Eduard Franz Joseph Graf von Taaffe, 11th Viscount Taaffe (24 February 183329 November 1895) was an Austrian statesman, who served for two terms as Minister-President of

Cisleithania Cisleithania, officially The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council (), was the northern and western part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in the Compromise of 1867—as distinguished from ''Transleithania'' (i.e., ...

, leading cabinets from 1868 to 1870 and 1879 to 1893. He was a scion of the Irish Taaffe noble dynasty, who held hereditary titles from two countries:

Imperial Count Imperial Count (, ) was a title in the Holy Roman Empire. During the medieval era, it was used exclusively to designate the holder of an imperial county, that is, a fief held directly ( immediately) from the emperor, rather than from a prince wh ...

s ('' Reichsgrafen'') of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

and

viscount A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. The status and any domain held by a viscount is a viscounty. In the case of French viscounts, the title is ...

s in the

Peerage of Ireland The peerage of Ireland consists of those Peerage, titles of nobility created by the English monarchs in their capacity as Lordship of Ireland, Lord or Monarchy of Ireland, King of Ireland, or later by monarchs of the United Kingdom of Great B ...

(in the United Kingdom).

Family background and early years

Taaffe was the second son of Count Louis Taaffe, 9th

Viscount Taaffe The title Viscount Taaffe, of Corren, was created in the Peerage of Ireland in 1628, together with the subsidiary title Baron Ballymote. From 1661 to 1738, the Viscounts Taaffe were also the Earls of Carlingford. From the 18th century onwards, ...

(1791–1855), Austrian Minister of Justice during the

Revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

and president of the court of appeal, and his wife, Princess Amalie von Bretzenheim (1802-1874), granddaughter of

Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria Charles Theodore (; 11 December 1724 – 16 February 1799) was a German nobleman of the Palatinate-Sulzbach, Sulzbach branch of the House of Wittelsbach. He became Count Palatine of Sulzbach at the age of six following the death of his father J ...

. His ancestor

Francis Taaffe, 3rd Earl of Carlingford Francis Taaffe, 3rd Earl of Carlingford (1639August 1704), was 4th Viscount Taaffe, of Corren, and 4th Baron of Ballymote and an army commander and politician of Irish descent in the service of Emperor Ferdinand III in the Austrian capital Vi ...

(1639–1704) had entered the service of the

Habsburg monarchy The Habsburg monarchy, also known as Habsburg Empire, or Habsburg Realm (), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities (composite monarchy) that were ruled by the House of Habsburg. From the 18th century it is ...

in the 17th century; the family held large estates in

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

. As a child, Eduard Taaffe was one of the chosen companions of the young Archduke Francis Joseph, who in 1848 was crowned

Emperor of Austria The emperor of Austria (, ) was the ruler of the Austrian Empire and later the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The hereditary imperial title and office was proclaimed in 1804 by Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorr ...

. That connection led to a distinguished political career for Taaffe in the service of the Habsburgs. He studied law at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

and entered public service in 1852. From 1861 he served at the Bohemian crown land government in

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and in 1863 was appointed ''Landespräsident'' (

stadtholder In the Low Countries, a stadtholder ( ) was a steward, first appointed as a medieval official and ultimately functioning as a national leader. The ''stadtholder'' was the replacement of the duke or count of a province during the Burgundian and ...

) in the Duchy of Salzburg. He backed the implementation of the

February Patent The February Patent was a constitution of the Austrian Empire promulgated in the form of letters patent on 26 February 1861. Background In the Austrian Empire, the early 1860s were a period of significant constitutional reforms. The revolutions ...

constitution under State Minister Anton von Schmerling and in 1864 became a member of the Bohemian Diet (''zemský sněm'', ''

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

''), where he did however not excel. In 1867 the Chairmen of the Ministers' Conference Count Richard Belcredi appointed him

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

n stadtholder at

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

. By the death of his elder brother Charles (1823–1873), colonel in the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

, Eduard Graf von Taaffe succeeded to the Irish titles. He had married Countess Irma Csáky in 1862, by whom he left four daughters and one son,

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

Political life

Minister-President (first term)

During the

Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (, ) established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, which was a military and diplomatic alliance of two sovereign states. The Compromise only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereign ...

