Max E. Riedlsperger. The Lingering Shadow of Nazism: The Austrian Independent Party Movement Since 1945. Pp. xi, 214. New York: Columbia University Press, 1978. $14.00

• Author: Charles J. Herber
• Date: 01 January 1979
• Published date: 01 January 1979
• DOI: 10.1177/000271627944100130
• Subject Matter: Articles

210

viding

guidance

through

a

landscape

strewn

with

the

disjecta

membra

which

surround

the

controversy

over

the

authorship

of

the

Letters.

Cannon

of-

fers

no

new

evidence;

he

is,

moreover,

not

an

advocate

for

Sir

Philip

Francis:

he

acquits

himself

by

observing

that

&dquo;I

do

not

propose

to

say

how

decisive

the

case

for

Francis

is,

since

the

object

of

this

appendix

is

to

place

the

reader

in

a

position

to

form

his

own

conclu-

sion&dquo;

(571).

The

case

for

Francis

was

completely

destroyed

by

Charles

Went-

worth

Dilke

in

the

last

century;

no

student

of

Junius

has

argued

Francis’

case

since.

And

Cannon

is

felicitously

wise

in

his

concluding

observation

on

the

authorship:

&dquo;If a

cautious

conclusion

is

unacceptable

to

some

readers,

they

are

at

liberty

to

be

as

dogmatic

as

they

wish:

it

would

certainly

have

pleased

the

au-

thor

himself,

who

wrote

’the

mystery

of

Junius

increases

his

importance.’

&dquo;

FRANCESCO

CORDASCO

Montclair

State

College

New

Jersey

RAYMOND

PEARSON.

The

Russian

Moderates

and

the

Crisis

of

Tsarism

1911-1917

.

Pp.

x,

208.

New

York:

Barnes

&

Noble,

1977.

$22.50.

The

author,

a

lecturer

in

history

at

the

University

of

Ulster,

spent

several

months

in

the

USSR

where

he

carried

out

his

research.

In

a

clear,

readable

style,

he

presents

an

account

of

the

clos-

ing

days

of the

Russian

Monarchy,

and

offers

condensed

though

significant

ac-

counts

of

political

groupings

such

as

the

early

formed

Octobrists,

the

Kadets,

the

later

Union

Sacre,

known

for

its

blend

of

patriotism

and

expediency,

and

the

Progressive

Bloc

of the

last

years

of

the

Monarchy.

All

these

seem

to

have

come

to

life

as

emergency

organizations

to

forestall

the

oncoming

cataclysm.

Placed

between

reaction

and

revolu-

tion,

the

vast

middle

classes

hoped

and

schemed

to

find

a

peaceful

solution

or

at

least

a

means

of

survival

if

the

loom-

ing

crisis

should

culminate

in

violence.

The

moderates,

the

Kadets

or

the

Oc-

tobrists,

desperately

sought

means

to

avoid

violent

encounter.

Not

even

the

Mensheviks

accepted

violence

for

fear

they

might

be

crushed

in

the

emerging

clash.

Organizations

of the

Right,

in

com-

mon

with

the

middle

classes,

tried

to

stem

the

oncoming

storm

by

setting

up

peaceful

negotiations.

However,

fre-

quent

military

adversities

at

the

front,

creeping

demonstrations

throughout

the

Empire,

and

the

decline

of

loyalties

throughout

the

country

all

served

to

multiply

and

perpetuate

fears

of

loom-

ing

events.

Despite

all

efforts,

events

did

not

move

into

anticipated

channels.

One

of

the

major

reasons

for

this

was

the

gigantic

military

force

present

in

the

country.

In

the

end,

all

parties

shifted

from

the

conference

rooms

to

the

battle-

fields,

adding

a

totally

different

dimen-

sion

to

forthcoming

events.

Very

well

presented,

this

volume

offers

a

clear

picture

that

is

far

superior

to

numerous

other

documented

accounts.

It

is

an

intriguing

chapter

in

modern

history.

Once

the

reader

begins,

he

will

find

it

extremely

difficult

to

put

the

nar-

rative

down

until

the

account

comes

to

an

end;

assuming,

of

course,

there

is

an

end

to

the

account!

ANATOLE

G. MAZOUR

Stanford

University

California

MAX

E.

RIEDLSPERGER.

The

Lingering

Shadow

of

Nazism:

The

Austrian

Independent

Party

Movement

Since

1945

.

Pp.

xi,

214.

New

York:

Columbia

University

Press,

1978.

$14.00.

In

the

decade

after

the

end

of

the

second

World

War,

the

dominant

themes

in

Austrian

political

life

were

the

oc-

cupation

and

a

system

of

coalition

government

with

its

unique

proportional

arrangements

between

the

Social

Demo-

cratic

Party

of

Austria

and

the

Austrian

Peoples

Party.

The

subject

of this

book

is

the

effort

by

many

inheritors

of

the

German

national

tradition

to

operate

politically

outside

of

the

postwar

coali-

tion

and

to

develop

a

third

force,

as-

piring

even

to

a

balance

of

power

within

the

Austrian

political

life.

Through

newspaper

accounts,

journal

articles,

personal

interviews,

and

official

statis-