The recitation examines the history of the late Habsburg Monarchy – from the 1848 Spring of Nations to the breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918. In doing so, special attention is given to political, social and cultural developments.

Instead of studying the last turbulent decades of the Habsburg Monarchy as textbook examples of state failure and empire collapse, the purpose of the recitation is to highlight the monarchy’s intriguing attempts to face and solve the diverse challenges of a multinational society.