Cisleithanian legislative election, 1907

A legislative election to elect the members of the 11th Imperial Council were held in Cisleithania, the northern and western ("Austrian") crown lands of Austria-Hungary, on 14 and 23 May 1907.^[1] They were the first elections held under universal male suffrage, after an electoral reform abolishing tax paying requirements for voters had been adopted by the Council and was endorsed by Emperor Franz Joseph earlier in the year.^[2] However, seat allocations were based on tax revenues from the States.^[2]

Electoral system

Opening session of the House of Deputies, 17 June 1907

Under the shadow of the Russian Revolution of 1905 and large-scale demonstrations organized by the Social Democrats, the emperor to placate the public had a reform of the former five-class franchise system drafted by Minister-President Paul Gautsch von Frankenthurn. His successor Baron Max Wladimir von Beck pushed it through, against fierce resistance from the Austrian House of Lords and the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Elections in the constituencies of "the Kingdoms and Lands represented in the Imperial Council" were held according to a plurality voting system. If no candidate received the required absolute majority on May 14, only the two candidates receiving the most votes survived to the second round on May 23. In this way 516 representatives of the constituent crown lands were elected, among them 130 from Bohemia, 106 from Galicia, 64 from Lower Austria, and 49 from Moravia. The numerous political associations were again split according to ethnicity ("nations"), with a result that no government could ever rely on a stable majority.

Results

The right-wing Christian Social Party emerged as the largest bloc in Parliament, holding 96 of the 516 seats, followed by the Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria with 87 seats. The Christian Socials won most rural constituencies in Upper and Lower Austria, Styria, Salzburg, Tyrol, and Vorarlberg). They also achieved the majority in the capital Vienna, benefitting from the popularity of Christian Social major Karl Lueger. In the German constituencies of Bohemia and Moravia, but also in Carinthia, the German national parties (German People's Party et al.) achieved strong results. The Social Democrats had their strongholds in the cities, beside Vienna also in Graz, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Brno or Linz. Voter turnout was 84.6%.^[3]

Voting

Nation	Party	Votes	%
Croatian Nation	Croatian Party	35,407	0.8
	Croatian Nationals	23,482	0.5
	Pure Justice Party	16,013	0.3
	Independents	6,373	0.1
Czech Nation	Social Democratic Party	389,960	8.4
	Agrarian	206,784	4.5
	Clerical	182,500	4.0
	Young Czech Party	78,679	1.7
	Czech National Social Party	75,101	1.6
	Progressive People's Party	37,845	0.8
	Old Czech Party	32,224	0.7
	Radical Progressives	9,899	0.2
	Radical Constitutionalists	7,879	0.2
	Independents	54,823	1.2
	Czech Realist Party
	Zählkandidaten (paper candidate)
	National Party
German Nation	Christian Social Party	542,505	11.7
	Social Democrats	513,219	11.1
	Conservatives	193,753	4.2
	Agrarians	132,978	2.9
	German People's Party	131,474	2.8
	German Progressive Party	103,315	2.2
	German Radicals (Free All Germans)	70,564	1.5
	All Germans	20,693	0.4
	Upper Austria Farmers' Club	15,283	0.3
	German Nationals Party	10,457	0.2
	Civil Servants' Party	5,701	0.1
	Free Socialists	5,289	0.1
	German Conservatives	4,947	0.1
	German Radicals	4,569	0.1
	Independent All Germans	3,659	0.1
	German Workers' Party	3,486	0.1
	Christian Germans	3,286	0.1
	Independents	2,806	0.1
	Social Politicians	2,386	0.1
	Tirol People's Association	1,113	0.0
	Radical Party	785	0.0
	Trade Party	150	0.0
Italian Nation	People's Party	59,519	1.3
	National-Liberals	27,723	0.6
	Social Democratic Party	19,918	0.4
	Independents	14,746	0.3
	Italian Nationals
	Progressive Agrarians
Polish Nation	People's Party	165,980	3.6
	Conservatives	131,540	2.8
	Centre	108,247	2.3
	National Democrats	104,544	2.3
	Social Democratic Party	65,057	1.4
	Democrats	45,942	1.0
	Christian Social Party	11,210	0.2
	Agrarian	18,352	0.4
	Independent Socialists
	National Party
	Progressive Democrats
Ruthenian Nation	Young Ruthenians	304,410	6.6
	Old Ruthenians	162,663	3.5
	Radical Farmers' Party	105,118	2.3
	Social Democratic Party	27,978	0.6
Serbian Nation	Serb Party	11,783	0.3
	Independent Serbs
Slovenian Nation	Clerical	48,431	1.0
	People's Party	48,175	1.0
	Liberals	23,292	0.5
	Agrarian	49,123	1.1
	Independents
	National Progressives
	Pro-German Slovenians
	Slovenian Nationals
	Social Democratic Party
Romanian Nation	Romanian National Party	31,674	0.7
	Democrats	20,673	0.4
	Independents
	Social Democratic Party
None	Zionists	31,941	0.7
	Social Democratic Party	10,518	0.2
	Unknown	39,416	0.9
Invalid/blank votes		58,990	–
Total		4,676,350	100
Registered voters/turnout		5,526,203	84.6
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

Seats

Grouping	Seats
Christian Social Union	96
German National Association	51
German Social Democrats	50
Poland Club	50
Bohemian Agrarian Club	30
Bohemian Club	25
Ukrainian Club	25
Bohemian Social Democrats	24
Union of South Slavs	20
Catholic National Club	17
Slovenian Club	17
Polish People's Party	16
German Progressive Union	15
German Radical Union	13
Italian Peoples' Party	10
Union of Bohemian National Socialists and Radical Progressive Deputies	11
Polish Social Democrats	6
Italian Social Democrats	5
Romanian Club	5
Jewish Club	4
Liberal Italian Club	4
All German Group	3
Ruthenian-Ukrainian Social Democrats	2
Independents	12
Total	516
Source: Nohlen & Stöver

See also

List of political parties in Austria

References

1. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) Elections in Europe: A data handbook, p196 ISBN 978-3-8329-5609-7
2. Nohlen & Stöver, p184
3. Nohlen & Stöver, p209