Publication at Faculty of Education |
2015
Abstract
A deep transformation of Austrian society, and consequently that of the aristocratic community occurred during the reign of Franz Joseph I. They lost their role as mediator between the Monarch and his subjects, i.e. their nobility rights, serfdom was also abolished.
The aristocratic title as such was, however, reserved and the granting of it continued to be an important means of creating a group of inhabitants loyal to the sovereign and the state. This study interprets in detail the reasons for the change of Austrian aristocratic society after 1848 and the consequences of this situation for both the aristocratic community and the monarchy as a whole.