The Habsburg Empire, the Austrian Republic, and the League of Nations: From the damnatio memoriae to a Long Overdue Reappraisal

The Habsburg Empire has been for too long neglected as an outdated survivor of a mediaeval heritage. The Austrian republic, which took its place in 1919, does not fare much better, depicted as a meaningless creation of the Treaty of Versailles. Both judgements are hasty to say the least. The code of administrative procedure drafted in 1925 provides wide evidence of the influence both experiences had on the newborn states built around the principle of nationality, ranging from Yugoslavia to Poland. On one side, the legacy of the Habsburg Empire was not lost in 1919; on the other, the Austrian republic found a tough but effective partner in the League of Nations, which exerted all its leverage to impose the streamlining of administrative procedure in Vienna. This is why not only is it worth researching this period, but it is a necessary step to gaining an insight into the roots of contemporary administrative law.