and the 1955 Similarly, his groundbreaking work on the Habs‐ Austrian State Treaty.[2] His methodology often burg Monarchy should be viewed in the wider stresses the languages of politics, refecting his as‐ context of the gradual, complex, and problematic sociation with J. G. A. Pocock and Quentin Skin‐ move to modern democracy in America and Eu‐ ner’s “Cambridge School of Political Thought.” rope. Stourzh’s chapter on the changing meanings of Thus, Stourzh’s focus is unapologetically on “constitution” in seventeenth- and eighteenth-cen‐ politics. In his autobiographical introduction, he tury thought is a good example of this approach. attributes this to his upbringing in the Vienna of Indeed, legal and political thinking, especially in the 1930s and 1940s. He writes, “My lifelong inter‐ seventeenth-century England and eighteenth-cen‐ est in public afairs, political history, in constitu‐ tury America, looms large in Stourzh’s work. tional history and the history of political thought These interests are evident from the begin‐ as well as in the history of international relations, ning of Stourzh’s career. In his frst book entitled closely tied to interest in the felds of public law and American Foreign Policy and political science, is rooted in my early experi‐ (1954), Stourzh began with a bald statement: “'The ence of the primacy of politics” (my italics, p. 3). A fundamental problem of politics is the problem of recent review on H-German has highlighted this coercion'” (quoted on p. 7). Writing as an Austrian “old-fashioned” focus on politics, though Stourzh’s in the shadow of WWII, he asserted that “'civi‐ fnal chapter on Camus attests to his awareness of lized man has yearned for a time when coopera‐ literature as a refection of the human condition. tion rather than competition, love rather than [3] While Stourzh’s literary criticism may not be fear and hatred, generosity rather than egotism, sparkling, it demonstrates his probing intelligence mercy rather than retaliation, and enlightened and range of reference. reason rather than selfsh passion would govern Apart from his childhood in Vienna, it was the afairs of humanity'” (quoted on p. 7). the move to Chicago in 1951 at the behest of Hans Throughout Stourzh’s work, whether in Anglo- Morgenthau that most infuenced Stourzh’s ca‐ American or Central European history, the ten‐ reer. It had, he states, “a decisive impact on my sions between idealism and reality are ever entire future life” (p. 1). At the age of twenty-two, present. Signifcantly, his early monograph on Stourzh arrived at the University of Chicago with Franklin is often mentioned in his illuminating a solid continental education and academic expe‐ autobiographical introduction “Traces of an Intel‐ riences in England and France behind him. This lectual Journey.” “western orientation” is evident in many of these The second major theme of the book is what essays, both in their subject matter and their Stourzh calls, in homage to his friend Pocock, the methodology. In Chicago, Stourzh participated in “Tocquevillian moment of Western history.” a glorious period of academic achievement. He oc‐ Stourzh views modern Western history as the on- casionally house-sat for Friedrich von Hayek (per‐ going, great transition from “aristocratic societies haps Viennese connections opened the door to democratic ones” or “the replacement of the there), attended ’s seminars, and paradigm of a gradated society by the paradigm of moved within Morgenthau’s circle. He also inter‐ equal rights for all human beings” (pp. 302, 25). ested himself in American history.

