Ernest von Koerber

Ernest von Koerber (November 6 1850 – March 5 1919) was an Austrian politician.

Background

Ernest von Koerber was born in Trento, now part of Italy, then belonging to the Austrian Empire.

Koerber came from an ethnically German family but he became extremely involved in Austrian culture and politics. The study of Rechtsstaat, or constitutionality and civil rights was popular during Koerber's teen years and Koerber and his peers such as Sieghart, Steinbach, Baernreither, and Redlich learned and immersed themselves in this principle.

Koerber’s knowledge of government was apparent when he launched his career as a bureaucrat in 1874. By 1897 Koerber was serving Austria-Hungary as its commerce minister. Only two years later in 1899 Koerber rose to the position of minister of the interior. In 1900 the emperor asked Koerber to create a cabinet and serve as Ministerpräsident or prime minister. This was by far the most influential position of Koerber’s career. Koerber served in this capacity until the end of 1904 when he left office.

First Koerber cabinet

From the beginning of his term in office, Koerber had a great deal of difficulties. Under the Compromise of 1867 the kingdom of Hungary was provided internal autonomy with the exception of the areas of war and foreign affairs. Therefore Koerber preserved full authority only over Cisleithania, the Austrian portion of Austria-Hungary. Furthermore, the Reichsrat, the parliament of Cisleithania, was politically weak. In order to make vast liberal reforms Koerber depended largely on article 14, a provision which allowed the Emperor to issue an “emergency regulation” for any necessary purposes. The meetings of the Reichsrat quickly transformed into forums for Koerber to bargain with party leaders.A. J. P. Taylor: "The Habsburg Monarchy". Hamish Hamilton, London 1966]

Koerber’s tenure in office was also marked by tensions within Austria-Hungary. The dual monarchy dissipated any sense of allegiance to a single crown. All ethnicities resented the one another and it became apparent that most acts by government would result with at least one despondent sector.

Even education was a controversial aspect within the monarchy. The Italians in the Habsburg Monarchy could no longer provide themselves with university education within the borders of Austria after it lost Veneto in 1866. Koerber sought to fix this problem and presented a draft law establishing an Italian university. However widespread disapproval from Germans, culminated in riots during the aborted inauguration of the first course, to be opened in Innsbruck in November 1904, forced this law to be later withdrawn by the government [Joseph Held and Stanley B. Winters: "Intellectual and Social Developments in the Habsburg Empire. From Maria Theresa to World War I". Columbia University Press, NYC 1975] . Koerber also attempted to institute a “National University” with German as the language of teaching but the Italians and Slavs protested this plan.

Koerber pursued reform for the infrastructure of the monarchy; particularly railway systems and canals. These expansive reforms were made in efforts to appease the members of the Reichsrat and create a sense of regionalism by producing non-controversial government reforms. Despite Koerber's efforts, these changes did not provide the reaction Koerber expected and the attention once again shifted towards the nationality question [Mark Cornwall: "The Last Years of Austria-Hungary; a Multi-National Experiment in Early Twentieth-Century Europe." University of Exerter Press 2002, p. 42] .

Additionally, Koerber aimed to promote the industry and communications sector. He abolished censorship of the press. Koerber believed this would benefit the changing and expansive monarchy. Koerber also exhibited his liberal ideology by reducing the harsh persecution of Social Democrats and accepting them in his territory without coercing them to change their ideology. This was a tremendous stride in individual rights.

Coupled with these strategies was Koerber's economic savvy. Koerber was able to convince others of his 1902 without resorting to article 14 [Robin Okey: "The Habsburg Monarchy". Palgrave Macmillian 2001, p. 348.] . Koerber pursued economic development, but once again, it was to no avail. Many historians believe that Koerber’s consistent pursuance of economic matters over national issues made his reign highly unpopular. Ethnic hostilities ensued despite his attempts at reform. The lack of transition within the state diminished Koerber's dreams and he eventually resigned from office in December 1904.

Koerber was succeeded by Paul von Gautsch, an education minister.

Second Koerber cabinet

Koerber returned back to the spotlight following the outbreak of World War I. Koerber served as finance minister of Austria-Hungary from 1915 to 1916. In October 1916, Count Stürgkh, the minister president of Austria-Hungary was suddenly assassinated. Francis Joseph quickly recalled Koerber to return as prime minister. Many had hoped that Koerber would modify the tyrannical system that took over during wartime [Robert Kann: "A History of the Habsburg Empire 1526-1918". University of California Press, London 1874] . However Koerber was constantly coming into conflict with the new emperor, Charles I and did not make this change. In fact, the constant disputes made it difficult for Koerber to get anything accomplished. Koerber still held out hope that Austria and Hungary were able to unite; both politically and socially. Charles I, however, continued to take measures that would hinder this progress. Koerber, an aged man by this point, decided he could no longer take these differences. A few short months later Koerber officially retired from office.

He died shortly after the end of WWI on March 5, 1919 in Baden, a town near Vienna.

References

Further reading

* Eric Roman: "Austria-Hungary and the Successor States; From the Renaissance to the Present". Facts on File, Inc., New York 2003.

External links

* “ [http://www.bartleby.com/67/1996.html Austria] .” "The Encyclopedia of World History", Sixth edition 2001. October 31 2006. Peter N. Stearns, general editor. 2001 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
* “ [http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/Koerber Koerber, Ernest von] .” "Yahoo Encyclopedia Online 2006". Yahoo Encyclopedia. 31 October 2006.