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Foreign Policy and the Nationality Problem in Austria-Hungary, 1867–19141

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2009

Solomon Wank
Solomon Wank
Affiliation:
Franklin and Marshall College
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Extract

The theories on foreign policy and international relations which have emerged in the last decade stress the interaction between foreign policy and internal social structure. Contemporary analysis of this interaction has benefited from refined social science methods and concepts developed since the end of the Second World War, but awareness of the connection between foreign policy and internal policy is not new. For instance, as long ago as the eve of the First World War Rudolf Goldscheid wrote that “nothing is more Utopian than the belief that substantial alterations in internal policy can be realized without simultaneous corresponding changes in foreign [policy] and vice versa.” The interaction between Austro-Hungarian foreign policy and the nationality problem in the monarchy from 1867 until 1914 is a striking example of Goldscheid's general thesis.

Type
Foreign Policy
Information
Austrian History Yearbook , Volume 3 , Issue 3 , January 1967 , pp. 37 - 56
Copyright
Copyright © Center for Austrian Studies, University of Minnesota 1967

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References

2 I am indebted to the following for new ideas and new approaches to the subject of this article: Hinsley, Francis H., Power and the Pursuit of Peace: Theory and Practice in the History of Relations between States (Cambridge, England: University Press, 1963)Google Scholar; Modelski, George, A Theory of Foreign Policy (New York: Praeger, 1962)Google Scholar; Rosecrance, Richard N., Action and Reaction in World Politics: International Systems in Perspective (Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1963)Google Scholar; Liska, George, “Continuity and Change in International Systems,” World Politics, Vol. XVI, No. 1 (October, 1963), pp. 118–136CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Rosenau, James, National Leadership and Foreign Policy: a Case Study in the Mobilization of Public Support (Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University Press, 1963)CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Mayer, Arno J., Wilson vs. Lenin: The Political Origins of the New Diplomacy, 1917–1918 (Cleveland, Ohio: World Publishing Co., 1964)Google Scholar.

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4 For the sake of simplicity, the term “Austria” is used throughout this article instead of the more accurate but awkward phrase “those kingdoms and lands represented in the Reichsrat.”

5 Kálnoky is usually regarded as a Magyar, but he was born in Moravia, had more Austro-German than Magyar ancestors, and, according to a recent account, never really felt himself to be a Magyar. See Rutkowski, Ernst R., “Gustav Graf Kálnoky. Eine biographische Skizze,” Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs, Vol. XIV (1961), pp. 330–343Google Scholar.

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7 Kálnoky, Memorandum, p. 22.

8 As quoted in Diószegi, István, “Der Gemeinsame Ministerrat vom 18. Juli 1870,” Ada Historica, Vol. IX, No. 3–4 (1963), p. 366Google Scholar.

9 Fuchs, Albert, among others, has pointed this out in his Geistige Stromungen in Österreich 1867–1918 (Vienna: Globus, 1949), pp. 11–14 and 169–176Google Scholar. See also Wank, Solomon, “Zwei Dokumente Aehrenthals aus den Jahren 1898–99 zur Lösung der inneren Krise in Österreich-Ungarn,” Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs, Vol. XIX (1966), pp. 339–362Google Scholar.

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14 Kálnoky, Memorandum, p. 22.

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16 As quoted in Diószegi, “Der Gemeinsame Ministerrat vom 18. Juli 1870,” p. 363.

17 Diószegi, “Das Problem der aussenpolitischen Tendenz in Österreich- Ungarn im August 1870,” p. 114.

18 Mémoire des Freiherrn von Aehrenthal über die Beziehungen zwischen Österreich-Ungarn und Russland 1872–1894, Staatsarchiv (Vienna), Allgemeines Politisches Arehiv I, Red Karton CDLXIX (Geheim Liasse, Fasz. XXIII/a)Google Scholar.

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21 Kálnoky, Memorandum, p. 6.

22 ibid., p. 9.

23 ibid., pp. 6 and 17. The recommendation of a policy of reconciliation between the nationalities was meant more for Austria than for Hungary and was related to the Czech-German conflict. Despite his plea for reconciliation, Kalnoky warned against a settlement that would significantly weaken the position of the Germans in Austria.

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31 ibid.

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37 Namier, Lewis B., “The Downfall of the Habsburg Monarchy,” in Vanished Supremacies: Essays on European History, 1812–1918 (New York: Harper and Row, 1963), p. 138Google Scholar.