Austria–Hungary

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Österreich-Ungarn (de) Osztrák–Magyar Monarchia (hu) Austria-Hungary Other names ← 1867–1918 ↓ Civil Ensign Coat of arms Anthem Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser Location of Austria-Hungary in 1913 Capital Vienna and Budapest[1] (pop: 2,239,000) Language(s) various: German Hungarian, Czech, Polish, Ukrainian, Romanian, Croatian, Slovak, Serbian, Slovene, Rusyn, Italian Religion Roman Catholic (predominant & official state religion) Tolerated religions of the Empire: Eastern Orthodoxy, Judaism, Sunni Islam and others Government Monarchy Emperor of Austria, and King of Hungary[1]  - 1848–1916 Franz Joseph I  - 1916–1918 Karl I Historical era New Imperialism  - 1867 Compromise 29 May 1867  - Czecho-Slovak indep. 28 October 1918  - South Slavs indep. 29 October 1918  - Dissolution 31 October 1918  - Dissolution treaties¹ in 1919 & in 1920 Area  - 1914 676,615 km2 (261,243 sq mi) Population  - 1914 est. 52,800,000       Density 78 /km2  (202.1 /sq mi) Currency Gulden Krone (from 1892) Preceded by Succeeded by Austrian Empire German Austria Hungarian Democratic Republic First Republic of Czechoslovakia Second Polish Republic Lemko-Rusyn Republic Ukrainian People's Republic West Ukrainian National Republic Komancza Republic State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946) Kingdom of Romania Italian Regency of Carnaro Banat Republic 1) Treaty of Saint-Germain signed 10 September 1919 and the Treaty of Trianon signed 4 June 1920.

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Austria–Hungary, also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the k.u.k. Monarchy, or Dual State, was a monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in Central Europe. The union was a result of the Ausgleich or Compromise of 1867, under which the Austrian House of Habsburg agreed to share power with the separate Hungarian government, dividing the territory of the former Austrian Empire between them. The Dual Monarchy existed for 51 years until 1918, when it was dissolved following military defeat in the First World War.

The Habsburg dynasty ruled as Emperor of Austria^[2] over the western and northern half of the country that was the Empire of Austria (Cisleithania or Lands represented in the Reichsrat)^[1] and as King of Hungary^[2] over the Kingdom of Hungary (Transleithania or Lands of St Stephen's Crown)^[1] which enjoyed self-government and representation in joint affairs (principally foreign relations and defence).^[3]

The two capitals of the Monarchy were Vienna for Austria and Budapest for Hungary.^[1] Austria–Hungary was geographically the second largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire (621 538 km², or 239,977 sq. m in 1905 ^[4]), and the third most populous (after Russia and the German Empire). Today, the territory it covered has a population of about 69 million.

As a multinational empire and great power in an era of national awakening, it found its political life dominated by disputes among the eleven principal national groups.

The Monarchy bore the full name internationally of "The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen".

History

Creation

The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 which inaugurated the Empire's dualist structure in place of the former unitary Austrian Empire (1804–67) originated at a time when Austria had declined in strength and in power—both in the Italian Peninsula (as a result of the Austro–Sardinian War of 1859) and among the states of the German Confederation (where it had been replaced by Prussia as the dominant German-speaking power following the Austro–Prussian War of 1866). Other factors in the constitutional changes included continued Hungarian dissatisfaction with rule from Vienna and increasing national consciousness on the part of other nationalities of the Austrian Empire. Hungarian dissatisfaction grew partially from Austria's suppression, with Russian support, of the Hungarian liberal revolution of 1848–49. However, dissatisfaction with Austrian rule had grown for many years within Hungary, and had many other causes.

By the late 1850s, however, a large number of Hungarians who had supported the 1848-49 revolution were willing to accept the Habsburg monarchy. They took the line that while Hungary had the right to full internal independence, under the Pragmatic Sanction foreign affairs and defense were "common" to both Austria and Hungary.

In the effort to shore up support for the monarchy, Emperor Franz Joseph began negotiations for a compromise with the Hungarian nobility to ensure their support. In particular, Hungarian leaders demanded and received the Emperor's coronation as King of Hungary, and the re-establishment of a separate parliament at Budapest with the powers to enact laws for the lands of the Hungarian crown.

Full names

Names of the Empire in languages officially recognized by the Austro-Hungarian Empire:

• Bosnian: Austro-Ugarska^[5]
• Croatian: Austro-Ugarska
• Czech: Rakousko-Uhersko
• German: Österreich-Ungarn
• Hungarian: Osztrák–Magyar Monarchia
• Italian: Austria-Ungheria
• Polish: Austro-Węgry
• Romanian: Austro-Ungaria
• Rusyn: Австро-Магярщина/Avstro-Magyarshchina
• Serbian: Aустро-Угарска/Austro-Ugarska
• Serbo-Croatian: Аустро-Угарска/Austro-Ugarska*
• Slovak: Rakúsko-Uhorsko
• Slovene: Avstro-Ogrska
• Ukrainian: Австро-Угорщина/Avstro-Ugorshchina

Foreign policy

After the agreement of 1867 the Imperial foreign minister was obliged to take account of the views on the minister-president of Hungary; besides Germanisation the Hungarians were most concerned about the threat of Pan-Slavism^{[citation needed]}, a concern also voiced by the German-speaking part of the monarchy. Here Russia was perceived as the immediate threat, with Serbia as its "Trojan Horse" in the Balkans.^{[citation needed]} Nobody represented this view more clearly than Count Gyula Andrássy Jr., son of the first minister-president of Hungary and then himself the Imperial foreign minister.^{[citation needed]}

By the late 1860s, Austrian ambitions in both Italy and Germany had been choked off by the rise of new national powers. With the decline and failed reforms of the Ottoman Empire, Slavic opposition in the occupied Balkans grew and both Russia and Austria–Hungary saw an opportunity to expand in this region. In 1876, Russia offered to partition the Balkans, but Andrássy declined for Austria–Hungary was already a "saturated" state and it could not cope with addiditonal territories.^[6] The whole Empire was thus drawn into a new style of diplomatic brinkmanship, first conceived of by Andrássy, centering on the province of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a predominantly Slavic area still under the control of the Ottoman Empire. It was a dangerous game to play in a dangerous place. A road was thus mapped out, with a terminus at Sarajevo in 1914.

On the heels of the Great Balkan Crisis, Austro-Hungarian forces occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina in August 1878 and the Empire eventually annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina in October 1908 as a common holding under the control of the finance ministry, rather than attaching it to either territorial government. The occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina was a step taken in return for Russia's advances into Bessarabia. Unable to mediate between Turkey and Russia over the control of Serbia, Austria–Hungary declared neutrality when the conflict between the two powers escalated into a war.^[6] At the Congress of Berlin in 1878, Andrássy managed to force Russia to retreat from further demands in the Balkans. As a result, Great Bulgaria was broken up and Serbian independence was guaranteed.^[6] In order to counter Russian and French interests in Europe, an alliance was concluded with Germany in October 1879 and with Italy in May 1882.

This led some in Vienna to contemplate combining Bosnia and Herzegovina (originally Bosnien und Herzegowina) with Croatia to form a third component of the Empire.

The Great War

The deaths of Franz Joseph's brother, Maximilian (1867), and only son, Rudolf, made the Emperor's nephew, Franz Ferdinand, heir to the crown. On June 28, 1914, he visited the Bosnian capital, Sarajevo, where Bosnian Serb militants of the nationalist group Mlada Bosna, supplied by the Serbian militant group Black Hand, ambushed Franz Ferdinand's convoy and assassinated him. There were a few members of the Black Hand in Sarajevo that day. Before Franz was shot, somebody had already tried to kill him and his wife. A member of the Black Hand threw a grenade at the car, but missed. It injured some people nearby and Franz made sure they were seen to before the convoy could carry on. Gavrilo Princip was the man who shot and killed Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie. The convoy took a wrong turn into a street where Gavrilo Princip was. He took out a pistol from his pocket and shot Franz and his wife.

The Empire's military spending had not even doubled since the 1878 Congress of Berlin, while German spending had risen fivefold, and British, Russian and French threefold. The Empire had previously lost ethnically Italian areas to Piedmont owing to nationalist movements sweeping through Italy, and many Austro-Hungarians perceived the threat of losing the southern territories inhabited by Slavs to Serbia as imminent. Serbia had recently gained a significant amount of territory in the Second Balkan War of 1913, causing much distress in government circles in Vienna and Budapest. Some members of the government, such as Conrad von Hötzendorf, had wanted to confront the resurgent Serbian nation for some years. The leadership of Austria–Hungary, especially Count Leopold von Berchtold, backed by its ally Germany, decided to confront Serbia militarily before it could incite a revolt; using the assassination as an excuse, they presented a list of ten demands called the July Ultimatum,^[7] expecting Serbia would never accept. When Serbia accepted nine of the ten demands but only partially accepted the remaining one, Austria–Hungary declared war.

Over the course of July and August 1914, these events caused the start of World War I, as Russia mobilized in support of Serbia, setting off a series of countermobilizations. Italy initially remained neutral, although it had an alliance with Austria–Hungary. In 1915, it switched to the side of the Entente powers, hoping to gain territory from its former ally.

General Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf was the Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff during the war. Under his command, Austro-Hungarian troops were involved in much of the fighting in the Great War.

