Austro-Slavism

First proposed by Karel Havlíček Borovský in 1846, as an opposition to the concept of pan-Slavism, it was further developed into a complete political program by Czech politician František Palacký.

Austro-Slavism envisioned peaceful cooperation between the smaller Slavic nations of Central Europe within the Habsburg monarchy not dominated by German-speaking elites.

The Archduke's reform plans, which were almost certainly sold to the Governments of Russia and Serbia by Colonel Alfred Redl, are believed, accordingly, to have played a major role in causing senior Pan-Slavist officers within the military intelligence service of Serbia to covertly plan the Archduke's 1914 assassination in Sarajevo.

Long before his death, however, the Archduke had passed his sympathies for Austro-Slavism and plans to return the Empire to Federalism down to his nephew, who went on to become the last Habsburg monarch: Emperor Charles I of Austria.

The 1918 collapse of Austria-Hungary owed a great deal to Emperor Charles' failure to implement Austro-Slavist reforms due to both foreign and domestic politicians and to the ongoing chaos of the First World War.