The Badeni language riots

JAN 01 1897 · 12:00

The Badeni riots in Prague, 1897, contemporary illustration Place: Wenceslas Square, Old Town, the German Casino on Příkopy, the Jewish quarter Figures: Count Kazimierz Badeni, Austrian prime minister · German students of the Charles-Ferdinand University (rioting) · Czech counter-rioters · Field Marshal-Lieutenant Eduard Klobus, declaring martial law In April 1897 Count Badeni issues language ordinances for Bohemia and Moravia: from 1901, every civil servant in the Bohemian crown lands must be competent in both Czech and German. In practice this advantages Czechs, who are mostly bilingual already, over German speakers, who often are not. Bohemian Germans take the ordinances as the moment the empire stopped being theirs. Protests in Graz, Vienna, and the Sudeten towns escalate through the autumn. The Reichsrat is paralyzed. On November 28, Emperor Franz Joseph dismisses Badeni. The decision reaches Prague that evening. Within hours, German students celebrating in the German Casino on Příkopy are met by Czech counter-demonstrators.