Romsics Gergely: The Memory of the Habsburg Empire in German, Austrian and Hungarian Right-Wing Historiography and Political Thinking 1918 - 1941 - East European Monographs 773. Atlantic Studies on Society Change 137. (New York, 2010)
III. The Memory of the Habsburgs in Austria - 4. Paths to National Socialism: Shifts in the Habsburg Image in Three Paradigmatic Oeuvres - The Völkisch Ide in the Oeuvre of Srbik: From German Unification to His Late Journalistic Work
273 Paths to National Socialism the language games of traditionalist political conservatism. It (re)constructs Metternich’s vision for Central Europe on the basis of these principles: a loose and layered system of alliances under German leadership, in which Germans and non-Germans, led by their common interests, voluntarily synchronize their politics, with minimal modification of the historically established forms. This narrative can be justifiably identified, adopting Hayden White’s concepts of historical tropes, as a profoundly conservative narrative mode. The mode of recognition is “organicist,” and its foundation is ensured by the empathy of the historian. Its governing trope is synecdoche, in which surface signs reflect slow and inexorable processes. The model for the plot is tragic comedy: the loss of value and the end of the era of the classic statesman are staged as a farce in a world increasingly shaped by innumerable selfish class interests, false national interests and other influences. The work, which bears affinities with those of Ranke and Treitschke and can be likened to the classic historicist texts on the basis of its methodology and interpretation (and to late historicism by virtue of its pessimism regarding culture), thus finds confirmation in the systematization by Hayden White, who in his 1973 Metahistory identifies these signs as the most characteristic features of German historicism.17 The Völkisch Idea in the Oeuvre of Srbik: From German Unification to His Late Journalistic Work One finds further substantiation for the thesis of this chapter in the works written by Srbik in the 1930s.18 The two-volume German Unification [Die deutsche Einheit], which reflects the clear influence of the völkisch school of thought, was the most significant of his works of the decade. It is telling, for instance, that the introduction is a revised version of the text of the aforementioned speech of 1929, The Gesamtdeutsch View of History. The introduction goes a long way in defining the field of interpretation in the book: the two volumes examine the dilemma concerning the framework within which Germany unification could occur in the region (designated by