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The frst section of the book, containing four The second section of the book will be of most essays, is on Anglo-American history. The frst, on interest to readers of HABSBURG. Stourzh’s essay Franklin’s political thought, challenges the facile on the multinational empire, based on the Robert placement of Franklin within the mainstream of Kann memorial lecture of 1989, appeared frst in Enlightenment thought. Stourzh persuasively ar‐ the Austrian History Yearbook (1992) and will be gues that Franklin’s ambivalent view of human familiar to many.[4] While he touches on the fa‐ nature--in particular, his acknowledgement of miliar glories of Vienna 1900, emphasizing the such vices as pride, power, and ambition--tem‐ multinational setting, Stourzh’s interest lies in po‐ pered any tendencies from prevailing late Enlight‐ litical history and institutional structure. Thus, enment belief in progress and perfectibility. In the when discussing Sigmund Freud’s famous dream fnal section of the essay, Stourzh turns to a theme of encountering the conservative Minister Presi‐ that Franklin grappled with but did not resolve: dent Franz Anton Thun at Westbahnhof, Stourzh “the basic antithesis of [Franklin’s] political prefers to follow the statesman to his meeting in thought: Power versus Equality” (p. 57). This an‐ Ischl with the emperor, rather than with Freud tithesis also preoccupies Stourzh’s works. back to the Berggasse. Thun was trying to pick up the pieces after the 1897 Badeni disturbances; the The next essay, on Blackstone’s infuence in frst item on the agenda was the Ausgleich renew‐ America, focuses on the cross-fertilization of ideas al with Hungary. For Stourzh, these seemingly ar‐ in the eighteenth century and the unintended cane, forgotten negotiations, however, form the consequences. Blackstone’s conservative English necessary background to the well-known cultural legal and political arguments, particularly of the achievements of Vienna 1900 since, as he asserts, Glorious Revolution, were used in America for “the recovery of half-forgotten details of institu‐ revolutionary purposes. Stourzh’s use of the lin‐ tional and legal history may help one to grasp the guistic method to uncover the languages of poli‐ realities of social history in the fn-de-siecle Habs‐ tics is particularly evident in this and the follow‐ burg Empire” (p. 145). ing essay. In chapter 3, Stourzh traces the use of such key words as “polity” and “government” The gradual domination of ethnicity in the (often stemming from translations of Aristotle’s political and institutional life of the late Habsburg Politics) to illuminate the gradual emergence of Monarchy is central to Stourzh’s investigations of “constitution” as a political term in the eighteenth Habsburg history. His essay on ethnic attribution, century. The importance of American develop‐ which starts with the introduction of national cu‐ ments, Stourzh argues, was to place the constitu‐ rias for school boards in Bohemia in 1873 and fo‐ tion as the paramount law. cuses on the Moravian Compromise (1905), intro‐ duces some of the material previously used in his The essay on Beard closes this section and ap‐ monograph on judicial and administrative deci‐ pears somewhat detached, since it deals with the sions on the nationalities in the Habsburg Monar‐ early to mid-twentieth century. Stourzh plots chy. Following the legal recognition of Beard’s attitudes toward American foreign policy, Volksstaemme in the 1867 constitution, individu‐ in particular Beard’s move from economic opti‐ als were increasingly viewed as part of ethnic mism in the years around WWI to isolationist re‐ groups and the difcult task of deciding unclear alism in the later Theodore Roosevelt years. This cases fell to the authorities. What began as recog‐ shift can partly be explained by “political man” nition of national rights in 1867, then, in the inter‐ slowly taking precedence over “economic man” in war period, led tragically to discrimination on Beard’s thinking. grounds of race, and hence the chapter subtitle

