The Austrian Empire: A Historical Kingdom's Legacy

The Austrian Kingdom was a part of the Austrian Empire, which was a multinational European great power from 1804 to 1867. It was created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. It was the third most populous monarchy in Europe after the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom, while geographically, it was the third-largest empire in Europe after the Russian Empire and the First French Empire.

The Austrian Kingdom was administered by its own institutions separately from the rest of the empire. The Kingdom of Hungary was also administered by its own institutions separately from the rest of the empire.

The Austrian Empire

The Kingdom of Hungary was administered by its own institutions separately from the rest of the empire. After Austria was defeated in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 was adopted, joining the Kingdom of Hungary and the Empire of Austria to form Austria-Hungary.

The Kingdom of Hungary

Due to the Ottoman occupation of the central and southern territories of Hungary in the 16th century, the country was partitioned into three parts: the Habsburg Royal Hungary, Ottoman Hungary, and the semi-independent Principality of Transylvania. The House of Habsburg held the Hungarian throne after the Battle of Mohács in 1526 continuously until 1918 and also played a key role in the liberation wars against the Ottoman Empire.

From 1867, territories connected to the Hungarian crown were incorporated into Austria-Hungary under the name of Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen. The monarchy ended with the deposition of the last king Charles IV in 1918, after which Hungary became a republic. The kingdom was nominally restored during the "Regency" of 1920–46, ending under the Soviet occupation in 1946.

The Austrian-Hungarian Compromise of 1867

The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 was the result of negotiations between Hungarian political leaders and the Austrian government. The Hungarian political leaders had two main goals during the negotiations. One was to regain the traditional status (both legal and political) of the Hungarian state, which had been lost after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The other was to restore the series of reform laws (the so-called April Laws) of the revolutionary parliament of 1848, which were based on the 12 points that established modern civil and political rights and economic and societal reforms in Hungary. The April Laws of the Hungarian revolutionary parliament (with the exception of the laws based on the 9th and 10th points) were restored by Franz Joseph.

Under the Compromise, the lands of the House of Habsburg were reorganized as a real union between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, headed by a single monarch who reigned as Emperor of Austria in the Austrian half of the empire, and as King of Hungary in the Kingdom of Hungary. The Cisleithanian (Austrian) and Transleithanian (Hungarian) states were governed by separate parliaments and prime ministers. The two countries conducted unified diplomatic and defence policies. For these purposes, "common" ministries of foreign affairs and defence were maintained under the monarch's direct authority, as was a third finance ministry responsible only for financing the two "common" portfolios.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire

The Empire was geographically the second-largest country in Europe and the third-most populous (after Russia and the German Empire), while being among the ten most populous countries worldwide. It was one of Europe's major powers and built up the fourth-largest machine-building industry in the world.

The Empire was a real union between Cisleithania, the northern and western parts of the former Austrian Empire, and Transleithania (Kingdom of Hungary). The Austrian and Hungarian states were co-equal in power. A third component of the union was the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, an autonomous region under the Hungarian crown, which negotiated the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement in 1868. After 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina came under Austro-Hungarian joint military and civilian rule until it was fully annexed in 1908, provoking the Bosnian crisis.

The Dual Monarchy

The establishment of the Dual Monarchy was an attempt to address the national and political issues that had plagued the Austrian Empire since its formation in 1804. The empire was composed of multiple ethnic groups, including Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Ruthenians, Romanians, and Italians, each with their own aspirations for self-determination and independence. By creating a dual monarchy, the Habsburgs hoped to appease Hungarian nationalists while maintaining a unified state under their rule.

Under the terms of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary became co-equal entities, with separate parliaments, governments, and laws. The only institutions shared by both halves were the common army, foreign policy, and the monarchy itself. The Emperor of Austria became the King of Hungary, and he appointed separate prime ministers and cabinets for each half of the monarchy.

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