This paper deals with the role of German in the Austrian Empire which did not recognize and
tolerate linguistic nationalism of the early 19th century. lt also deals with the rise of the idea of a national standardized language, bom out of the needs of a modem centralized bureaurocracy. Finali y
the paper describes the endeavors of Austrian authorities in the Croatian province of Dalmatia to
build up and develop the Cratian Language to replace ltalian used by the provincial administration.
Also dealt with are Austrian efforts to introduce German as the language of communication among
the non-Gennan nations ofthe Empire in the late 19th century. The paper finally surveys the attempts
of Austro-Hungarian authorities to further "Serbo-Croatian" as an instrument of Austrian political
penetration in the Balkans
