nment had drawn its most consistent
support, were roundly beaten, and June 26 Baron von Bienerth and his
colleagues resigned. The ministry thereupon made up was presided (p. 483)
over by Baron Gautsch. It, however, endured only until October 31,
when it was succeeded by that of Count Stuergkh.

The elections of 1911 were hotly contested. The 516 seats to be filled
were sought by 2,987 candidates, representing no fewer than fifty-one
parties and factions, and second ballotings were required in almost
two-thirds of the constituencies. The Czechs returned with
undiminished strength, and the German Radicals and Progressives
realized substantial gains. The most notable feature, however, was the
victory of the Social Democrats over the Christian Socialists,
especially in the capital, where the quota of deputies of the one
party was raised from ten to nineteen and that of the other was cut
from twenty to four. The Christian Socialists, it must be observed,
are not socialists in the ordinary meaning of the term. The party was
founded by Dr. Lueger a few years ago in the hope that, despite the
establishment of manhood suffrage in the Empire, the Social Democrats
might yet be prevented from acquiring a primacy among the German
parties. It is composed largely of clericals, and in tone and purpose
it is essentially reactionary. By maintaining an active alliance with
the German Clerical party it contrived to hold in check the Social
Democracy throughout the larger portion of the period 1907-1911. But
it was handicapped all the while by internal dissension, and the
defeat which it suffered at the last elections has relegated it, at
least for the time being, to a subordinate place.[681]

[Footnote 681: On Austrian party politics see
Lowell, Governments and Parties, II., 94-123;
Drage, Austria-Hungary, Chaps, 1, 3, 12; K.
Schwechler, Die oesterreichische Sozialdemokratie
(Graz, 1907); S. Marmorek, L'Obstruction au
parlement autrichien (Paris, 1908); and E. Benes,
Le probleme autrichien et la question tcheque;
etude sur les luttes politiques des nationalites
slaves en Autriche (Paris, 1908). Among valuable
articles in periodicals may be mentioned: W.
Beaumont, La crise du parlementarisme au Autriche;
les elec