Abraham Streep 3/12/00

A Social Pre-History: Vienna up to 1848

Urban Status Quo

The Austrian capital of Vienna was created with the intention of exhibiting and protecting the power of the imperial Hapsburg family. This city was, for most of the history of modern Europe, the ultimate symbol of absolutism and conservatism. Any attempts at social reform were made by the rulers of Vienna; this city’s early changes were not brought about by uprisings of the people. London and Paris, the two capitals that stood alongside Vienna as the exemplars for European civilization, were at times severely altered by dynamic urban social movements. The only Austrian lower-class attempts for change took place in the countryside, away from the looming, beautiful walls of conservative Old Vienna. The history of the Austrian Hapsburgs is riddled with wars and transfers of power, wealth, and land. Yet, alteration of the domestic class infrastructure was not attempted within the walls of picturesque, noble, magnificent Vienna; as times changed and other societies moved towards modernism, Austria, and especially her capital remained in a time warp, holding onto her conservative, elitist heritage. Conservative rulers, the Catholic church and an uptight, unflinching aristocracy loathed the idea of social change and made it virtually impossible for anti-elitist sentiment to spread, even during times when the Hapsburgs were laid weak and poor by conflict with opposing nations or Hungary and the Holy Roman Empire, the restless regions that were traditionally under Hapsburg rule. The physical construction of the city, and its odd, clear cut structural divisions, made such an immovable, authoritarian state possible. The dominance of the ruler and the upper class remained intact until the mid-nineteenth century, when centuries of immobility and frustration were finally given voice by a new, continent wide wave of liberal thought. Yet until 1848, change brought about from below was unattainable in Vienna.

The physical layout of Vienna provides the clearest evidence of and reason for the social stagnancy of the Austrian state. In most cities the poor, working class areas are situated in cramped neighborhoods, referred to nowadays as the inner city. In Vienna this was not the case; the city seemed to be constructed backwards by modern standards, with the monarch and the high aristocracy enclosed by a fortified wall, and the classes becoming poorer and poorer the further they were from the center of town. The reason for this setup lies in the history of the ancient Austro-Turkish wars. Old Vienna was enclosed by a fortified wall that protected her from the raids of the Ottoman Turks. (Fin de Siecle Vienna, 27) When the Turkish threat passed, however, the Hapsburg monarchy did not take down Vienna’s protection. While other nations took down their geographically limiting fortifications in order to allow for urban growth, Vienna kept up a physical barrier that distinguished her, and all of her aristocratic splendor, from the outside world. The city grew, but the inner city remained unchanged. A “broad glacis”, a sort of circular buffer zone of unsettled field distanced the inner city from the growing suburbs and the working class.(Fin de Siecle Vienna, 27) The glacis only provided further separation between classes and inaccessibility to wealth for the proletariat. This arrangement, along with the statues and monuments honoring various absolutist Hapsburg rulers, must have been very intimidating for those who were not born into the rich Viennese inner circle. One can see how the early, pre-bourgeois and Ringstrasse city’s odd, backwards structure would foster an environment unfriendly to social mobility.

