Black Vienna
Subtitle: the radical right in the red city, 1918-1938
By: Janek Wasserman
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Published: 2014
Place of publication: Ithaca
Language: eng
Number of pages: 254
ISBN-13: 9780801452871
Subjects: Politics and government; Political culture; Politische Kultur; Intellectual life; Political science; Right-wing extremists; Rechtsradikalismus; History
Description: "Interwar Vienna was considered a bastion of radical socialist thought, and its reputation as Red Vienna has loomed large in both the popular imagination and the historiography of Central Europe. However, as Janek Wasserman shows in this book, a Black Vienna existed as well; its members voiced critiques of the postwar democratic order, Jewish inclusion, and Enlightenment values, providing a theoretical foundation for Austrian and Central European fascist movements. Looking at the complex interplay between intellectuals, the public, and the state, he argues that seemingly apolitical Viennese intellectuals, especially conservative ones, dramatically affected the course of Austrian history. While Red Viennese intellectuals mounted an impressive challenge in cultural and intellectual forums throughout the city, radical conservatism carried the day. Black Viennese intellectuals hastened the destruction of the First Republic, facilitating the establishment of the Austrofascist state and paving the way for Anschluss with Nazi Germany. Closely observing the works and actions of Viennese reformers, journalists, philosophers, and scientists, Wasserman traces intellectual, social, and political developments in the Austrian First Republic while highlighting intellectuals' participation in the growing worldwide conflict between socialism, conservatism, and fascism. Vienna was a microcosm of larger developments in Europe-the rise of the radical right and the struggle between competing ideological visions. By focusing on the evolution of Austrian conservatism, Wasserman complicates post-World War II narratives about Austrian anti-fascism and Austrian victimhood"--Dust jacket.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 227-245) and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction : reconsidering "Red Vienna"; title: Black Vienna : the emerging authoritarian consensus in the early First Republic; title: The Austro-Marxist struggle for "intellectual workers" : the debate on the question of intellectuals in interwar Vienna; title: Kämpfende Wissenschaft : the Spannkreis, Central European radicalism, and the battle for hegemony in Vienna; title: "Absolut unpolitisch" : the formation of the Verein Ernst Mach and the politicization of Viennese progressive thought; title: Österreichische Aktion : monarchism, authoritarianism, and the unity of Black Vienna; title: The decline of Widerstandskraft : the rise and fall of politically engaged scholarship in Red Vienna, 1927-1934; title: The end of the Weltanschauungskampf : the triumph of radical conservatism in the Austrofascist state, 1933-1938; title: Conclusion : the restoration of Black Vienna and the de-politicization of the past in postwar Austria.