The end of World War I and the collapse of the Habsburg monarchy in 1918 effected a fundamental political reorganization for the whole of Europe. Like the Republic of "German Austria" (Deutschösterreich) proclaimed on November 12, 1918, the University of Vienna was also faced with many difficult tasks. Before the war it had been among the most important universities in the world, but the years from 1918 onwards were marked by economic hardship, the "forced" reorientation within the framework of the republic and a strengthening of German national and anti-Semitic endencies.
