ABSTRACT The paper examines the regionally very different prevalence of private law disputes and criminal cases before courts in the late Habsburg Empire. The hypothesis is pursued that these two phenomena partly occur in parallel and are conditioned by common social causes. Based on an analysis of judicial and census data for the Austrian half of the Monarchy from around 1900, the paper shows that ‘everyday conflicts’ brought to court, such as small claims disputes, actions of trespass and convictions for petty thefts and violent acts, actually become significantly less frequent the more industrialized a region is – even if this pattern is mainly determined by the rather special situation in the eastern Crownlands. Embezzlement, trade-related disputes and lawsuits over larger sums of money, on the other hand, are more common where commerce, transport and services are more prevalent, and the density of lawyers is higher. The rate of convictions for more serious crimes, however, is difficult to explain in terms of socio-economic indicators, but points to cultural patterns of criminalization that could be linked to migration phenomena. Different social theoretical interpretations of these empirical results are contrasted and discussed. On the one hand, the correlations found could point to states of social disintegration, as they can be described with the classic sociological-criminological concept of ‘anomie’; on the other, institutions of justice are strategically used ‘from below’ for the interests of different groups of the population. Insofar as civil litigation requires communicative actions and enables conflict resolution, the courts also provide a means of social integration to a certain extent. Patterns of harsher punishment of foreigners, by contrast, point to mechanisms of social exclusion. The article argues that research on uses of justice can benefit from considering the macrosocial framework conditions that can be described for the late Habsburg Monarchy with rich statistical sources.

Abstract This article examines the institutional evolution and professionalization of the state police in Prague during the final decades of the Habsburg monarchy, arguing that the transformation of the Prague State Police between 1893 and 1910 represents a proactive effort in modern state-building. Drawing on reports from the Prague Police Directorate and the Bohemian Governor’s Office, it analyzes how recurring episodes of mass violence—specifically the unrest of the early 1890s, the riots of December 1897, and the nationalist disturbances of 1908—exposed the structural vulnerabilities of a security apparatus designed for routine policing rather than mass politics. The article highlights a significant shift in administrative strategy: the movement away from a reliance on military intervention, which was increasingly viewed by civil authorities as a “double defeat” that undermined the legitimacy of the constitutional state. Instead, police directors such as Georg Dörfl and Karel Křikava successfully advocated for a robust, civilian-controlled force characterized by increased manpower, modernized equipment, and the establishment of a dedicated reserve for professional training. By 1910, the Prague Guard had largely expanded, reflecting a fundamental reconceptualization of urban order where protest was accepted as an unavoidable feature of political life to be contained by professional civilian forces rather than crushed by the army.

Famous tourist resorts have usually been also health resorts. At the same time, the development of high-altitude spas was closely linked to the treatment of tuberculosis. One of the reasons for locating sanatoriums away from large cities was to minimise the risk of infection. Tuberculosis sanatoria had the image of being dangerous places that should be avoided by the local population. Their construction was often accompanied by debates that delayed or prevented them from being built. In one of the most famous health resorts of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Semmering region, there were massive conflicts with representatives of tourism interests. Although the most important medical experts in the Habsburg Monarchy spoke out in favour of the construction and its safety, the authorities could not be convinced. A contemporary newspaper carried the headline: "The battle for Semmering". The conflicts surrounding the establishment of tuberculosis sanatoriums are shown, and the struggle for the first sanatoriums in the Austro-Hungarian Empire is made visible. The establishment of the first tuberculosis sanatoriums was accompanied by irrational fears, which could not be dispelled by expert opinions and statistical data. In the Semmering region, local representatives felt that tourism interests were under threat. This study examined the work of Leopold Schrötter von Kristelli, a laryngologist and social physician, within the context of the sanatorium movement. Schrötter von Kristelli made great efforts to establish a tuberculosis sanatorium and encountered significant opposition in his endeavours. The essay also highlights the important work of the Austrian Central Committee for Tuberculosis under the leadership of the social physician Ludwig Teleky. Teleky encouraged several important medical associations to investigate "danger of spreading tuberculosis through sanatoriums in their vicinity" in order to dispel these fears and prove the safety of such institutions. The College of Physicians in Vienna drew up a memorandum addressed to the relevant authorities demanding approval for the institution, but to no avail.