At the start of the war, the army was divided in two; the smaller part attacked Serbia while the larger part fought against the formidable Russian army. The 1914 invasion of Serbia was a disaster. By the end of the year, the Austro-Hungarian Army had taken no territory and had lost 227,000 men out of a total force of 450,000 men (see Serbian Campaign (World War I)).

On the Eastern front, things started out equally poorly. The Austro-Hungarian Army was defeated at the Battle of Lemberg and the mighty fort city of Przemyśl was besieged and fell in March 1915.

In May 1915, Italy joined the Triple Entente and attacked Austria–Hungary. The bloody but indecisive fighting on the Italian Front would last for the next three and a half years. It was only on this front that the Austrians proved effective in war, managing to hold back the numerically superior Italian armies in the Alps.

In the summer, the Austro-Hungarian Army, working under a unified command with the Germans, participated in the successful Gorlice–Tarnów Offensive. Later in 1915, the Austro-Hungarian Army, in conjunction with the German and Bulgarian armies, conquered Serbia.

In 1916, the Russians focused their attacks on the Austro-Hungarian army in the Brusilov Offensive, recognizing the numerical inferiority of the Austro-Hungarian Army. The Austrian armies took heavy losses (losing about 1 million men) and never recovered. However, the huge losses of men and material inflicted on the Russians during the offensive contributed greatly to their two revolutions of 1917. The Austro-Hungarian war effort became more and more subordinate to the direction of German planners. The Austrians saw the German army positively, but by 1916 the general belief in Germany was that they were "shackled to a corpse." Supply shortages, low morale, and the high casualty rate seriously affected the operational abilities of the Austro-Hungarian army, as well as the fact the army was of multiple ethnicity, with different peoples, languages, and customs.

The last two successes for the Austrians, the Romanian Offensive and the Caporetto Offensive, were German-assisted operations. As the Empire became more politically unstable, it became more and more dependent on German assistance. The majority of its people, not of Hungarian or Austrian ethnicity, became increasingly restless.

Dissolution of Austria-Hungary

Much of the military defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I could be put down to its inability to act entirely on its own because, as part of the Dual Alliance, it was effectively a military satellite state of Imperial Germany which tied its hands.^[6] After having attacked Serbia, forces soon had to be withdrawn to protect its Eastern frontier against Russia's invasion, while German units were engaged in fighting on the Western Front. This unfortunate maneuver resulted in a greater loss of men in the Serbian invasion than expected.^[6] Furthermore, during the course of the war it became evident that the Austrian high command had possessed no plans for a possible continental war and the army and navy were also ill-equipped to handle such a conflict.^[6] Former ambassador and foreign minister Alois Count Aehrenthal assumed any future war would be in the Balkan region.

Hungary's contribution

Austria–Hungary could hold on for years, as the Hungarian half provided sufficient supply for the military to continue to wage war.^[6] This was also shown in a transition of power when Hungarian prime minister István Count Tisza and foreign minister István Count Burián had decisive influence on internal and external affairs of the Monarchy.^[6] By late 1916 and early 1917, food supply from Hungary became intermittent shifting the government to seek armistice from the Entente powers. However, most of these attempts failed. Britain and France no longer had any regard to the integrity of the Empire owing to Austro-Hungarian support for Germany.^[6]

As it became apparent that the Allied powers of the British Empire, France, Italy and the United States would win World War I, nationalist movements which had previously been calling for a greater degree of autonomy for various areas started pressing for full independence. In Austria and Hungary (in places where the Austrians and Hungarians were the majority) the leftist and liberal movements and politicians strengthened and supported the separatism of ethnic minorities.

As one of his Fourteen Points, U.S. President Woodrow Wilson demanded that the nationalities of the empire have "freest opportunity to autonomous development." In response, Karl I agreed to reconvene the Imperial parliament and allow for the creation of a confederation with each national group exercising self-governance. However, the latter no longer trusted Vienna, and were now dead set on independence.

On October 14, 1918 Foreign Minister [[István Burian|Baron István Burián von Rajecz] ^[8] asked for an armistice based on the Fourteen Points. In an apparent attempt to demonstrate good faith, Karl I issued a proclamation two days later, transforming Austria into a federal union of four components—German, Czech, South Slav and Ukrainian. The Poles were granted full independence with the purpose of joining their ethnic brethren in Russia and Germany in a Polish state, and Trieste was to receive special status.

It was all for naught; four days later, on October 18, Secretary of State Robert Lansing replied that the Allies were now committed to the causes of the Czechs, Slovaks and South Slavs. Therefore, Lansing said, autonomy was no longer enough, and Washington could not deal on the basis of the Fourteen Points anymore. In fact, a Czechoslovak provisional government had joined the Allies on October 14, and the leaders of the South Slav community had already declared in favor of uniting with Serbia in a large South Slav state.

The Lansing note was, in effect, the death certificate for Austria–Hungary. National councils formed in the Empire's provinces had already begun acting more or less as provisional governments of independent countries. With defeat in the war imminent after the Italian offensive in the Battle of Vittorio Veneto on October 24, Czecho-Slovakia declared independence on October 28 (the Czechs in Prague) and on October 30 (the Slovaks in Martin), and on October 29, the southern Slav areas declared the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs. The Hungarian government terminated the personal union with Austria on October 31, officially dissolving the Austro-Hungarian state. There was now nothing left of the Habsburg realm except its Alpine and Danubian provinces.

Facing an impossible situation, the last Habsburg Emperor-King, Karl I (Karl I in Austria and Károly IV in Hungary), issued a statement on November 11 in which he renounced the right to participate in Austrian affairs of state. On November 13, he issued a similar proclamation for Hungary. However, he did not abdicate, in the event the people of either state recalled him.

In Austria and Hungary, separate republics were declared at the end of the war in November. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (between the victors of World War I and Austria) and the Treaty of Trianon (between the victors and Hungary) regulated the new borders of Austria and Hungary. As a result, the Republic of German Austria was a remnant of the pre-war Austrian Empire and the Hungarian Democratic Republic lost 72% of the pre-war territory included as part of the Kingdom of Hungary. The treaties, drawn up one-sidedly by the Allies, had devastating political and economic effects. The previously rapid economic growth of the Empire ground to a halt because the new borders became major economic barriers. All the formally well established industries were optimized to satisfy the needs of an extensive empire. Therefore, the emerging countries were forced to make considerable sacrifices to transform their economies. Politically speaking, the treaties created major unease among the population. Owing to economic difficulties, extremist movements gained strength and there was a lack of a regional superpower in Central Europe. Along with the Treaty of Versailles, which set conditions on Germany, the Treaties of Saint Germain and Trianon sowed the seeds of World War II.^{[original research?]}

The Hungarian Democratic Republic was short-lived and was replaced by the communist Hungarian Soviet Republic. Armed forces of the Kingdom of Romania ousted Béla Kun and his communist government during the Hungarian-Romanian War. In March 1920, a monarchist revival resulted in the restoration of the Kingdom of Hungary. Royal powers were entrusted to a Regent, the naval hero Admiral Miklós Horthy.

In March and again in October 1921, ill-prepared attempts by Károly IV (Karl I in Austria) to regain the throne in Budapest collapsed. The initially wavering Horthy, after receiving threats of intervention from the Allied powers and neighboring countries, refused his cooperation. Subsequently, the British took custody of Karl and removed him and his family to the Portuguese island of Madeira, where he died the following year.

Successor states

The following successor states were formed (entirely or in part) on the territory of the former Austria-Hungary:

• German Austria and First Austrian Republic
• Hungarian Democratic Republic, Hungarian Soviet Republic, and Kingdom of Hungary
• Czecho-Slovakia after 1920 Czechoslovakia to 1938, then Czecho-Slovakia again
• State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (joined with the Kingdom of Serbia on 1 December 1918 to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later Kingdom of Yugoslavia)
• Second Polish Republic

Austro-Hungarian lands were also ceded to the Kingdom of Romania, the Ukrainian People's Republic and the Kingdom of Italy. The Principality of Liechtenstein, which had formerly looked to Vienna for protection, formed a customs and defense union with Switzerland, and adopted the Swiss currency instead of the Austrian. In April 1919 Vorarlberg, the westernmost province of Austria, voted by a large majority to join Switzerland; however both the Swiss and the Allies disregarded this result. The Allies generally discarded the ideas of plebiscites in the regions of Austria–Hungary^{[citation needed]}.

New hand-drawn borders of Austria-Hungary in the Treaty of Trianon and Saint Germain. (1919-1920)

New borders of Austria–Hungary after the Treaty of Trianon and Saint Germain.                     Border of Austria-Hungary in 1914                      Borders in 1914                      Borders in 1920      Empire of Austria in 1914      Kingdom of Hungary in 1914      Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1914

Territorial legacy

Austria–Hungary

Kingdoms and countries of Austria–Hungary: Cisleithania (Empire of Austria[1]): 1. Bohemia, 2. Bukovina, 3. Carinthia, 4. Carniola, 5. Dalmatia, 6. Galicia, 7. Küstenland, 8. Lower Austria, 9. Moravia, 10. Salzburg, 11. Silesia, 12. Styria, 13. Tirol, 14. Upper Austria, 15. Vorarlberg; Transleithania (Kingdom of Hungary[1]): 16. Hungary proper 17. Croatia-Slavonia; 18. Bosnia and Herzegovina (Austro-Hungarian condominium)

The following present-day countries and parts of countries were located within the boundaries of Austria–Hungary when the empire was dissolved:

Empire of Austria (Cisleithania):

• Austria (with the exception of Burgenland);
• Czech Republic (with the exception of the Hlučínsko area);
• Slovenia (with the exception of Prekmurje);
• Italy (autonomous regions of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol and small portions of Friuli-Venezia Giulia);
• Croatia (Dalmatia, Istria);
• Poland (voivodeships of Lesser Poland, Subcarpathia, southernmost part of Silesia (Bielsko and Cieszyn);
• Ukraine (oblasts of Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Ternopil (except its northern corner) and most of the oblast of Chernivtsi);
• Romania (county of Suceava);
• Montenegro (bay of Boka Kotorska, the coast and the immediate hinterland around cities of Budva, Petrovac and Sutomore).

