Journal of Austrian Studies

This book is part of the New Approaches to European History series from Cambridge University Press, edited by T.C.W. Blanning and Brendan Simms. The series offers "surveys of major themes and problems in European history since the Renaissance," and its targeted audience is identified as advanced school students and undergraduates. To this end, the publishers' intention is to limit "scholarly apparatus and annotation" in its solid coverage of the issues and history and to point to a broader international context.

Steven Beller's contribution to this series dovetails on that of Charles W. Ingrao's The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618–1815, which has been in print over twenty [End Page 81] years and is currently designated on the publisher's website as a textbook. In his introduction, Beller identifies his volume as a "sequel" to Ingrao's work, designating 1618–1815 as the early modern period and 1815–1918 as the modern period. From there, the introduction springboards from the kerfuffle of what to call this political entity to underlying questions about its history and the role it plays in the development of modern Europe. The first of these is the question of the "relevance of an irrelevant empire." Closely related to this is the question of whether the role of the empire in Europe made it the "indispensable power." The third relates to the question of the empire being an oppressor or protector of its various subjects. Finally, the question is raised as to the inevitability of the demise of the empire—the "what-ifs" of history. These are the questions that frame the historical survey of the book and that, in the conclusion, are addressed, if not answered outright. These questions are the leitmotifs that serve as intellectual handholds during discussions of the convoluted political forces of the multiethnic empire though the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

The seven chapters chronologically divvy up the decades of the title, labeling each with simple noun titles, all with the suffix "-tion": "Transformation," "Liberalization," and so on. While this appears at first glance to be a straightforward survey of these decades, Beller takes care to track the clues to the questions posed in the introduction, thereby engaging the reader's interest. Section titles within the chapters are generally functional, although the more enticing ones might pique curiosity, such as "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "Swimming in the Afternoon." Beller admits that the complexity of the issues facing the monarchy, for example the plurality of revolutions in 1848 due to the polycentricity of the empire, are difficult for historians to follow. He deftly provides patterns and conceptual threads to prevent the reader from being lost in the details. By far the most common thread running through the chapters utilizes the idiom "squaring the circle." The phrase originates from an ancient Greek geometrical problem ultimately deemed unsolvable. In the context of the Habsburg monarchy, it illustrates the question of the inevitability of its collapse by illustrating the impossible task of governing a multiethnic empire throughout the various decades. Six sections spreading over the chapters, beginning with the 1848 revolution and ending with the declaration of war in 1914, deal with "squaring the circle," each focusing on how the Habsburg government sought integration with the [End Page 82] nationalities within or adjacent to its borders: Germany, Hungary, Bohemia, and Bosnia.

In keeping with the goals of the series, Beller provides an annotated bibliography, which he intends as a guide to further reading. To that end, it is grouped first according to time periods, then according to specific topics, such as "Military," "Bureaucracy," and "The Austrian Idea."

Beller's survey richly fulfills the intentions of the New Approaches series, and, while aimed at historians—unless they are seeking teaching texts—it offers much to those interested in the social and cultural history of Austria. In addition to tracking the various twists and turns of the Habsburg monarchy as a political player on the world stage, Beller flavors his history with occasional literary connections, including Franz Grillparzer, Eduard von...