ABSTRACT
The re-shaping and preservation of the Danubian empire was of prime importance both for the eleven different peoples within its borders and for Europe as a whole. The Austrian Germans had belonged to the old Reich and its successor, the Bund, and when Austria left the Bund certain sentimental ties of political importance were preserved. The German side evinced a considerable nationalism, based on the argument that Germans had founded the monarchy and pioneered economic and cultural progress and that without them the Empire would fall to pieces. Taaffe’s policy aroused great bitterness among the German liberals; they demanded, but in vain, a division of Bohemia into German and Czech districts. The relationship of the Poles to Austria was also laid down by legislation. On 31 December 1867 Austria was given a responsible ministry whose members were mostly middle-class and which was consequently called the Burgerministerium.