Kingdom of Hungary (Transleithania):

• Hungary;
• Slovakia;
• Austria (Burgenland);
• Slovenia (Prekmurje);
• Croatia (Slavonia, Central Croatia, southern parts of the pre-1918 Baranya and Zala counties – today's Croatian part of Baranja and Međimurje county);
• Ukraine (oblast of Zakarpattia);
• Romania (region of Transylvania and Partium);
• Serbia (autonomous province of Vojvodina and parts of the present-day Belgrade north of the Sava River);
• Poland (Polish parts of Orava and Spiš);
• Bosnia and Herzegovina (the villages of Zavalje, Mali skočaj and Veliki skočaj including the immediate surrounding area western of the city of Bihać).

Austro-Hungarian Condominium

• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Montenegro (Sutorina – western part of the Municipality of Herceg-Novi between present borders with Croatia (SW) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (NW), Adriatic coast (E) and the township of Igalo (NE))
• Raška region/Sandzak of Serbia and Montenegro under effective Austro-Hungarian occupation while formally part of the Ottoman Empire until 1912

Colonies of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy

• The Empire was not able to gain and maintain huge colonial areas owing to its geographical position. Its only little colony was in Tianjin (now China), that was a kind of present for the supporting of the Boxer Rebellion with the Eight-Nation Alliance. However despite its relatively short lifespan (only 16 years in all), the Austro-Hungarians have left their mark on that area of the city, as can be seen in the wealth of Austrian architecture, that stands in the city to this day. (more information about the Austro-Hungarian concession) ^[9]

Other parts of Europe had been part of the Habsburg monarchy once but left it even before its dissolution in 1918. Prominent examples are the regions of Lombardy and Veneto in Italy, Silesia in Poland, most of Belgium and Serbia, and parts of northern Switzerland and southwestern Germany.

Like Germany, Austria–Hungary frequently employed liberal economic policies and practices. From the 1860s liberal businessmen succeeded in industrializing parts of the Empire and the prosperous middle classes erected conspicuously large homes, giving themselves a prominence in urban life that rivalled the aristocracy's. They persuaded the government to search out foreign investment to build up infrastructure such as railroads. Despite these measures, Austria–Hungary remained resolutely monarchist and authoritarian. Liberals in Austria, most of them ethnic Germans, saw their influence weaken under the leadership of Count Edouard von Taaffe, Austrian prime minister from 1879 to 1893. Building a coalition of clergy, conservatives and Slavic parties, Taaffe used its power to weaken the liberals. In Bohemia for example he designated Czech as an official language of the bureaucracy and school system thus breaking the German speakers' monopoly on officeholding. Reforms outraged those at whose expense other ethnic groups received benefits and those who won concessions, such as Czechs, clamored for even greater autonomy. By playing nationalities off one another the government ensured the monarchy's central role in holding together competing interest groups in an era of rapid change. Emperor Francis Joseph and his ministers still feared the influence of the most powerful Slavic nation—Russia—on the ethnic minorities living within Austria–Hungary. Nationalists in the Balkans demanded independence from the declining Ottoman Empire, raising Austro Hungarian fears and ambitions. In 1876 Slavs in Bulgaria and Bosnia and Herzegovina revolted against Turkish rule killing Ottoman officials. As the Ottomans slaughtered thousands of Bulgarians in turn, two other small Balkan states, Serbia and Montenegro, rebelled against the sultan. Russian Pan-Slavic organizations sent aid to the Balkan rebels and so pressured the tsar's government that Russia declared war on Turkey in 1877 in the name of protecting Orthodox Christians. With help from Romania and Greece, Russia defeated the Ottomans and by the Treaty of San Stefano created a large Pro-Russian Bulgaria. The Treaty of San Stefano sparked an international uproar that almost resulted in a general European war. Austria–Hungary and Britain feared that an enlarged Bulgaria would become a Russian satellite that would enable the tsar to dominate the Balkans. Austrian officials worried about an uprising of their own restless Slavs. British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli moved warships into position against Russia in order to halt the advance of Russian influence in the eastern Mediterranean so close to Britain's routes through the Suez Canal. The public was drawn into foreign policy: the music halls and newspapers of England echoed a new jingoism or political sloganeering that throbbed with sentiments of war: "We don't want to fight but by Jingo if we do We've got the ships we've got the men, We've got the money too." The other great powers, however, did not want a Europe-wide war and in 1878 they attempted to revive the concert of Europe by meeting at Berlin under the auspices of Bismarck, who was a calming presence on the diplomatic scene. The Congress of Berlin rolled back the Russian victory by partitioning the large Bulgarian state that Russia had carved out of Ottoman territory and denying any part of Bulgaria full independence from the Ottomans. Austria occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina as a way of gaining clout in the Balkans. Serbia and Montenegro became fully independent. Nonetheless the Balkans remained a site of political unrest, teeming ambition for independence and great power rivalries. Following the Congress of Berlin the European powers attempted to guarantee stability through a complex series of alliances and treaties. Anxious about Balkan instability and Russian aggression, Austria Hungary forged a defensive alliance with Germany in 1879. The Dual Alliance, as it was called, offered protection against Russia, and its potential for inciting Slav rebellions. In 1882 Italy joined this partnership largely because of Italy's imperial rivalries with France. Tensions between Russia and Austria–Hungary remained high, so Bismarck replaced the Three Emperors League with the Reinsurance Treaty with Russia to keep the Habsburgs from recklessly starting a war over Pan-Slavism.

Government

Three distinct elements ruled the Austro-Hungarian Empire:

1. the Hungarian government
2. the "Austrian" or Cisleithanian government
3. common foreign and military policy under the monarch

Hungary and Austria maintained separate parliaments, each with its own prime minister. Linking/co-ordinating the two fell to a government under a monarch, wielding power absolute in theory but limited in practice. The monarch’s common government had responsibility for the army, for the navy, for foreign policy, and for the customs union.

Within Cisleithania and Hungary certain regions, such as Galicia and Croatia enjoyed special status with their own unique governmental structures.

A common Ministerial Council ruled the common government: it comprised the three ministers for the joint responsibilities (joint finance, military, and foreign policy), the two prime ministers, some Archdukes and the monarch. Two delegations of representatives (60-60 members), one each from the Austrian and Hungarian parliaments, met separately and voted on the expenditures of the Common Ministerial Council, giving the two governments influence in the common administration. However, the ministers ultimately answered only to the monarch, and he had the final decision on matters of foreign and military policy.

Overlapping responsibilities between the joint ministries and the ministries of the two halves caused friction and inefficiencies. The armed forces suffered particularly from overlap. Although the unified government determined overall military direction, the Austrian and Hungarian governments each remained in charge of "the quota of recruits, legislation concerning compulsory military service, transfer and provision of the armed forces, and regulation of the civic, non-military affairs of members of the armed forces". Needless to say, each government could have a strong influence over common governmental responsibilities. Each half of the Dual Monarchy proved quite prepared to disrupt common operations to advance its own interests.

Relations over the half-century after 1867 between the two halves of the Empire (in fact the Cisleithan part contained about 57% of the combined realm's population and a rather larger share of its economic resources) featured repeated disputes over shared external tariff arrangements and over the financial contribution of each government to the common treasury. Under the terms of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, an agreement, renegotiated every ten years, determined these matters. Each build-up to the renewal of the agreement saw political turmoil. The disputes between the halves of the Empire culminated in the mid-1900s in a prolonged constitutional crisis—triggered by disagreement over the language of command in Hungarian army units, and deepened by the advent to power in Budapest (April 1906) of a Hungarian nationalist coalition. Provisional renewals of the common arrangements occurred in October 1907 and in November 1917 on the basis of the status quo.

Ethnic relations

Religions in Austria–Hungary, from the 1881 edition of Andrees Allgemeiner atlas

Ethnographic map of Austria-Hungary (census 1890)

"Distribution of Races in Austria–Hungary" from the Historical Atlas by William R. Shepherd, 1911

The same map of the same atlas, published in the post-World War I 1926 edition

Austria–Hungary 1914, physical

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The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, in creating a semi-independent Hungary, entailed the rise of an assertive Magyar identity within the Kingdom of Hungary. The Romanian and Slav minorities resented the rise of a government-sponsored Magyar (ethnic Hungarian) nationalism, perceived as less liberal in language and cultural matters than the policies previously set by Vienna.^{[citation needed]} Nationalistic ideas prevalent in the Empire of Austria created tension between ethnic German and Czech citizens, too. In addition, the emergence of national identity in newly independent Romania and Serbia also contributed to the ethnic issues of the empire.

