OTTO VON HABSBURG: THE LAST GREAT EUROPEAN OF THE 20TH CENTURY

An article in memory of Otto von Habsburg (1912–2011), one of the most prominent politician-aristocrats of the 20th Century.

Photo: Habsbourg Private Archive On July 4, 2011, Otto von Habsburg – an outstanding politician, member of European Parliament, President of the Pan- European Union and leader of the Habsburg Dynasty – died at age 98 in Puking, Bavaria. Otto von Habsburg was the son of Charles I, the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s last emperor, and Zita of Bourbon-Parma. He was born on November 20, 1912, just two years before heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo – resulting in WWI, during which Austria-Hungary was primarily at war with tsarist Russia. The Russian and Austro-Hungarian monarchies both had vested interests in the Balkans. WWI and the collapse of Austria-Hungary were pivotal events in Otto von Habsburg’s life. He remembered where relations between European powers before WWI truly stood and the real story behind what began the war in the first place. Although WWI is generally considered to have been waged by one or two powers, that was not the case. In fact, most of the European powers were gearing up for war well before 1914 and were doing everything possible to start battling as quickly as possible. Modern historiography presents clear evidence that of all the great powers at that point in time, Austria-Hungary was the least prepared for and most afraid of going to war. In spite of their diametrically opposed regimes, one of the most important strategic ties of the period was the pre-WWI alliance between France and Russia. Although France was a republic with a highly democratic electoral system whereas Russia was Europe’s last absolute monarchy, mutual debts and credits played a far more important role in relations between the two countries than political idealism. Russia fully benefited from French investment as industrial and agricultural production grew at an unprecedented pace there. Russia’s population increased by about 26% between 1900 and 1913 while per capita income almost doubled. Russia’s economy grew faster than Germany’s, therefore obviously outpacing economic growth in Britain, France and Austria. Russian industrialisation and manufacturing generally increased at the same rate as its military power. If one looks at the statistics of the military capacity of European countries in 1914 drawn from British historian Alan Ferguson’s Sorrowful War, one can see that the French and Russian armies were far stronger than the German and Austria-Hungarian forces. This is not surprising considering that in 1913, imperial Germany spent 3.9% of its GDP on defence in 1913, whereas France spent 4.8% and Russia’s spending was as much as 5%. The German General Staff was afraid of a war on two fronts – from France to the West and Russia to the East – and their fears were fully justified. However, Austria’s decision to start the war by taking on the role of aggressor before circumstances became even less favourable was a poor choice to have made given the situation. Austria was strongly influenced by its ally, the German Empire, from the start of the war to its very end. Austria was unable to win a military victory on either front and this helplessness, coupled with its inability to resist going to war, left its mark on young Otto. Events convinced Otto that European nations should never again have to to fight each other because such a war would cause irreparable harm to all participants in Europe. Otto viewed Russia as the aggressive party as it paved the way for war by supporting the Serb uprising against Austria-Hungary along with the heir to throne’s assassination. This view was shared by the father of Pan- Europeanism, Richard Coudenhove- Kalergi, who was convinced that Russia consistantly sought to invade Europe. After Franz Joseph I’s death in November of 1916, Charles I was crowned Austria- Hungary’s new emperor and young Otto von Habsburg became Crown Prince of the Habsburg Empire and heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary Empire. WWI ended in defeat for Austria-Hungary and the Empire quickly disintegrated into separate nation-states. Charles I vainly attempted to make a separate peace and democratise his empire through federalisation at the end of the war but he ultimately failed to do so. In March of 1919 the new Austrian Republic adopted a law confiscating all properties belonging to the members of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine and prohibiting their return to Austria (this law was eventually repealed in 1982), thereby forcing the Habsburgs to leave their native country. Charles I later died in exile on Madeira in 1922. These various events had a profound impact on Otto’s future. He never attempted to restore the monarchy, regarding democracy as the only political system capable of serving the cause of peaceful coexistence between the European peoples. The forced creation of any kind of empire was an alien concept to him. THE FIGHT AGAINST TOTALITARIANISM Otto von Habsburg was one of the first European politicians to oppose National Socialism and Hitler’s regime – positions which eventually forced him to flee Europe. He lived in the United States from 1940 to 1944, where he spent time working with President Franklin Roosevelt. Upon his return to Europe, Otto von Habsburg went back to fighting for the cause of European integration, just as he had before the war through his acquaintance with Richard Coudenhove- Kalergi, the founder of Pan-Europeanism. Otto von Habsburg became head of the Pan-European Union – an international organisation that supports European unification – and later served as its honorary president from 1973 to 2004. He was primarily politically active in the European Parliament, where he served as a deputy from 1982 to 1999 when he voluntarily resigned from the post. He always represented the German Christian Social Union (CSU) party’s