A “Sower of Protest” and “Fighter for Pan-Germany”: Images of Political Leader Georg von Schönerer

The article is dedicated to leader of the Austrian Pan-Germanists Georg von Schönerer (1842–1921), one of the most eccentric Austrian political figures of the late 19th – early 20th centuries. In addition to recreating the main stages of his political biography, which has not been fully presented in any of the Russian studies so far, the article aims to analyze his various images of a political leader, both positive and negative, that is, to examine how he was assessed by his contemporaries and how he influenced the changes in the political agenda and the mentality of different social groups. The article points out the following images of Schönerer: a “tribune of the people,” defender of “little men”; a “radical” ready for violence and a “fighter for German interests”; a “victim of justice” and a “sower of protest”; an “anti-Semite” and an “admirer of the Hohenzollerns.” The main emphasis is placed on the mechanisms of constructing these images and on the relationship between ideological attitudes, political rhetoric, and public behavior of the politician. The study refers to the press materials, minutes of the Austrian Reichsrat, memoirs of contemporaries, programs of Austrian Pan-Germanists, and Schönerer’s public speeches. The main part of the work examines how Schönerer used a combination of populism, radicalism, anti-Semitism, and nationalist rhetoric to mobilize the Austrian Germans (students, peasants, small artisans, and townspeople). At the same time, assessment is also given to the negative consequences of his activities, in particular, the split in society and the growth of socio-political tension. His aggressive campaign against Jews exacerbated the dichotomy between a Jew and a German, and nationalist rhetoric aggravated the problem of multiple loyalties and the choice of identity by Austrian Germans. At the same time, Schönerer’s rhetoric enriched the reflexive experience of the Austrian political elites and laid the ideological foundations for a number of influential party groups in Austria of the pre-war and interwar periods of the 20th century. The author concludes that Schönerer played a significant, albeit largely destructive, role in shaping the Austro-German socio-political landscape. His activities provide a striking example of the complex interrelationship between leadership, ideology, and social context that influenced the development of the German nationalist and anti-Semitic movements.

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