Leslie Massey
The Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary was established in 1867 with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, which transformed the Habsburg Monarchy into an alliance of two sovereign states with a shared monarch. This ended an 18-year-long military dictatorship and absolutist rule over Hungary, restoring the country's territorial integrity and historic constitution. The two halves of the empire were united by a common army, foreign policy, and shared monarch, with each half maintaining its own constitution, government, and parliament.
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What You'll Learn
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise was triggered by the Austro-Prussian War, which ended in 1866 with the Peace of Prague and saw the Austrian Empire weakened and on the verge of collapse. The Compromise was also influenced by the Pragmatic Sanction of 1723, which stated that constitutional governing of Hungary was a fundamental prerequisite of Habsburg rule over the country. According to Hungarian statesman Ferenc Deák, foreign policy, defence, and their financing were to be the most important joint affairs of the resulting dual monarchy.
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The Hungarian Revolution of 1848
The idea of nationalism for Hungary was complicated since the geographical area known as Hungary included many different ethnic groups with conflicting loyalties. In addition to Magyars, the region included Slavs, Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes, some of whom were loyal to Austria and opposed the Hungarian movement for independence. The first fighting in the Hungarian Revolution was between the Croats and Magyars, and Austria's intervention on the side of their Croatian subjects caused an upheaval in Vienna. The rebellion in Hungary might have been easily put down if it had been an isolated event, but because it coincided with revolutions in Vienna and Italy, the Austrian government was unable to respond effectively.
The Hungarian liberals, similar to other European liberal revolutionaries of 1848, were primarily motivated by ideological considerations. They supported countries and forces that aligned with their new moral and political standards and believed that governments and political movements sharing the same modern liberal values should form an alliance against "feudal" monarchies. This outlook was similar to modern liberal internationalism.
The revolution in Hungary was led by young intellectuals, including the poet Sándor Petőfi, the novelist Mór Jókai, the philosopher and historian Pál Vasvári, and the journalist József Irinyi. In Pest in March 1848, they abolished censorship and formulated a series of demands. Lajos Kossuth, who had been elected to represent Pest in the Diet in 1847, assumed leadership of the "national opposition," which had agreed on an extensive program of political and social reform. On 3 March 1848, shortly after the news of the revolution in Paris had arrived, Kossuth demanded parliamentary government for Hungary and constitutional government for the rest of Austria. On 13 March 1848, the Emperor, yielding to pressure or panic, appointed Count Louis Batthyány premier of the first Hungarian responsible ministry, which included Kossuth.
The Austrian monarchy made concessions to subdue the Viennese masses: on 13 March 1848, Prince Klemens von Metternich was made to resign his position as the Austrian Government's Chancellor. He then fled to London for his own safety. On 17 March 1848, the Emperor assented, and Batthyány created the first Hungarian responsible government. With the exception of Lajos Kossuth, all members of the government were supporters of Széchenyi's ideas.
The Hungarians mustered a volunteer army and won several early victories. However, most of the Slavs in the region opposed Hungarian independence, so Austria called upon Russia to intervene. The ill-equipped Magyar patriots could not withstand the vastly superior Russian force, and the Hungarian revolution was quickly brought to an end. After a series of serious Austrian defeats in 1849, the Austrian Empire came close to collapse, and the new emperor Franz Joseph I had to call for Russian help. The Hungarian Revolutionary Parliament proclaimed and enacted ethnic and minority rights in July 1849, but these were overturned after the Russian and Austrian armies crushed the Hungarian Revolution. The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, which established the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, only partially re-established the former pre-1848 sovereignty and status of the Kingdom of Hungary.
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The Austrian Empire
The establishment of the dual monarchy was triggered by the Austro-Prussian War, which ended with the Peace of Prague in 1866. This war settled the "German question" in favour of a Lesser German Solution, ending Austrian influence in Germany. The subsequent founding of the German Empire prompted Austria to turn to Hungary, which had been seeking independence from Austrian rule, to form a new alliance.
The compromise with Hungary put an end to the 18-year-long military dictatorship and absolutist rule over Hungary by Emperor Franz Joseph, who had instituted it after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The territorial integrity of Hungary was restored, and the old historic constitution of the Kingdom of Hungary was reinstated. The Hungarian parliament, which had been the supreme legislative power in the country since the 12th century, was also re-established.
The dual monarchy was characterised by a complex state structure, with each half of the empire maintaining significant autonomy. The two parts had different ethnic compositions, with the Austrian side consisting of multiple nationalities, while the Hungarian side, or Transleithania, had a small Magyar majority with other ethnic groups as minorities. Despite their differences, the two halves of the empire worked together on common affairs such as foreign policy, defence, and financing.
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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 partition 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 continuously until 1918. They also played a key role in the liberation wars against the Ottoman Empire.
In 1867, the Austro-Hungarian Compromise transformed the Kingdom of Hungary's relationship with the Austrian Empire. This established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary, a military and diplomatic alliance of two sovereign states with a single monarch. The Kingdom of Hungary's territorial integrity was restored, and it gained more real internal independence than it had enjoyed since 1526. However, in foreign affairs or defense, Hungary was still only a part of the monarchy, and its interests in these fields had to be coordinated with those of its other components. The Hungarian parliament was also re-established, and it was once again the supreme legislative power in Hungary, as it had been before 1849.
The monarchy of the Kingdom of Hungary ended with the deposition of its 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.
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The Habsburg Monarchy
The term "Austrian monarchy" came into use around 1700 as a term of convenience for the Habsburg territories. The Latin term "monarchia austriaca" was used to refer to the Habsburg Monarchy, and Danubian monarchy" was an unofficial name often used contemporaneously. The Habsburg realms were unified in 1804 with the formation of the Austrian Empire, which was the official name of the new Habsburg empire created immediately prior to the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806.
The Austro-Hungarian 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 treated as foreigners in the other half, and domestic policy issues were dealt with autonomously by the two governments. The two halves of the empire were united by their common army and foreign policy, with the monarch personifying the unity of the empire. The Austrian half of the empire, often referred to as "Cisleithania", consisted of seventeen historical crown lands, while the Hungarian half was dominated by the Magyars, although it was also a multi-ethnic structure.
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Frequently asked questions
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 established the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary.
The dual monarchy was a military and diplomatic alliance of two sovereign states with a single monarch, who was titled both Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary.
The two states in the dual monarchy were Austria and Hungary.
The two states in the dual monarchy were constitutionally autonomous, each having its own government and parliament.