interests in the European Parliament as he was a Bavarian resident. All these cold, hard facts serve to give but a vague idea of what a unique 20th Century personality Otto von Habsburg really was. He directly participated in the past century’s major events. He met with every significant political figure of his time and could give an absolutely accurate estimate of each of their values. Habsburg had been the head of one of the central ruling dynasties of Europe although from early childhood, fate deprived Otto of his position as heir to the throne and threw him into the whirlwind of modern politics. His excellent education, the skills he inherited from his forefathers and his incredible diligence led Otto von Habsburg to become one of the most prominent democratic politicians in Europe. Habsburg was one of the first to recognise the threat totalitarianism posed to Europe and dedicated his entire life to fighting it. Towards the end of his life, he pointed out that the harsh lessons learned under totalitarianism should not be forgotten and that the world must constantly be reminded of the past’s tragic events. By the time the Nazis came to power in Germany, Otto von Habsburg had already predicted their expansion into Europe and particularly into his native Austria. He urged Austrian politicians to oppose resistance to Hitler – which is why Hitler called the Austria’s Anschluss “Operation Otto”. Soviet leader Stalin hated Habsburg as much as Hitler did. Otto von Habsburg had a clear sense that the Soviet empire sought to subjugate Europe and viewed European national integration as the road to salvation. As a member of the European Parliament, he kept coming back to the idea that the conquered peoples of Central and Eastern Europe should be liberated from Soviet domination and go on to become members of a free Europe. Accompanied by his Hungarian friends, he organised the so-called Pan-European picnic on the Hungarian-Austrian border in August, 1989. The picnic was actually a party during which barbed wires were cut and thousands of Germans from the GDR crossed over into Austrian territory thereby opening a crack in the Iron Curtain for the very first time. THE CONSEQUENCES OF WWI The Iron Curtain should be viewed as a belated consequence of the WWI as well as a result of agreements negotiated by WWII’s victorious nations. WWI destroyed 4 empires – the German, Austro-Hungarian, Ottoman and Tsarist empires all tumbled and their ruins became the foundations upon which new states, many of whom later followed a perilous path of political development, were built. For example, Germany’s Nazis took power in 1933 while the Bolshevik dictatorship took charge in Russia. This gradually evolved into Stalinist totalitarianism which – although it brought the country the status of a great power – cost millions of lives. Austria- Hungary was divided into so-called nation-states which were home to the old empire’s many ethnic minorities, bringing on endless conflicts that became a threat to the very states in question and led to WWII. The fall of the Ottoman Empire resulted in a single consolidated state – the Turkish Republic. One can confidently assert that had WWI not brought about the collapse of these empires, they would have gradually become democratised and their inhabitants’ hopes and dreams would have eventually became reality. Furthermore – and most significantly – had there been no WWII, there wouldn’t have been the third, so-called Cold War which saw the Iron Curtain fall across Europe. In short, the ideology behind Otto von Habsburg's political activities can be described in much the same way. Otto von Habsburg had rich historical knowledge which consistently influenced his subsequent actions. To cite an example, the Czech nobility betrayed the Habsburgs several times in the course of history and hence von Habsburg disliked representatives of the Czech aristocratic dynasties. Following the fall of the great European empires and the emergence of mutually hostile nation-states, Habsburg believed that Europe needed to renew its political order – and do so on a democratic basis. He saw this order stemming from the process of integrating nation-states into a new community united by a common legal system. Otto von Habsburg was a pioneer of the European integration process which sought to involve as many peoples as possible given the premise that every liberated European nation has the right of choice to become members of the free and prosperous community known as the European Union. In 1993, I published a collection of Otto von Habsburg’s thoughts on Europe in Prague. Among other things, the publication included these words, “Europe must regain its Slavic perspective, but in the same way the Slavs should re-kindle their European dimension which has been repressed for decades” (Otto von Habsburg,“Reflections on Europe”, ed. Pan-Evropa, Prague, 1993, p.93). Following Czechoslovakia’s Velvet Revolution, I had the honour managing preparations for the first visit Otto von Habsburg and his family made to Prague on behalf of the Pan-European Union. The visit took place in March, 1990 and left His Majesty unforgettable first impressions, to which he referred repeatedly. In Prague – as in other cities – he met people who expressed their respect for him and celebrated his return to the Czech Republic. After all, Habsburg had been the last crown prince of the Czech Lands and – most importantly – a symbol of the world, which had virtually disappeared in the Czech Republic under two totalitarian regimes. These are universal values we all need most now. At Prague’s Church of St. Witt, Otto von Habsburg visited the graves of his famous ancestors and requiem mass for his mother, Queen Zita, along with all the deceased members of the Habsburg dynasty was held in the Chapel of St. Wenceslas It is truly regrettable that this last great European has left us. Rudolf Kucera, President of the Paneuropean Union in the Czech Republic Photo: Habsbourg Private Archive