Dividing Austria-Hungary: The Complex Nationalities Question

The Austro-Hungarian Empire, also known as the Dual Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe that existed from 1867 until its collapse in 1918. The empire was formed through a compromise between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, wherein both nations agreed to be ruled by a single monarch, who would be titled both Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. Despite this shared ruler, Austria and Hungary were considered separate sovereign countries in international law, each with their own parliament and prime minister.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was geographically the second-largest country in Europe and the third most populous, with the fourth-largest machine-building industry in the world. However, the empire was composed of multiple ethnic groups with different languages and customs, which would ultimately lead to its downfall. As World War I progressed, nationalist movements within the empire gained traction, and various ethnic groups began demanding full independence. The Allies encouraged these breakaway demands, further contributing to the empire's disintegration.

In the autumn of 1918, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy collapsed rapidly. Leftist and pacifist political movements organised strikes and uprisings, and the various ethnic groups within the empire began to seek ways to establish their own nation-states. On October 17, 1918, the Hungarian Parliament voted to terminate the union with Austria, and on October 31, Count Mihály Károlyi seized power in the Aster Revolution, becoming the prime minister of Hungary and officially dissolving the Austro-Hungarian state.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was a dual monarchy

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was the last phase in the constitutional evolution of the Habsburg monarchy. The duality of the Habsburg monarchy was underlined from the very beginning of World War I. While the Austrian parliament was suspended in March 1914, the Hungarian parliament in Budapest continued its sessions, and the Hungarian government proved less amenable to dictation from the military. The Slavs, however, showed little sign of anti-Habsburg feeling before Russia's March Revolution of 1917.

The "common monarchy" consisted of the emperor and his court, the minister for foreign affairs, and the minister of war. There was no common prime minister, and no common cabinet. The common affairs were considered at the delegations, composed of representatives from the two parliaments. There was a customs union and a sharing of accounts, which was revised every ten years. This decennial revision gave the Hungarians the opportunity to levy blackmail on the rest of the empire.

The official name of the state was Austria-Hungary, but the kingdom of Hungary had its own name, king, and history. The rest of the empire was a casual agglomeration without a clear description. It was technically known as "the kingdoms and lands represented in the Reichsrat" or "the other Imperial half". The empire was geographically the second-largest country in Europe and the third most populous, while being among the ten most populous countries worldwide.

The empire was divided into Cisleithania and Transleithania

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was divided into two halves: Cisleithania and Transleithania. The Compromise of 1867 transformed the Habsburg Monarchy into an alliance of two sovereign states, with each half of the empire having its own constitution, government, and parliament. The citizens of each half were also treated as foreigners in the other half.

Cisleithania, officially The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council, was the northern and western part of the empire. The Cisleithanian capital was Vienna, the residence of the Austrian emperor. The territory had a population of 28,571,900 in 1910 and comprised the current states of Austria (except for Burgenland), as well as most of the territories of the Czech Republic and Slovenia, among others.

Transleithania, also known as the Kingdom of Hungary or the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen, was the eastern half of the empire. The Transleithanian capital was Budapest, and the territory included the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Slavonia, and the Principality of Transylvania.

The two halves of the empire were united by their common army and foreign policy, with the monarch personifying the unity of the empire. However, in all other state matters, Hungary was completely autonomous, with separate governments and parliaments in Vienna and Budapest.

The collapse of the empire was catalysed by WWI

The collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was catalysed by WWI. The war exposed the weaknesses of the empire, which was already suffering from internal social contradictions and a widening gap between Hungarian and Austrian interests. The Austro-Hungarian army's heavy losses and the economic crisis at home further weakened the empire.

The war also encouraged socialist and nationalist tendencies among the peoples of the empire. The October Revolution in 1917 and the Wilsonian peace pronouncements from early 1918 fuelled these sentiments. The Allies encouraged breakaway demands from minorities, and as it became clear that the Allied powers would win the war, nationalist movements started pressing for full independence. The multiethnic empire started to disintegrate, and the emperor lost his power to rule.

In October 1918, the Hungarian parliament voted to terminate the union with Austria, and the emperor was forced to appoint Mihály Károlyi, a prominent opponent of the union, as Hungarian prime minister. Károlyi's first acts included repudiating the compromise agreement, thus officially dissolving the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and state. The Treaties of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Trianon, signed in 1919 and 1920, respectively, formalised the collapse of the empire and established the new borders of Austria and Hungary.

The empire was split into separate entities based on nationality

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe, consisting of two sovereign states with a single monarch. The two states were the Empire of Austria (Cisleithania) and the Kingdom of Hungary (Transleithania).

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was dissolved in 1918, at the end of World War I, and split into separate entities based on nationality. The new states that were formed included:

• Czechoslovakia
• Yugoslavia
• Poland (which gained Galicia)
• Romania (which gained Transylvania)
• The Republic of Austria
• The Hungarian Democratic Republic

The Hungarian Democratic Republic was short-lived

The Hungarian Democratic Republic was indeed short-lived, lasting from 16 November 1918 until 21 March 1919, when it was replaced by the Hungarian Soviet Republic. The Hungarian Democratic Republic was established in the wake of the dissolution of Austria-Hungary following World War I, replacing the Kingdom of Hungary.

The Republic was created by the Aster Revolution, which began in Budapest on 31 October 1918. On this day, King Charles IV appointed the revolt's leader, Mihály Károlyi, as Hungarian prime minister. Károlyi's first act was to formally terminate the personal union between Austria and Hungary. Károlyi yielded to US President Woodrow Wilson's demand for pacifism by ordering the unilateral self-disarmament of the Hungarian army. This left Hungary vulnerable to occupation by the relatively small armies of Romania, the Franco-Serbian army, and the armed forces of the newly established Czechoslovakia.

During the rule of Károlyi's pacifist cabinet, Hungary lost control of approximately 75% of its former pre-World War I territories without armed resistance and was subjected to unhindered foreign occupation. Károlyi's measures failed to stem popular discontent, especially when the Entente powers began distributing slices of what many considered Hungary's traditional territory to the majority ethnic groups in the Kingdom of Romania, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and the First Czechoslovak Republic.

The Károlyi government was in an impossible position. They knew that accepting the French note demanding further territorial concessions would endanger the country's territorial integrity, but they were in no position to reject it. Károlyi resigned on 21 March 1919, and the Hungarian Democratic Republic was replaced by the Hungarian Soviet Republic.

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