The transition from monarchical to republican order in Austria in 1918/19 was relatively peaceful for the time being, but evoked long-term lines of conflict that left their mark on the entire First Republic. Historiography has therefore understood the Austrian Revolution (Otto Bauer) primarily as a paradigm shift in constitutional law. The articles in this key issue expand the established perspective to include a from below perspective. They investigate the question of how people apart from the political elite experienced and interpreted the events. How did contemporaries who had not previously been active in parties or political organizations try to influence the processes - and what were their underlying motives for action? Was the transformation really a purely urban phenomenon and how was the situation outside of the federal capital Vienna?