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“Good Intentions, Evil Consequences.” In Constitution achieved equal rights for citizens (in‐ Stourzh’s words, “the Staatsbuerger was about to cluding Jews, of course), created a judicial system give away to the Volksbuerger” (p. 176). Stourzh’s to protect those rights, and held the promise of a essay, only a small part of his wider contribution meritocratic society open to all. As Stourzh points to understanding the process of nationalization in out, these achievements were mostly the work of the Habsburg Monarchy, focuses on the central the much maligned Austro-German liberals. They administration and its institutions, rather than ac‐ initiated the bundle of laws called the December tivists and their organizations. Constitution, and over the next decade fought to build a judicial, administrative, and legislative This focus continues with his essay on the framework around the constitution. For Stourzh Bukovinan Compromise of 1909. Following in the and others, these achievements inaugurated the footsteps of the more famous Moravian Compro‐ “golden years of Austro-Jewish history” (p. 211). mise, the Bukovinan Compromise constructed a Stourzh’s discussion of the Vienna’s Rabbi Adolf complex political and administrative apparatus in Jellinek emphasizes the compatibility between Ju‐ an attempt to placate the Ruthenian, Romanian, daism, , acculturation to German German, Polish, Hungarian, and Jewish popula‐ Kultur, and loyalty to the Austrian dynasty and tions of the region. Stourzh’s essay explicates the state. One sign of the “golden years” was the preconditions and political reasoning behind the strong presence of Jewish students in higher edu‐ compromise. cation (chronicled so well by Steven Beller). An‐ One issue to arise in the Bukovinan Compro‐ other factor was the interrelated rise in conver‐ mise was the status of the Jews. In short, were sion and mixed marriages. they a nationality (and thus accorded national Yet, in the modern world of equal rights and rights) or were they a religious community (and opportunities, national groupings slowly began to thus due rights as citizens but not as a national assume a central importance in political and so‐ collective)? Stourzh’s chapter on Diamant ad‐ cial life. As already noted, Stourzh has plotted the dresses this issue directly. Early in 1909, Diamant, administrative and institutional aspects of this a Jewish lawyer from Czernowitz, submitted to move. Instead of citizens exercising and respect‐ the authorities the proposed by-laws of a Jewish ing each others’ equal rights, the crises of the late theater, not in any ofcial languages, but in Yid‐ monarchy pushed nationalism to extremes. The dish and with Yiddish orthography. In the course atmosphere became infused with fundamentalist of the subsequent legal case before the Imperial biological, pseudo-scientifc, voelkisch discourse. Court, there were arguments back and forth What were Jews to do? about the Jews as a nation, Yiddish as a language (or dialect), the efects of assimilation, the distinc‐ In chapter 10, Stourzh looks at two prominent tiveness of Jewish culture, and so on. Diamant lost fgures: Mahler and Kraus. Both were at the the case on two points: frst, it was not for the height of their professions and both converted to court to create a new Volksstam, and, second, Yid‐ Catholicism--Mahler in 1897, just prior to his ap‐ dish was not the language of all the Jewish people pointment to the Hofoper, and Kraus in 1911, his (since Jews, depending on where they lived, spoke reasons still shrouded in mystery. Kraus would a variety of languages). subsequently leave the Church in a blaze of pub‐ licity in 1923. Stourzh investigates the background The difcult position of the Jews in the to the conversions and their respective views on post-1867 Habsburg Monarchy forms the basis of the place of Jews in modern society. Stourzh’s next two chapters. The 1867 December

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The fnal essay in this section, like the one on his research interests and comment on the Austri‐ Beard in the previous section, seems separate an case. from the others. Stourzh looks at the conjuncture Signifcantly, the last historical chapter is on of circumstances that facilitated the Austrian Tocqueville. In Tocqueville’s analysis Stourzh State Treaty of 1955, in particular, the intricate fnds an unsurpassed account of the crucial diplomacy that eventually led to Austria’s declara‐ change from a hierarchical, corporate society to a tion of neutrality and the resulting withdrawal of new fuid, individualistic, egalitarian democracy. foreign troops from its territory. His knowledge Tocqueville not only discussed the socioeconomic and insight in this feld is evident; indeed his book implications of legal equality, but also recognized on the state treaty is the standard work. the protean power of “equality.” Tocqueville’s Part 3 sets Stourzh’s historical investigation in deep, balanced, clearheaded rendering of the his‐ the broader context of the “Tocquevillian Mo‐ torical forces behind the French Revolution and ment.” Chapter 12 argues that the “breakthrough the developing American democracy led to an am‐ of the modern liberal state” was predicated on the bivalent overall judgment. For Tocqueville (and “generalization and equalization of legal capaci‐ one suspects for Stourzh as well), there are no ties” (p. 303). A new social language, incorporat‐ easy answers. ing such terms as “citizen,” “liberty,” and “equali‐ In conclusion, the handful of essays on the ty,” was formed at the end of the eighteenth cen‐ Habsburg Monarchy forms an indispensable ad‐ tury under the infuence of Anglo-American junct to the standard accounts of post-1867 histo‐ thinking and the possibilities opened by the ry. Their detailed focus on the constitutional, le‐ French Revolution. Stourzh recognizes that the gal, administrative, and institutional history of very generality of liberal terms allowed and con‐ the late imperial era provides a much needed sup‐ tinues to allow for adaptability and interpreta‐ plement to more traditional nationalist and politi‐ tion, hence their ongoing relevance. Karl Renner cal narratives. The essays remain, however, occa‐ is quoted by Stourzh, “'Men are not equal by na‐ sional pieces from a master craftsman’s table. ture ... but the law makes them ... equal'” (p. 300). Stourzh’s German-language works on the Habs‐ Stourzh’s chapter on "Liberal Democracy as burg Monarchy constitute his main contribution, Culture of Rights" emphasizes the contribution of and I can only reiterate Hillel Kieval’s call for an the English, American, and French traditions to English translation of Stourzh’s monograph on the the development of the culture of rights. Thus, ac‐ equality of nationalities.[5] There are a few minor cording to Stourzh, in “17th and 18th century Eng‐ technical issues. First, the copyediting process land, a process of ‘fundamentalizing’ the rights of could have been more rigorous. Second and more persons took place.... England was diferent” (p. substantially, the essays have been published in 308). America built on the English tradition, par‐ their original form, with no updating to incorpo‐ ticularly in the areas of republican government, rate new developments in the historiography. This federalism, constitutional law, and the bill of is not too serious for the pieces on the Habsburg rights. Finally, Stourzh uses the example of France Monarchy, but some of the essays on Anglo-Amer‐ as representative of the continental tradition ican history were frst published in the 1950s. based on Roman law and legislative sovereignty. Nevertheless, the republication of the essays These were three paths on the way to liberal in book form can only be welcomed. In many re‐ democracy. But, the reader asks, what about the spects, they form a unifed view of American and Habsburg Monarchy and Central Europe? It European history over the last three centuries. would have been instructive for Stourzh to link

