Austria

Historical Underpinnings

When people in the early 16th century said, “bella gerant alii, tu felix Austria nube,” it was a statement on the outstanding abilities of the Habsburg Empire in Austria to build up networks and power by marriage. In particular, Maximilian I extended his sphere of influence by marrying Mary of Burgundy in 1477. This marriage not only added a rich and prospering country to the Habsburg [Page 63]Empire but also opened up links to the politically and economically leading territories in the west of Europe. Maximilian also arranged the marriages for both of his children for the sake of expanding power and influence, which led to the Habsburg's reign in Spain. Thus, within a few decades, Austria—which had been a little, mediocre dominion in the heart of Europe under the reign of a likewise unimportant, but wealthy family—became a significant power factor in Europe. Similarly, in the 18th century, Empress Maria Theresa of Austria tried to establish a network of supporters against Prussia, especially with the Bourbons, by arranging a marriage of her daughter Marie Antoinette to the Dauphin of France (later King Louis XVI) in 1770. Four decades later, Emperor Francis again sent a Habsburg daughter to France, and this marriage strengthened the link to the most powerful man in Europe of the time, Napoléon Bonaparte.

Economic Impacts on Social Networks

In the second half of the 19th century, however, a dramatically growing economic gap between the west and east of the Habsburg Empire, which was noticeably aggrieving certain nationality groups, demanded a major shift in policy focus away from power politics and toward fostering internal integration in order to stabilize the state. Aiming at stimulating widely ramified economic development by linking isolated regional markets into a more or less single national market, many political decisions were implemented to promote the growth of communication and financial networks. Within a few decades, over 25,000 miles of railroad tracks were built—first, to link the industrial and commercial centers, and second, to break down the isolation of less-developed areas, particularly in the east and southeast. Thus, the essential prerequisite for an increase in economic prosperity was laid, representing the backbone of various developments characteristic of a society's modernization process, such as the rapid and comprehensive spread of a mass-circulation press.

Also, the expansion of the capital market shows a remarkable parallel to that of the railroad network. Most of the larger joint-stock banks, primarily from Vienna and Prague, but also from Budapest, established sizable branch networks throughout Austria and Hungary, respectively, which boosted interregional mobilization and the allocation of capital. It also increased the interregional flow of goods, which was especially necessary to a state with a relatively small export sector. Associated with this increased exchange of commodities and financial capital was a growing trend toward the equalization of commodity prices, interest rates, and wage rates on a regional level, targeting economic integration but failing in building political integration.

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