ALOIS von LIECHTENSTEIN. - Opponent of liberalism, leader of the Catholic social movement in Austria, b. 18 Nov. 1846 at Prague, d. 25 Mar. 1920 at Vienna. A diplomat in London and Berlin, after 1873 he devoted himself entirely to the struggle against liberalism, becoming a pioneer of social reform, an advocate of new legislation in accordance with the social teachings of Leo XIII, and a strong defender of denominational schools.
From 1878 to 1889 he was a member of Parliament for the Catholic Conservative People’s Party; in 1889 he resigned from the leadership of the parliamentary bloc of the conservatives and entered into collaboration with Lueger and the Christian-Social Party, transforming it into a staunch supporter of Catholic ideas in Austria. A celebrated author and brilliant organizer, popular with the people—the “Red Prince,” as liberals called him—he did not gain the court’s trust until he had demonstrated his loyalty to the idea of the monarchy. In 1907 he succeeded in uniting the Christian-Socials and the Catholic Conservatives in Parliament, and in 1910 he succeeded Lueger as president of the party, a post he held until 1918. He was one of the greatest and most selfless pioneers of the Catholic-social idea in Austria.