Pressefreiheit in der konstitutionellen Ära der Habsburgermonarchie. Fallstudien aus Krain

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The first part of the discussion focuses on the emergence and development of press legislation in the Habsburg Monarchy from 1862 – when, with the beginning of the constitutional era and the adoption of the Press Act, the principle of press freedom within the limits of the law was proclaimed – until 1914, when censorship was reintroduced with the outbreak of the First World War. It reveals that ‘objective trial’ replaced censorship as a tool with which it was possible to suppress critical journals. The ‘objective trial’ was aimed against the text of the article and not against a person, so there no way to defend oneself, since there was no defendant. The second part presents how the authorities weaponised press legislation, together with the Penal Code, as a means of suppressing press freedom in the Land of Carniola. It shows that the liberal era (1867–1879) was actually very repressive against Slovene journals, whereas liberal German-language newspapers in Austria were not disturbed. In the conservative era of Taafee’s government (1879–1893) Slovenes were hoping to reap some benefits from their support for the government, but the oppression of media continued. However, Slovene journalists found means to smuggle their newspapers to the public, even if they were confiscated within the frameworks of the ‘objective trials’. In the last years before World War One, the nationalistic tensions triggered increase in trials that were based on sections prohibiting incitement of nationalist hate. The idea of ‘Yugoslavism’ was quite popular among Slovene journalists of the time. The tension reached its peak during anti-German protests in 1908 and during the conflict over the ‘national stamp’ memorizing this event. So the observation made by the British authors of the 1898 survey of international press legislation was quite correct: “The press in Austria is completely at the mercy of the government of the day.” The article sheds light on the broader relationship between the judiciary and the political establishment, revealing how legal repression was strategically employed to limit press autonomy and curb Slovene national aspirations.