“Never Have I Been a Good Austrian”

Henrik Marczali and the Habsburg Empire

Abstract

The study examines how the Habsburg Empire can be situated in Henrik Marczali’s view of history. I begin by examining the implications of Marczali’s concept of nation and his views on the dynamics of world history for the empire in his work on the question of nationhood. I will then analyse his review of the Austrian author, who advocated a total imperial approach, and finally I will examine his position on the question of the Compromise and the historical representation of Austro-Hungarian relations in his summary historical works. The final conclusion of the paper is that in Marczali’s world-historical view of the Empire, it represented a kind of anomaly, and although the historian’s explicit statements were in favour of maintaining the system of conciliation, the lessons of his historical portrayal of the Austro-Hungarian relationship implied the harmfulness of this relationship.