Article 19 of the 1867 "Basic State Act" (Staatsgrundgesetz), valid only for the Cisleithanian (Austrian) part of Austria–Hungary,^[10] says:

All races of the empire have equal rights, and every race has an inviolable right to the preservation and use of its own nationality and language. The equality of all customary languages ("landesübliche Sprache") in school, office and public life, is recognized by the state. In those territories in which several races dwell, the public and educational institutions are to be so arranged that, without applying compulsion to learn a second country language ("Landessprache"), each of the races receives the necessary means of education in its own language.

The implementation of this principle led to several disputes since everything depended on the decision as to which language could be regarded as landesüblich or customary. The Germans, the traditional bureaucratic, capitalist and cultural elite, demanded the recognition of their language as a customary language in every part of the Empire. While Italian was regarded as an old "culture language" (Kultursprache) by German-speaking intellectuals and had always been granted equal rights as an official language of the Empire, they had particular difficulties in accepting the Slavic languages as equal to German. On one occasion Count A. Auersperg (Anastasius Grün) entered the diet of Carniola carrying what he claimed to be the whole corpus of Slovene literature under his arm to provide evidence that the Slovene language could in his view not be substituted for German as a medium of higher education.

Nevertheless the following years saw an emancipation of several languages at least in the Cisleithanian part of the Empire. In a series of laws from 1867 and onwards, the Croatian language was raised to equality with the hitherto officially dominating Italian language in Dalmatia. From 1882 there was a Slovene majority in the diet of Carniola and in the capital Laibach (Ljubljana), thereby replacing German as the dominant official language. Polish was introduced instead of German in 1869 in Galicia as the normal language of government. The Poles themselves systematically disregarded the large Ukrainian minority in the country, and Ukrainian was not granted the status of an official language.

The language disputes were most fiercely fought in Bohemia where the Czechs formed a majority and wanted to reestablish the equal status for their language. German speakers lost their majority in the Bohemian diet in 1880 and their dominating position in the cities of Prague and Pilsen (while retaining a slight numerical majority in the city of Brno (Brünn)) and found themselves in an unfamiliar minority position. The old Charles University in Prague hitherto dominated by the German speakers was divided into a German and a Czech part in 1882.

At the same time, Hungarian dominance faced challenges from the local majorities of Romanians in Transylvania and in the eastern Banat, of Slovaks in today's Slovakia, of Croats and Serbs in the crownlands of Croatia and of Dalmatia (today's Croatia), in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the provinces known as the Vojvodina (today's northern Serbia). The Romanians and the Serbs also looked to union with their fellow nationalists in the newly-founded states of Romania (1859–78) and Serbia.

Though Hungary's leaders showed on the whole less willingness than their Austrian counterparts to share power with their subject minorities, they granted a large measure of autonomy to the Croatia in 1868, paralleling to some extent their own accommodation within the Empire the previous year. The Croatian government, in spite of nominal autonomy, was in fact an economic and administrative arm of Hungary, which the Croatians resented.

Language was one of the most contentious questions in Austro-Hungarian politics. All governments faced difficult and divisive hurdles in sorting out the languages of government and of instruction. Minorities wanted to ensure the widest possibility for education in their own language as well as in the "dominant" languages of Hungarian and German. On one notable occasion, that of the so-called "Ordinance of April 5, 1897", the Austrian Prime Minister Kasimir Felix Graf Badeni gave Czech equal standing with German in the internal government of Bohemia, leading to a crisis because of nationalist German agitation throughout the Empire. In the end Badeni was dismissed.

The Hungarian minority act from 1868 gave the minorities (Slovaks, Romanians, Serbs etc.) individual (and not also community) rights to use their language in offices, schools (although in practice often only in those founded by them and not by the state), at courts and in municipalities (if 20% of the deputies demanded it)^{[citation needed]}. Although already the act XVII from 1879 prescribed the teaching of the Hungarian language as a school subject, in 1900 there were still 1340 schools among the 3343 non-Hungarians where the teaching of the Hungarian (the official language of the state) was unsuccessful^{[citation needed]}. From June 1907 (lex Apponyi) all the public and private schools in Hungary were obliged to teach the Hungarian language in such an extent that after the fourth class the pupils could express them fluently in Hungarian (which was rather impossible by the standards of the time^{[citation needed]} and led to the closing of several minority, mostly Slovak schools, although it was far less violent than the politics of the newly-founded states and their strong anti-Hungarian sentiment which was expressed in the banning of Hungarian in schools, municipalities and offices^{[citation needed]}.

It was not rare for the two kingdoms to divide spheres of influence. According to Misha Glenny (The Balkans, 1804–1999), the Austrians responded to Hungarian badgering of Czechs by supporting the Croatian national movement in Zagreb.

Emperor Franz Joseph himself was very well aware that he reigned in a multiethnic country and spoke fluent German, Hungarian, Czech, and, to some degree, also Polish and Italian.

The situation of Jews in the kingdom, who numbered about 2 million in 1914, was ambiguous. Antisemitic parties and movements existed, but Vienna did not initiate pogroms or implement official Antisemitic policies. This was mainly out of fear that such ethnic violence could ignite other ethnic minorities and result in violence that could spin out of control. The majority of Jews lived in small towns of Galicia and rural areas in Hungary and Bohemia, although there were large communities in Vienna, Budapest, Prague and other large cities.

Linguistic distribution

Note that some languages are considered dialects of more widely-spoken languages. For example, Rusyn and Ukrainian were both counted as "Ruthenian" in the census, and Rhaeto-Romance languages were counted as "Italian".

Economy

A twenty-crown banknote of the Dual Monarchy

The Austro-Hungarian economy changed dramatically during the existence of the Dual Monarchy. Technological change accelerated industrialization and urbanization. The capitalist way of production spread throughout the Empire during its fifty-year existence replacing medieval institutions. Economic growth centered around Vienna, the Austrian lands (areas of modern Austria), the Alpine region, and the Bohemian lands. In the later years of the nineteenth century, rapid economic growth spread to the central Hungarian plain and to the Carpathian lands. As a result, wide disparities of development existed within the Empire. In general, the western areas became more developed than the eastern.

However, by the end of the 19th century, economic differences gradually began to even out as economic growth in the eastern parts of the Empire consistently surpassed that in the western. The strong agriculture and food industry of the Kingdom of Hungary with the center of Budapest became predominant within the Empire and made up a large proportion of the export to the rest of Europe. Meanwhile, western areas, concentrated mainly around Prague and Vienna, excelled in various manufacturing industries. This division of labour between the east and west, besides the existing economic and monetary union, led to rapid economic growth throughout Austria–Hungary by the early 20th century. The GNP per capita grew roughly 1.76% per year from 1870 to 1913. That level of growth compared very favorably to that of other European nations such as Britain (1.00%), France (1.06%), and Germany (1.51%).^[12] However, the economy as a whole still lagged considerably behind the economies of other powers, as sustained modernization had begun much later. Britain had a GNP per capita almost 100% larger, while Germany's stood almost 70% higher.^{[citation needed]}

Rail transport expanded rapidly in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its predecessor state, the Habsburg Empire, had built a substantial core of railways in the west, originating from Vienna, by 1841. At that point, the government realized the military possibilities of rail and began to invest heavily in construction. Preßburg (Bratislava), Budapest, Prague, Kraków, Graz, Laibach (Ljubljana), and Venedig (Venice) became linked to the main network. By 1854, the empire had almost 2000 kilometres of track, about 60 to 70% of it in state hands. The government then began to sell off large portions of track to private investors to recoup some of its investments and because of the financial strains of the 1848 Revolution and of the Crimean War.

From 1854 to 1879, private interests conducted almost all rail construction. What would become Cisleithania gained 7,952 track kilometres, and Hungary built 5,839 track kilometres. During this time, many new areas joined the railway system and the existing rail networks gained connections and interconnections. This period marked the beginning of widespread rail transportation in Austria–Hungary, and also the integration of transportation systems in the area. Railways allowed the Empire to integrate its economy far more than previously possible, when transportation depended on rivers.

After 1879, the Austro-Hungarian government slowly began to renationalize the rail network, largely because of the sluggish pace of development during the worldwide depression of the 1870s. Between 1879 and 1900, more than 25 000 km of railways were built in Cisleithania and Hungary. Most of this constituted "filling in" of the existing network, although some areas, primarily in the far east, gained rail connections for the first time. The railway reduced transportation costs throughout the Empire, opening new markets for products from other lands of the Dual Monarchy. See Imperial Austrian State Railways for details.

Military

Flags and heraldry

Flags

Although Austria–Hungary did not have a common national flag, a common naval ensign and a common civil ensign (the latter was introduced in 1869) did exist.

Civil ensign

Naval ensign

War ensign

Royal maritime ensign

The colours black-yellow were used as the flag of the Austrian part. The Hungarian part used a red-white-green Tricolour defaced with the Hungarian coat of arms.

Flag of the Austrian part and of the House of Habsburg

Flag of the Hungarian part

Coat of arms

The double-headed eagle of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty was used as the coat of arms of the common institutions of Austria–Hungary between 1867 and 1915. In 1915 a new one was introduced, which combined the coat of arms of the two parts of the empire and that of the dynasty.

Common small coat of arms (until 1915)

Common small coat of arms (1915–1918)

Common medium coat of arms (until 1915)

Common medium coat of arms (1915–1918)

Additionally each of the two parts of Austria–Hungary had its own coat of arms.