None of the minute social change that did occur in Vienna before 1848 was brought about by the lower classes; all alterations and movements were brought about from above. Although Vienna’s surrounding growing manufacturing regions were clearly separate, distanced, and inferior to the inner city, the outside regions had no self-rule; they were directly governed by the Hapsburg government, with no local intermediaries. The outside suburbs were not only separate and inferior: they were separate, inferior, and dominated. The inner city and its surrounding glacis was called the “first Bezrik”. The first ring of suburbs, inhabited mostly by the growing bourgeoisie class of artisans and manufacturers was called the “Vorstadt”. (The City as a Work of Art, 151) The furthest areas fell under the classification of “Voront”. The southern and southeastern suburbs were inhabited by the real proletariat working classes; these regions could never have been identified with the same city that was home to the prestigious Herrengasse street. Although the classes were for the most part divided along these seemingly ridiculous, feudal lines, each area was somewhat integrated within itself, and over time some of the regional distinctions dissipated slightly. Yet, even this integration was brought about from above. For instance, some of the nobles of the inner city desired summer palaces, so they would build lavish homes in the outstanding suburbs. These palaces would mix the classes to some extent, although for the most part the nobles succeeded in pushing the workers further away from the city walls when they bought residences in the suburbs. Another example of change being brought about from above can be seen in the development of the Ringstrasse, the court that eventually replaced the empty glacis. Joseph II, who ruled at the end of the eighteenth century, held some democratic ideals and was called the “people’s ruler”, developed the empty, dividing land into a court that could have brought inner and outer Vienna together. However, his actions were not brought about by lower class desire for change or vocal protest; the ruler initiated the construction of the Ringstrasse on his own. This area ended up becoming home to the new aristocracy and an area uninhabited by lower and middle class citizens. It provided art, theater and entertainment for the upper classes, and served to unite the upper and lower nobility. (The City as a Work of Art, 153) The only changes that occurred within the city were brought about by the upper classes, and they did little to serve the interests of the poorer peoples. A 1914 study of the living condition of Viennese workers revealed that three quarters of all flats consisted of one room, a tiny kitchen, and possibly another small room. (The City as a Work of Art, 181) Vienna’s geography and social history make abundantly clear the source of the urban frustration that led to the revolution of 1848.

The monarchy, the clergy and the aristocracy were the forces of conservatism that dominated, and froze Austria’s social structure for hundreds of years. If there was ever any lower class discontent it was fiercely crushed by all three groups, and if the monarch ever attempted to facilitate any change that would allow for some national monetary equality and economic growth, he or she was prevented from doing so by the other two powerful groups (especially the clergy in the earlier centuries). The resulting legacy of conservatism that was left by the Austrian elite was like no other in the world. Since the middle ages the Austrian high nobility had been separating itself from the less wealthy nobles. While the great feudal landowners held their own estates and had sufficient capital to create steady incomes independently, the lesser nobility had to depend upon the state for money and opportunity.(The Austrian Achievement, 53) The only method of advancing in early Austria was to go to a Catholic school (even during the Reformation, the Hapsburg-Valois wars and the Thirty Years War, when most German princes turned to Protestantism, Austrian nobles would not turn on the Hapsburg monarchy and the Catholic church) and then get a job working for the state. Advancement could only be achieved through extreme loyalty to the state. The state, in turn, repaid nobles for their loyalty with the tax dollars that came almost exclusively from the working classes and peasants. In fact, the clergy and nobility were exempt from most taxation, with the peasants bearing most of the burden.(The Austrian Achievement, 41) After Protestant nobles were defeated at the 1620 Battle of White Mountain during the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), the Catholic monarchy and nobility rescinded all peasants’ rights. The farm workers’ possessions were legally put under control of their lords. This for all intents and purposes reduced peasants to serfs. As rents were raised between 1650 and 1740 (The Austrian Achievement, 41) peasants fell into debt and had to borrow against future crops, starting a cycle of debt that would carry on for years. Thus, it is easy to see how the triple threat of the monarchy, the clergy and the nobility could subjugate the lower classes for centuries; peasants and workers were in no state to revolt.