ABSTRACT By the end of the nineteenth century, the (European) urban lifestyle had become the role model for a modern way of life. In East Central Europe, in the multi-ethnic borderlands of the continental empires, the urban life and lifestyle also became a precondition and pattern for modern national life, defining and sharpening ways of mobilizing ethnic groups. Indeed, some of the components of urban life and lifestyle became a medium for spreading national consciousness. Vice versa, the urban lifestyle acquired national features. Using the particularly vivid example of multi-ethnic Lviv, this article discusses the emergence of urban lifestyles with a national character under the ‘umbrella’ of the Habsburg monarchy. In doing so, it shows that provisions of administrative organization provided tools for centrifugal ambitions.

ABSTRACT The bill of exchange (Wechsel, váltó) represented a key financial instrument in trade and business relations in the nineteenth century. The stock of bills of exchange amounted to 222 million Kronen in Austrian savings banks alone by 1912, and the importance of this payment instrument was even more crucial in Hungary, where 23.4% of all financial institutions’ assets was represented by the bill of exchange in the same year. It is no surprise that the litigation of the bill of exchange, called protest, became an important topic in legal discourses. There were, however, important regional disparities in the number of protests across the Habsburg monarchy. Eastern Galicia accounted for almost half of all protests in Cisleithania, and a third of all protests were reported on the territory of the Budapest higher regional court in Hungary. This paper analyses the historical uses of the bill of exchange from the perspective of protests and seeks to explain regional variation by asking the following questions: What function did the bill of exchange serve in contemporary economic life? How did litigation support its economic role? Are regional differences in the uses of the bill of exchange solely connected to economic indicators, or must social and cultural factors also be considered?

The article traces the evolution of Jewish life in the Austrian dominions during the eighteenth century, with particular emphasis on the geopolitical context shaped by Ottoman expansion and Habsburg ambitions in the Balkans. The author situates the transformation of (the) Jewish life within a long-term framework: from expulsions and discrimination (15th – 17th centuries), through recurrent suspicions of being a “fifth column”, to a period of relative legal stabilization and improvement during the Age of Enlightenment. The analysis demonstrates how the interplay between religious zeal, dynastic interests, and financial pragmatism shaped Habsburg policy: rulers often oscillated between repressive measures and the pragmatic use of the skills characteristic of Jewish communities (banking, 27 trade, etc.). A central argument is that a particular “Balkan connection” in the latter half of the eighteenth century contributed significantly to transforming attitudes toward Jews. The reforms of Joseph II, the recruitment of Jews into the army, and the broader plans for Balkan expansion (the “Greek Project”) are presented as decisive factors in the process of Jewish emancipation within the Habsburg Monarchy. The article concludes that through a combination of enlightened absolutism and geopolitical strategy, the Habsburgs, by the end of the eighteenth century, laid the groundwork for a broader emancipation of Jews in Central Europe – a development that would become fully visible in the nineteenth century. Keywords: Jews in Austria; Habsburg Monarchy; Joseph II; Jewish emancipation.

The article explores the significance of frontispieces in political works produced roughly between 1660 and 1710 in the territory of the Habsburg Monarchy, with a focus on Austrian and Bohemian lands. Frontispieces played a key role in this period as a visual-rhetorical device with which authors and publishers presented the content of the work and addressed readers. The article presents several examples of political frontispieces, such as works by Johannes Nicolaus Flämizer, Christian Weirauch, Franz Reinzer and others. The analysis shows that frontispieces were often designed allegorically, using universal symbols (e.g. virtues, state symbols, divine support) that expressed political values, idealized rule, and dynastic ambitions of the Habsburgs. The article concludes that frontispieces are an important source for understanding the visual political culture of the early modern period, as they offer symbolic models for interpreting politics, government and authority that complement but do not necessarily directly reflect the textual content of the works.

The article investigates how, in the second half of the seventeenth and throughout the eighteenth century, the Habsburg monarchy legitimized wars against the Ottoman Empire and how the transformation of that legitimization was reflected in wartime and peacetime messages addressed to different audiences — their own subjects, allies, and the Christians in the Ottoman provinces in the Balkans. Through an analysis of imperial manifestos and proclamations, it traces the shift from the traditional concept of bellum iustum and crusading rhetoric 93 to rationalized, legally and pragmatically grounded Kriegserklärungen premised on breaches of peace treaties and the balance of power. Propaganda practices — appeals to Orthodox and Catholic communities in the Balkans, calls for “liberation,” and later promises of religious freedom and humanity for potential Muslim subjects — are interpreted as instruments for legitimizing Habsburg expansion and for mobilizing local support. A comparative approach also reveals the influence of Russian rhetoric and the role of the press in shaping public opinion. The study demonstrates that sustaining a successful military-political presence in the Balkans required deliberately constructed public messages that synthesized legal, religious, and diplomatic arguments. Keywords: Habsburgs, Holy Roman Empire; Ottoman Empire; declaration of war, propaganda; the Balkans.