Small coat of arms of the Austrian part (1915–1918)

Medium coat of arms of the Austrian part (1915–1918)

Medium coat of arms of the Hungarian part (until 1915)

Medium coat of arms of the Hungarian part (1915–1918)

See also

Austria-Hungary portal

• Aftermath of World War I
• Austrian nobility
• Banat Republic
• Baron Ladislaus Hengelmüller von Hengervár, Austro-Hungarian Ambassador to the United States from 1894–1913
• Corporative federalism, a form of administration adopted by the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
• Czech lands: 1867-1918
• Ethnic composition of Austria-Hungary
• Former countries in Europe after 1815
• Habsburg Monarchy
• List of extinct states
• United States of Greater Austria
• "Unter dem Doppeladler" ("Under the Double Eagle"), a march composed 1902 by Jozef Franz Wagner in honor of the two-headed symbol of the dual monarchy

Notes

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Austria-Hungary.

References

• Jászi, Oszkár The Dissolution of the Habsburg Monarchy, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1966.
• Macartney, Carlile Aylmer The Habsburg Empire, 1790–1918, New York, Macmillan 1969.
• Mark Cornwall (ed.) The Last Years of Austria–Hungary in Exeter Studies in History. University of Exeter Press, Exeter. 2002. ISBN 0-85989-563-7
• Sked Alan The Decline And Fall of the Habsburg Empire, 1815–1918, London: Longman, 1989.
• Taylor, A.J.P. The Habsburg monarchy, 1809–1918 : a history of the Austrian Empire and Austria–Hungary, London: Penguin Books in assoc. with Hamish Hamilton, 1964, 1948
• Geographischer Atlas zur Vaterlandskunde an der österreichischen Mittelschulen. (ed.: Rudolf Rothaug), K. u. k. Hof-Kartographische Anstalt G. Freytag & Berndt, Vienna, 1911.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Austria-Hungary

• Habsburg Empire Austrian line
• Microsoft Encarta: The height of the dual monarchy (Archived 2009-10-31)
• The Austro-Hungarian Military
• Heraldry of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
• Austria–Hungary – extensive list of heads of state, ministers, and ambassadors
• History of Austro-Hungarian currency
• Austria-Hungary, Dual Monarchy
• The Austro-Hungarian Army in the Italian Dolomites (in italian)
• www.cisleithanien.eu

v • d • e Historical development of Hungary
← Kingdom of Hungary (1686–1867) ← Austrian Empire		Hungary → (1918–) Austria → (1918–) Czechoslovakia → (1918–1993) State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs→ (1918)
	Kingdom of Hungary as part of Austria–Hungary (Transleithania)

v • d • e Military of Austria–Hungary Army k. u. k. Armee • Imperial Austrian Army • Royal Hungarian Army • Formations • Army ranks and insignia of the Austro-Hungarian Army • Military Intelligence Navy k. u. k. Kriegsmarine · List of Ships of the Austro-Hungarian Navy · List of U-Boats of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Airforce K.u.K. Luftfahrtruppen · Aircraft of the Austro-Hungarian Airforce Ministers for War Feldmarschalleutnant Franz Freiherr von John • Feldmarschalleutnant Franz Kuhn Freiherr Kuhn von Kuhnenfeld • General der Kavallerie Alexander Freiherr von Koller • Feldzeugmeister Arthur Maximilian Graf Bylandt-Rheydt (der Ältere) • Feldzeugmeister Ferdinand Freiherr Bauer • Feldzeugmeister Rudolf Freiherr Merkl • General der Kavallerie Edmund Freiherr von Krieghammer • Feldzeugmeister Heinrich Ritter von Pitreich • General der Infanterie Franz Freiherr Schönaich • General der Infanterie Moritz Ritter Auffenberg von Komarów • Feldmarschal Alexander Freiherr von Krobatin • Generaloberst Rudolf Stöger-Steiner von Steinstätten Commanders Archduke Eugen of Austria • Franz Rohr von Denta • Eduard von Böhm-Ermolli • Svetozar Boroevic von Bojna • Archduke Joseph August of Austria • Franz Böhme • Josip Jelačić • Günther Burstyn • Georg Dragičević • Karol Durski-Trzaska • Gheorghe Flondor • Tadeusz Jordan-Rozwadowski • Archduke Josef Ferdinand, Prince of Tuscany • Rudolf Maister • Artur Phleps • Oskar Potiorek • Alfred Redl • Maximilian Ronge • Viktor Dankl von Krasnik • Viktor Graf von Scheuchenstuel • Stjepan Sarkotić • Gottfried von Banfield • Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria • Miklós Horthy • Franz von Keil • Giovanni Luppis • Georg Ludwig von Trapp • Janko Vuković Commanders-in-Chief of the Navy VAdm. Wilhelm von Tegetthoff • VAdm. Friedrich Freiherr von Pöck • VAdm. Maximilian Daublebsky Freiherr von Sterneck • VAdm. Hermann Freiherr von Spaun VAdm. • Rudolf Graf/Conte Montecuccoli • Grand Adm. Anton Haus • Grand Adm. Anton Haus • Adm. Maximilian Njegovan  • Adm. Miklós Horthy Chief of the General Staff Feldmarschalleutnant Josef Wilhelm Freiher von Gallina • Feldmarschalleutnant Franz Freiherr von John • Feldmarschalleutnant Anton Freiherr von Schönfeld • Feldzeugmeister Friedrich Graf von Beck-Rzikowsky  • Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf • Generalmajor Blasius Schemua • General der Infanterie Arthur Arz von Straussenburg Commanders-in-Chief of the Army Archduke Albert, Duke of Teschen • Franz Joseph • Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen • Karl I • Hermann Kövess von Kövessháza Supreme Commanders Franz Joseph • Karl I

Additional info - part 2

Assassination of Franz Ferdinand

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on 28 June 1914 in Bosnia-Herzegovina (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) brought the tensions between Austria-Hungary and Serbia to a head. This triggered a chain of international events that embroiled Russia and the major European powers. War broke out in Europe over the next thirty-seven days.

Austria at the Time of National Socialism

Austria at the time of National Socialism describes in particular the period of Austrian history from March 12, 1938 when the German annexation of Austria made Austria part of the German Third Reich until the end of World War II in spring 1945.

Austrian Empire

The Austrian Empire (German: Kaisertum Österreich) was a modern era successor empire founded on a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire centered on what is today's Austria that officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by combining the Royal House with that of Hungary creating the dual monarchy Austria–Hungary (also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867 to 1918), which was itself dissolved by the victors at the end of World War I and broken into separate new states).

Austrian nobility

Historically, the Austrian nobility (German: österreichischer Adel) was a privileged social class in Austria. The nobility was officially abolished in 1919 after the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Former noble families and their descendants are still a part of Austrian society today, but they no longer retain any specific privileges. Austria's system of nobility is very similar to Germany's system, as both countries were previously part of the Holy Roman Empire.

Austro-Hungarian Air Force

The Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops (Kaiserliche und Königliche Luftfahrtruppen or K.u.K. Luftfahrtruppen) was the air force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the empire's demise in 1918. It saw combat on both the Eastern Front and Italian Front during World War I. Despite being much smaller and usually less technologically advanced than (German or British) air forces, it performed with tenacity and bravery during the war.

Austro-Hungarian Army

The Austro-Hungarian Army was the ground force of the Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy (1867 - 1918). It was composed of the joint army (Gemeinsame Armee - Common Army - recruited from all parts of the country), the Austrian Landwehr (recruited from Cisleithania), and the Hungarian Honvédség (recruited from Transleithania).

Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867

The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 (German: Ausgleich, Hungarian: Kiegyezés) established the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, formerly the Habsburg Empire. Signed by Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria and a Hungarian delegation led by the statesman Ferenc Deák, the Compromise established the framework of the new government in which the Cisleithanian (Austrian) and Transleithanian (Hungarian) regions of the state were governed by separate Parliaments and Prime Ministers. Unity was maintained through a common ruler, military, and several ministries. The Compromise was formally voted on by the restored Hungarian Diet on 30 March 1867.

Austro-Hungarian Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops

The Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops (Kaiserliche und Königliche Luftfahrtruppen or K.u.K. Luftfahrtruppen) was the air force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the empire's demise in 1918. It saw combat on both the Eastern Front and Italian Front during World War I. Despite being much smaller and usually less technologically advanced than (German or British) air forces, it performed with tenacity and bravery during the war.

Austro-Hungarian Navy

The Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its official name in German was Kaiserliche und Königliche Kriegsmarine (Imperial and Royal War Navy, abbreviated and better known as k.u.k. Kriegsmarine).

Austro-Hungarian gulden

The Gulden or forint (German: Österreichisch-ungarische Gulden or Hungarian: osztrák-magyar forint) was the currency of the Austro-Hungarian Empire between 1754 and 1892 when it was replaced by the Krone/korona as part of the introduction of the gold standard. In Austria, the Gulden was initially divided into 60 Kreuzer, and in Hungary, the forint was divided into 60 krajczár. The currency was decimalized in 1857, using the same names for the unit and subunit.

Austro-Hungarian krone

The Krone or korona (Österreichisch-ungarische Krone (German) or osztrák-magyar korona Hungarian) was the official currency of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1892 (when it replaced the Gulden/forint as part of the adoption of the gold standard) until the dissolution of the empire in 1918. The subunit was one hundredth of the main unit, and it was called Heller in the Austrian and fillér in the Hungarian part of the Empire.

