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The Austrian parliament was probably the most chaotic of its time and thus attracted frequent visitors who went there for a good laugh. But how did it get to this point, especially after its promising start? Today’s episode will dive into the history of the Austrian Imperial Council. It explains how the common man fought for the right to vote and what that meant for the Habsburg Empire. It shows how the parliament got abused by a radical few and what kind of lessons we can learn from it.

Literature:
- Hamann, Brigitte: Hitlers Wien. Lehrjahre eines Diktators, München 1996.
- Judson, Pieter M.: Habsburg. Geschichte eines Imperiums 1740-1918, München 2020.
- Kann, Robert A.: Geschichte des Habsburgerreiches 1526-1918, Wien et al. 1993.
- Konrad, Helmut: Nationalismus und Internationalismus. Die österreichische Arbeiterbewegung vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg, Wien 1976.
- Ostermeyer, Günter: Bilder aus der Obstruktionszeit des Wiener Reichsrats (1897–1909), in: Zeitschrift für Parlamentsfragen 17 (1986), H. 3, pp. 435-443.
- Parlament Österreich: Geschichte des Wahlrechts, https://www.parlament.gv.at/verstehen... (accessed on 13.01.2024).
- Rumpler, Helmut: Eine Chance für Mitteleuropa. Bürgerliche Emanzipation und Staatsverfall in der Habsburgermonarchie 1804-1914, Wien 1997.

Sources:
- Arbeiter-Zeitung, 04.11.1905.
- Arbeiter-Zeitung, 06.11.1905.
- Victor Adler: Zur Wahlrechtsreform. https://www.mediathek.at//atom/135BB6...

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
1:08 Parliamentarism. A Humble Beginning
6:00 The Development of the Reichsrat
7:18 The Fight for the Right to Vote
12:44 Chaos and Obstruction
17:45 What we can learn from it
19:50 Outro