Between Empire and Republic

The proclamation of the Austrian Republic in November 1918, with the consequent collapse of the Habsburg monarchy, not only deprived the Church of its role, but also brought about the advent of a national identitarian debate in the newly-formed state, bitterly renamed as the “state that nobody wanted”. Thus, the image of Austria started a process of reshaping from its former imperial multiethnic identity to a “never-ending” search for a national “Austrian” identity; the sense of being Austrian soon turned into an element of class and political division, undermining the foundations of democracy. After the Second World War and the physical and mental ruins of 1945 for a society that had lived a seven-year black-out following economic collapse and civil war, the end of democracy, and the crimes of National Socialism, Austria restarted what would be a successful process of national identity construction. A parliamentary democracy was rebuilt, based on a twofold political consensus and, thanks to American support, an economically successful republican society came into being. This was how Austria became a nation whose shared and common values were further strengthened when the country became a member of the European Union. Thus, adopting Andreas Khol’s quote, “from the country that nobody wanted, Austria has become a state that everyone wants”.