The Austrian Hapsburgs suffered their share of international defeats and were at times struggling for money, for the wealthy classes were for all intents and purposes exempt from taxation. Yet, until the revolution of 1848 the dynasty never lost control of its empire, and its power was never challenged from within Austria’s boundary’s. The monarchy was weak and beaten from the outside during the sixteenth century Hapsburg Valois wars, the seventeenth century Thirty Years War, the embarrassment of Aix-la-Chappelle (when the Hapsburgs lost nearly all of their Italian Possessions), and the Seven Years War with Prussia that ended in the loss of Silesia. Yet, during none of these conflicts did the downtrodden Austrian masses attempt at an uprising, or even gain any social mobility. The Thirty Years War tore up the German and Austrian countrysides and ended in the Hapsburgs granting religious self-determination to all German princes.(McKay, Hill, Butler) This conflict showed the vulnerability of the Hapsburgs and their fiercely Catholic tradition. Yet, while the Germans rebelled, the Austrian masses remained settled, as they would for the next two hundred years, and the 1660 recovery that followed the war helped only the upper classes. Towns had been decimated by the emigration of Protestants, so Austrian nobles became farmers and entrepreneurs instead of feudal lords. The business was changed, but the class structure was not. Another result of the Thirty Years War was the growth of Austrian anti-semitism. This sentiment developed as a result of a lack of wealth and a fear of poverty.(The Austrian Achievement, 47-48) In 1669 all Jews were expelled from Vienna. Thus, even though the power of the monarchy was severely damaged by the war, there was never any attempt at domestic social reform. If anything, class distinctions were widened by the Thirty Years War, and an ethnic distinction was created.

The latter part of the eighteenth century was the only period during which reform was attempted. In 1766 there were some peasant revolts, and although they were put down, the monarchy actually responded. Maria Theresa, mother of Joseph II, put through some legislation limiting the oppression of peasants.(The Austrian Achievement, 70) This loosening of the monarchical grip probably led to some lower class hope for change. At the same time the queen attempted to tax the upper classes and clergy, much to the chagrin of the Austrian elite. Joseph continued Maria Theresa’s somewhat liberal tradition, issuing a Patent of Toleration in 1781 that gave the right to worship to Lutherans, Calvinists, and members of the Greek Orthodox faith.(The Austrian Achievement) The monarchy was slowly moving away from its dependency upon the Catholic clergy, and slowly trying to level class differences. During this time period there emerged somewhat of an Austrian bourgeoisie, a class of artisans and middle class workers. Throughout European history it has been made evident that with the bourgeoisie comes the emergence of liberal public opinion and dissatisfaction. Joseph allowed for some public dissent, and allowed for some protest. This was the first time that the Austrian monarchy had loosened its grasp on the lower classes enough to permit dissension; it is interesting to note that once again all change was brought about from above- had Joseph not proved himself to be tolerant, there would definitely have been no peasant revolts. Public action, and class dynamics once again depended on the ruler.

Unfortuanetely for the rising middle class and the liberal Austrian thinkers there was a war with France in 1792 that ended all attempts at social leveling. Once Joseph was no longer on the throne and the government needed money for war the old Hapsburg conservatism was back in a heartbeat. Peasants were stripped of the rights that Joseph and Maria Theresa had granted them, and the upper classes reacted violently and conservatively to all liberal thought. It was not long before Metternich would come to power in Vienna, bringing with him a mantle of conservatism that was to last for a half century. The 1819 Carlsband Decrees would ban all dissension in universities and newspapers, effectively shutting out the voice of the middle and lower classes. The social pre-history of Austria and Vienna was one of conservatism and suppression. The isolationist, closed off, somewhat archaic physical situation of Vienna provided much wealth and beauty, but for absolutely no social mobility. The stifling dominance of the monarchy, the clergy and the aristocracy made Austria’s social history a fairly simple one: the rich stayed rich and the poor stayed poor, and there was nothing to be done about it. Vienna was constructed as a monument to social conservatism, and it remained that way for centuries. Neither foreign war nor domestic monetary strife could topple the unmoving Viennese class structure. The result was a pent up lower class frustration that would eventually turn into a revolutionary spark: the early dominance of Austrian absolutism actually brought about the downfall of the Hapsburgs.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Olsen, Donald J. The City as a Work of Art, 1986 Yale University.
2. Schorske, Carl E. Fin-de-Siecle Vienna, politics and culture, 1961 Vintage Books.
3. The Austrian Achievement, 1700-1800. The Fieldston School Library, Bome Reserve Shelf.
4. McKay, Hill, Butler. A History of Western Society, 5th Edition, Volume C.