Czech Social Democracy, František Soukup, and the Habsburg Austrian Suffrage Campaign 1897–1907: Toward a New Understanding of Nationalism in the Workers’ Movements of East Central Europe

• Authors: Jakub Beneš
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This article examines a shift in Czech socialist workers’ political rhetoric in the first decade of the twentieth century from the sense that workers were excluded outsiders from the ethnic nation to the idea that they would rightfully redefine and lead the ethnic nation. Social Democracy’s preoccupation from 1907 on with national concerns led directly to the splitting of Austrian Social Democracy along ethno-national lines several years before the outbreak of World War One. Because this rhetorical and social-psychological shift coincided with a major extension of voting rights in Habsburg Austria (in which Social Democratic mobilizations played a key role), this paper argues that democratization played an important, though unappreciated, role in the rise of nationalism in the east central European workers’ movement. It also highlights the role of Czech socialist leader, František Soukup, in facilitating and articulating Czech workers’ new stance.

Keywords

EN

history; social psychology; Czech Social Democracy; political rhetoric; democratization; leaders; rank and file

Discipline

• HISTORY: HISTORY

• Publisher: Masaryk's Institute and Archives, ASCR
• Journal: Střed. Časopis pro mezioborová studia Střední Evropy 19. a 20. století. / Centre. Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies of Central Europe in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
• Year: 2012
• Volume: 4
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 9-33

Contributors

author

Jakub Beneš