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Stourzh’s project to write of the Tocquevillian mo‐ [5]. Hillel Kieval, review of Die Gleichberechti‐ ment in Western history, described as “unfnished gung der Nationalitaeten in der Verfassung und business” in his autobiographical essay, unites his Verwaltung Oesterreichs 1848-1918, by Gerald historical interests into an overarching synthesis Stourzh, Journal of Modern History 64, no. 1 (p. 25). It constitutes riches indeed. (1992): 177-80.

Notes

[1]. As such, this volume forms a companion to his German-language collection of essays. Ger‐ ald Stourzh, Wege zur Grundrechtsdemokratie. Studien zur Begrifs- und Institutionengeschichte des liberalen Verfassungstaates (Vienna and Cologne: Boehlau, 1989).

[2]. Unfortunately, no essay in this collection deals directly with the 1867 constitution. It does appear in Stourzh’s work published in German. See Gerald Stourzh, "Die Gleichberechtigung der Nationalitaeten und die österreichische Dezem‐ ber-Verfassung von 1867," in Der oesterreichisch- ungarische Ausgleich. Vorgeschichte und Wirkun‐ gen, ed. Peter Berger (Vienna: Herold, 1967), 186-218; and Gerald Stourzh, "Die Oesterreichis‐ che Verfassung von 1867," Oesterreich in Geschichte und Literatur 12 (1968): 1-16. See also Gerald Stourzh, "Der Dualismus 1867 bis 1918: Zur staatsrechtlichen und völkerrechtlichen Prob‐ lematik der Doppelmonarchie," in Die Habsburg‐ ermonarchie 1848, Vol. 7: Verfassung und Parla‐ mentarismus, ed. Helmut Rumpler and Peter Ur‐ banitsch (Vienna: Verlag der Oesterreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2000), 1177-1230. This volume of the series Die Habsburgermonar‐ chie was dedicated to Stourzh.

[3]. Richard Schaefer, review of From Vienna to Chicago and Back: Essays on Intellectual Histo‐ ry and Political Thought in Europe and America, by Gerald Stourzh, H-German, H-Net Reviews (March 2008), http://www.h-net.org/reviews/ showrev.php?id=14336.

[4]. Gerald Stourzh, "The Multinational Em‐ pire Revisited: Refections on Late Imperial Aus‐ tria," Austrian History Yearbook 23 (1992): 1-22.

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Citation: Jonathan Kwan. Review of Stourzh, Gerald. From Vienna to Chicago and Back: Essays on intellectual history and political thought in Europe and America. HABSBURG, H-Net Reviews. October, 2008.

URL: https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=15757

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