Inhaltsverzeichnis/Table des matières - Dr. Dieter Winkler Verlag

Abstracts/Résumés 313
die Jakobiner-Prozesse geschwächt, hatten ihre Nachfolger allerdings an zwei
Fronten zu kämpfen: gegen den Metternich’schen Absolutismus und den chauvinistischen
ungarischen Nationalismus.
JEAN MONDOT
The year 1782 or the end of ruling by the Grace of God. The disenchantment
of the ruler and the beginning of a political public opinion
With the granting of freedom of the press and the ensuing flood of brochures a
broad political public opinion came into being almost from one moment to the
other. People came to realize that a homogenous society – infallibly ruled by an
absolute monarch – did no longer exist. Discussions, debates, disputes occurred
on all levels of society. That was also an achievement of the Josephinian decade
– and not the least. The monarch and his policy were put up for discussion and
he thereby lost his inviolability formerly bestowed upon him by the Grace of
God. Nor did Joseph II explicitly renounce this claim, neither did he style himself
“first servant of the state”, as did Frederick II, but Joseph’s political concepts
scarcely differed from those of the Prussian king. By doing so the emperor had
in fact renounced the privileged position tied to the Grace of God, a position still
claimed by his predecessors. At the same time there came into being various
groups of people that – with countless meetings, demonstrations and brochures –
would influence political life in the Habsburg lands in the decades to come.
Spectacular, even if not necessarily symptomatic for Joseph’s II policy
were his reforms in the field of religion. The Catholic Church lost its predominance
in fundamental religious questions as well as in the field of social and political
sway over society. Yet, the opponents did not succeed in eliminating the
Catholic Church from all political functions. It is a confrontation that makes itself
felt even today.
Das Jahr 1782 oder das Ende der Herrschaft von Gottes Gnaden.
Die Entzauberung des Herrschers und der Beginn politischer Öffentlichkeit.
Mit der Pressefreiheit und der daraus resultierenden Broschürenflut entstand in
den habsburgischen Länder schlagartig eine breite politische Öffentlichkeit. Die
Erkenntnis machte sich breit, dass es keine homogene Gesellschaft mehr gab, die
von einem absoluten Herrscher unfehlbar regiert wurde. Auf allen gesellschaftlichen
Ebenen wurde diskutiert, debattiert, gestritten. Auch das war eine Errungenschaft
des josephinischen Jahrzehnts. Der Herrscher stellte sich und seine Po-