“The wicked boys at school”, caricature from Neue Glühlichter, issue of 19 January 1899

Around the turn of the century the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy enjoyed a glorious flowering in the arts, scholarship and science. At the same time, however, the country was shaken by apparently insoluble social and national conflicts. Under a dazzlingly brilliant surface the Habsburg imperium was struggling with a profound crisis.

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.