The Austrian Hungarian Empire was a unique empire that had a dual monarchy between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary. It controlled a broad territory in Central and Southern Europe during the early modern period until the end of World War I. What brought the two states together in union, what effect did the empire have on the world stage, and why did it split apart after World War I?
The Austrian Empire Before WWI
The Austrian Empire before WWI had a long history that led to the establishment of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary in the late 19th century.
Origins of the Austrian Empire
The Austrian Hungarian Empire grew out of the lands under the rule of the Habsburg Dynasty.
The Habsburgs
This family traces its roots back to lands in present day Switzerland in the 10th Century CE. By the 1200s, it had risen as one of the most prominent families in the Holy Roman Empire.
In 1273, a Habsburg was elected as Holy Roman Emperor for the first time. They held the title almost continuously from 1452 to the empire's dissolution in 1806.
Did You Know?
At one point, the Habsburgs controlled much of Europe, not only including their lands in Austria and Germany but also lands in Italy and a Habsburg was even the King of Spain from 1516 to 1700.
Founding of the Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire, in the Habsburg's main seat of power, was declared in 1804 as a direct response to Napoleon's declaration of the French Empire.
The Austrian Empire upon its founding included much of the lands it held up to its dissolution at the end of World War I.
Did You Know?
The Habsburgs had acquired many of their lands and titles through strategic marriages, positioning themselves to inherit them. Fearing other families would do the same to them, they frequently intermarried, often times between second and third cousins. Many historians believe this inbreeding led to the distinctive Habsburg Jaw, or protruding chin. Inbreeding is viewed as a cause of the Spanish Habsburg line dying off after the deformed Charles II was unable to reproduce. The Austrian line, although also inbred to a degree, survives today.
Leader of the German States?
Austria was seen as the natural leader and protector of the German states, which were loosely united in the German Confederation created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815.
However, by the mid-1800s, Prussia had become a rival to Austria as the most influential German state. In 1866, Prussia scored a stunning victory over Austria in the Austro-Prussian War. Five years later, the unification of Germany occurred under Prussian leadership.
Origin of the Austrian Hungarian Empire's Dual Monarchy
You might be asking yourself how the Austrian Empire became the Austrian Hungarian Empire. The Dual Monarchy arose out of a series of events in the 19th century.
The Ausgleich
A Habsburg had ruled as King of Hungary since 1526. However, Hungary maintained a large degree of autonomy until the failed Revolutions of 1848 when it was more fully incorporated into the Austrian Empire.
In the 1860s, Hungarian nationalists pushed for a return to its more independent status. The Ausgleich Compromise of 1867 gave Hungary near complete autonomy over its internal affairs. However, the Austrian Emperor would continue to be the King of Hungary in what was known as the Dual Monarchy, and the two states would be considered the Austrian Hungarian Empire for purposes of foreign policy like diplomacy and war.
Fig 1 - The coat of arms of the unified Austrian Hungarian Empire.
Nationalism Undermines the Empire
One of the key issues facing the Austrian Hungarian Empire was the many ethnic groups or nations within the empire. Some argued being part of the empire afforded these minorities the protection of a larger state, but many desired sovereignty, or even their own nation-states.
These calls only increased after the Ausgleich, with other nations wanting similar arrangements. Nationalism among the other nations threatened the continuation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Nations, Nation-states, and Nationalism
A nation is a group of people who identify as sharing a destiny, usually because they share ethnicity, language, and/or culture. A nation-state exists when a nation has its own independent government. Nationalism is an ideology that promotes the best for the nation. In cases where nations were under the control of empires, like Austria-Hungary, nationalism usually took the form of calls for independence.
Fig 2 - Map showing the different nations within the Austrian Hungarian Empire before WWI.
Tensions in the Balkans
The Balkans are an area along a peninsula in Southeast Europe. Sat at the crossroads between Europe and Southwest Asia, it had a mix of many ethnic groups and religions. The Ottoman Empire had controlled most of the area since the 1500s.
Did You Know?
The reason the Austrian Habsburgs gained the throne of Hungary is because the King of Hungary died in battle against the Ottomans in 1526, leaving no heir. The crown passed to his brother-in-law, a Habsburg. The Ottomans attempted to take Vienna but were beaten by the Austrians
However, Ottoman power declined drastically in the 1800s, and it could no longer effectively rule these areas. The fate of the Ottoman land in the Balkans led to many of the tensions that provoked the start of World War One.
Austria-Hungary sought to make the Ottomans' losses their gains. They set off a crisis in 1908 when they annexed the former Ottoman territory of Bosnia, bringing them into conflict with Serbia and Russia.
Many Serbs lived here, and Serbian nationalists wanted the territory as part of an expanded Serbia. Russia sought to position itself as the protector of Serbia and the other Southern Slavs of the Balkans.
Slavs
Slavs is an umbrella term that refers to the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe that speak Slavic languages, including Poles, Russians, Czechs, Slovaks, and the Southern Slavs of the Balkans, which include Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.
Did You Know?
By the early 20th Century, the Ottoman Empire was being called the "Sick Man of Europe." The phrase is believed to have coined by Tsar Nicholas I of Russia.
Austrian Hungarian Empire and WWI
The Austrian Hungarian Empire was a key player in the events that started World War I, which ultimately led to its demise.
Challenges for the Austrian Hungarian Empire in 1914
The Austrian Hungarian Empire faced a number of connected issues on the eve of war in 1914.
