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general law laying down clear and universal rules, but since the time of Joseph II. German had been the ordinary language of the Government. All laws were published in German; German was the sole language used in the central public offices in Vienna, and the language of the court and of the army; moreover, in almost every part of the monarchy it had become the language of what is called the internal service in the public offices and law courts; all books and correspondence were kept in German, not only in the German districts, but also in countries such as Bohemia and Galicia. The bureaucracy and the law courts had therefore become a network of Germanspeaking officialism extending over the whole country; no one had any share in the Government unless he could speak and write German. The only exception was in the Italian districts; not only in Italy itself (in Lombardy, and afterwards in Venetia), but in South Tirol, Trieste, Istria, and Dalmatia, Italian has always been used, even for the internal service of the Government offices, and it remains to this day the language of the Austrian navy. Any interference with the use of German would be a serious blow to the cause of those who hoped to Germanize the whole empire. Since 1867 the old rules have been maintained absolutely as regards the army, and German has also, as required by the military authorities, become the language of the railway administration. It remains the language of the central offices in Vienna, and is the usual, though not the only, language used in the lieiehsrath. In 1869 a great innovation was made, when Polish was introduced throughout the whole of Galicia as the normal language of Government; and since that time the use of German has almost entirely disappeared in that territory. Similar innovations have also begun, as we shall see, in other parts. Different from this is what is called the external service. Even in the old days it was customary to use the language of the district in communication between the Government offices and private individuals, and evidence could be given in the law courts in the language generally spoken. This was not the result of any law, but depended on administrative regulations of the Government service ; it was practically necessary in remote districts, such as Galicia and Bukovina, where few of the population understood German. In some places a Slavonic-speaking individual would himself have to provide the interpreter, and approach the Government in German. Local authorities, e.g., town councils and the Diets, were free to use what language they wished, and in this matter the Austrian Government has shown great liberality. The constitution of 1867 laid down a principle of much importance, by which previous custom became established as a right. Article 19 runs: “All races of the empire have equal rights, and every race has an inviolable right to the preservation and use of its own nationality and language. The equality of all customary {landesublich) languages in school, office, and public life, is recognized by the state. In those territories in which several races dwell, the public and educational institutions are to be so arranged that, without applying compulsion to learn a second Landessprache, each of the races receives the necessary means of education in its own language.” The application of this law gives great power to the Government, for everything depends on what is meant by landesiiblich, and it rests Avith them to determine when a language is customary. The Germans demand the recognition of German as a customary language in every part of the empire, so that a German may claim to have his business attended to in his own language, even in Dalmatia and Galicia. In Bohemia the Czechs claim that their language shall be recognized as customary, even in those districts such as Reichenberg, Avhich are almost completely
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German; the Germans, on the other hand, claim that Czechish shall only be recognized in those towns and districts where there is a considerable Czech population. What Taaffe’s Administration did was to interpret this law in a sense more favourable to the Slavs than had hitherto been the case. Peculiar importance is attached to the question of education. The law of 1867 required that the education in the elementary schools in the Slavonic districts should be given in Czech, or Slovenian, as the case might be. The Slavs, however, required that, even when a small minority of Slavonic race settled in any town, they should not be compelled to go to the German schools, but should have their own school provided for them; and this demand was granted by Prazak, minister of education under Count Taaffe. The Germans had always hoped that the people as they became educated would cease to use their own particular language. Owing to economic causes the Slavonic races, who increase more rapidly than the Germans, tend to move westwards, and large numbers settle in the towns and manufacturing districts. It might have been expected that they would then cease to use their own language and become Germanized; but, on the contrary, the movement of population is spreading their language, and they claim that special schools shall be provided for them, and that men of their own nationality should be appointed to Government offices to deal with their business. This has happened not only in many places in Bohemia, but in Styria, and even in Vienna, where there has been a great increase in the Czechish population and a Czechish school has been founded. The introduction of •Slavonic into the middle and higher schools has affected the Germans in their most sensitive point. They have always insisted that German is the Kultur-sprache. On one occasion Count A. Auersperg (Anastasius Grun) entered the Landtag of Carniola carrying the whole of the Slovenian literature under his arm, as evidence that the Slovenian language could not well be substituted for German as a medium of higher education. The first important regulations Avhich were issued under the law of 1867 applied to Dalmatia, and for that country between 1872 and 1876 a series of laws and edicts were issued determining to what extent the Slavonic idioms were to be recognized. Hitherto all business had been done in Italian, the language of a small minority living in the seaport towns. The effect of these laAvs has been to raise Croatian to equality with Italian. It has been introduced in all schools, so that nearly all education is given in Croatian, even though a knowledge of Italian is quite essential for the maritime population; and it is only in one or two towns, such as Zara, the ancient capital of the country, that Italian is able to maintain itself. Since 1882 there has been a Slavonic majority in the Diet, and Italian has been disused in the proceedings of that body. In this case the concessions to the ServoCroatians had been made by the Liberal ministry; they required the parliamentary support of the Dalmatian representatives, who were more numerous than the Italian, and it was also necessary to cultivate the loyalty of the Slavonic races in this part so as to gain a support for Austria against the Russian party, which was very active in the Balkan Peninsula. It Avas better to sacrifice the Italians of Dalmatia than the Germans of Carinthia.1 It was not till 1879 that the Slovenians received the support of the Government. In Carniola they succeeded, in 1882, in winning a majority in the Diet, and from this time while the Diet of Styria is the centre of the German, that of Carniola is the chief support of the Slovenian 1
For Dalmatia, see T. G. Jacksou, Dalmatia, &e, Oxford, 1889.