, Emperor Francis Joseph offered him the post of Minister of the Interior in Count Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust's cabinet. In June he became vice-president of the ministry, and at the end of the year, he entered the first ministry ( ''Bürgerministerium'') of the newly organized Austrian portion of the monarchy. For the next three years, he took a notable part in the confused political changes, and probably more than any other politician represented the wishes of the emperor. Taaffe had entered the ministry as a German Liberal, but he soon took an intermediate position between the Liberal majority of the ''Bürgerministerium'' (" Citizen's Ministry" because it was mainly commoners) and the party which desired a federal constitution and which was strongly supported at court. From September 1868 to January 1870, after the retirement of Auersperg, he was president of the cabinet. In 1870, the government fell on the question of the revision of the constitution: Taaffe with Potocki and Johann Nepomuk Berger wished to make some concessions to the Federalists; the Liberal majority wished to preserve undiminished the authority of the Imperial Council. The two parties presented memoranda to the emperor, each defending their view and offering their resignation: after some hesitation, the emperor accepted the policy of the majority, and Taaffe and his friends resigned.

Second term

The Liberals, however, failed to form a new government, as the representatives of most of the territories refused to appear in the Imperial Council: they resigned, and in the month of April Potocki and Taaffe returned to office. The latter failed, however, in an attempt to come to an understanding with the Czechs, and in their turn, they had to make way for the Clerical and Federalist cabinet of Hohenwart. Taaffe now became governor of

Tyrol Tyrol ( ; historically the Tyrole; ; ) is a historical region in the Alps of Northern Italy and western Austria. The area was historically the core of the County of Tyrol, part of the Holy Roman Empire, Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary, f ...

, but in 1879, on the collapse of the Liberal government, he was recalled to high office. At first, he attempted to carry on the government without a change of principles, but he soon found it necessary to come to an understanding with the Feudal and Federal parties and was responsible for the conduct of the negotiations which, in the elections of the same year, gave a majority to the different groups of the National and Clerical opposition. In July he became minister president: at first, he still continued to govern with the Liberals, but this was soon made impossible, and he was obliged to turn for support to the Conservatives. Legislation to help the working class emerged from Catholic conservatives. They turned to social reform by using Swiss and German models and intervening in state economic matters. In Germany, Chancellor Otto von Bismarck had used such policies to neutralize socialist promises. The Catholics studied the Swiss Factory Act of 1877 which limited working hours for everyone, and gave maternity benefits, and German laws that insured workers against industrial risks inherent in the workplace. These served as the basis for Austria's 1885 Trade Code Amendment.Margarete Grandner, "Conservative Social Politics in Austria, 1880–1890." ''Austrian History Yearbook'' 27 (1996): 77-107.

Election reform of 1882

Count Taaffe is mostly remembered for his election reform of 1882, which reduced to 5 guilders the minimum tax base required for men over the age of 24 to vote. Before this reform, the tax base was set locally, but was usually at a considerably higher level, so that only 6% of the male population of

had been entitled to vote. However, even after this reform, there were still four classes of voters whose vote counted differently, depending on how much tax an individual was paying. The next election reform was enacted in 1896 by Kasimir Felix Graf Badeni, who succeeded in bringing about more radical reforms than Taaffe had achieved by creating a fifth class which "included all males who had attained the age of twenty four years".

Policies on nationalities

It was Taaffe's great achievement that he persuaded the

Czechs The Czechs (, ; singular Czech, masculine: ''Čech'' , singular feminine: ''Češka'' ), or the Czech people (), are a West Slavs, West Slavic ethnic group and a nation native to the Czech Republic in Central Europe, who share a common Bohemia ...

to abandon the policy of abstention and to take part in the parliament. It was on the support of them, the

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

, and the Clericals that his majority depended. His avowed intention was to unite the nationalities of Austria:

Germans Germans (, ) are the natives or inhabitants of Germany, or sometimes more broadly any people who are of German descent or native speakers of the German language. The Basic Law for the Federal Republic of Germany, constitution of Germany, imple ...

and

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

were, as he said, equally integral parts of Austria; neither must be oppressed; both must unite to form an Austrian parliament. Notwithstanding the growing opposition of the German Liberals, who refused to accept the equality of the nationalities, he kept his position for thirteen years.

Late years

In 1893 he was defeated on a proposal for the revision of the franchise and resigned. He retired into private life, and died two years later at his country residence, Ellischau, in