This article analyzes the posthumous image of Emperor Francis I, with particular emphasis on how the Viennese perceived him in light of the accounts of English traveler Frances Trollope. The work attempts to understand how the emperor, despite the conservative nature of his rule and negative assessments in contemporary historiography, gained the status of “father of the people” and enjoyed exceptional popularity in the capital of the Habsburg monarchy. Particular attention is paid to the emotional attitude of the Viennese towards the deceased monarch, manifested primarily in numerous anecdotes documenting their familiarity with the emperor. The analysis also includes a reflection on the factors that contributed to the mythologization of Francis I, such as his personal qualities, his style of government, and his genuine bond with the people of Vienna.

This article responds to John Connelly’s recent article on how historians should treat the history of ideas and practices of nationhood and nationalism in Central and Eastern Europe and the Habsburg Monarchy. The article questions the presumption of a non-ethnic West and Connelly’s rejection of the strategic use of national indifference in interpreting the social history of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It also suggests that adding an analysis of imperial institutions would help Connelly better understand the complex development of nationalist movements over time.

In the Habsburg Monarchy, the first admission of women to universities was in 1897 for the faculty of arts and in 1900 for the faculty of medicine. Prague was ready for this, and one might say that Prague directly initiated this breakthrough. Since 1890, the Minerva girls’ gymnasium had existed here, the first of its kind in Central Europe; it systematically prepared girls for university studies. As early as 1895, some of Minerva’s female students attended university lectures as extraordinary students, so the first woman’s doctoral graduation occurred in Prague as early as 1901, when Zdeňka Marie Baborová received a doctorate in biology. What was her subsequent fate? What sources do we have? And what were the fates of some of her successors? This article aims to address these questions.

This article explores the path of local journalistic associations in the Slavic countries of the Habsburg Monarchy towards international cooperation, formalised in 1898 at the First Congress of Slavic Journalists. The initiative to organise meetings of Slavic journalists persisted throughout the following years, up to 1912, and, in 1902, led to the establishment of a joint international organisation of Slavic journalists in Austria-Hungary under the name Central Association of Slavic Journalists. With the emergence of the Neo-Slavic idea, the organisation expanded beyond the borders of the Habsburg Monarchy. It evolved into the Pan-Slavic Association of Journalists, which organised, among other events, the Congresses of Slavic Journalists in Sofia in 1910 and in Belgrade in 1911. The article outlines the stages of growing cooperation among Slavic journalists, examines their aims and discussion topics, and highlights divergent interpretations of the idea of Slavic reciprocity among journalists of various national backgrounds – including the national conflicts that ultimately hindered further cooperation.

The nineteenth century in Europe marked a period of transition from the feudal system towards a mass society based on the principles of personal freedom and individual responsibility. During this time, new social groups and new elites emerged, among them the intelligentsia, particularly members of liberal professions – lawyers, doctors, journalists, artists, and scientists – who began to appear as an integrated and socially respected group. This development was also evident among the Jews living in the Habsburg Monarchy, where restrictions imposed on this social group were gradually lifted (finally in 1867), and their traditional approach to education made them the best-educated ethnic-social group in many regions. Individuals with academic degrees, primarily advocates and physicians, held prominent positions within Jewish groups, serving on the governing bodies of Jewish religious communities. The article examines these processes through the case of Cieszyn Silesia, a relatively small yet one of the most economically and socially advanced regions of the Habsburg Monarchy. The advancement of local Jewish intelligentsia, particularly physicians and lawyers, illustrates Pierre Bourdieu’s thesis that capital (economic, cultural, social) accumulated by individual families as the product of their past work can be passed on to the next generation, thereby offering them improved chances for life and future careers.

