Political history of Habsburg Monarchy in 19. and 20. century

The main aim of the course is to introduce students to the political history of the Habsburg Empire in the period between the Congress of Vienna in 1815 and the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. Spatially, the course will cover three sections:
- Domestic political developments
- External political developments
- Slovenian space, with a greater emphasis on the regions of Gorizia and Gradisca

The focus is on the positioning of the Austrian Empire or Austria-Hungary in international political and diplomatic currents, the relations between the different ethnic groups within the country, and the central features of the political system, which was very specific. Part of the lectures will also be devoted to the Slovenian, and more specifically the Gorizia border region, which was under Habsburg rule for more than five centuries.
The aim of the lectures is to give students an insight into the main features that defined the Central European space in the 19th and early 20th centuries - nationalism, relations between ethnic groups, the beginnings of democratisation, the establishment of different ideological blocs, international diplomacy.
The aim of the seminar is to learn about the main literature covering the themes of the course and to get acquainted with sources from the period (newspapers, memoirs, archival documents). These will be used in practical work or in the preparation of seminar assignments.
They will acquire competences that will help them to better understand, among other things, ethnic relations, nationalism, political change, democratisation processes and inter-state relations, which are the foundations of today's modern society.

The subject is related to the courses Cultural History of Slovenian territory, World Wars of 20th century, Culture of regions and of border areas, Legal history and Europe in the period of Revolutions.

The course comprises three thematic sections:

The first will focus on the internal political
developments in the Habsburg state between
1815 and 1914, focusing on the role of the
emperor in the state, political systems, the
development of ideological blocs,
parliamentarism, the gradual democratisation
of society, the role of individual national
groups in the political process and the impact
of nationalism on socio-political developments.

The second section will focus on foreign policy
and the role of the Habsburg state. The focus
will be on the political role of the Habsburg
Empire in three contexts - the concert of
European powers, Central Europe and
South-Eastern Europe. The focus will be on
relations with neighbouring countries,
especially Prussia and later Germany, Italy,
Russia and the countries of the Balkans.

The third section will look in some detail at the
Slovenian and more specifically the Gorizia
region in the context of the dynamics,
processes and changes that defined the
country in the period under consideration. In
this smaller geographical area, the political
and ethnic relations between the Slovenian,
Italian and German ethnic communities will be
presented.

Domestic political developments in the Habsburg Monarchy:
- The role of the emperor in domestic and foreign policy
- Metternich's absolutism - the political system between the Congress of Vienna and the Spring of Nations
- Spring of Nations 1848
- Bach's neoabsolutism
- Dualist settlement with Hungary in 1867
- Constitutional life and parliamentarism in Cislaitania
- Establishment of ideological blocs
- Ethnic conflicts

External political developments in the Habsburg monarchy
- The role of the Habsburg Monarchy in the concert of the Great Powers after 1815
- The Habsburg role in the German and Italian spheres
- The wars with Italy in 1859 and 1866 and with Prussia in 1866
- The Dual and the Triple Alliance
- The role of the state in the Balkans from the 1870s onwards, the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 and the Austro-Hungarian actions during the Balkan Wars of 1912/13
- The alliance system and international relations on the eve of the First World War

The political situation in Slovenia and in the regions of Gorizia and Gradiška
- Political and ethnic situation in Slovenia
- Slovenian integration with other (South) Slav ethnic communities
- Cultural struggle (Kulturkampf) on Slovenian territory

Students will be able to understand, articulate and interpret the historical developments of the Central European region in the 19th and early 20th centuries. They will be familiarised with a wide range of literature and different sources, which they will be able to analyse and critically evaluate.

Basic:

• Bridge, F. R.: From Sadowa to Sarajevo: The Foreign Policy of Austria-Hungary, 1866–1914. London; Boston: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1972. E-version
• Bridge, F. R.: The Habsburg Monarchy among the Great Powers 1815–1918. Oxford: Berg, 1990. E-version
• Cvirn, J.: Dunajski državni zbor in Slovenci: (1848–1918). Celje: Zgodovinsko društvo; Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, 2015. E-version
• Grdina, I.: Slovenci med tradicijo in perspektivo. Politični mozaik 1860–1918. Ljubljana: Študentska založba, 2003.
• Judson, P. M.: Habsburški imperij: nova zgodovina. Ljubljana: Sophia, 2018.
• Taylor, A. J. P.: Habsburška monarhija: 1809–1918. Ljubljana: DZS, 1956. Catalogue
• Urbanitsch, P.; Wandruszka, A. (ur): Die Habsburgermonarchie: 1848–1918. Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1973-
• Marušič, B.: Pregled politične zgodovine Slovencev na Goriškem 1848–1899. Nova Gorica: Goriški muzej, 2005. Catalogue
• Melik, V.: Volitve na Slovenskem 1861–1918. Ljubljana: Slovenska matica, 1965. E-version
• Wingfield, N. M. (ur.): Creating the Other: Ethnic Conflict and Nationalism in Habsburg Central Europe. New York; Oxford: Berghahn Books, 2004.
• Zwitter, F.: Nacionalni problemi v Habsburški monarhiji. Ljubljana: Slovenska matica, 1962. Catalogue

Additional:

