Lecture format: on site
Room: 2Q-EG-27 (Seminar Room of the Institute for Eastern European History).
Street address: Spitalgasse 2,  Campus of the University of Vienna, Hof 3.2

The history of democracy in Europe has long been told as a forward march toward ever greater progress, yet many countries are currently witnessing an erosion of democratic norms and values. This paper questions positive narratives of democratization by taking a fresh look at the crucial moment of transition to mass politics at the turn of the twentieth century in East Central Europe. It will highlight the unease provoked by democratic progress and attempts to stall it, as franchise expanded in Habsburg Austria. Beyond formal opposition to suffrage reforms, it will explore other instances of resistance to broader political participation, such as violence and intimidation during elections, counter-demonstrations, and strategies against strikers. 

Claire Morelon is Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Modern European History at the University of Manchester. Her research focuses on the social and cultural history of the Late Habsburg Empire. Her monograph Streetscapes of War and Revolution: Prague, 1914-1920 came out in 2024 with Cambridge University Press. She also co-edited two volumes: one on the legacy of the Habsburg Empire after 1918 with Paul Miller (Embers of Empire, 2019) and another on the impact of food shortages during the First World War with Mary Cox (Hunger Redraws the Map, 2025).