Networking and Career Strategies in Late Habsburg Monarchy and its Successor States: Paths to Power

This comparative study of elite formation and social mobility in Central and Eastern Europe in the 19th and early 20th centuries focuses on Bohemia and Transylvania as representatives of different administrative systems – Cisleithanian and Transleithanian – within the Habsburg Monarchy.Through 20 richly contextualized microhistorical case studies, the book illustrates the changing roles of education, professional networks and political transformations (particularly those occurring in 1848, 1867, 1918 and 1938) in shaping career paths and achieving elite status as high-ranking state officials and Members of Parliament. Furthermore, it explores the extent to which membership in various groups (ethnic, religious, social, educational, professional) influenced the intensity and success in the processes of social mobility. This innovative approach – combining comparative analysis and detailed reconstruction of relational networks including their visualizations – offers insights into the structures and strategies that underpinned the formation of the elite during a period of rapid social transformation.This volume will appeal to scholars, students, and general readers interested in Central European history and social mobility.

About the Author

Alice Velková is Associate Professor in the Department of Demography and Geodemography, Faculty of Science at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. She is the coeditor of Climbing Up the Social Ladder: Social Mobility of Elites in East-Central Europe in the Long 19th Century (2024).