Rom und die nationalen Katholizismen in der Donaumonarchie: Romischer Universalismus, habsburgische Reichspolitik und nationale Identitaten 1878-1914 ... Institutes in ROM)

by Andreas Gottsmann

The aim of this work is to examine the question of how the Catholic Church as an institution reacted to the problem of nationalism in the Austro- Hungarian Empire. For centuries, in many parts of the monarchy, denomination membership was a deciding factor for the creation of ethnic awareness. Denomination-based nationalities owed their creation mostly to political initiatives, and were characterized by particularly strong loyalty to the Monarch. Thanks to their inherently conservative and anti-revolutionary effect, they were used in the 19th century in order to slow down the development of linguistic nations based on a stronger internal dynamism and hence politically difficult to control. Whilst denomination undoubtedly lost some of its importance as an identifying factor around the turn of the century, being superseded by linguistic and national ties, it nonetheless continued to be an important basis for national movements right up until the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. However, its significance declined, replaced by the integrating effect of nationalism. The concept of nation was increasingly linked with religious values, with the cultural factor of denomination mostly retaining a merely catalytic function. While denomination was determined by religious factors and had a national cultural effect, the "nation" derived from political intention and acquired a religious connotation. As a result it escaped the need for a specific definition, which increased its integrating effect. In the nation, religion and the churches acquired a secular competition with a religious aura. German text.

408 pages, Paperback

First published December 31, 2010