The Habsburg Myth (german: Habsburgischer Mythos or ; it, Mito asburgico) is the name given to a

political myth A political myth is an ideological narrative that is believed by social groups. In 1975, Henry Tudor defined it in the book ''Political Myth''. He said that myths are believed to be true even if they may be false, and they are devices with dramatic ...

present in the

historiography Historiography is the study of the methods of historians in developing history as an academic discipline, and by extension is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific topic covers how historians ha ...

and

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

of some Central and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russia, whic ...

an countries, particularly in Austria, according to which the past rule of the Habsburg monarchy led to an era of prosperity in the region to look back on. The concept was coined by the Italian Germanist

Claudio Magris Claudio Magris (born 10 April 1939) is an Italian scholar, translator and writer. He was a senator for Friuli-Venezia Giulia from 1994 to 1996. Life Magris graduated from the University of Turin, where he studied German studies, and has been a ...

in his 1963 thesis ''Il mito asburgico nella letteratura austriaca moderna'' ("The Habsburg Myth in modern Austrian literature"). Some important novelists that helped the emergence of what is nowadays referred to as the Habsburg Myth were Stefan Zweig and

Joseph Roth Moses Joseph Roth (2 September 1894 – 27 May 1939) was an Austrian journalist and novelist, best known for his family saga '' Radetzky March'' (1932), about the decline and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, his novel of Jewish life '' Job'' ...

. A possible correlation has been made between the Habsburg Myth and the rise of fascism in parts of Europe in the 20th century. It has also been related to the current

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

(EU), as some early proponents of European integration and a

pan-European identity Pan-European identity is the sense of personal identification with Europe, in a cultural or political sense. The concept is discussed in the context of European integration, historically in connection with hypothetical proposals, but since th ...

were inspired in the supranational multiethnic Habsburg Monarchy.

References

{{Reflist, 2 Historiography of Austria Historiography of Italy Myth Austrian literature

See also

References