• Antoličič, G. (ur.): Franc Jožef. Ljubljana: Cankarjeva založba, 2017.
• Bled, J.: Franc Jožef. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga, 1990. Catalogue
• Cvirn, J.: Trdnjavski trikotnik: politična orientacija Nemcev na Spodnjem Štajerskem (1861–1914). Maribor: Obzorja, 1997.
• Fabi, L.: Storia di Gorizia. Padova: Poligrafo, 1991.
• Fisher, J. (ur.): Slovenska novejša zgodovina: od programa Zedinjena Slovenija do mednarodnega priznanja Republike Slovenije: 1848–1992, 1. del. Ljubljana: Mladinska knjiga; Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino, 2005. Catalogue
• Judson, P. M.: Guardians of the Nation: Activists on the Language Frontiers of Imperial Austria. Cambridge (Mass.); London (England): Harvard University Press, 2006.
• Judson, P. M.; Rozenblit, M. L. (ur.): Constructing Nationalities in East Central Europe. New York: Berghahn Books, 2004.
• Marušič, B.: Sosed o sosedu: prispevki k zgodovini slovensko-italijanskega sožitja. Trst: ZTT, 2012.
• Melik, V.: Slovenci 1848–1918: razprave in članki. Maribor: Litera, 2002.
• Pillon, L. (ur.): Ottocento Goriziano (1815–1915): Una città che si transforma. Gorizia: Editrice Goriziana, 1991
• Rahten, A.: Slovenska ljudska stranka v dunajskem parlamentu. Slovenska parlamentarna politika v habsburški monarhiji 1897–1914. Celje: Cenesa, Založba Panevropa, 2001. Catalogue
• Šterbenc Svetina, B.; Kolenc, P.; Godeša, M. (ur.): Zgodovinski pogledi na zadnje državno ljudsko štetje v avstrijskem Primorju 1910: jezik, narodnost, meja. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2012. Catalogue E-version
• Vodopivec, P.: Od Pohlinove slovnice do samostojne države: slovenska zgodovina od konca 18. stoletja do konca 20. stoletja. Ljubljana: Modrijan, 2006. Catalogue

Seminar paper and oral exam.

Jasna Fakin Bajec, PhD. is an ethnologist, cultural anthropologist and historian. In 2010 she received her PhD with the theme Processes of Creating Cultural Heritage between Tradition and Challenges of Modern Society in Karst region (University of Ljubljana, Faculty of arts). Since 2004 she has been employed at ZRC SAZU, Institute for Cultural and Memorial Studies. Since 2021, he has been the head of the ZRC SAZU Research Station in Nova Gorica. Since October 2022, she has been working part-time at the UNG, Faculty of Humanities, where she is the Director of the Cultural History (undergraduate programme) and the History and Culture of Cross-Border Spaces (Master's programme in the Humanities).

Her research interests focus on cultural practices of making heritage for the social, cultural, environmental and economic development of local communities. She also reflects on the importance of memories, emotions and affective reactions of the bearers of cultural practices in the mobilization of heritage for commercial purposes and consequently in the violation of cultural rights. At the same time, it focuses on the cultural history of the Karst, the Vipava Valley and Goriška in the 2/2 19th and 20th centuries. Her heritage and cultural studies been published in scholarly articles, collections of scholarly papers, and a book named Processes of making cultural heritage (2011).

Dr. Robert Devetak completed his PhD studies in 2019 at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. Between 2014 and 2018 he was employed as a young researcher at the Department of History, Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana, and in October 2021 he took up a post as an assistant professor with a PhD at the Institute for National Ethnic Issues in Ljubljana, where his primary research focus is on the Slovenian minority in Italy from the 19th century to the present day. Since 2019, he has been working in parallel at the Faculty of Humanities, University of Nova Gorica.

He has published the results of his research in several original scientific and scholarly articles and monographs, and presented them in numerous radio interviews, symposia, roundtables and exhibitions.

References:
- DEVETAK, Robert. Boj za slovenske šole in delovanje ženskih podružnic Družbe svetega Cirila in Metoda na Goriškem in Gradiškem v obdobju pred prvo svetovno vojno. Zgodovinski časopis : glasilo Zveze zgodovinskih društev Slovenije. [Tiskana izd.]. 2020, letn. 74, št. 3/4, str. 360-387
- DEVETAK, Robert. Vzpostavljanje slovenske narodne identitete na primeru trga Kanal v 60. in 70. letih 19. stoletja. V: KOČEVAR, Vanja (ur.), Kolektivne identitete skozi prizmo zgodovine dolgega trajanja : slovenski pogledi. 1. izd. Ljubljana: Založba ZRC, 2022. Str. 491-515
- DEVETAK, Robert. Slovenska dobrodelna akcija za bosansko-hercegovske begunce na Goriškem in Gradiškem leta 1875. V: AJLEC, Kornelija (ur.), BALKOVEC, Bojan (ur.), REPE, Božo (ur.). Nečakov zbornik : procesi, teme in dogodki iz 19. in 20. stoletja. 1. izd. Ljubljana: Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, 2018. Str. 691-714
- DEVETAK, Robert. Društveno življenje na Kanalskem v času Avstro-Ogrske. Nova Gorica: Goriški muzej Kromberk, 2016.
- DEVETAK, Robert. Kobencli v slovenskem časopisju druge polovice 19. stoletja. V: VIDIC, Federico, STASI, Alessio. I Cobenzl : una famiglia europea tra politica, arte e diplomazia (1508-1823). Roma: Lithos; Gorizia: Archivio di Stato di Gorizia, 2022. Zv. 2, str. 1171-1185.