Nationalism, Disunity, and Stagnation
A series of wars in the Balkans from 1912 to 1913 that saw Serbia expand further brought tensions to a boiling point.
The success of the small independent Serbia served as a potential model to the other minorities in the empire. Therefore, Serbia came to be seen more and more as an existential threat.
Fig 3 - A political cartoon published in the British magazine Punch in 1912 depicting the leaders of Europe trying to contain the growing tensions in the Balkans.
However, the disunity in the empire had caused its economy and military to lag those of the other Great Powers. Austria-Hungary had little industrialization, especially compared to Germany, Britain, and France.
Did the Austrian Hungarian Empire Have Colonies?
Although Austria-Hungary had a large empire, they did not have overseas colonies in Africa and Asia like the other major European powers.
It could be argued that areas like the Balkans and Bohemia could be considered Austrian Hungarian colonies, but since they were hereditary ruled lands, they usually aren't defined as colonies of Austria-Hungary.
Alliance with Germany
As Russia became more and more supportive of Serbia, raising tensions between it and Austria-Hungary, the empire's alliance with Germany became more and more important as a deterrent to Russian action against it.
The Austrian Hungarian Empire Begins WW1
While historians debate which country or countries hold the most responsibility for the start of World War I, it was indisputably the Austrian Hungarian Empire that fired the first shots.
Assassination of the Archduke
The spark that started the war was the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire's throne.
The archduke was shot by a Serb nationalist on June 28, 1914, in the city of Sarajevo in the territory of Bosnia.
Fig 4 - The Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
Invasion of Serbia
Austro-Hungarian officials blamed Serbia for the assassination and used it to justify war. After Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia and Russia came to protect it, the levers of the alliance system kicked in.
All of Europe was at war within a month.
Conspiracy Theory?
Some historians believe the assassination of the archduke was a conspiracy carried out by Austrian military officials who wanted justification to crush Serbia once and for all. The ultimatum Austria-Hungary gave to Serbia appears to have been designed to be rejected, and Serbia actually accepted all but one of the conditions. Still, Austria-Hungary proceeded with the invasion.
The Austrian Hungarian Empire in WW1
The backwardness and disunity in the empire's military made it largely ineffective on the battlefield. Underdog Serbia defeated its initial invasion in 1914, although an invasion led by Germany did succeed the following year.
Austria-Hungary's military also did succeed in stopping Italian offensives after Italy joined the war against it in 1915, but generally the empire's forces failed to score major victories.
War Spells the End of the Austrian Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary’s military gradually deteriorated, and the war eventually shifted in favor of Austria-Hungary’s enemies. Internal unrest also grew, with many different ethnic groups demanding independence.
Emperor Franz Josef died early in late November 1916, leaving the young Emperor Karl I to assume the throne for the rest of the war.
Karl attempted to change the empire’s government into a federalist state to please its various minorities and negotiate with the Allies to remove his country from the war.
He was unsuccessful at both, and in late 1918 various new states began to proclaim themselves independent across the empire. By 1919, for all practical purposes, the Austrian Hungarian Empire ceased to exist.
Treaties of St. Germain and Trianon
With Austria-Hungary fragmented, the new separate states of Austria and Hungary received separate peace agreements from the victorious Allied Powers. Like the Treaty of Versailles, the Treaty of St. Germain, with Austria, and the Treaty of Trianon, with Hungary, included provisions for the payment of reparations and disarmament, although to a much lesser degrees than were imposed on Germany.
Carving Up the Colonies of Austro-Hungarian Empire
Much of the land that had been part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire now went to newly independent states. These newly created states included:
- Yugoslavia (a union of that included Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia, Montenegro, and Macedonia)
- Czechoslovakia
- Poland
- Some Austro-Hungarian territories were also giving to Italy and Romania
Fig 5 - Map showing the partition of Austria-Hungary after World War One.
Austrian Hungarian Empire Timeline
See some key events on the Austrian Hungarian Empire timeline below:
- 1526 - An Austrian Habsburg became King of Hungary, but the area was governed separately.
- 1848 - Revolts threatened to break apart the Austrian Empire, which included a rebellion in Hungary.
- 1849 - Austria put down the Hungarian revolt and formally made Hungary part of the empire.
- 1866 - The Austro-Prussian war resulted in a defeat for Austria, Prussian domination over Germany, and internal crisis.
- 1867 - The Ausgleich compromise established the dual-monarchy system of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
- 1908 - Austria-Hungary formally annexed Bosnia, which sparked tension with Serbia and Russia.
- 1914 - Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, and this started a domino effect that resulted in the outbreak of World War I
- 1916 - Emperor Franz Josef I passed away and was succeeded by Karl I, who unsuccessfully tried to reform the empire and make peace with the Allies.
- 1918 - The Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed as many of its territories declared independence and the Central Powers were defeated militarily. Treaties after the war confirmed the empire's dissolution.
Austrian Hungarian Empire - Key takeaways
- The origins of the Austrian Hungarian Empire date to an Austrian Habsburg becoming king of Hungary in 1526.
- In 1867, the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary was created.
- The multinational Austria-Hungary faced upheaval from nationalism of the national minority groups.
- Tensions rose between Austria-Hungary, Serbia, and Russia in the Balkans, before WWI.
- Austria-Hungary was dismantled into several separate states at the end of WWI.
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