Chief theoretician of orthodox Marxism in the Second International, founding editor of Die Neue Zeit, editor of Marx's Capital Vol. IV
"Socialism as a means to the emancipation of the proletariat, without democracy, is unthinkable." — The Dictatorship of the Proletariat (1918)
Leading Marxist theoretician of the Second International. He authored the Erfurt Programme, refuted Bernstein's revisionism, and after the Russian Revolution critiqued Bolshevik rule, creating the defining point of divergence between social democracy and Leninism.
Career timeline
- 1875Joined Austrian SDAP; published Darwin and Socialism
- 1880–1883Moved to Zurich, met Bernstein; travelled to London and befriended Marx and Engels
- 1883–1917Founded and edited Die Neue Zeit for 35 years — leading Marxist theoretical journal of the Second International
- 1885–1890Worked closely with Engels in London; began editing Marx's Theories of Surplus Value
- 1891–1892Authored theoretical section of Erfurt Programme and commentary The Class Struggle — defining SPD Marxism
- 1899–1909Led orthodox Marxist counter-attack against Bernstein's revisionism; published The Road to Power
- 1917Broke with SPD over war policy; co-founded Independent Social Democratic Party (USPD)
- 1918–1922Published The Dictatorship of the Proletariat criticising Bolshevik rule; provoked Lenin's polemical reply
An Austrian Europeanist who helped open the Iron Curtain
On 27 June 1989, Mock and Gyula Horn cut the fence near Sopron, making the border opening visible to the world.
Alois Mock was an Austrian People's Party politician who made European integration a central aim of Austrian foreign policy. As foreign minister, he pursued Hungary's border opening and Austria's entry into the European Communities, helping shape Central Europe's reordering at the end of the Cold War. On 27 June 1989, he and Gyula Horn symbolically cut the border fence, creating an international image of the openings that enabled East German escapes and preceded the collapse of the Eastern bloc.
Career timeline
- 1957Doctor of law, University of Vienna
- 1961–1966EEC and EFTA adviser in the Federal Chancellery; Austrian OECD mission in Paris
- 1966–1969Cabinet secretary to Chancellor Josef Klaus
- 1969–1970Federal minister for education, science, research, arts, culture and sport
- 1979–1989Federal chairman of the Austrian People's Party
- 1987–1989Vice Chancellor of Austria
- 1987–1995Foreign minister of Austria
- 1990Temporary administrator of defence affairs
The Swiss historian whose archival research overturned the received Yugoslav narrative of the Tito-Stalin split
Perović showed from newly opened East-bloc archives that Tito's Balkan territorial ambitions, particularly over Albania, triggered the 1948 split, and that the 'Yugoslav path to socialism' was a post hoc myth.
A Swiss historian and political scientist, he is Professor of Eastern European History at the University of Zurich and director of the Center for Eastern European Studies (CEES). His 2007 Journal of Cold War Studies article, 'The Tito-Stalin Split: A Reassessment in Light of New Evidence,' overturned the official Yugoslav narrative by using newly opened East-bloc archives to argue that Tito's Balkan territorial ambitions, particularly the push to absorb Albania, rather than a distinct Yugoslav path to socialism, drove the 1948 split with Moscow. He has also produced significant work on the North Caucasus under Russian rule and on Soviet energy diplomacy, and founded and edits several online scholarly digests including the Caucasus Analytical Digest, extending East European studies to a broader public.
Career timeline
- 1991–1997Studied history, political science, and Russian literature at the University of Zurich
- 2001PhD from the University of Zurich; dissertation on Russian regionalism
- 1997–2005Head of the Russia/Eurasia program, Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich
- 2008–2011Academic Associate, Department of History, University of Basel
- 2011–현재Professor of Eastern European History, University of Zurich
- 2014Habilitation at the University of Zurich; North Caucasus under Russian rule
- 2017Founded and directed the Center for Eastern European Studies (CEES), University of Zurich
