Krieg und Frieden. Land und Militär in direkter Konfrontation 1797–1918

War and Peace. Land and Military in Direct Confrontation 1797–1918. This chapter focuses on the extremes in relations between the land and the military. The first part deals with the period until 1866, when wars actually took place on Lower Austrian soil and foreign forces were stationed in the land. Here the analysis centres on strategies developed by the population to cope with extraordinary situations. The second section deals with the emergence of the military as a state regulatory power in the sphere of internal and public security in war and peace. The social conflicts following the Vormärz and the political movements in the second half of the 19th century played a role here, as did the First World War, when, although Lower Austria was not a frontline area, the military were the dominant factor in terms of internal security, public control, working life and food security.

Soldaten und Garnisonen. Das Militär und sein ziviles Umfeld

Soldiers and Garrisons. The Military and its Civilian Environment. This chapter outlines a regional military history of Lower Austria in the 19th century. In the context of history of the k. k. and later k. u. k. Army, peacetime relations between the land and the military are presented in two particular areas. The chapter’s first section focuses on the land’s recruitment and its transformation from a system based on forced conscription by a late-absolutist system to a constitutional monarchy employing citizen soldiers. In a second section, the phenomenon of the garrison illustrates the interdependence of the military and its civilian environment in public, social and economic life. In both sections, the question of the militarization of society is also explored. The surprisingly high incidence of individuals unfit for service and the significantly lower number of actual conscripts demand as much consideration as the economic importance of a garrison for the towns of Lower Austria in last third of the 19th century.

Spaltung und Radikalisierung. Deutschliberale und Deutschnationale 1850–1918

Division and Radicalisation. German Liberals and German Nationals 1850–1918. The developments in the 19th century laid the foundation for the spectrum of political parties that have determined the political landscape of Austria to the present day. Initially, German nationalism was shaped by a “liberal-thinking upper bourgeoisie”, but when the German National bloc broke up in the 1880s, an “aristocratically thinking petty bourgeoisie” took the lead. The political biography of Georg von Schönerer (1842–1921) reflects this development. From the remains of the German liberal ideology arose not only social democracy and Christian socialism but a German national “right wing”, economically liberal and state-supporting, and a “left wing”, ethnic, racist and anti-Semitic. These wings overlapped in many ways and their proponents often changed positions. Ultimately, Austrian German nationalist parties laid the ideological foundation upon which in the 20th century National Socialism built its ideology.

Industrialisierung und Gewerbe. Die allmähliche Durchsetzung von „nützlichem Wissen“

IIndustrialization and Crafts. The Gradual Rise of Useful Knowledge. This chapter provides an analytical overview of the development of industry and crafts in Lower Austria in the 19th century. It is written from the perspective of Joel Mokyr’s industrial enlightenment approach and takes into account specific regional developments. The text first describes the institutional framework and quantitative developments. This is followed by histories of the large-scale industries (cotton and mechanical engineering, including electrical engineering) and rural industries (iron and metal processing, pottery production, the paper industry). Finally, the chapter discusses the diverse networks of value creation that developed between industry and commerce in sectors with a large proportion of small businesses.

Verfassung und Verwaltung. Landesfürst und Stände, Politiker und Beamte

Constitution and Administration. The Territorial Prince and Estates, Politicians and Officials. This chapter focuses on the bipolar political life in Lower Austria in the course of the long 19th century. Beginning with the constitutional realities before the revolution of 1848, it examines the constitutional developments after 1848 and 1861, and also offers a brief description of the various administrative organizational structures and their efforts and achievements. Prior to 1848, the aulic offices sought to minimize the political role of the estates and thus the participation of sections of the populace. Yet according to the constitutional settlement of 1861, some elements of the population hitherto not involved in politics were given the opportunity for self-determined activities. The “autonomous” administration of the land became a substantial part of public administration, being quite successful in supplying all kinds of services. Owing to a blurred assignment of remits between the “autonomous” administration of the land and that run by the central state government, this “dual-track” public administration diminished the effectiveness of its activities and became a nuisance for the public at large

Staatliche Bezirksbehörden nach 1848. Knotenpunkte der "unmittelbarsten Beziehungen" von Staat und Bevölkerung

District Administration by the State after 1848. The Nexus of the “Most Immediate Relations” between the State and the Population. With the abolition of the manorial system in 1848, the Habsburg state was forced to create its own network of local administrative institutions. This project mobilised huge quantities of both personnel and material resources, and eventually affected the everyday lives of the entire population. In Michael Mann’s terms, it intensified the previously thin, extensive power of the state. On the surface, it sought to strengthen the despotic power of the state, but at the same time, it had to rely on manifold contributions by local actors, who were compensated not only with increasing benefits, but also with opportunities to participate in governance. While the neo-absolutist attempt to replace constitutional rule with paternalist bureaucracy failed, it created structures that would remain fundamental to state-building until the end of the Monarchy and beyond.

Wachstum und Verteilung

Income Growth and Distribution. This chapter describes economic growth and the distribution of income and wealth. Data on income are available from the last years of the 19th century onwards, whereas data on wealth are available for the entire century. Of all the Austrian lands, Lower Austria had the highest productivity, the earliest shift from agriculture to other sectors, and the largest wealth. It is a prime example of regions where the income distribution tends to widen from the beginnings of modern economic growth onwards. From the turn of the century on, however, the distribution tends to narrow again. The main reason for these changes lies in the differences in distribution structures between agriculture and the other sectors. Changes in income differentials between branches, or groups in the vertical order of branches, have less impact. The same pattern (growing inequality when a region is more developed) is also visible in synchronous comparisons between regions in different stages of economic development.

Staatswissen und Staatsbildung. Der statistische Blick auf Niederösterreich 1790–1848

State Knowledge and State Building. Descriptive Statistics in Lower Austria 1790–1848. This chapter analyses the Lower Austrian statistical practice at the end of the 18th and in the early 19th century in its broader scientific and administrative context by focusing on the creation of a statistical-topographic collection on the regional level. The collection’s format demonstrates the existence of hitherto unexplored connections between academic Staatenkunde and topography as complementary methods of the contemporary sciences of the state. On the administrative level, the collection highlights the similarly unexplored regional level in statistical data management in the Habsburg Monarchy during the first half of the long 19th century. The changing formats of data collection reveal the process by which regional elites adapted to the cadastral and statistical efforts of the central government during the Franciscan period, as well as its public use. Ultimately, the history of the collection exemplifies the intertwined regional and central levels of state-building, in which the regional participants held considerable infrastructural powers.