Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/171050 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 6586
Publisher: 
Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), Munich
Abstract: 
We study whether long-gone but activated history can shape social attitudes and behavior even after centuries. We exploit the case of the sieges of Vienna in 1529 and 1683, when Turkish troops pillaged individual municipalities across East Austria. In 2005, Austrian right-wing populists started to campaign against Turks and Muslims and explicitly referred to the Turkish sieges. We show that right-wing voting increased in once pillaged municipalities compared to non-pillaged municipalities after the campaigns were launched, but not before. The effects are substantial: Around one out of ten votes for the far-right in a once pillaged municipality is caused by salient history. We conclude that campaigns can act as tipping points and catalyze history in a nonlinear fashion.
Subjects: 
salience
persistence
right-wing populism
political campaigns
collective memory
Turkish sieges
Austria
JEL: 
D72
N43
N44
Z13
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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