THE REST IS AUSTRIA

THE REST IS AUSTRIA
A republican history lesson

Wolfgang Maderthaner, Historian, Association for the History of the Labour Movement
in dialogue with
Peter Huemer, publicist, journalist and historian

The year 1918 changed the world: In the four years of the First World War, the catastrophe that set the course at the beginning of the 20th century, empires collapsed and new states emerged. Democracy had largely prevailed, but it was existentially threatened from the outset by authoritarian and fascist movements that had found their mass base in the trenches of the war.
On 12 November 1918, the Republic of German-Austria was proclaimed in parliament. Revolution was in the air. And the young state first had to consolidate itself. Practically all borders were up for discussion, as were the form of government and the constitution. The viability of the state was in doubt, and hyperinflation also deprived the middle classes of their livelihood.
The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy reduced Austria's population to around 6 million people. Out of the diversity of languages and cultures, a largely German-speaking and Catholic „remnant“ remained, which viewed its minorities with suspicion. The path to cultural and scientific narrowing was mapped out.