Catholizism and Church in the Tyrol during Word War I

Research project P 14303 Catholizism and Church in the Tyrol during World War I Richard SCHOBER 06.03.2000 Within the scope of the comprehensive research on the history of the `Tyrol during the First World War, initiated by Univ. Prof. Dr. Richard Schober and Univ. Prof. Dr. Rolf Steininger, head of the department for contemporary history of the University of Innsbruck, the subject "Catholizism and Church in the Tyrol. during World liar " is one or the main projects. Not only the socio-political role of the institutional Church but especially the meaning of catholizism for the individual as well as for the group experience shall be part of research. Catholizism is defined as the amount of all social and communicational forms, which the church as well as the catholics on their par have come up with to preserve their catholic identity and way of life in the changings of society during the 19. and 20. century. To examine the spiritual and social role of the catholic religion within the society of the whole Tyrol during the war it is necessary to refer to the history of mentalities, which emphasizes the complex relationship between the material conditions and the spiritualpsyhological dimension of social conduct. On one hand this means that history of mentalities cannot be undertaken without considering a sociohistoric approach. On the other hand by that `he conception of mentality turns into a fundamental sociohistoric idea . The scientifically relevant research on the subject "Catholizism and Church in the Tyrol during World War I" is quite small. especially in the view of the history of mentalities. The experience of war at the "home fron-11 was of ten ne-.1ected in favour of an emotional occupation with the military situation along the mountain front in the South Tyrol. As we find a quite compact catholic consciousness in the Tyrol, the religious disposition in dealing with the war experience merits a decisive interest. The projected research on Catholizism and Church in the Tyrol during World War I" shall be a contribution to the history of culture and mentalities in the situation of the First- World War from a regional point of view. Furthermore it shall help to better understand the catholic consciousness in question and to adequately set it in proportion to the political and social development of Austria during the First Republic.

The project "Catholicism und Church in the Tyrol during World War I" is one of the main subjects within the scope of the comprehensive research on the history of the Tyrol during the First World War, initiated some years ago from the department of history of the University of Innsbruck. The results of the two years research work will be published as volume 4 of "Tyrol during the First World War - Politics, Economy and Society, edited by Univ. Prof. Dr. Richard Schober. The main approach to the topic "Catholicism and Church in the Tyrol during World War I" is based on the combination of social history and the new methodes of the history of mentalities and experiences. The project is proceeding on the assumption, that the view of life as well as patterns of interpretation are showing up very clearly during a crisis like World War I. To emphasize the complex relationship between the material conditions and the spiritual-psychological dimension of social conduct it was also necessary to untertake a sociohistoric approach. The realization of such a concept needed a broad basis of sources, which was reached by the use of material from local church archives and autobiographical sources (diaries, letters etc.) of private property. The analysis led to a complete new interpretation of the rural "Augusterlebnis" 1914. The experience of the outbreak of war has been much more influenced by religious motives of sacrifice than by a war enthusiasm in favour of the Habsburg Monarchy. The interpretation of the church took her main elements from the conservative view of tyrolean history with the "Herz-Jesu-Bund" from 1796 and the "Tiroler Freiheitskampf" from 1809. The church demanded a sacrifice from the tyrolean people, like the forefathers made it for the catholic-conservative identity of the Tyrol. Moreover this sacrifice took it`s sense out of the religious idea of suffering in the Imitation of Christ. Finally the religious interpretation of the "Augusterlebnis" 1914 refers to the churchs strategy of preserving supremacy in the tyrolean society. The objects of the tyrolean church were on the one hand to increase their social and political influence on the interior politics of the Habsburg Monarchy, and on the other hand to strengthen religious vitality in the country of Tyrol itself. The first target shows that the catholic church in the Tyrol cannot be seen just as an agent of the state. The expectation of the church for a positive influence of the war didn`t come true. The pastors witnessed some religious euphory at the beginning of the war, which changed into indifference and bitterness towards its end. They had to find out, that the war was in no way an ally in the religious welfare, like it was propagated by important representatives of the tyrolean church. This led to a controversy between the higher ranks of ecclesiastical hierarchy and the pastors, who had to face a very bad social and economic situation at the end of the war.