The World of Yesterday: An Autobiography

The World of Yesterday is Stefan Zweig’s memoir. Published in 1942, it details the Austrian Jewish author’s youth in Vienna during the waning days of the Habsburg Empire as well as his early adult life and career against the backdrop of World War I and the beginnings of World War II in Europe. As much a historical document as a memoir, Zweig’s text paints a portrait of his entire generation, young men and women who came of age during a time of tumultuous upheaval on the European continent. Zweig and his compatriots saw the death of empires that had ruled Europe for 1,000 years, the rise of the extremist ideologies of bolshevism and fascism, and the re-delineating of European borders on a mass scale.

Before World War I, Zweig was a member of a group of young Viennese musicians, writers, and artists, many of them Jewish like Zweig himself, who looked to the promise of the 20th century with eager anticipation. They saw the possibility of new forms of artistic production, idealism, and the potential for a world defined by greater equality and a strong sense of pan-European unity. Zweig identified with this spirit of European cosmopolitanism, and it was precisely for this reason that he and his fellow intellectuals were so horrified by the divisions that World War I brought to Europe. They were to relive this panic mere decades later as National Socialism consumed first Germany and then many surrounding countries.

Although primarily known for his novellas and biographies, Zweig’s memoir is one of the most noteworthy texts that documented the end of Habsburg rule and the complex constellation of sociopolitical forces that resulted in two world wars in Europe in the span of only a few decades. Zweig penned his memoir in exile, having been forced to flee first Austria and then Britain because of Nazi persecution. A dedicated European cosmopolitan to the end, Zweig was never able to find his footing abroad. Tragically, both he and his wife died by suicide shortly after the completion of this memoir.

This guide refers to the 2013 reprint edition by the University of Nebraska Press, first translated in 2009 by Anthea Bell.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain descriptions of antisemitism, the persecution of Jewish Europeans, and suicide.

Plot Summary

Zweig begins his memoir with a discussion of what he terms the “age of security” (23). This was the period of relative peace and stability at the end of the 19th century in the Habsburg Empire. He describes the comfortable standard of living available to most people, the lack of antisemitism within the general population, and the social cohesion among the disparate ethnic groups brought together under the rule of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.

Zweig was born into an affluent Jewish family in Vienna. As a second son he was not duty-bound to take over his father’s textile business, so he was free to pursue his passion for the arts. Vienna at that time was the cultural capital of Europe, and Zweig grew up in a city that supported art, music, and literature. Although uninterested in the dry curriculum of his schools and universities, he was deeply invested in the intellectual figures of his day, read voraciously, and attended as many musical and theatrical productions as possible. Zweig obtained a doctorate in philosophy, but spent more time during his university years reading and discussing books with like-minded peers in cafes and coffeehouses than he did attending lectures.

He and his friends were part of a group of young intellectuals who valued cosmopolitanism over national identity and remained committed to intellectualism and the arts. He traveled widely and was able to move freely in intellectual circles in Paris and Berlin in addition to Vienna.

Although the latter portion of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century saw rapid industrialization and tremendous advancement in the areas of medicine, health, business, technology, and the arts, Zweig now realizes that extremist ideologies had also taken root in society. He thinks that Europeans were lulled into a false sense of security by the stability provided by the Austrian empire and by the promise of societal progress. Although there was widespread surprise when World War I broke out, in retrospect Zweig is able to identify many of its warning signs. Still, during the leadup to the war, he had his first literary success, and began to publish both his poetry and literary criticism.

When the World War I broke out, Zweig, a staunch pacifist, found work in a military archive and was able to avoid combat. Although many people and their nations were now separated by battle lines and separatist ideologies, Zweig recalls the spirit of cosmopolitan unity still alive among his intellectual friends. Many of them still identified as “European” and were unwilling to be divided by war. He spent part of the war in neutral Switzerland because one of his plays was to be produced in a theater there, and when he returned to Austria after the war had ended, he was initially shocked: Food was scarce, the currency unstable, and there was no money for proper clothing or fuel. He moved to Salzburg, outside Vienna, and rode out the difficult post-war days there, writing.

Although the transition had been difficult, life ultimately stabilized, and Zweig recalls a renewed spirit of unity during the post-war years. And yet, he realizes that people had fallen victim to the same kind of naivete that characterized the years immediately preceding the World War I: Extremism was once again on the rise, particularly in Germany, where Adolf Hitler’s National Socialism was spreading like a cancer. From his home in Salzburg, very near to the German border, Zweig saw the spread of Nazism firsthand, and he ultimately realized that he needed to flee. As a prominent intellectual and an Austrian of Jewish descent, he would not be safe from Hitler’s purges. He set out for London, where he stayed until it too became unsafe. The memoir ends as the threat of Nazi invasion looms over London and Zweig is once again forced to leave his home.