Chapters

For the national movements of the peoples of the Habsburg Monarchy, the final objective of national development was seen as being complete cultural and political autonomy or even their own national state. The slogan of the "right of the peoples to self-determination" was on everyone's lips.

Although cinematography was of increasing economic importance, for a long time there were no uniform regulations concerning the conditions and content of performances. For that reason, conflicts between authorities, morally concerned audiences and cinematograph operators were inevitable.

Special performances with erotic films were among the great attractions of the early cinema days. These ‘gentlemen’s evenings’, as they were called, included not only ‘spicy’ films but also films about surgical interventions, diseases and physical deformities.

The call for ‘good’, ‘morally elevating’ films with an instructive rather than an entertaining and voyeuristic element became more strident around 1906 as the medium began to spread. A debate initiated by the educated middle classes about the danger of ‘trashy films’ resulted in the establishment of the cinema reform movement, which stood for ‘better’, ‘morally superior’ and instructive film-making.

The protests against the ‘dreadful state of the cinema’ by teachers, parents, clergy and theatre directors obliged the industry to close ranks. In 1908 the Reich Association of Cinematograph owners was founded, and the new trade magazines (Kinematographische Rundschau, Der Komet) saw themselves as the mouthpiece of the industry, making known its interests and providing information about new trends and developments. An important concern revived in 1916 was the demand for the standardization and centralization of censorship and the establishment of an appeals procedure against prohibitions.

The First World War intensified the use and acceptance of new propaganda media. The war effort was encouraged at all levels. The organization of film propaganda in Austria-Hungary was the responsibility from 1914 of the film department of the War Press Office.

The films made by the film department for the War Press Office had several functions: to support the war and the military activities and to put the treatment of prisoners of war, the ‘cultural status of the Monarchy’, the feeding of the population, the war industry, ‘the natural beauty of the Monarchy’ and the imperial household in the best possible light.

The National Film Headquarters (Staatliche Filmhauptstelle) became the most important producer of critical non-fiction and scientific and instructive films in the first years of the young Republic. Its repertoire also include good entertainment films promoting the small state of Austria.

When is it legally acceptable to wage war and what is just in a war? These questions appear holier-than-thou in view of the enormous suffering that war brings with it. And yet, wars never take place in a complete legal vacuum. Rather the opposite is the case.

Since the second half of the 19^th century, the attempt had been made to create a law on war that was established in written form and generally recognised. Early successes were seen in the years around the turn of the century. The generally accepted law of war around the time of the First World War was formed by the Geneva Convention (1906) and the Hague Land Warfare Convention (1907). 

In the last years of the nineteenth century images of Austria-Hungary also began to ‘move’. The films from the late Danube Monarchy glorified the past. The myth and image of the Monarchy was created at the time and communicated in films. The visual clichés in the feature films of the inter-war and post-war years are notable for their ‘imperially beautified’ pictures and impressions of the ‘quiet and pleasant’ life in the Monarchy.

During the German invasion of Belgium and France, repeated assaults took place on the population there. This triggered a mass exodus. Over 4 million civilians sought protection from the German army in the hinterlands. The population’s fears in this regard were not unfounded. 

Cinematographic reporting on the duties of the members of the court quickly developed into a specialization by domestic and foreign companies. Weeks before an event the production companies began preparing and advertising what were billed as ‘sensational’ pictures.

The imperial structure was characterized by a rigid class system and social contrasts. Aristocrats and some of the bourgeoisie saw Habsburg rule as ‘good times’. For the majority of the underprivileged in the country and cities, however, life was fraught.

The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy had a diversity of religions, and the Emperor’s subjects included Catholics, Protestants, orthodox Christians, Jews and Muslims. Except for the Catholic Church, however, religious groups were practically absent from the Austro-Hungarian pictorial canon.

The Habsburg empire had a large number of ethnic groups, languages and mentalities. Ethnic discord, German chauvinism, the Polish question, Italian irredentism, and Serbian, Romanian and Ukrainian interests strained domestic and foreign relations and questioned the limits of the Danube Monarchy.

During the First World War international attention and propagandistic indignation – on account of the invasion of Belgium that violated international law alone – was directed against the German war crimes on the Western front. This resulted in crimes in other theatres of war receiving mostly little attention, although the scale on the Eastern and Southern fronts significantly exceeded that of the Western front.

The war propaganda reported on successful engagements by the troops and advances in production. In reality, the First World War had long turned into a battle for resources.

The shadow side of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and the First World War has barely impinged on the visual memory as there is an absence of film material. Poverty, disease, social arrogance, exclusion, national and ideological conflicts and finally the atrocity of war and mass killing are hinted at in but a few films.

Driven by resentment and suspicions of spying, the Habsburg army persecuted parts of its own population as the ‘enemy within’. Yet many thousands of civilians fell victim to the soldiers’ acts of atrocity during the military invasion, too. Besides the war crimes of the marauding troops, the Habsburg military courts also distinguished themselves with an inglorious ‘efficiency’.

In the course of the First World War between 7 and 8.5 million soldiers are estimated to have been held prisoner. The prisoners of war, according to the Hague Land War Convention, were under special protection. In general they possessed the right to be treated with ‘humanity’. Yet despite a series of coded prohibitions and regulations, hundreds of thousands of them perished. The chances of surviving captivity varied considerably in the various countries concerned. 

During the war, the civilian population came to endure a worsening of their living conditions in general. This affected the shortage in foodstuffs and consumer goods in a particularly drastic way, however, leading to a dramatic emergency.

"The warring parties do not have unlimited rights in the choice of means to damage the enemy." This is stated in Article 22 of the Hague Land War Convention. The fact that the war participants – from the individual soldier to the commanders-in-chief – acted here ‘more liberally’ than permitted by the law of war is shown by the use of dum-dum shells and toxic gas.

Austrian literature on the First World War has strands which are in favour of war and heroics, but it also makes repeated references to the culture of the lower orders with its enjoyment of the pleasures of life, the theatrical playfulness and gentleness of the Austrians and the artistic mentality of the dreamers from – to quote the writer Anton Wildgans – ‘the people of dancers and of fiddlers’, who become heroes ‘when it is necessary’.