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All 425 seats in the Imperial Council 213 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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This article is part of a series on the politics and government of Austria-Hungary |
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Compromise of 1867 |
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Legislative elections to elect the members of the ninth Imperial Council were held in March 1897 in Cisleithania, the northern and western ("Austrian") crown lands of Austria-Hungary. These elections were first in Cisleithania held under the curial system with universal, but still not equal, suffrage. [1]
The Imperial Council was the legislature of the Austrian Empire from 1861, and from 1867 the legislature of Cisleithania within Austria-Hungary. It was a bicameral body: the upper house was the House of Lords, and the lower house was the House of Deputies. To become law, bills had to be passed by both houses, signed by the government minister responsible, and then granted royal assent by the Emperor. After having been passed, laws were published in the Reichsgesetzblatt. In addition to the Imperial Council, the fifteen individual crown lands of Cisleithania had their own diets.
Cisleithania was a common yet unofficial denotation of the northern and western part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in the Compromise of 1867—as distinguished from Transleithania, i.e. the Hungarian Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen east of ("beyond") the Leitha River.
Crown land, also known as royal domain or demesne, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. Today, in Commonwealth realms such as Canada and Australia, crown land is considered public land and is apart from the monarch's private estate.
Count Kasimir Felix Badeni had led the Cisleithanian government since 1895. In February 1896, the government submitted a proposal for fundamental reform of the electoral system. The so-called Badeni electoral reform kept the curial electoral system, but in addition to four existing curiae (landowners, trade and industry chambers, large and medium farmers, and male city residents who were annually paying at least 10 guilders of taxes), the fifth, general curiae, was added. While voting rights were limited in the four original curiae (fiscally defined, therefore, allowing voting to only those who have paid taxes on prescribed minimum amount), the fifth curia included all men older than 24. In May 1896, Badeni electoral reform was approved by the Imperial Council. [2]
Count Kasimir Felix Badeni, a member of the Polish noble House of Badeni, was an Austrian statesman, who served as Minister-President of Cisleithania from 1895 until 1897. Many people in Austria, especially Emperor Franz Joseph, had placed great hope in Badeni's efforts to reform the electoral system and the language legislation in order to solve some fundamental problems of the multinational state, which eventually failed.
Voting took place in several stages during March 1897, with the last elections being held in the fifth curiae on March 12, 1897. [3]
The elections significantly changed relations in the Imperial Council, with a strong trend in the degradation of the original dominant German Progressive Party being set. This trend went in favor of the newly founded German People's Party and the Christian Social Party. The elections also brought a further fragmentation of the political scene; the three strongest parliamentary clubs (Young Czechs, Polish Club, and German Progressive Party) had only 168 seats, and the new Imperial Council had 17 parliamentary clubs. Meanwhile, the Social Democrats were still weakening, winning only 15 seats. [4]
The German People's Party was a German nationalist political party in Austria.
The Christian Social Party was a major conservative political party in the Cisleithanian crown lands of Austria-Hungary and in the First Republic of Austria, from 1891 to 1934. The party was also affiliated with Austrian nationalism that sought to keep Catholic Austria out of the state of Germany founded in 1871, that it viewed as Protestant Prussian-dominated, and identified Austrians on the basis of their predominantly Catholic religious identity as opposed to the predominantly Protestant religious identity of the Prussians. It is a predecessor of the contemporary Austrian People's Party.
Party | Votes | % | Seats |
---|---|---|---|
Croatian Nation | |||
Croatian Moderate National Party | 3,751 | 0.36 | 6 |
Croatian National Party | 1,181 | 0.11 | 2 |
Croatian Radical Party | 419 | 0.04 | 3 |
Czech Nation | |||
Young Czech Party | 64,546 | 6.09 | 53 |
Old Czech Party | 22,769 | 2.15 | 0 |
Czech Compromise Candidates | 4,176 | 0.39 | 4 |
Czech People's Party (Young Czech) | 2,565 | 0.24 | 3 |
Bohemian Conservative Party | 2,369 | 0.23 | 1 |
National Czech Party | 1,883 | 0.18 | 0 |
German Nation | |||
Christian Social and Anti-Semitic Party | 372,395 | 35.15 | 39 |
Social Democratic Party | 245,001 | 23.13 | 14 |
German Liberal and Constitutional Party | 81,291 | 7.79 | 50 |
German People's Party | 48,000 | 4.53 | 31 |
German-National Party | 46,025 | 4.35 | 12 |
Social Politicians | 7,874 | 0.74 | 1 |
German Clerical and Conservative Party | 7,109 | 0.67 | 14 |
Catholic Conservative Party | 4,475 | 0.42 | 14 |
German Clerical Party | 2,140 | 0.20 | 2 |
Catholic People’s Party | 1,897 | 0.18 | 5 |
German Compromise Candidates | 1,548 | 0.15 | 1 |
Officials' Party | 1,207 | 0.11 | 1 |
German Farmers' Party | 1,157 | 0.11 | 0 |
Agrarian Party | 642 | 0.06 | 1 |
German Independents | 541 | 0.05 | 1 |
