Imperial Council (Austria) - House of Representatives

House of Representatives

After several electoral reforms enacted by Minister-Presidents Eduard Taaffe and Kasimir Felix Badeni, in 1907 voting rights finally became independent of the amount of taxes paid, which gave stronger representation to less wealthy individuals such as members of the Working class, and diminished the power of the German-speaking bourgeosie. The suffrage was extended to all males aged 24 or older who had resided in one place for at least one year, and the principle of "one man one vote" was implemented in furtherance of universal, direct, equal and democratic suffrage. While this was perhaps an admirable advance in terms of democratic theory, the inevitable result was the splintering of the Council into numerous factions, principally geographical and ideological, that limited its viability as a working legislature.

In 1907 the Council's lower house was composed of 514 delegates:

1. 96 Christian-Socials
2. 86 Social Democrats
3. 84 Pro-German partisans, composed of the following:
   1. 31 German People's Party
   2. 21 German-Agrarians
   3. 17 German-Progressives
   4. 12 German-Radicals ("Wolfians")
   5. 3 Pan-Germans ("Schonerians")
4. 82 Czech partisans, composed of the following:
   1. 28 Czech-Agrarians
   2. 18 Young Czech Party
   3. 17 Czech Conservatives
   4. 9 Czech National Socialists
   5. 7 Old Czechs
   6. 2 Czech Progressives ("Realists")
   7. 1 Czech nonaffiliated
5. 70 Poles, composed of the following:
   1. 25 Polish National Democrats
   2. 17 Polish People's Party
   3. 16 Polish Conservatives
   4. 12 Polish Center
6. 5 Jewish members, composed of the following:
   1. 4 Jewish National Party
   2. 1 Jewish Democrats
7. 14 Italians, composed of the following:
   1. 10 Italian Conservatives
   2. 4 Italian Liberals
8. 23 Slovenians, composed of the following:
   1. 18 Slovenian Conservatives
   2. 5 Slovenian Liberals
9. 29 Ruthenians, composed of the following:
   1. 25 Ruthenian National Democrats
   2. 4 Old Ruthenians
10. 12 Croats
11. 5 Romanians
12. 2 Serbs
13. 1 Radical Russian
14. 1 Free Socialist
15. 1 Independent Socialist
16. 1 Social Politician
17. 2 nonaffiliated members

In addition there were 2 vacant seats.

After the decline of the German Liberals following the Panic of 1873, no party ever won an absolute majority. Throughout its existence, the effectiveness of the Imperial Council suffered heavily from conflicts between and within the numerous constituent ethnic groups of the monarchy. The Austrian governments had to rely on loose ad hoc alliances, often with the support of the Polish representatives (Polenklub), and there were as many as 29 Minister-Presidents between 1867 and 1918.

The sessions of the Abgeordnetenhaus proceeded chaotically as the deputies did not even agree on a common language, though only speeches in German were taken into the official record. After Minister-President Badeni in 1897 had failed with his language ordinance, numerous Czech delegates denied the authority of the "German"-Austrian parliament in general and sabotaged the meetings by countless emergency motions and filibusters. They were fiercely opposed by the German Radicals and the Pan-Germanists, who themselves sought the dissolution of the Monarchy and annexation of all its German-speaking territories by the German Empire. The conflicts culminated in shouting, roistering and brawls, which made the galleries a popular entertainment venue for Viennese citizens, among them the young Adolf Hitler.