Österreichische Verwaltung und nationale Opposition in Veneteien 1859 - 1866

The aim of the research is to examine the last years of the Austrian administration in the Veneto, from the loss of Lombardy in 1859 to the cession of Veneto in 1866. In the months after the lost war of 1859 emperor Francis Joseph was forced to at least partly fulfill the demands of the economic elites as well in Vienna as in the countries, whose wish was to participate in political decisions. The new leading stratum wanted to realize a constitution that should guarantee the liberal values and offer a new basis for the Austrian monarchy. The foundation of the Italian realm in the spring of 1861 and the enforcing national movement were heavy political challenges to the multiethnic and multicultural Habsburg state. After a first phase of oppression in 1861, the government in Vienna decided to apply the liberal reforms and laws in Veneto, too. Even in the campaigns against the national opposition the Austrian administration tried to fulfill the criteria of a constitutionally governed state. The constitutional development of the Veneto, however, came to a standstill and the promised constitution of the Veneto was not realized. The task of representing the country was only observed by the "Congregazioni", dominated by the old aristocratic elites, who did not correspond to the necesseties of a modern parlamentary representation. Consequently the local Austrian authorities gained an important position in the process of mediation between state and country. The conservative bureaucracy contributed to slowing down the modernisation and delayed the implementation of extensive political reforms. The study does offer not only an idea of the development of bureaucracy, constitution and parliament, legislation, political opposition, church, culture and education, emigration and economy, but also gives a picture of the Veneto in the years before the cession of 1866. The integration of the country within the Austrian political system did not succeed, but the six decades of Austrian administration left a lasting impression on history and culture of the Veneto.