Liberalism in Austria

This article gives an overview of liberalism in Austria. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had representation in parliament. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

In the Austrian Empire a national liberal current evolved in the 19th century. Liberalism in Austria reached its peak at the time of the 1848 revolution, when civil liberty and a written constitution for the Austrian Empire were key demands of the revolutionary movement. At some times afterward, Liberals gained some influence on the policy of the government; for example, Anton von Schmerling became Minister for Justice. The liberal Constitutional Party, also known as the "German-Liberal Party", had a majority in the Austrian parliament from 1867 to 1879. It supported the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 which transformed the Empire of Austria into the Austro-Hungarian Dual monarchy and the 1867 December Constitution. The panic of 1873 and the Long Depression led to strongly anti-capitalist and anti-liberal sentiments and the liberal movement in Austria began to decline, with pan-German nationalistic ideas and parties gaining strength at the same time. Later attempts to reorganize liberalism were unsuccessful, with its remnants mostly joining forces with pan-German nationalists. This traditional association with Pan-Germanism was inherited from Austria-Hungary into the Austrian Republic; the Greater German People's Party and the Landbund represented national liberal, anti-clerical and pan-German voters. Both parties lost ground with the rise of Nazism in the 1930s and were later dissolved by the regime of Engelbert Dollfuss.

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