Austria-Hungary's Fragmentation: New Nations Emerge

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, also known as the Ausgleich, in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War. The empire was dissolved in 1918, shortly after Hungary terminated the union with Austria. The two legal successor states were German Austria, which became the Austrian Republic, and the Hungarian Democratic Republic, which became the Kingdom of Hungary.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was divided into the Empire of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe that existed between 1867 and 1918. It was formed through the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, also known as the Ausgleich, which was negotiated in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War. The Compromise created a dual monarchy, consisting of two sovereign states with a single monarch, who was titled both Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary.

The Empire of Austria, also known as Cisleithania, comprised the northern and western parts of the former Austrian Empire. It included regions such as Bohemia, Bukovina, Carinthia, Carniola, Dalmatia, Galicia, Lower Austria, Moravia, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Upper Austria, and Vorarlberg. Cisleithania was governed by its own parliament, the Imperial Council (Reichsrat), and had its own prime minister and executive government.

The Kingdom of Hungary, also known as Transleithania, was a separate sovereign country under international law. It included territories such as Croatia-Slavonia, Hungarian proper, and Transylvania. Like Cisleithania, Transleithania had its own parliament, the National Assembly, as well as its own prime minister and executive government.

While the two halves of the Austro-Hungarian Empire shared a common monarch and conducted unified diplomatic and defence policies, they were otherwise separate entities. Each half had its own government, laws, and administration. The Compromise of 1867 established a customs union between the two states and a common ministry of foreign affairs and defence under the direct authority of the monarch. This arrangement was renewed and renegotiated every ten years, leading to frequent political disputes between Austria and Hungary over shared external tariff arrangements and financial contributions to the common treasury.

The dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was a result of growing internal social contradictions, the widening gap between Hungarian and Austrian interests, and the impact of World War I. The empire's defeat in the war, coupled with crop failure, starvation, and an economic crisis, led to its collapse in 1918. The rise of nationalist movements and the encouragement of breakaway demands by the Allies further contributed to the empire's disintegration. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye with Austria and the Treaty of Trianon with Hungary formalised the collapse and established the new borders of the two successor states: the Republic of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary.

The Empire of Austria included Bohemia, Moravia, Bukovina, Carniola, Küstenland, Dalmatia, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol, Upper Austria, Vorarlberg, and more

The Empire of Austria, also known as Cisleithania, was a multinational European great power from 1804 to 1867. It was the third most populous monarchy in Europe after the Russian Empire and the United Kingdom. It was created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs.

The Empire of Austria included:

• Bohemia
• Moravia
• Bukovina
• Carniola
• Küstenland
• Dalmatia
• Lower Austria
• Salzburg
• Styria
• Tyrol
• Upper Austria
• Vorarlberg
• Carinthia
• Silesia
• Galicia
• The Littoral
• And more

The Empire of Austria was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, also known as the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy. This was a military and diplomatic alliance between the Empire of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary, with a single monarch titled both Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was formed in 1867 and dissolved in 1918.

The Kingdom of Hungary included Croatia-Slavonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Kingdom of Hungary was one of two sovereign states that made up the Austro-Hungarian Empire, also known as the Dual Monarchy, which existed between 1867 and 1918. The other sovereign state was the Empire of Austria, also known as Cisleithania. The Kingdom of Hungary was also referred to as Transleithania.

The Kingdom of Hungary included the autonomous Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, which was created in 1868 when the kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia were merged. The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia was nominally autonomous and constitutionally a separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was associated with the Kingdom of Hungary within the dual Austro-Hungarian state, being within the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen. While Croatia had been granted internal autonomy, in reality, Croatian control over key issues such as tax and military matters was minimal and hampered by Hungary.

The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia also included claims on the Kingdom of Dalmatia, which was administered separately by the Austrian Cisleithania. The city of Rijeka was a corpus separatum and was legally owned by Hungary but administered by both Croatia and Hungary.

In 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina came under Austro-Hungarian joint military and civilian rule. In 1908, Austria-Hungary formally annexed the occupied zone, establishing the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina under the joint control of Austria and Hungary. This annexation provoked the Bosnian Crisis.

The Empire of Austria was also referred to as Cisleithania

The Empire of Austria, also known as Cisleithania, was the northern and western part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in the Compromise of 1867. The name Cisleithania is derived from the Leitha River, a tributary of the Danube, which formed the historical boundary between the Archduchy of Austria and the Hungarian Kingdom. The Cisleithanian capital was Vienna, the residence of the Austrian emperor.

Cisleithania was officially known as "The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council" (German: Die im Reichsrat vertretenen Königreiche und Länder). This name was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status until 1915, and was seldom used by the press and the general public, who generally referred to the lands as Austria. The term "Austrian Empire" was rarely used to avoid confusion with the era before 1867, when the Kingdom of Hungary had been a constituent part of that empire.

Cisleithania consisted of 15 crown lands with representatives in the Imperial Council (Reichsrat), the Cisleithanian parliament in Vienna. These crown lands were not states, but provinces, and were centred on the Archduchy of Austria. Each crown land had a regional assembly, the Landtag, which enacted laws on matters of regional and mostly minor importance. The executive committee of a Landtag was called Landesausschuss and was headed by a Landeshauptmann.

The largest group within Cisleithania were Austrian Germans, who made up around a third of the population. German-speakers and Czechs made up a majority of the population, and almost 60% of Cisleithania's population was ethnically Slavic. Cisleithania had a population of 28,571,900 in 1910 and reached from Vorarlberg in the west to the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and the Duchy of Bukovina in the east, and from the Kingdom of Bohemia in the north to the Kingdom of Dalmatia in the south.

Cisleithania and Transleithania (Kingdom of Hungary) shared a common monarch and conducted unified diplomatic and defence policies, with "common" ministries of foreign affairs, defence, and finance under the monarch's direct authority. However, the two lands maintained separate parliaments and governments, and all other state functions were handled separately, as there was no common citizenship.

The Kingdom of Hungary was also referred to as Transleithania

Transleithania was an informal name for the Hungarian territories of Austria-Hungary, which existed from 1867 to 1918. It was also known as the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, referring to the historic coronation crown of Hungary. The territory included the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, and the free port of Rijeka (Fiume).

Transleithania was a part of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, with Cisleithania being the other half, representing the Austrian territories. The two kingdoms were united under a single monarch, who held the titles of Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. While the two countries shared a monarch and conducted unified diplomatic and defence policies, they were otherwise separate sovereign states with their own constitutions, legislatures, and administrations.

The Compromise of 1867, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Compromise or Ausgleich, established this dual monarchy and gave the Hungarian government more control over its domestic affairs. However, the Hungarian government continued to face challenges, including severe economic problems and growing unrest among ethnic minorities.

The Kingdom of Hungary, or Transleithania, played a significant role in the First World War as part of the Central Powers. The war ultimately led to the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, as nationalist movements gained momentum and internal social contradictions widened. In 1918, the Hungarian Parliament voted to terminate the union with Austria, officially dissolving the Austro-Hungarian monarchy and leading to the formation of separate successor states.

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