Eduard Taaffe, 11th Viscount Taaffe

Eduard Franz Joseph Graf von Taaffe, 11th Viscount Taaffe (24 February 1833 – 29 November 1895) was an

Taaffe was the second son of Count Louis Taaffe, 9th Viscount Taaffe (1791–1855),

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. That connection led to a distinguished political career for Taaffe in the service of the Habsburgs. He studied law at the University of Vienna and entered public service in 1852.^[1] From 1861 he served at the Bohemian crown land government in Prague and in 1863 was appointed Landespräsident (stadtholder) in the Duchy of Salzburg. He backed the implementation of the February Patent constitution under State Minister Anton von Schmerling and in 1864 became a member of the Bohemian Diet (zemský sněm, Landtag), where he did however not excel. In 1867 the Chairmen of the Ministers' Conference Count Richard Belcredi appointed him Upper Austrian stadtholder at Linz.^{[citation needed]}

By the death of his elder brother Charles (1823–1873), colonel in the Austro-Hungarian Army, Eduard Graf von Taaffe succeeded to the Irish titles. He had married Countess Irma Tsaky in 1862, by whom he left four daughters and one son, Henry.^[2]

Political life

Minister-President (first term)

During the

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

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.[4]

Election reform of 1882

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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 Cisleithania 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.^{[citation needed]}

The next election reform was enacted in 1896 by

Policies on nationalities

It was Taaffe's great achievement that he persuaded the

Notes

Regarding personal names: Until 1919, Graf was a title, translated as Count, not a first or middle name. The female form is Gräfin. In Germany, it has formed part of family names since 1919.

Further reading

• Grandner, Margarete. "Conservative Social Politics in Austria, 1880–1890." Austrian History Yearbook 27 (1996): 77-107.
• Taylor, A.J.P. The Habsburg Monarchy, 1809–1918: A History of the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary (1948) pp. 156–68 covers his ministry 1879–93

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Political offices
Preceded by Count Beust	Interior Minister of the Austrian Empire 1867	Succeeded by Carl Giskra
Preceded by Karl von Auersperg	Minister-President of Cisleithania 1868–1870	Succeeded by Ignaz von Plener
Preceded by Carl Giskra	Interior Minister of Cisleithania 1870–1871	Succeeded by Count von Hohenwart
Preceded by Karl von Stremayr	Minister-President of Cisleithania 1879–1893	Succeeded by Alfred III. zu Windisch-Grätz
Peerage of Ireland
Preceded by Charles Taaffe	Viscount Taaffe 1873–1895	Succeeded by Count Henry von Taaffe