Common denominators for the community of lawyers of Polish origin practising in Cieszyn Silesia in the nineteenth century included the same legislation of the Habsburg Monarchy, the organisational structure of its judiciary, the legal framework governing their professions and the qualifications required for legal practice. However, the group was marked by disparities concerning social background, economic circumstances, career trajectories, immediate community, the desire to embrace a specific culture, and national affiliation. Lawyers resided and practised within a region incorporated into a larger spatial unit, i.e. Austria-Hungary, and, therefore, were shaped by geographical, political, social and economic interdependencies. The overlapping ties between regional, national and state levels might compel lawyers to show a relative preference for dual identity, considering that their ethnic affiliation did not rule out a sense of emotional and political loyalty to the state. Lawyers’ complex identities enabled simultaneous relationality and development across the levels of nation, region, country, and empire. The hypothesis that they experienced a dilemma over their identity, ambiguity regarding their national affiliation, or inner tension between their Polish patriotism and their Habsburg loyalty has not been substantiated. An analysis of available sources concerning a segment of lawyers from Polish-speaking family backgrounds suggests their tendency towards clearly defined national affiliation. However, this identification did not necessarily represent a continuation of their ethnic heritage. The available ego-documents indicate that this awareness typically crystallised during their school (gymnasium) and university years – a period in which communal influences and cultural or political factors shaped their choices in favour of pro-Polish, pro-Slavic, pro-Silesian, or pro-German options. This crystallisation of national affiliation did not compromise lawyers’ access to protection by state authorities, their right to equal treatment under the law, and their cooperation across social classes, institutional frameworks, professional spheres and religious denominations. Conflicts and potential interethnic barriers emerged when nationalisms gained prominence. Therefore, what is noticeable is the assimilation into the empire and integration with an intentionally chosen nation, including a deep self-declared commitment to their ‘own’ community.

Importance. The transformation of the phenomenon of loyalty as an integral part of the professional ethos of civil servants in Habsburg Monarchy institutions is analyzed, following its collapse in 1918 and the establishment of a parliamentary republic in Austria. It traces the formation process of political camps in Austria in the 1920s, accompanied by the promotion of their own narrow-party and, as a rule, utopian ideas about democracy, which differed from its classical parliamentary version. At the same time, special attention is paid to the development by the Austrian government of measures to counter the abuse of their official positions by employees of state institutions for party and political purposes. The purpose of the study is to examine the activities of political parties and extra-parliamentary forces represented in the Austrian Parliament in the second half of the 1920s and early 1930s, in particular, the Heimwehr, aimed at using the professional experience of government officials in party and political interests. Materials and Methods. The content of the concept “employees of state institutions” is revealed. Based on a critical analysis of statistical data, individual documents of political parties in domestic and foreign research literature using historical and comparative historical and genetic methods, the process of extrapolation of the political struggle in Austria in the second half of the 1920s and early 1930s to the official activities of government officials has been traced. Results and Discussion. Cases of violations of the principle of “party neutrality” by employees of state institutions in Austria in the second half of the 1920s and early 1930s have been identified, the practice of using “administrative resources” in some government departments to ensure the loyalty of their employees to the government has been analyzed, and measures taken by them at the legislative level to prevent politically motivated behavior have been highlighted officials. Conclusion. The collapse in 1920 of the Austrian government coalition formed as part of the Social Democratic Party of Austria (hereinafter referred to as the SDPA) and the Christian Social Party (CSP) in Austria contributed to the widespread dissemination of party thinking, which penetrated, among other things, into the corps of government employees considered neutral in this sense. The Government sought to prevent the growing politicization of government employees in the context of socio-economic and instability in the second half of the 1920s and early 1930s. To this end, the “administrative resource” was widely used in key government departments to purge the state apparatus of supporters of the SDPA and fill it with representatives of the government CSP. As a result, the inadmissibility of the participation of employees of state institutions in political activities was fixed at the legislative level.

This study explores the Josephine cadastre as the first systematic land registry documentation in the territory of Galicia during the late 18th century, positioning it as a legal and administrative instrument of the Habsburg Monarchy. The research aims to analyse the Josephine cadastre’s role in the regulation of legal relations between landlords and peasants within the framework of cadastral reforms, using the village of Vivsia as a microhistorical case study. The methodological framework is based on the dialectical method, enabling a comprehensive analysis of socio-political and legal processes at both the imperial and local levels. The article examines the internal structure of the cadastre, particularly the Grundbuch (land income register), and outlines the procedures of land measurement and tax calculation based on crop yields of key cereals and hay. Special attention is paid to the juridification of peasant land tenure and the formalisation of surnames as legal entities, reflecting broader socio-legal transformations in Austrian Galicia. The originality of the research lies in its application of a microhistorical approach to a single locality, which reveals the complexities of implementing imperial reforms at the village level and their unintended consequences. The study argues that while the Josephine cadastre was designed to facilitate equitable taxation and legal clarity, its practical implementation often diverged from the reformist intentions due to vested interests. Thus, the article positions the Josephinian Cadastre not only as a fiscal instrument but also as a source for understanding socio-legal transformations in Galicia.

