The Victors and the Vanquished

Abstract

“Defeated” Austria and “victorious” Czechoslovakia followed different paths following the end of the First World War, and the different contexts of defeat and victory shaped collective violence in the two countries. The two countries also differed in the social group that epitomized the special ethical legitimacy that came to symbolize the new order. In Austria, the group that became the symbol of new order were the war invalids, their disfigured bodies in society representing their sacrifice and wartime suffering, their presence in the public space heightening the impact of protest. However, it was not only war invalids who were visible on the streets of Vienna, but also the “enemy”: British, French, and Italian soldiers whose presence and actions often led to violent outbursts by the local population. In contrast, in Czechoslovakia officers of the victorious powers were not attacked; to the contrary, they took important positions within the newly formed Czechoslovak army. In Czechoslovakia, it was not the war invalids who came to symbolize the new order, but members of the Sokol and the legionnaires, who had fought against the imperial army for independence, often enjoying the approval of onlooking crowds as they took the task of building the future into their own hands.