Would it be feasible/possible for the Austrian Empire (or Austria-Hungary) to try and counter centrifugal nationalist forces by promoting local and regional dialects/languages in opposition to the standardized varieties of said vernaculars promoted by the advocates of nationalism?
For example, in Lombardy-Venetia the Habsburg realm starts heavily promoting Friulian, Lombard and Venetian at the expense of the Tuscan variety of the language; in Croatia proper and Dalmatia, Kajkavian and Chakavian are pushed at the expense of Shtokavian, and so on. Many of those languages had pre-existing literary traditions, so it wouldn't be an impossible task. I can't see Vienna switching to Austro-Bavarian at all, but when it comes to the realm's minorities, it could be a good move, and it could help increase literacy somewhat, too.
What do you think?