Otto made his first public appearance as a representative of the House of Habsburg at the tender age of four, at the funeral of his great-great-uncle Emperor Franz Joseph in November 1916.
The 1930s saw the issue of the Habsburgs’ return brought back into the political arena in an active role. A chapter in Otto’s biography that has remained controversial to this day is his prominent association with Austrofascism. His committed efforts for the Austrian resistance in exile to the National Socialist regime are regarded in a far more positive light.
Otto Habsburg-Lorraine grew up as the figurehead of the legitimist movement. His use of the latter term was deliberately vague: as a politician he interpreted it as giving support to any lawful form of government. However, he must have been aware that in historical discourse legitimism is a synonym for dynastic monarchism.
Tyrol should remain undivided and all in Austria – that was one of the most important concerns of the Austrian delegation at the peace conferences in the spring of 1919.
The collapse of the Habsburg monarchy meant that the question of future nationality also became acute for the German-speaking population of western Hungary.
One of the most important concerns which the German-Austrian delegation had when they set off for the peace conference in Paris was the inclusion in the newly founded republic of German-Austria of the areas of German settlement in the Sudeten lands.
When the Provisional National Assembly of German-Austria proclaimed the republic on 12 November 1918, the frontiers of the newly founded state were not yet certain.
On 12 November 1918 the Provisional National Assembly of German-Austria proclaimed the Republic and declared its union with Germany. Article 2 of the provisional constitution stated that ‘German-Austria is an integral part of the German Republic.’
One of the products of the First World War was increased mobility. Millions of men were sent to the front and separated from their wives and families, something that had major consequences for partnerships and sexual behaviour.
Since the turn of the century there had been a marked drop in the birth rate throughout central Europe. Because of the deteriorating supply situation during the war, the number of births dwindled even further between 1914 and 1918.
The birth rate dropped considerably between 1914 and 1918. In view of the loss of life caused by the war, the reproductive behaviour of the population became a matter of national interest.
With the outbreak of war, complementary gender roles were reinforced. The ideal of the active fighting soldier was complemented by the image of the passive, self-sacrificing mother. These models meant that extramarital sexual relations by women were socially stigmatised.
With the outbreak of war, there was a significant increase in premarital and extramarital sexual relations both in the army and the civilian population. The military feared the rapid spread of venereal diseases, and the sexual activity of the troops was therefore of interest to it.
During the First World War there was a significant increase in venereal diseases. Before the war, 5.6 per cent of Austro-Hungarian soldiers suffered from a venereal disease. By 1915 the level had risen to 12.2 per cent.
The First World War gave rise to a considerable increase in extramarital sexual relations, a matter of great concern to the government and military leadership. They feared a rapid spread of venereal diseases and a weakening of the combat capability of the troops.
The military in the belligerent countries used different strategies to prevent the spread of venereal diseases. Not everyone was convinced of the effectiveness of moral instruction and offered regulated prostitution as an alternative.
The invasion of enemy troops was followed systematically by pillaging, destruction, deportation, rape and the execution of civilians. Sexual assaults by soldiers passing through or stationed in the occupied territory were part and parcel of daily life for the female population.
The atrocities committed against Belgian and French civilians by German troops was a central focus of Allied war propaganda. Pictures of defiled and mutilated women and children were used to justify the war and to mobilise the population of the Allied countries.
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