Austria-Hungary's Pre-Ww1 Conquests: Which Country Fell First?

The Austro-Hungarian Empire was a unique empire that had a dual monarchy between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. It controlled a broad territory in Central and Southern Europe during the early modern period until the end of World War I.

The origins of the Austrian Empire date to an Austrian Habsburg becoming king of Hungary in 1526. In 1867, the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary was created. The multinational Austria-Hungary faced upheaval from nationalism of the national minority groups. Tensions rose between Austria-Hungary, Serbia, and Russia in the Balkans, before WWI. Austria-Hungary was dismantled into several separate states at the end of WWI.

The Austrian Empire

The Empire was proclaimed by Francis II in 1804 in response to Napoleon's declaration of the First French Empire. It unified all Habsburg possessions under one central government. The Kingdom of Hungary, as Regnum Independens, was administered separately from the rest of the empire.

After emerging victorious from the Napoleonic Wars, the Austrian Empire was reaffirmed as one of the great powers of the 19th century at the Congress of Vienna. It gained new territories and expanded its influence to the north through the German Confederation and into Italy. Klemens von Metternich, who became Foreign Minister in 1809, played a major role in the Congress of Vienna and subsequent congresses that aimed to maintain the political equilibrium in Europe.

In the 1860s, the Austrian Empire faced two significant defeats: the loss of a large part of Northern Italy in the Second Italian War of Independence, and the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, which led to the dissolution of the German Confederation. These defeats gave the Hungarians an opportunity to demand more autonomy. The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 was adopted, joining the Kingdom of Hungary and the Empire of Austria to form Austria-Hungary, also known as the Dual Monarchy.

The Kingdom of Hungary

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

In 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 1920–1946, ending under Soviet occupation in 1946.

During World War I, the Kingdom of Hungary was one of the Central Powers, along with the German Empire and the Ottoman Empire. Austro-Hungarian forces fought the Allies in Serbia, on the Eastern Front, in Italy, and in Romania. With heavy aid and support from its allies, the empire managed to occupy Serbia in 1915 and force Romania out of the war in 1917. However, on other fronts, it suffered severe casualties, culminating in the collapse of the Italian front, which led the Austrians to accept the Armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918.

The Annexation of Bosnia

The mid-1870s witnessed a series of violent rebellions against Ottoman rule in the Balkans, prompting the Russian Tsar, Alexander II, to intervene. In the Budapest Conventions of 1877, Russia and Austria-Hungary agreed that Russia would annex Bessarabia, while Austria-Hungary would observe a benevolent neutrality toward Russia in the pending war with the Ottoman Empire. As compensation, Russia agreed to Austria-Hungary's control over Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Treaty of San Stefano, imposed by Russia on the Ottomans after their victory, reneged on the Budapest Convention and declared that Bosnia and Herzegovina would be jointly occupied by Russian and Austrian troops. However, this was overturned by the 1878 Treaty of Berlin, which gave Austria-Hungary special rights in these provinces.

In 1881, both Germany and Russia endorsed Austria's right to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Three Emperors' League treaty. A bilateral commercial treaty between Austria and Serbia in the same year included a secret annexe stating that Serbia would not permit any intrigue against the Austro-Hungarian monarchy from its territory. However, by 1897, Russia had withdrawn its support for Austrian annexation, and by 1903, a pro-Russian dynasty had come to the throne in Serbia, with aspirations to expand into Bosnia.

In 1907, the Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister, Alois Aehrenthal, began formulating a plan to solidify Austria-Hungary's position towards Serbia through the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In July 1908, when the Young Turks staged a revolution in Constantinople, Aehrenthal saw his chance. He met with the Russian Foreign Minister, Alexander Izvolsky, and on September 16, 1908, Izvolsky agreed that Russia would not object to the annexation if Austria-Hungary did not object to the opening of the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits to Russian warships.

On October 5, 1908, Emperor Franz Joseph announced his determination to recognise and grant the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina an autonomous and constitutional regime under his authority. The following day, Austria-Hungary announced its withdrawal from the Sanjak of Novi Pazar, which had been jointly occupied by the two empires. Bulgaria's declaration of independence from the Ottoman Empire on the same day further inflamed tensions in the region.

The Balkan Wars

The First Balkan War began on 8 October 1912, when the League member states attacked the Ottoman Empire, and ended eight months later with the signing of the Treaty of London on 30 May 1913. The Second Balkan War began on 16 June 1913, when Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its loss of Macedonia, attacked its former Balkan League allies. The combined forces of the Serbian and Greek armies, with their superior numbers, repelled the Bulgarian offensive and counter-attacked Bulgaria by invading it from the west and the south. Romania, having taken no part in the conflict, had intact armies to strike with and invaded Bulgaria from the north. The Ottoman Empire also attacked Bulgaria and advanced in Thrace, regaining Adrianople.

The Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

On the day of the assassination, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were on a visit to the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo, which had been annexed by Austria-Hungary in 1908. The motorcade passed by six assassins who had been stationed along the Appel Quay, a main avenue in Sarajevo. One of the assassins, Nedeljko Čabrinović, threw a bomb at the car, but it bounced off and rolled underneath the car behind, injuring a few passengers and some bystanders. The couple were hurriedly taken to the Town Hall, but Franz Ferdinand insisted on visiting the wounded officers in the hospital. In the haste to leave, the driver of the car carrying the Archduke and his wife took a wrong turn and stalled the engine close to where Princip was standing. Princip stepped up to the car and shot the couple at point-blank range. Sophie died in the car, and Franz Ferdinand shortly after reaching the residence of the Governor.

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