and Hungarian dominions broke into open revolt; but with the help of Russian troops the revolts were at last put down, and for a while the crown was again omnipotent. The people, however, remained discontented, and although after the defeat of Austria by Napoleon III. in the Italian campaign of 1859 a number of political experiments were tried, they all failed to satisfy the different races, or to organize the monarchy on a permanent basis. The war with Prussia brought matters to a crisis, for Austria was sadly humbled, and the Emperor felt that if he would regain his position in Europe he must set his house in order and content his subjects. The task was not an easy one, and the Emperor took the extraordinary step of calling to his help a foreigner, Baron Beust, who had long been a minister of the King of Saxony. But, though a stranger, Beust understood the wants of the country better than his predecessors, and it was not long before he placed the government on a more satisfactory basis. The Italian provinces had already been lost by the wars of 1859 and 1866; with Hungary a new and peculiar relation, a sort of confederation, was now established; and for the rest of the Empire a constitution was framed which remains in force to-day. In this chapter the latter part of the monarchy alone will be considered. The next two will deal with Hungary and the joint government. In order to understand the institutions of Austria, it is necessary to know something of its peculiar geography and ethnology. The official designation of the western half of the monarchy-which for convenience Geography and ethnology of I shall call simply Austria-is "the kingdoms and lands represented in the Reichsrath,"1 and the name implies the utter lack of unity in Austria. the nation. Austria is, in fact, a sort of residuum, consisting of all the territory which belonged to the Empire at the time of the compact with Hungary, and did not form a part of that kingdom. The country has a most irregular outline, touching the Lake of Constance on the west, extending on the north into the heart of Germany by means of the province of Bohemia, stretching one long arm eastward above and even beyond Hungary, and another far to the south along the coast of the Adriatic. This curiously shaped state is divided into seventeen provinces, all enjoying extended political powers, and almost all the theatre of struggles between two or more of the different races.2 Some idea of the number of distinct races in the Empire can, indeed, be gathered from the fact that on the assembling of the Reichsrath, or parliament, it has been found necessary to administer the oath in eight different languages.3 Yet these include only a small part of the tongues 1 Cf. Staatsgrundgesetz über gemeinsame Angelegenheiten (Dec. 21, 1867), § 1, printed in Geller, Oesterreichische Verwaltungsgesetze, Bd. I. p. 12; Ulbrich, Oesterreich, in Marquardsen, p. 14. Gumplowicz contends that the use of the name Austria for the western half of the monarchy is correct. Das Oesterreichische Staatsrecht, p. 45, note 42. 2 I call these divisions provinces for the sake of simplicity. Technically, some of them are termed kingdoms, others grand-duchies, archduchies, duchies, counties, etc. Cf. Staatsgrundgesetz über Reichsvertretung, § 1; Geller, Bd. I. p. 78. 3 "Austria: its Society, Politics, and Religion," Baroness de Zuylen de Nyevelt, Nat. Rev., Oct., 1891. and dialects that are spoken in the land. Among the many races that inhabit Austria there are, however, only five important enough to have a marked influence on politics. These are: first, the Germans, who comprise scarcely more than a third of the population, but possess a much larger share of the wealth and culture. They are scattered more or less thickly all through the country, and predominate along the Danube and in the provinces immediately to the south of it. Second, the Bohemians, or Czechs, who are the next most powerful race, and compose a majority of the people in Bohemia and Moravia. Third, the Poles, who form a compact mass in Galicia. Fourth, the Slowenians and other Slavs, living chiefly in the southern provinces in the direction of Triest. And fifth, the Italians, who are to be found in the southern part of the Tyrol, and in the seaports along the Adriatic. The numbers of the various races in Austria, according to the census of December 31, 1890, are as follows: Germans Poles. The division of the people into several different races is one of the most important factors in Austrian poli The consti tics, and we shall return to it when we come to consider the actual working of the government; but tution. first the political organization of the country must be explained. When this was remodeled after the war with Prussia, five statutes-all bearing the date of December 21, 1867-were passed, and termed the Staatsgrundgesetze, or fundamental laws of the state.1 They are, in fact, the constitution of Austria, and can be changed only by a two thirds vote of both Houses of Parliament. As they were all enacted on the same day, there is no obvious reason why they might not have been embodied in a single document, especially since they cover the same ground as the constitutions of other countries. One of them, that on the general rights of citizens, consists of a bill of rights, while the rest deal with the organization and powers of the different public authorities in the state. In considering these, the simplest and clearest order will be to take up first the executive and then the legislative branch of the central government, turning afterwards to the provincial institutions, which play a very important part in the politics of the Empire. 1 Ulbrich, pp. 11, 16; Gumplowicz, §§ 25-27. These five laws are commonly cited by their titles, which indicate their contents. They are as follows: (1) Staatsgrundgesetz über die Reichsvertretung (R. G. B. 141. Printed with the amendments of April 2, 1873, inserted in the text, in Geller, Bd. I. p. 78). (2) St. G. über die allgemeinen Rechte der Staatsbürger (R. G. B. 142; Geller, Bd. II. pp. 1, 419, and Bd. I. p. 659). (3) St. G. über das Reichsgericht (R. G. B. 143; Geller, Bd. I. p. 847). (4) St. G. über die Richterlichegewalt (R. G. B. 144; Geller, Bd. I. p. 846). (5) St. G. über die Regierungs- und Vollzugsgewalt (R. G. B. 145; Geller, Bd. I. p. 872). 2 That is a vote of two thirds of the members present. One hundred members constitute a quorum of the lower house in other cases, but for this purpose the presence of one half the members is required. St. G. Reichsvertretung (as amended by the Act of April 2, 1873), § 15. succession. The transmission of the crown in Austria is treated to an unusual extent as something lying quite The crown. outside the scope of the fundamental laws; Rules of and although the rules of succession and the provisions about regency would doubtless not be changed to-day without the consent of Parliament, they have never been formally incorporated in the constitution. The rules of descent rest entirely on former imperial rescripts, and especially on the Pragmatic Sanction of December 6, 1724. This famous ordinance, issued by Charles VI. to enable his daughter Maria Theresa to succeed him, has made the canons of inheritance somewhat peculiar, for women are neither admitted to the throne as freely as in England, nor absolutely excluded according to the strict rules of the so-called Salic law as in most of the continental monarchies. The succession follows primarily the principle known in the English Common Law as tail male, that is, the crown passes only to male heirs, who trace their descent entirely through males. But if these fail, the succession goes by tail general; in other words, the nearest female heir or her descendant inherits. In such a case, however, the new sovereign starts a fresh line, so that the crown again passes by tail male, and only when the direct male heirs of the new line are exhausted can a woman again ascend the throne. But although by law the succession is strictly hereditary, the next heir does 1 Geller, Bd. I. p. 3. This ordinance is commonly spoken of as a fundamental law (cf. Ulbrich, pp. 8, 18), but it is not mentioned among the acts for whose amendment a two thirds vote of the Reichsrath is required. St. G. Reichsvertretung, § 15. 2 See Ulbrich, pp. 18–19. |