Austrian-German relations in the New Europe: Predicaments of political and national identity formation

German Studies Review

Volumn 19, Issue 1, 1996, Pages 90-111

  Markovits, Andrei S ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 0039015446     PISSN: 01497952     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.2307/1431714     Document Type: Article

References (35)

1. This paper is part of a larger project on Germany in the new Europe which I have jointly conducted with Simon Reich over the past few years.
2. A fine overview of the history of this soccer rivalry, especially from the Austrian side, is provided by Michael John, "'Wenn ich einen Deutschen sehe, werde ich zum lebendigen Rasenmäher' : Deutscher und Österreicher im Fussballsport. Zur Genese einer Erbfeindschaft." In Oliver Rathkolb, Georg Schmid, and Gernot Heiss, eds., Österreich und Deutschlands Grösse. Ein schlampiges Verhältnis. (Salzburg: Otto Müller Verlag, 1990), 143-53.
3. On the importance of Austria's defeat of Germany in soccer at the World Cup in Argentina in 1978 as a crucial moment in the enhancement of Austrian identity and "Austrianness" in opposition to "Germanness," see Roman Horak's insightful remarks on this topic in Andrei S. Markovits, "Kein Ball - nirgends: Warum es in den USA keinen Fussball gibt" in Ikus Lectures, Volume 3, Number 15 (May 1994).
4. Georg Winkler, "The Impact of the Economy of the FRG on the Economy of Austria" in Harald von Riekhoff and Hanspeter Neuhold, eds., Unequal Partners: A Comparative Analysis of Relations Between Austria and the Federal Republic of Germany and Between Canada and the United States (Boulder: Westview Press, 1993), 158. Even though the volume was published in 1993, all of the contributions were written and largely completed before German unification. Thus, they refer, as does Winkler's article, to West Germany instead of to Germany. All the data concerning Germany and German-Austrian relations in the volume refer to West Germany, that is the old Bundesrepublik and not to unified Germany. This is yet a fine example as to how the slowness of academic publishing renders so many worthy scholarly contributions obsolete even before they reach the interested public.
5. Margit Scherb, "Wir und die westeuropäische Hegemonialmacht: Die Beziehungen zwischen Österreich und der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in den Bereichen Währung, Aussenhandel und Direktinvestitionen" in Margit Scherb and Inge Morawetz, eds., In deutscher Hand? Österreich und sein grosser Nachbar (Vienna: Verlag für Gesellschaftskritik, 1990), 55.
6. Harald von Riekhoff, "Introduction: Toward a Comparison of Relations Between Austria/ FRG and Canada/United States" in von Riekhoff and Neuhold, eds., Unequal Partners, 14, 15.
7. Winckler, "The Impact of the Economy," 156.
8. Ibid.
9. Scherb, "Wir und die westeuropäische Hegemonialmacht," 31
10. Winckler, "The Impact of the Economy," 157.
11. As quoted in Scherb, "Wir und die westeuropäische Hegemonialmacht," 56.
12. For the Poehl and Kohl quotes, see ibid., 35 and 56 respectively.
13. On Austro-Keynesianism, see Robert Holzmann and Georg Winckler, "Austrian Economic Policy: Some Theoretical and Critical Remarks on Austro-Keynesianism," in Empirica 10 10.2 (1983): 183-203. Also see Hans Seidel, "Social Partnership and Austro-Keynesianism" in Guenter Bischof and Anton Pelinka, eds., Contemporary Austrian Studies 4 (1995): 94-118. This issue's focus and title are "Corporatism: Past, Present and Future,"
14. On Austro-Keynesianism, see Robert Holzmann and Georg Winckler, "Austrian Economic Policy: Some Theoretical and Critical Remarks on Austro-Keynesianism," in Empirica 10 10.2 (1983): 183-203. Also see Hans Seidel, "Social Partnership and Austro-Keynesianism" in Guenter Bischof and Anton Pelinka, eds., Contemporary Austrian Studies 4 (1995): 94-118. This issue's focus and title are "Corporatism: Past, Present and Future,"
15. On the concept of "de-Austrianization", see Anton Pelinka, "Die Entaustrifizierung Österreichs: Zum Wandel des politischen Systems 1945-1995" in Österreichische Zeitschrift für Politikwissenchaft, 24. 1 (1995): 5-15.
16. D. Mark Schultz, "Austrian-EC Trade Relations: Evolution Toward Integration" in Harald von Riekhoff and Hanspeter Neuhold, Unequal Partners, 171; for data after 1985, personal information from economists of the Creditanstalt, CA, one of Austria's leading banks.
17. Scherb, "Wir und die westeuropäische Hegemonialmacht," 40.
18. Ibid., 47.