Women's emancipation was a centuries-long process that took different forms across regions. In the Habsburg monarchy, as elsewhere in Europe, noble titles signified elite status and service to the state. Titles were typically conferred on men, reflecting their legal and social dominance. However, hereditary nobility meant that women often shared in the privileges of their husbands or fathers. Direct ennoblement of women was rare and usually tied to marriage with Habsburg princes. Yet in the 19th century, a few Austrian women were ennobled for their own achievements. These women were exceptions, not the rule, within a male-dominated honor system. Still, their recognition marked a shift in the monarchy’s view of women's public roles. The practice reflected changing ideas about merit, gender, and service to the dynasty. Though few in number, such cases signalled a broader transformation underway.

Women's emancipation was a centuries-long process that took different forms across regions. In the Habsburg monarchy, as elsewhere in Europe, noble titles signified elite status and service to the state. Titles were typically conferred on men, reflecting their legal and social dominance. However, hereditary nobility meant that women often shared in the privileges of their husbands or fathers. Direct ennoblement of women was rare and usually tied to marriage with Habsburg princes. Yet in the 19th century, a few Austrian women were ennobled for their own achievements. These women were exceptions, not the rule, within a male-dominated honor system. Still, their recognition marked a shift in the monarchy’s view of women's public roles. The practice reflected changing ideas about merit, gender, and service to the dynasty. Though few in number, such cases signalled a broader transformation underway.

Galicia, regardless of the territorial changes in 1795–1846, was a country open to possible aggression from the west, north and east. The only serious natural barrier – the Carpathian ridge – was the internal border of the Habsburg Monarchy. Austrian staff in the years 1779–1783 mapped Galicia and identified possible natural obstacles (rivers, hills) that could be used for improvised defence. Military plans from 1810–1848 most often stated that Galicia was impos-sible to defend against aggression (e.g. Russian), and that resistance should only be put up in the Carpathians. It was only from 1846 (annexation of Kraków), and especially from 1850 (new fortification plan for Austria), that Galicia was recognised as the area of a future manoeuvre war with Russia (or Prussia). Therefore, attempts were made to use the few natural obstacles to strengthen the country's defence: rivers (Vistula, San, Dniester) and, to a lesser extent, the heights of the Carpathians (mainly to secure communication routes for military purposes). The main military investments: the Kraków and Przemyśl fortresses and the strengthened San-‑Dniester line were intended primarily to protect the mobilisation of the monarchy’s own troops intended for the offensive against Russia. Secondly, they were given purely defensive tasks: blocking the operational line towards Vienna (Kraków) and Budapest (Przemyśl), using the existing river network and the hills of the northern slopes of the Carpathians. Galicia's modest natural values were also used in this way during World War I.

The article examines religious and social life in Nazarje between 1909 and 1921, drawing on the monastery chronicle, visitation records, and brief newspaper reports. World events, particularly the First World War and the subsequent disintegration of the Habsburg Monarchy, followed by the creation of a new state, significantly affected the life of this pilgrimage site and its inhabitants. The prewar years were characterised by festivities, vibrant social life, and various forms of religious observance. At the onset of the war, the monastery chronicler and newspaper reporters focused on mobilisation, the experiences of local inhabitants on the frontline, and various forms of humanitarian aid. A special chapter concerns the refugees from Gorizia, to whom the parishioners extended their utmost solidarity, including the establishment of a school for refugees. The article discusses the impact of scarcity, requisitions, and the earthquake of 1917, as well as the May Declaration Movement, the fighting for the northern border, and Nazarje’s reception of refugees from Carinthia. The visitation record from 1921 provides further details, describing the religious vitality and social engagement of the parish. The article thus offers an illustrative microhistorical insight into the intricate links between war, migration, religious observance, and solidarity in Nazarje’s local community.