Austrofascism

Austrofascism (German: Austrofaschismus) is a term which is frequently used by historians to describe the authoritarian rule installed in Austria between 1934 and 1938. It was based on a ruling party, the Fatherland Front (Vaterländische Front) and the Heimwehr (Homeguard) paramilitary units. Leaders were Engelbert Dollfuss and, after Dollfuss' assassination, Kurt Schuschnigg, who originally were politicians of the Christian Social Party, which was quickly integrated into the new movement.

Aztec Empire

The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica in the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries, a period referred to as the late post-classic period in Mesoamerican chronology.

Béla Kun

Béla Kun (February 20, 1886 – August 29, 1938), born Béla Kohn, was a Hungarian Communist politician who ruled Hungary as leader of the short-lived Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919.

Babenberg

Originally from Bamberg in Franconia, now northern Bavaria, an apparent branch of the Babenbergs or Babenberger went on to rule Austria as counts of the march and dukes from 976 - 1248, before the rise of the house of Habsburg.

Banat

The Banat is a geographical and historical region in Central Europe currently divided between three countries: the eastern part lies in Romania (the counties of Timiş, Caraş-Severin, Arad south of the Mures/Maros river, and Mehedinţi), the western part in Serbia (the Serbian Banat, mostly included in the Vojvodina region, except for a small part included in Central Serbia), and a small northern part in Hungary (Csongrád county). It is populated by Romanians, Serbs, Hungarians, Roma, Germans, Krashovans, Ukrainians, Slovaks, Czechs, etc.

Banovina of Croatia

The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia (Croatian, Serbian, Serbo-Croatian: Banovina Hrvatska) was a province (banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1943 (de facto up to 1941). Its capital was at Zagreb and it included most of present-day Croatia along with portions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia. It included area of 65 456 km² and had population of 4 024 601. Its flag was the red white and blue Croatian tricolor.^[1] Ban of the Banovina of Croatia in that period was Ivan Šubašić.

Baron

Baron is a title of nobility. The word baron comes from Old French baron, itself from Old High German and Latin (liber) baro meaning "(free) man, (free) warrior"; it merged with cognate Old English beorn meaning "nobleman."^[1]

Baron Alexander von Bach

Baron Alexander von Bach (German: Alexander Freiherr^[1] von Bach; 4 January 1813, Loosdorf, Austria - 12 November 1893, Schöngrabern, Austria) was an Austrian politician. His most notable achievement was instituting a system of centralised control at the beginning of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.

Battle of Caporetto

The Battle of Caporetto (also known as the Twelfth Battle of the Isonzo or the Battle of Karfreit as it was known by the Central Powers; Slovene: Bitka pri Kobaridu), took place from 24 October to 19 November 1917, near the town of Kobarid (now in Slovenia), on the Austro-Italian front of World War I. The battle was named after the Italian name of the town of Kobarid (known as Karfreit in German).

Battle of Galicia

Vistula River – Łódź – Limanowa – Bolimów – 2nd Masurian Lakes – Gorlice-Tarnów – Great Retreat – Sventiany Offensive – Lake Naroch – Brusilov Offensive – Kostiuchnówka – Kowel – Kerensky Offensive – Operation Albion

Bay of Kotor

The Bay of Kotor ( Montenegrin, Serbian,Croatian: Boka Kotorska, Cyrillic script: Бока Которска) in south-western Montenegro and south-eastern Croatia, is a winding bay on the Adriatic Sea. The bay, sometimes called Europe's southernmost fjord, is in fact a submerged river canyon of the disintegrated Bokelj River which used to run from the high mountain plateaus of Mount Orjen. It is an important tourist attraction in Montenegro.

Belgrade

Belgrade (Serbian: Београд, Beograd ( listen (help·info)) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city lies on two international waterways, at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where Central Europe's Pannonian Plain meets the South European Balkans. Likewise, the city is placed along the pan-European corridors X and VII.^[4] With a population of 1,630,000 (official estimate 2007),^[3] Belgrade is the fourth largest city in Southeastern Europe, after Istanbul, Athens and Bucharest. Its name in Serbian translates to White city.

Benjamin Kallay

Béni Kállay de Nagy-Kálló or Benjamin von Kállay (December 22, 1839(1839-12-22) - July 13, 1903 (aged 63)), Austro-Hungarian statesman, was born at Budapest. His family derived their name from their estates at Nagykálló, in Szabolcs, and claimed descent from the Balogh Semsen tribe, which colonized the counties of Borsod, Szabolcs, and Szatmár, at the close of the 9th century, when the Magyars conquered Hungary. They played a prominent part in Hungarian history as early as the reign of Coloman of Hungary (1070-1116); and from King Matthias Corvinus (1458-1490) they received their estates at Mezőtúr, near Kecskemét, granted to Michael Kállay for his heroic defence of Jajce in Bosnia.

Bessarabia

Bessarabia (Basarabia in Romanian, Бесарабія in Ukrainian, Бессарабия in Russian, Бесарабия in Bulgarian, Besarabya in Turkish, Bessarabien in German, בעסאַראַביע in Yiddish) is a historical term for the geographic entity in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west. This was the name by which Imperial Russia designated the eastern part of the Principality of Moldavia, ceded by the Ottoman Empire (to which Moldavia was a vassal) to Russia at the Peace of Bucharest in the aftermath of the Russo-Turkish War, 1806-1812. The remaining western part of Moldavia, united with Wallachia in 1859 in what would become the Kingdom of Romania. (For a short period between 1856 and 1878, two of the nine traditional counties of Bessarabia were also part of Moldavia and then Romania.) In 1918, slightly before the end of World War I, Bessarabia declared its independence from Russia as the Moldavian Democratic Republic, and after three months united with the Kingdom of Romania.^[1] In 1940, Bessarabia was occupied by the USSR. Romania, at the time one of the Axis Powers, recaptured it between 1941 and 1944. In 1947, the Soviet border set along the Prut River was internationally recognised by the Paris Treaty that ended World War II. The core part of Bessarabia was reorganised by the Soviets as the Moldavian SSR, to which parts of the previous Moldavian ASSR (Transnistria) were added. At the same time, smaller parts of Bessarabia, in the south (two traditional counties; Budjak) and north (half of one county), were transferred to the Ukrainian SSR. During the process of dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Moldavian SSR declared itself sovereign (23 June 1990), was renamed the Republic of Moldova, and on 27 August, 1991, the latter declared independence from the USSR. The areas allotted to the Ukrainian SSR in 1940 are part of newly independent Ukraine since 1991.

Black Hand

Black Hand (Serbian: Црна рука, Crna ruka), officially Unification or Death (Уједињење или смрт, Ujedinjenje ili smrt), was a secret society founded in the Kingdom of Serbia on May 9, 1911.^[1][2] It was a part of the Pan-Slavist movement, with the intention of uniting all of the territories containing South Slav populations annexed by Austria-Hungary.^[3][4] This society's possible connections to the June 28, 1914, assassination in Sarajevo of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, is considered to have been the main catalyst to the start of World War I.

Bohemia

Bohemia (Czech: Čechy;^[1] German: Böhmen (help·info); Polish: Czechy; French: Bohême; Latin: Bohemia) is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czech Republic and with its capital in Prague. In a broader meaning, it often refers to the entire Czech territory, including Moravia and Czech Silesia,^[2] especially in historical contexts, such as the Kingdom of Bohemia.

Bornu Empire

The Bornu Empire (1396-1893) was a medieval African state of Nigeria from 1389 to 1893. It was a continuation of the great Kanem Empire founded centuries earlier by the Sayfawa Dynasty. In time it would become even larger than Kanem incorporating areas that are today parts of Chad, Niger and Cameroon.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina (pronounced /ˈbɒzni.ə ænd hɜrtsɨˈɡoʊvɨnə/ ( listen)^[3] or /ˈbɑzni.ə ænd hɛrtsəgoʊˈvinə/^[4] (Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian Latin: Bosna i Hercegovina; Serbian Cyrillic: Босна и Херцеговина) is a country in South-East Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for 26 kilometres of Adriatic Sea coastline, centered on the town of Neum.^[5][6] The interior of the country is mountainous in the center and south, hilly in the northwest, and flat in the northeast. Bosnia is the larger geographic region of the modern state with a moderate continental climate, marked by hot summers and cold, snowy winters. Smaller Herzegovina is at the southern tip of the country, with a Mediterranean climate and topography. Bosnia and Herzegovina's natural resources are highly abundant^{[citation needed]}.

Bosnia and Herzegovina (Austro-Hungarian condominium)

The Austro-Hungarian condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina was a condominium established after the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary in 1908, following its occupation in 1878 under the terms of the Treaty of Berlin.

Bosnian crisis

The Bosnian Crisis of 1908-1909, also known as the Annexation crisis, erupted into public view when on October 5, 1908, Bulgaria declared its independence and on October 6, 1908, Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Russia, the Ottoman Empire, Britain, Italy, Serbia, Montenegro, Germany and France took an interest in these events. In April 1909 the Treaty of Berlin was amended to accept the new status quo bringing the crisis to an end. The crisis permanently damaged relations between Austria-Hungary on the one hand and Russia and Serbia on the other. The annexation and reactions to the annexation were contributing causes of World War I.

