The Shadow of the Habsburgs: Memory and National Identity in Austrian Politics and Education, 1918-1955
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ABSTRACT Title of dissertation: THE SHADOW OF THE HABSBURGS: MEMORY AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN AUSTRIAN POLITICS AND EDUCATION, 1918-1955 Douglas Patrick Campbell, Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation directed by: Marsha L. Rozenblit Department of History This dissertation examines how the people of Austria portrayed their past as part of the centuries -old, multinational Habsburg Monarchy in order to conduct a public debate about what it meant to be an “Austrian” during a tumultuous era in Europe’s history. As its main sources, It draws upon the public writings of Austrian politicians and intellectuals, as well as on educational laws, curricula and history textbooks used by the different Austrian go vernments of the era in order to describe how Austrian leaders portrayed Austria’s past in an attempt to define its national future, even as Austrian schools tried to disseminate those national and historical ideals to the next generation of Austrian citiz ens in a practical sense. The first section describes how the leaders of the Austrian First Republic saw Austria’s newfound independence after 1918 as a clean break with its Habsburg past, and consequently pursued a union with Germany which was frustrated by the political interests of the victors of World War I. The second section details the rise of an “Austro -fascist” dictatorship in Austria during the mid -1930s which promoted an Austrian patriotism grounded in a positive portrayal of the Habsburg Monarc hy in order to remain independent from Nazi Germany. The third section examines Austria’s forcible incorporation into the Nazi German state, and the effort by the Third Reich to completely eradicate the existence of a distinctive Austrian identity by cast ing the Habsburg era in a negative light. The final section describes the rebirth of an independent Austrian state at the insistence of the Allied powers after World War II, and the manner in which the leaders of the Austrian Second Republic used memories of the Habsburg Past in order to portray Austrians as the victims of foreign German aggression who bore no responsibility for the crimes of the Third Reich. This study ultimately shows that national identity was variable in post -Habsburg Austria, and that Austrian leaders and educators were able to construct narratives regarding their past which at times argued both for and against Austrian Germanness in response to the changing demands of the European balance of power. THE SHADOW OF THE HABSBURGS : MEMORY AND NATIONAL IDENTITY IN AUSTRIAN POLITICS AND EDUCATION, 1918-1955 by Douglas Patrick Campbell Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2006 Advisory Committee Professor Marsha Rozenblit, Chair Professor Katherine David -Fox Professor Jeffrey Herf Professor John Lampe ©Copyright by Douglas Patrick Campbell 2006 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation represents the culmination of more than three years of thinking, planning, research, and writing. I cannot, however, take sole credit for this work. The completion of this study simply would not have been possible without the assistance and support of numerous people. I would like to take this opportunity to express my deep gratitude. First of all, I would like to thank Professors Ken Holum, Mary Kay Vaughan and Daryle Williams, each of whom served a term as Director of Graduate Studies in the University of Maryland History Department while I worked on this dissertation. Without their assistance in securing funding, I would not have been able to undertake this study. I must also acknowledge the tremendously helpful scholarly advice and constructive criticism I received from my dissertation committee, Professors Jeffrey Herf, John Lampe, Katherine David -Fox, and Steven Mansbach. I am especially grateful to my dissertation director and mentor, Professor Marsha Rozenblit. Her tremendous abilities as a scholar and her seemingly boundless knowledge of the history of the Habsburg Monarchy and Central European national identity helped guide me at every step, just as her enthusiasm for the project and her unflagging moral support inspired me to continue when it seemed as though the work would never be complete. I must also thank Professor Lee Congdon of James Madison University, who began my education as a historian, and whose graduate course on the history of Eastern Europe first introduced to me to the fascinating complexity of the Habsburg Monarchy and its nationalities. On a more personal level, I also wish to thank my mother, Marcia Campbell, my ii step -mother, Gaynelle Campbell, and my in -laws, Larry and Amy White, and Jenny White, for their good cheer, gentle encouragement, and countless acts of kindness and assistance. The preceding also applies to my father, Ed Campbell, who additionally was generous enough to supply his considerable skills as an editor and proofreader during the man uscript’s final stages. Finally, and most importantly, I must express my enormous thanks to my wife, Laura White, and my son, Sam, who made numerous sacrifices and put up with a great deal in order to help me achieve this goal. Without their unstinting love and support I never could have embarked upon this journey, let alone completed it successfully, and I owe them more than I can express. It is to Laura and Sam, with profound gratitude and love, that I dedicate this study. iii Contents Introduct ion: Imperial Ghosts, Imperial Shadows .........................................................1 Part I. Breaking with the Past?: “German -Austria,” 1918 -1933 Chapter 1. Politics and the Habsburg Past in the First Republic ..........................19 i. Austrian Conservatives and the Habsburg Past in the First Republic. ..34 ii. The Social Democratic Party and the Habsburg Past in the First Republic .........................................................................................67 iii. Austrian German Nationalists and the Habsburg Past in the First Republic .........................................................................................95 Chapter 2. Education and the Habsburg Past in the First Republic .....................126 i. Austrian Educational Re form Between 1918 and 1933........................128 ii. The First Republic’s Pedagogical Community and the Habsburg Past 146 iii. The First Republic’s History Textbooks and the Habsburg Past ........178 Part II. The Past as a Patriotic Foundation: The “Second German State,” 1933 - 19 38 Chapter 3. Politics and the Habsburg Past in the Ständestaat .............................202 i. The Rise and Fall of the Ständestaat ....................................................208 ii. The Ständestaat and the Habsburg Past ...............................................219 iii. Opponents of the Ständestaat and the Habsburg Past ........................237 Chapter 4. Education and the Habsburg Past in the Ständestaat ........................288 i. The Ständestaat’s Educational Reforms ...............................................290 ii. The Pedagogical Community and the Habsburg Past in the Ständestaat 302 iii. History Textbooks and the Habsburg Past in the Ständestaat............325 Part III. Repudiating the Past: The “Alpine and Danubian Reichsgaue ,” 1938 -1945 Chapter 5. Politics, Education, and the Habsburg Past in Nazi Austria ..............341 i. National Socialist Ideology and the Nazi Seizure of Power in Austria 345 ii. National Socialism and the Habsburg Past ..........................................353 iii. Educational Policy and the School System in Nazi Germany ............358 iv. National Socialist History Education..................................................367 v. Nazi Education and the Habsburg Past ................................................377 vi. The Austrian Resistance Movement and the Resurgence of Austrian National Identity ..........................................................................391 Part IV. The Past as an Alibi: Austria Reborn, 1945 -1955 Chapter 6. Politics and the Habsburg Past in the Second Republic ....................413 iv ii. The New Austrian Conservatism and the Habsburg Past ....................420 ii. Postwar Socialists and the Habsburg Past ...........................................460 iii . The Postwar Communist Party and the Habsburg Past ......................495 iv. Enduring German Nationalist Sentiment in Postwar Austria .............521 Chapter 7. Education and the Habsburg Past in the Second Republic ................527 i. The Second Republic’s Cooperative System of Government ..............531 ii. The Second Republic’s Educational Reforms .....................................534 iii. The Second Republic’s Pedagogical Community and the Habsburg Past ..............................................................................................542 iv. The Second Republic’s History Textbooks and the Habsburg Past ..560 iv. The Changing Face of Austrian National Identity ..............................573 Conclusion: The Long Shadow of the Habsburg Past in Austria ..............................578 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................602 v Introduction: Imperial Ghosts, Imperial Shadows Vienna today is a city in many ways still haunted by the ghosts of the Habsburgs. Walking its streets, one encounters around every corner magnificent reminders of an imperial past which seem rather out