The Assassination of Karl von Stürgkh, the Prime Minister of the government of

Cisleithania Cisleithania, officially The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council (), was the northern and western part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in the Compromise of 1867—as distinguished from ''Transleithania'' (i.e., ...

, took place on October 21, 1916, in the ''Meissl & Schadn'' Hotel in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Karl von Stürgkh Count Karl von Stürgkh (30 October 1859 – 21 October 1916) was an Austrian politician and Minister-President of Cisleithania during the 1914 July Crisis that led to the outbreak of World War I. He was shot and killed by the Social Democratic ...

, at that time acting head of cabinet of the Austrian part of the monarchy was shot three times by Austrian

social democrat Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

Friedrich Adler and died immediately. However due to the ongoing

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and the later death of the

Austrian Emperor The emperor of Austria (, ) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The hereditary imperial title and office was proclaimed in 1804 by Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorra ...

Francis Joseph I Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death in 1916. In the early part of his reig ...

, the event was left aside from a larger public response.

Prelude

One of the main reasons for the assassination was dissatisfaction of the part of

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

citizens with the Prime Minister, who was unable to obtain a parliamentary majority in the Imperial Council (Reichsrat). According to the then Article 14 of the Austro-Hungarian Constitution, the Prime Minister could enforce government regulations even without the help of the Parliament (as is the case with the Constitution Laws and Article No. 49 of the

French Third Republic The French Third Republic (, sometimes written as ) was the system of government adopted in France from 4 September 1870, when the Second French Empire collapsed during the Franco-Prussian War, until 10 July 1940, after the Fall of France durin ...

). Stürgkh used emergency measures even before the World War I war started in 1914, for example for the issuance of the so-called St. Ann's patents, dissolving the

Bohemian Diet The Bohemian Diet (, ) was the parliament of the Kingdom of Bohemia within the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1861 and Czechoslovak independence in 1918. The Diet during the Absolutist Period In 1471, the Bohemian estates elected the Ja ...

in 1913. After 1914, the Imperial Council in Vienna ceased to be convened in connection with the war, and the emergency provisions of Austrian laws thus gained substantial importance.

Censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

and other measures of a totalitarian nature were tightened, which was supposed to enable Austria-Hungary to conduct the war at the home front more effectively. Stürgkh was also a keen supporter of Austria-Hungary's entry into the war in July 1914 against Serbia. In the third year of the conflict war-oriented economy wasn't able to provide enough food for its population.

Attack

The assassin was a 37-years old Friedrich Adler, lawyer, social democrat and son of the chairman

Social Democratic Party of Austria The Social Democratic Party of Austria ( , SPÖ) is a social democratic political party in Austria. Founded in 1889 as the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria (, SDAPÖ) and later known as the Socialist Party of Austria () from 1945 unt ...

Victor Adler __NOTOC__ Victor Adler (24 June 1852 – 11 November 1918) was an Austrian politician, a leader of the labour movement and founder of the Social Democratic Workers' Party (SDAP). Life Adler was born on 24 June 1852, in Prague, the son of a Jewi ...

. The assassination took place in the dining room of the luxurious Meissl & Schadn Hotel in the centre of Vienna. Adler came to the dining room at lunchtime, easily recognized Stürgkh sitting by the wall at the end of the room. Then Adler took place and waited. While Stürgkh was just eating his plum cake for lunch, Adler then approached him and fired three shots from an immediate distance with a pistol. Then uttered the words "Down with absolutism, we want peace!", waited for the police to arrive to let himself to be peacefully arrested.

Aftermath

The Social Democratic party organ ''

Arbeiter-Zeitung ''Arbeiter-Zeitung'' (German for 'Workers Newspaper') may refer to several newspapers: * ''Arbeiter-Zeitung'' (Chicago), a German language radical newspaper * ''Arbeiter-Zeitung'' (Vienna), an Austrian socialist newspaper * ''Arbeiter-Zeitung'' ...

'' called the assassination a "strange and incomprehensible" act, whereas left leaning German-language-newspapers outside the

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

of Germany and Austria, in neutral Switzerland, attributed his deed to an understandable matter of last resort against an anti-democratic tyrant, who had successfully blocked the Austrian parliament from convening since 1913. After a period when attempts were made to avoid a trial by declaring Adler insane, he was brought to court in May 1917 where he was able to publicly present the killing as a revolutionary action in the context of the case against the war, as well as against '

reformist Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...

' Social Democrats like

Karl Renner Karl Renner (14 December 1870 – 31 December 1950) was an Austrian politician and jurist of the Social Democratic Party of Austria, Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria. He is often referred to as the "Father of the Republics" because he ...

. In the judgment, he was finally sentenced to death in the spring of 1917, but later the sentence was changed to 18 years of imprisonment in a labor camp by the decision of Emperor

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

. On 2 November 1918, during the dissolution of the monarchy, he was

pardon A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...

ed and released from prison. Friedrich Adler died in Vienna in 1960. Emperor Franz Joseph appointed

Ernest von Koerber Ernest Karl Franz Joseph Thomas Friedrich von Koerber (6 November 1850 – 5 March 1919) was an Austrian Liberalism in Austria, liberal statesman who served as prime minister of the Austrian portion of Austria-Hungary from 1900 to 1904 and again ...

as Stürgkh's successor, one of his last official acts, as he died four weeks later. The significance of the assassination is often disputed and due to the death of a 86-years old Emperor in November 1916 the event was left aside from a larger public response. Neverthenless the act is being linked to the resumption of the activities of the Imperial Council at the beginning of 1917 and the easing of some draconian measures that had been introduced in Cisleithania during the war.

Gallery

Dining hall in the the Meissl & Schadn Hotel, where Duke Stürgkh was murdered (Světozor, 1916).png, Dining hall in the Meissl & Schadn Hotel, where Stürgkh was murdered Hotel-Meissl-&-Schadn-(1900).jpg,

Meissl & Schadn Hotel Meissl (German: Meißl) is a German surname which may refer to: *Arnd Meißl (born 1968), an Austrian politician *Emerich Meissl, mathematician known for co-development of the Reichert-Meissl-Wollny value {{disambig ...

around 1900 Hotel Meissl Schadn 001.JPG, Former Meissl & Schadn Hotel in 2009

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stürgkh, Karl 1916 in Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary in World War I Military history of Vienna Terrorist incidents in the 1910s Deaths by person in Austria 1916 murders in Europe 1910s in Vienna October 1916 in Europe Terrorist incidents in Austria Murder in Vienna Assassinations in Austria