Bosnian language

Bosnian (bosanski, Cyrillic script: босански, Bosnian pronunciation: [bǒsanskiː]) is a South Slavic language spoken primarily in Bosnia and Herzegovina and in the region of Sandžak in Serbia and Montenegro, although it is also spoken in various places throughout the world, as many speakers were forced to become refugees during the Bosnian war. The standard Bosnian is based on the Neoštokavian dialect, which regardless makes it mutually intelligible with standard Croatian and Serbian. Up until the dissolution of former SFR Yugoslavia, those three were treated as one Serbo-Croatian language, and that term is still used to refer to the same dialectal base (the core vocabulary, grammar and syntax) of what are today three separate standards. The language itself uses the Latin alphabet although the Cyrillic alphabet is also accepted, chiefly to accommodate for its official usage in Bosnia and Herzegovina in the past, especially in the former SFR Yugoslavia, but is seldom used in practice.

Bratislava

Bratislava (German: Pressburg, Hungarian: Pozsony) is the capital of the Slovak Republic and, with a population of about 429,000, also the country's largest city.^[1] Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries,^[2] and it and Vienna are the two European national capitals closest to one another, at less than 60 kilometres (37 mi) apart.

British Empire

The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was the largest empire in history and, for over a century, was the foremost global power. By 1922, the British Empire held sway over a population of about 458 million people, one-quarter of the world's population,^[1] and covered more than 13,000,000 square miles (33,670,000 km²): approximately a quarter of the Earth's total land area.^[2] As a result, its political, linguistic and cultural legacy is widespread. At the peak of its power, it was often said that "the sun never sets on the British Empire" because its span across the globe ensured that the sun was always shining on at least one of its numerous territories.

Brno

Brno (Czech pronunciation: [ˈbr̩no]  ( listen)) is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, located in the southeast of the country. It was founded in 1243, although the area had been settled since the 5th century. As of December 2009 the population is 405,337. Brno is the capital of the South Moravian Region as well as the seat of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic, the Supreme Court, the Supreme Administrative Court, the Supreme Prosecutor's Office and the Ombudsman.

Brusilov Offensive

Vistula River – Łódź – Limanowa – Bolimów – 2nd Masurian Lakes – Gorlice-Tarnów – Great Retreat – Sventiany Offensive – Lake Naroch – Brusilov Offensive – Kostiuchnówka – Kowel – Kerensky Offensive – Operation Albion

Budapest

Budapest (pronounced /ˈbuːdəpɛst/, also /ˈbʊdəpɛst/ or /ˈbjuːdəpɛst/; Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt]  ( listen); names in other languages) is the capital of Hungary.^[1] As the largest city of Hungary, it serves as the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation center^[2] and is considered an important hub in Central Europe.^[3] In 2009, Budapest had 1,712,210 inhabitants,^[4] down from a mid-1980s peak of 2.1 million. The Budapest Commuter Area (or Greater Budapest) is home to 3,271,110 people.^[5][6] The city covers an area of 525 square kilometres (202.7 sq mi)^[7] within the city limits. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of right (west)-bank Buda and Óbuda with left (east)-bank Pest.^[7][8]

Budva

Budva (Serbian: Будва, Budva; Italian: Budua, Greek Βοδοα, Vòdhoa) is a coastal town in Montenegro. It has around 15,000 inhabitants, and is a centre of Budva municipality. The coastal area around Budva, called the Budvanska rivijera, is the centre of Montenegro's tourism, and is well known for its sandy beaches, diverse nightlife, and beautiful examples of Mediterranean architecture.

Bukovina

Bukovina (Ukrainian: Буковина/Bukovyna; Romanian: Bucovina; German and Polish: Bukowina; see also other languages) is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains. It is currently split between Romania and Ukraine.

Bulgarian Empire

Bulgarian Empire (Bulgarian: Българско царство, Balgarsko tsarstvo IPA: [ˈbɤlɡɐrskʊ ˈt͡sarstvʊ]) is a term used to describe two periods in the medieval history of Bulgaria, during which it acted as a key regional power in Europe in general and in Southeastern Europe in particular, sometimes rivalling Byzantium. The two "Bulgarian Empires" are not treated as separate entities, but rather as one state restored after a period of Byzantine rule over its territory.

Burgenland

Burgenland (Croatian: Gradišće, Hungarian: Őrvidék, Felsőőrvidék or Várvidék, Slovene: Gradiščansko) is the easternmost and least populous state or Land of Austria. It consists of two Statutarstädte (towns with a charter) and seven districts with in total 171 municipalities. It is 166 km long from north to south but much narrower from west to east (only 5 km wide at Sieggraben).

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire or Eastern Roman Empire, was the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by Emperors. It was called the Roman Empire, and also as Romania (Greek: Ῥωμανία, Rhōmanía), by its inhabitants and its neighbours. As the distinction between "Roman Empire" and "Byzantine Empire" is purely a modern convention, it is not possible to assign a date of separation, but an important point is the Emperor Constantine I's transfer in 324 of the capital from Nicomedia (in Anatolia) to Byzantium on the Bosphorus, which became Constantinople (alternatively "New Rome").^{[n 1]}

Caliphate of Córdoba

The Caliphate of Córdoba (Arabic: خلافة قرطبة Khilāfat Qurṭuba) ruled the Iberian peninsula (Al-Andalus) and North Africa from the city of Córdoba, from 929 to 1031. This period was characterized by remarkable success in trade and culture; many of the masterpieces of Islamic Iberia were constructed in this period, including the famous Great Mosque of Córdoba. In January of 929, Abd-ar-Rahman III proclaimed himself Caliph (Arabic: خليفة) of Córdoba^[1] in place of his original title Emir of Córdoba (Arabic: أمير قرطبة 'Amīr Qurṭuba). Abd-ar-Rahman III was a member of the Umayyad dynasty; the same dynasty who held the titles of Emir of Córdoba since 756. The rule of the Caliphate is known as the heyday of Muslim presence in the Iberian peninsula. The Caliphate was practically disintegrated due to civil war (fitna) between descendants of the last legitimate Caliph Hisham II and the successors of his prime minister (hayib) Al-Mansur. The shell of the Caliphate existed until 1031 when, after years of infighting, it fractured into a number of independent Taifa kingdoms.^[2]

Carantania

Carantania, also known as Carentania (Slovene: Karantanija, German: Karantanien, in old Slovene onomastics Korotan) was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern Slovenia. Having lasted more than 300 years, it is considered one of the first Slavic states. It was the predecessor of the medieval Duchy of Carinthia.

Carniola

Carniola (Slovene: Kranjska; German: Krain) was a historical region that comprised parts of what is nowadays Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola (Vojvodina Kranjska, Herzogtum Krain) until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola. Since the 14th century, its capital was Ljubljana.

Carolingian Empire

Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany. Depending on one's perspective, this Empire can be seen as the later history of the Frankish Realm or the early history of France and of the Holy Roman Empire.

Central Croatia

Central Croatia (Croatian: Središnja Hrvatska) is a historical term that refers to the areas of the present-day Republic of Croatia that were part of the Habsburg Kingdom of Croatia which excluded Istria, Slavonia, and Dalmatia. Central Croatia included the Croatian Littoral, the Croatian Dinaric Alps (Kordun, Lika, and Gorski kotar), the Croatian Highlands, and Međimurje.

Central Europe

Central Europe is the region lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe. The term and widespread interest in the region itself came back into fashion^[1] after the end of the Cold War, which, along with the Iron Curtain, had divided Europe politically into East and West, splitting Central Europe in half.

Chagatai Khanate

The Chagatai Khanate was a Mongol, and later linguistically Turkicized,^[1] khanate that comprised the lands ruled by Chagatai Khan (alternative spellings Chagata, Chugta, Chagta, Djagatai, Jagatai, Chaghtai), second son of the Great Khan Genghis Khan, and his descendents and successors. Initially it was considered a part of the Mongol Empire, but it later became fully independent.

Charles I of Austria

Karl I (Karl Franz Joseph Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Marie von Habsburg-Lothringen, English: Charles Francis Joseph Louis Hubert George Mary of Habsburg-Lothringen, Hungarian: IV. Károly or Károly Ferenc József) (17 August 1887 – 1 April 1922) was (among other titles) the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the last Emperor of Austria, the last King of Hungary^[1], the last King of Bohemia, Croatia and the last King of Galicia and Lodomeria and the last monarch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. He reigned as Charles I as Emperor of Austria and Charles IV as King of Hungary from 1916 until 1918, when he "renounced participation" in state affairs, but did not abdicate. He spent the remaining years of his life attempting to restore the monarchy until his death in 1922. Following his beatification, he has become commonly known as Blessed Karl.

Charles I of Austria's attempts to retake the throne of Hungary

After Miklós Horthy had been chosen Regent of Hungary on 1 March 1920, Charles I of Austria, who had reigned in Hungary as Károly IV, returned to Hungary twice, to try unsuccessfully to retake his throne. His attempts are called the "First" and "Second Royal coups d'état" (első és második királypuccs in Hungarian) respectively.

Charles University in Prague

Charles University in Prague (also simply Charles University; Czech: Univerzita Karlova v Praze; Latin: Universitas Carolina; German: Karls-Universität zu Prag) is the oldest and largest university in the Czech Republic. Founded in 1347, it was the first university in the Holy Roman Empire and in Central Europe in general. It is one of the oldest universities in Europe. It is also the oldest University in (what was then) the German speaking world, being older than University of Heidelberg.

