Monument to the Republic on Vienna's Schmerlingplatz next to the Parliament building, photo, 1970

Medium

Battle-zone of the Monument to the Republic: The monument bears a banner with the text “12 November 1918 – 12 November 1970. Long live the Republic of Austria. The Socialist Party of Austria”.

Partner

Austrian National Library

ÖNB Bildarchiv und Grafiksammlung

Verwendet bei

Development

The First Republic in the historical memory

The Republic of German Austria was proclaimed on 12 November 1918. The name also marked the direction of the new state, which strove for annexation with Germany, a development that was explicitly forbidden by the victorious powers. In the historical memory, it is seen as the “remnant” of the Monarch, the “state no one wanted” or the “reluctant state”. However, this image was created after 1945 as a negative foil to the successful Second Republic. It says nothing of the hopes and opportunities after the Monarchy and the war that many people saw in this republic.

Chapter

12 November 1918 as a Site of Memory

‘An important day in the history of the world is over. From close up it does not look that wonderful.’ (Entry in the diary of Arthur Schnitzler)

In the First Republic the strong polarization between the working class and the bourgeoisie as well as the deep political mistrust between the Social Democrat and Christian Socialist parties also found expression in a divided culture of memory and in divided attitudes towards the most important sites of memory in the political world of the First Republic.