Influence of the Political and Nationalist Quarrels on the Economic Reforms

(The 1892 Austro-Hungarian Currency Reform and the role of the Slovenes)

Authors

  • Andrej Pančur Inštitut za novejšo zgodovino

Keywords:

money, politics, parliamentarism, Austro-Hungary, Slovenija

Abstract

The nationalist and political quarrels in the Austrian part of the Habsburg Empire frequently rendered impossible a normal functioning of the State Parliament. Even during the time of Eduard Taaffe's government (1879-1893), when the State Parliament was able to function quite normally, the nationalist and political quarrels posed a threat to the government reforms. The author presents divisions during a parliamentary debate over a currency reform in 1892. In the process of rapprochement between the government and the United German Left, a political crisis broke out several times, in which the apple of discord were also the national differences between the Slovenes and the Germans. This threatened the adoption of the currency reform. Finally, the author presents the nationalist quarrels which were directly money related, that is, concerning the inscriptions on banknotes and coins.

Published

1999-01-01

Issue

Section

Articles