Politician Vekoslav Kukovec And His Political Activities Until 1918: politično delovanje do leta 1918

The political activities of Vekoslav Kukovec began in his study years in Graz. These were very critical times for the Habsburg Monarchy. A big problem was the Monarchy’s lax dualistic structure. Although both state parts were connected by the joint sovereign, joint finances, joint army and the unified foreign politics, they were totally divided. The branched bureaucracy also made the relations between the state parts difficult. Cisleithania was in comparison with a pure Hungarian national state just a mosaic of nations. After the fall of the Taaffe’s government, which was ruined by the unsuccessful attempt of introducing a parliamentary election reform, Prince Alfred Windischgraetz became the Prime Minister on 11th November 1893. His government was supported by the “unprincipled coalition” of the parties that blew up Taaffe’s election reform. The new government set an election reform as its goal. The reform contradictions were big; the heaviest opponents were the conservative Hohenwart club and the Joined Liberal Left. The “Celje question”, which activated a wave of German nationalism in the Alp states, as well as the solidarity of the Sudetes Germans with the endangered brothers in the South of the Monarchy, also played a big part in the unpleasant situation within the coalition. The Celje gymnasium question became therefore the major problem of the Austrian inner politics. It actually meant the “milestone in the Austrian history” and it caused the fall of the Windischgraetz’s government.