Italian Nation | |||
Italian Liberal Party | 25,312 | 2.39 | 14 |
Italian Autonomist Party | 1,465 | 0.14 | 0 |
Italian Clerical Party | 1,098 | 0.10 | 4 |
Italian Conservative Party | 916 | 0.09 | 1 |
Landowner Candidates | |||
Constitutionalist Landowners | 2,288 | 0.23 | 23 |
Conservative Landowners | 1,089 | 0.11 | 9 |
Bohemian Conservative Landowners | 689 | 0.07 | 19 |
Bohemian Centre Party–Moravian Centre Party | 346 | 0.03 | 3 |
Polish Nation | |||
Polish Conservative Party | 26,161 | 2.47 | 46 |
Polish Radical Party | 10,610 | 1.00 | 1 |
Polish Liberal Party | 8,792 | 0.83 | 5 |
Polish Democratic Party | 8,509 | 0.80 | 6 |
Polish People's Party | 6,077 | 0.57 | 3 |
Polish Clerical Party | 698 | 0.06 | 1 |
Romanian Nation | |||
Romanian National Party | 1,550 | 0.15 | 5 |
Ruthenian Nation | |||
Ruthenian Radical Party | 6,020 | 0.57 | 1 |
Young Ruthenian Party | 1,816 | 0.17 | 6 |
Ruthenian Moderate Party | 1,744 | 0.17 | 3 |
Ruthenian Radical People’s Party | 927 | 0.09 | 0 |
Conservative Ruthenian Party | 428 | 0.04 | 0 |
Old Ruthenian Party | 366 | 0.03 | 1 |
Russophilic Party | 287 | 0.03 | 0 |
Serbian Nation | |||
Serb People's Party | 183 | 0.02 | 2 |
Slovenian Nation | |||
Slovenian National Party | 9,386 | 0.88 | 2 |
Slovenian Liberal Party | 2,278 | 0.21 | 3 |
Slovenian Clerical Party | 1,984 | 0.19 | 8 |
Slovenian Conservative Party | 554 | 0.05 | 2 |
Young Slovenian Party | 262 | 0.02 | 0 |
Slovenian Radical Party | 122 | 0.01 | 0 |
Unknown & Split Votes | |||
Unknown votes | 5,130 | 0.49 | - |
Split votes | 7,930 | 0.75 | - |
Total | 1,059,319 | 100 | 425 |
Source: ANNO |
In May 1897, the Imperial Council had 16 political groups and individual parties:
Grouping | Seats |
---|---|
Bohemian Club | 60 |
Poland Club | 59 |
Association of German People's Parties | 41 |
Slavic Christian-National Association | 35 |
German Progressive Parties | 33 |
Club of Catholic People's Parties | 31 |
Union of Constitutional Landowners | 30 |
Christian Social Union | 26 |
Group of Bohemian Conservative Landowners | 19 |
Italian Union | 19 |
Social Democratic Association | 15 |
Free German Union | 15 |
Center Club | 6 |
Polish Christian People's Parties | 6 |
Romanian Club | 5 |
Schönerer's group | 5 |
Polish People's Party | 3 |
Independents | 17 |
Total | 425 |
After the elections, Badeni tried to negotiate with the aim of creating a stable pro-government parliamentary majority. However, he did not consider the German Progressive Party or the radical nationalist Pan-German League, but preferred to try to gain support among conservative German-Austrian politicians, including the liberal German Constitutional Party. After the German Constitutional Party refused to give support to the minority government, Badeni announced on April 2, 1897 that his government would resign, but did not go through with the resignation. Meanwhile, negotiations on forming a government continued. On April 4, a framework agreement was set, effectively restoring the conservative so-called Iron Circle from the 1880s, which consisted of the German Catholic People's Party, the Young Czech Party, the Polish club and the Czech Party of Conservative Landowners. Badeni remained Prime Minister. However, the government did not last long as Badeni resigned on November 28, 1897 under the pressure from the German nationalists over the language regulations. [5]
The Pan-German League was a Pan-German nationalist organization which officially founded in 1891, a year after the Zanzibar Treaty was signed.
A minority government, or minority cabinet or minority parliament, is a cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament. It is sworn into office, with or without the formal support of other parties, to enable a government to be formed. Under such a government, legislation can only be passed with the support of enough other members of the legislature to provide a majority, encouraging multi-partisanship. In bicameral parliaments, the term relates to the situation in chamber whose confidence is considered most crucial to the continuance in office of the government.
The Young Czech Party was formed in the Bohemian crown land of Austria-Hungary in 1874. It initiated the democratization of Czech political parties and led to the establishment of the political base of Czechoslovakia.
Charles University, known also as Charles University in Prague or historically as the University of Prague, is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1348, it was the first university in Central Europe. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe in continuous operation and ranks in the upper 1.5 percent of the world’s best universities. Today, the university consists of 17 faculties located in Prague, Hradec Králové and Pilsen. Its academic publishing house is Karolinum Press. The university also operates several museums and two botanical gardens.
The Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia is a communist party in the Czech Republic. It has a membership of 42,994 (2016) and is a member party of the European United Left–Nordic Green Left bloc in the European Parliament.
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Paul Gautsch Freiherr von Frankenthurn was an Austrian statesman who served three times as Minister-President of Cisleithania.
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Legislative elections to elect the members of the eight Imperial Council were held in 1891 in Cisleithania, the northern and western ("Austrian") crown lands of Austria-Hungary. These elections were the last to occur in Cisleithania before the Badeni electoral reform, which drastically increased male suffrage.