A History of the Czech Lands by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HIS010010 HISTORY / Europe / Eastern
Publisher: Charles University in Prague, Karolinum Press
Published: 2019-10-08T00:00:00+00:00

The first issue of the Národní listy (National Paper), January 1, 1861

The attempt to involve the nobility in the struggle for national rights failed despite some aristocrats holding prestigious posts (for instance, Clam-Martinitz was elected the head of the committee for the Museum of the Kingdom of Bohemia, while Karel Schwarzenberg became the vice-chairman). Seeking support among conservative wings of the monarchy drove the policy of the National Party (Národní strana) to a more conservative position. The Bohemian historical nobility was conciliatory to the Czech national efforts, but in the second half of the 19th century it remained anational, tied rather to German culture. The nobility’s support of the Czech national efforts thus had clear limitations.

In March 1861, elections to Land Diets took place. In Bohemia, the National Party’s candidates won in Czech electoral districts, while the Liberal Party’s (Liberální strana) representatives won in the German districts. The situation in Moravia was similar, although the Czech National Party was much less consolidated here due to a lesser degree of national consciousness of the local Czech-speaking population. The federalist-oriented nobility co-operated with the Czech National Party in both Diets while the German Liberal Party found an ally among the nobility “loyal to the constitution,” headed by Karl Auersperg. Political life in the Czech Lands was thus controlled by both national parties and their noble allies.

The Land Diets were summoned at the beginning of April 1861 with one task on their agenda – to elect deputies to the Reichsrat. The National Party considered boycotting the Reichsrat as it was, in the view of its members, a foreign body which interfered with the historical rights of the Kingdom of Bohemia. In the end, even the Czechs reluctantly decided to send their deputies to the Vienna parliament. The Czech nation was represented by twenty deputies from Bohemia and four from Moravia, while Silesia was represented only by Germans. Only one Czech was appointed to the House of Lords – František Palacký.

Czech political representation consisted mainly of burghers, most of them lawyers, followed by university and secondary-school teachers and Catholic clergy. The Czech entrepreneurs’ representation was not particularly numerous, yet nor was it marginal. Middle peasant class representation was higher in Moravia, although in Bohemia the number of peasant representatives rose sharply from the late 1880s.

The Reichsrat was summoned at the beginning of May 1861. The proposed bills had to win approval in both houses and the ruler, who held the power of veto. It was the ruler who dissolved and summoned the Reichsrat. The newly formed parliamentary system was shaken from the very beginning, as the deputies for the Hungarian Kingdom, Croatia and the Venice region did not attend it. The Vienna parliament thus remained limited to the representatives of non-Hungarian lands. Even then, not all the deputies present at the Reichsrat were satisfied with the existing political situation. The Czechs and Poles demanded a federative reconstruction of the monarchy on a historical basis, while the German majority in the House of Deputies insisted on a centralist system.

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