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a-h factsheet

The Austrian empire expanded based on dynastic marriage settlements by the venerable house of Hapsburg

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Austria Hungary was formed by the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 which restored partial sovereignty to the Kingdom 

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Emperor franz Joseph

1848-1916

A major unifying figure for the empire

Austro-Hungarian empire

makeup of the empire

Hungary

Austria

Bohemia and Moravia (Czech)

Austrian Poland (Galicia)

Croatia

Bosnia

Slovenia

Transylvania

Slovakia

Belonging to the crown of Austria

Belonging to the crown of Hungary

Shared by both

Austria-Hungary was a mosaic of different nationalities who had different interests that came into conflict with that of the indigenous Austrians and Hungarians.

Ethnic map of austria-hungary

nationalities

Germans                        24%    
Magyars (Hungarians)    20%  

Czechs                           13%   
Poles                              10%  

Ruthenians (Ukranians)   8%  
Rumanians                      6%

Croats                             5%

Serbs                              4%

Slovaks                           4%

Italians                            3%

Slovenes                         3%

Germans and magyars

  • Wanted to maintain their power in the empire's political structure over the other ethnicities

  • The Hungarians especially wanted to preserve "Greater Hungary" and forced minorities like Transylvanians (Romanians) and Slovaks to adopt the Magyar Language

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A map of Greater Hungary

Hungary Proper

Croatia

Slovakia

Transylvania

Vojvodina

SLAVS

Slavic people groups in the empire comfortably outnumbered the ruling Germans and Magyars.

They were:

  1. The Czech in Bohemia and Moravia (Modern day Czechia)

  2. The Slovaks

  3. The Croats and Serbs in Croatia-Slavonia and Vojvodina

  4. The Slovenes in Carniola

  5. The Poles in Austrian Poland 

  6. The Ukrainians in the North East of the Empire

They all wanted more autonomy in the empire, albeit some groups more than the others.

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The Czech and Slovaks especially were the most disgruntled at the Austrians as they found more in common with the Russians than the Germans and the Czechs had not been given recognition like Hungary even though they made up the industrial heartland of the empire

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The Croats and Slovenes were not too upset with the empire as they were bound to Hungary and Austria respectively since medieval times and they preferred autonomy in Austria than annexation by Italy. The Serbs in Hungary were culturally very similar to the Croats even though there was desire to return to an ethnically Serbian nation

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The Poles, even though they had independence groups as well, was generally not too upset with the empire as the empire gave them the most autonomy compared to their oppressed brothers and sisters in Germany and Russia

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Nationalities with countries

There were 2 main groups: Italians and Romanians

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  1. There were many Italians living in the Trentino and in the major port city of Trieste, which strained relations with Italy which claimed these lands.

  2. Romanians inhabited the far eastern part of the empire on the border with Romania in the regions of Transylvania, Banat and Bukowina. They faced harsh repression by the Hungarian minority there and many romanian leaders were arrested when they tried to gain more autonomy 

So whats the problem?

The late 19th and early 20th century was the age of nationalism, particularly expressed in the Balkans. This was not good for a state which had so many ethnic minorities with differing interests

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Some wanted to cast off the yoke of the ruling Germans and Magyars, others wanted limited autonomy while yet more wanted independence and annexation to another country

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In the end, this ethnic diversity would doom the empire and the ethnic groups would rebel and dismember the old Hapsburg domain at the end of the war

Diplomacy of the empire

It is well known that Austria was the junior partner of the Zweibund, the alliance with the Prussian-dominated German State. Austria and Prussia during the 1800s were rivals of each other and met each other on the battlefield many times. 

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However, as the young Wilhelm II Hohenzollern ascended to the German throne, Berlin's relations with Vienna improved drastically due to the Kaiser's infatuation of the old Hapsburg Germanic culture

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Austria however had many enemies. The Russian Tsars were always a threat, with his armies constantly crossing the Danube to invade the Ottoman empire and liberate the Slavs in the Balkans. Russia supported pan-Slavism and along with Serbia, undermined the unity of the empire.

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The Ottoman empire was always a major foe but after being crippled by the Russians and taken away from Austria's borders, Vienna saw no further threat from the Turks and thus followed Germany in improving diplomatic ties with the Ottomans

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Italy was a signatory of the Triple Alliance pact with Germany and Austria but was hostile to the latter for maintaining in bondage a large number of Italians, making Italy an unreliable ally to Austria

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