Chernivtsi Oblast

Chernivtsi Oblast (Ukrainian: Чернівецька область, Chernivets’ka oblast’), is an oblast (province) in western Ukraine, bordering on Romania and Moldova. It has a large variety of landforms: the Carpathian Mountains and picturesque hills at the foot of the mountains gradually change to a broad partly forested plain situated between the Dniester and Prut rivers. Its capital is the city Chernivtsi. The region has a population (as of 2004-05-01) of 913,275 and spans 8,100 km².

Chola Dynasty

The Chola dynasty (Tamil: சோழர் குலம், IPA: ['t͡ʃoːɻə]) was a Tamil dynasty which ruled over parts of southern India. The earliest datable references to the dynasty are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC left by Asoka, a northern ruler, and the dynasty continued to reign over varying territory until the 12th century AD.

Cisleithania

Cisleithania (German: Cisleithanien, Hungarian: Ciszlajtánia, Czech: Předlitavsko) was a name of the Austrian part of Austria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. The name was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status. The Cisleithanian lands continued to constitute the Empire of Austria, but the latter term was rarely used after 1867, to avoid confusion with the era before 1867, when Hungary had been part of that empire). The somewhat cumbersome official name was "Die im Reichsrat vertretenen Königreiche und Länder" ("The Kingdoms and States represented in the Imperial Council"). In general the country was just called Austria, this term only replacing the former official name in 1915.

City

A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement, particularly a large urban settlement.^[1][2] Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law. For example, an article of incorporation approved by the local state legislature distinguishes a city government from a town in Massachusetts. In the United Kingdom and parts of the Commonwealth of Nations, a city is traditionally a settlement with a royal charter.^[1] Historically, in Europe, a city was understood to be an urban settlement with a cathedral.

Commander-in-Chief

A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military competencies that reside in a nation-state's executive, head of state or government. Often, a given country's commander-in-chief need not be or have been a commissioned officer or even a veteran, and it is by this legal statute that civilian control of the military is realized in states where it is constitutionally required.

Concert of Europe

The Concert of Europe was the balance of power that existed in Europe from the fall of Napoleon in 1815 to the end of the Crimean War. Its founding members were the UK, Austria, Russia and Prussia who were also members of the Quadruple Alliance responsible for the downfall of Napoleon I; in time France became established as a fifth member of the "club". The leading personalities of the system were British foreign secretary Lord Castlereagh, Austrian Chancellor Prince Klemens Wenzel von Metternich and Alexander I the czar of Russia.

Confederation

A confederation is an association of sovereign member states, that by treaty have delegated certain of their competences to common institutions, in order to coordinate their policies in a number of areas, without however constituting a new state on top of the member states. Under international law, a confederation respects the sovereignty of its members and its constituting treaty can only be changed by unanimous agreement.

Congress of Berlin

The Congress of Berlin (13 June - 13 July 1878) was a meeting of the European Great Powers' and the Ottoman Empire's leading statesmen in Berlin in 1878. In the wake of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78, the meeting's aim was to reorganize the countries of the Balkans. Otto von Bismarck, who led the Congress, undertook to balance the distinct interests of the United Kingdom, Russia and Austria-Hungary. As a consequence, however, differences between Russia and Austria-Hungary intensified, as did the nationality question in the Balkans. The congress was aimed at the revision of the Treaty of San Stefano and at keeping Constantinople in Ottoman hands. It effectively disavowed Russia's victory over the decaying Ottoman Empire in the Russo-Turkish War. The Congress of Berlin returned to the Ottoman Empire territories that the previous treaty had given to the Principality of Bulgaria, most notably Macedonia. The congress formally recognized the independence of the de facto sovereign states of Montenegro, Serbia and Romania, as the 27th-29th free states of the world.

Constitutional crisis

A constitutional crisis is a severe breakdown in the orderly operation of government. Generally speaking, a constitutional crisis is a situation in which separate factions within a government disagree about the extent to which each of these factions hold sovereignty. Most commonly, constitutional crises involve some degree of conflict between different branches of government (e.g., executive, legislature, and/or judiciary), or between different levels of government in a federal system (e.g., state and federal governments).

Corporative federalism

Corporative federalism, not to be confused with the 'cooperative federalism' of the New Deal, is a system of federalism not based on the common federalist idea of relative land area or nearest spheres of influence for governance, but on fiduciary jurisdiction to corporate personhood, where groups who are considered incorporated members of their own prerogative structure by willed agreement can delegate their individual effective legislature within the overall government.

Count Anton Alexander von Auersperg

Count Anton Alexander von Auersperg, also known under the pen name Anastasius Grün (11 April 1806 - 22 September 1876), was a Slovenian poet and liberal politician from Carniola.

Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf

Count Francis Conrad von Hötzendorf (German: Franz Graf Conrad von Hötzendorf). (November 11, 1852 – August 25, 1925) was an Austrian soldier and Chief of the General Staff of the Austro-Hungarian Army at the outbreak of World War I.

Count Kasimir Felix Badeni

Count Kasimir Felix Badeni (German: Kasimir Felix Graf von Badeni, Polish: Kazimierz Feliks hrabia Badeni) (October 14, 1846, Surochów, Galicia – July 9, 1909, Krasne, Galicia) was Minister-President of the Austrian half of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1895 until 1897. Many people in Austria, especially Emperor Franz Joseph, had placed great hope in Badeni's ability to solve some of the Empire's constitutional problems, but he disappointed them.

Crimean War

256,000 killed, wounded and died of disease^[8]
of which dead 60,000^[9] to 110,000^[3][10] Other estimates:
ca 143,000 dead and 81,000 injured of which 25,000 killed in action; 16,000 died of wounds; 89,000 died of disease^[11][12]

Croatia

Croatia ( /kroʊˈeɪʃə/ (help·info); Croatian: Hrvatska pronounced [xř̩ʋaːtskaː]), officially the Republic of Croatia (Croatian: Republika Hrvatska listen (help·info)), is a country in central and southeastern Europe, at the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean Sea. Its capital (and largest city) is Zagreb. Croatia borders Slovenia and Hungary to the north, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the southeast, and Serbia and Montenegro to the east.

Croatian language

Croatian (hrvatski) is a South Slavic language which is used primarily in Croatia, by Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Croatian minorities in some neighbouring countries, in the Italian region of Molise, and parts of the Croatian diaspora worldwide.

Crown of St. Stephen

The Holy Crown of Hungary (Hungarian: Magyar Szent Korona, German: Stephanskrone, Croatian: Kruna svetoga Stjepana, Latin: Sacra Corona), also known as the Crown of Saint Stephen, appears to be the only secular crown today with the "holy" attribute; the Crown of Thorns is also known as the Holy Crown of Jesus, but is in a reliquary in Notre Dame Cathedral.

Customs union

A customs union is a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff. The participant countries set up common external trade policy, but in some cases they use different import quotas. Common competition policy is also helpful to avoid competition deficiency.

Czech Republic

The Czech Republic /ˈtʃɛk rɨˈpʌblɪk/ (help·info)^[3] (Czech: Česká republika, pronounced [ˈtʃɛskaː ˈrɛpuˌblɪka]  ( listen), short form Česko [ˈtʃɛskɔ]) is a country in Central Europe^[4]. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west and northwest, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east. The capital and largest city is Prague (Czech: Praha). The country is composed of the historic regions of Bohemia and Moravia, as well as parts of Silesia. The Czech Republic has been a member of NATO since 1999 and of the European Union since 2004. From 1 January 2009 to 1 July 2009, the Czech Republic held the Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

Czechoslovakia

Czechoslovakia (Československo; from 1990 Slovak: Česko-Slovensko) was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992. From 1939 to 1945 the state did not have de facto existence, due to its forced division and partial incorporation into Nazi Germany, but the Czechoslovak government-in-exile nevertheless continued to exist during this time period while Slovakia was independent from the Czech part. On 1 January 1993 Czechoslovakia peacefully split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Dalmatia

Dalmatia (Croatian: Dalmacija, see names in other languages), is a historical region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and is situated in Croatia. It spreads between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor, in Montenegro, in the southeast. The hinterland, the Dalmatian Zagora, ranges from fifty kilometers in width in the north to just a few kilometers in the south. The Dalmatian dog gets its name from Dalmatia.

Declaration of war

A declaration of war (aka DOW, DoW) is a formal performative speech act or signing of a document by an authorized party of a government in order to initiate a state of war between two or more nations. The legality of who can declare war varies between nations and forms of government. In many nations power is given to the head of state or sovereign. In other cases something short of a full declaration of war, such as a letter of marque or a covert operation, may authorise warlike acts by privateers or mercenaries. The official international protocol for declaring war was defined in the Hague Convention (III) of 1907 on the Opening of Hostilities.

Depression (economics)

In economics, a depression is a sustained, long-term downturn in economic activity in one or more economies. It is a more severe downturn than a recession, which is seen as part of a normal business cycle.

Diplomacy

Diplomacy is the art and practice of conducting negotiations between representatives of groups or states. It usually refers to international diplomacy, the conduct of international relations through the intercession of professional diplomats with regard to issues of peace-making, trade, war, economics and culture. International treaties are usually negotiated by diplomats prior to endorsement by national politicians.