19. To be sure, the amazing jump of German foreign direct investment in Austria in the course of the 1960s had much to do with the complicated compensatory processes and accounting measures involving German-held property during the Nazi period. For a good discussion of the legal and economic dimensions of this interesting aspect of Austrian-German relations, see Rosmarie Atzenhofer, "Wie das Deutsche Eigentum wieder 'deutsch' wurde" in Scherb and Morawetz, eds., In deutscher Hand?, 61-85.
20. Winckler, "The Impact of the Economy of the FRG on the Economy of Austria," 161.
21. On the aspect of Germany's growth as a foreign investor in the Austrian economy as a consequence of Austria's privatization efforts of the 1980s, see Inge Morawetz, "Schwellenland Österreich? Aktuelle Veränderungen der österreichischen Eigentumsstruktur im Sog der Internationalisierungsstrategien der Bundesrepublik Deutschland" in Scherb and Morawetz, eds., In deutscher Hand?, 87-112.
22. Hans Heinz Fabris, "Medienkolonie - na und?" in Scherb and Morawetz, eds., In deutscher Hand?, 113-29.
23. Hans Heinz Fabris, "Media Relations Between Austria and the Federal Republic of Germany" in Harald von Riekhoff and Hanspeter Neuhold, Unequal Partners, 243.
24. Ibid., 244.
25. Ibid., 246.
26. Ibid. ,250.
27. Ibid., 253.
28. Just like in the case of the United States' relationship with Britain and other English-speaking democracies, Austrians and Germans often speak of the common language that divides them. While true on a certain level of superficiality - Austrians do in fact have different names for certain foods than the Germans - the overwhelming power of a cotidien affinity and the deep understanding between these two peoples is only possible via this common language, as it is between Britons and Americans who also have different expressions for various things. The power of the shared is incomprehensibly larger than that of the different in most cases where a common language is spoken by peoples belonging to different political sovereignties. The case of the Francophone world is as convincing an example of this as is the continued "special connection" between Spain and Spanish-speaking Latin America, and the Lustian link between Portugal and Brazil to cite but a few examples. Whether one likes it or not, language continues to be the most powerful transmitter of cultures.
29. For a brilliant critique of this self-congratulatory Austrian position, see the remarks by Sigrid Loeffler at the symposium "Österreich und Deutschland in Europa" held in Frankfurt am Main, May 4, 1995. This symposium was the opening act for months of Austria-centered cultural events and programs which were organized in Frankfurt during the spring, summer, and early fall of 1995 leading up to the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest exhibit of this kind, where every year one country and its literature are featured. In October 1995 it was Austria.
30. For a truly insightful analysis as to how Austria has used its characterization of a "small" country not in a genuine self-reflection of its geographic, political, military, and economic realities, but in a purely calculated manner of exculpatory politics vis-a-vis the country's Nazi past, see the comments made by Rudolf Burger at the symposium "Österreich und Deutschland in Europa" held in Frankfurt am Main, May 4, 1995. Invoking smallness means relinquishing responsibility.
31. Ernst Bruckmüller, Österreichbewußtsein im Wandel, Identität und Selbstverständnis in den 90er Jahren (Vienna: Signum Verlag, 1994), 134-36.
32. Ibid., 26.
33. Ibid., 150. It is interesting to see how Hungary and Hungarians continue to enjoy great popularity among Austrians. Though a distant second to Germany and the Germans, the Hungarians are way ahead in the Austrians' affection compared to any other Europeans and Austria's other neighbors. The legacy of the Habsburg monarchy lives on very vividly in this continuing mutual admiration between the Hungarians and the Austrians.
34. Ibid. 54.
35. Very telling about how a large number of Austrians feel about the Third Reich to this day is the fact that when the Austrian vernacular mentions the word "Besatzungszeit," occupation period, everybody takes it to mean the period between 1945 and 1955, i.e., the period of Allied occupation. Only to a few left-wing intellectuals and their friends might the term "Besatzungszeit" connote the period between 1938 and 1945, i.e., the Nazi rule in Austria. For the truly frightening finding that despite the obvious political distancing by Austrians from Germany and Germans over the past fifty years the Nazi period still enjoys an immense amount of legitimacy, admiration, and goodwill among Austrians - far higher than among Germans - see ibid., especially 58 and 59.