Ausgleich

Perhaps you have heard or read about Austria-Hungary, sometimes called the Dual Monarchy. This behemoth of an empire was a major force in European politics until its breakup after World War One. But why a Dual Monarchy? Why was an empire under the rule of the Austrian Habsburgs not simply called the Austrian Empire? Due to the Ausgleich Compromise of 1867. Learn about its origins and significance here.

Get started

Achieve better grades quicker with Premium

PREMIUM
Karteikarten Spaced Repetition Lernsets AI-Tools Probeklausuren Lernplan Erklärungen Karteikarten Spaced Repetition Lernsets AI-Tools Probeklausuren Lernplan Erklärungen
Kostenlos testen

Geld-zurück-Garantie, wenn du durch die Prüfung fällst

Review generated flashcards

Sign up for free
You have reached the daily AI limit

Start learning or create your own AI flashcards

StudySmarter Editorial Team

Team Ausgleich Teachers

  • 10 minutes reading time
  • Checked by StudySmarter Editorial Team
Save Article Save Article
Contents
Contents

Jump to a key chapter

    Ausgleich Definition

    The word Ausgleich's definition is "compromise" in German. The creation of the Dual Monarchy arose out of a compromise between the Austrian Habsburgs and the political leaders of Hungary, who desired independence.

    Ausgleich Summary

    The Ausgleich Compromise of 1867, signed on February 8, 1867, essentially gave the Kingdom of Hungary equal status with Austria. Hungary would have its own parliament and near complete autonomy over its internal affairs.

    However, the Habsburg Emperor was still considered both the Austrian Emperor and the King of Hungary, hence the nickname of the Dual Monarchy. Austria-Hungary was also considered one entity for foreign relations and, significantly, war.

    It was a unique arrangement, and one that perhaps foreshadowed the fall of the empire just over 50 years later. You've learned briefly about it in this Ausgleich summary, learn more details in the sections that follow.

    Ausgleich Map of Europe in 1867 StudySmarterFig 1 - Map of Europe in 1867, showing Austria-Hungary as the Dual Monarchy as a result of the Ausgleich Compromise of 1867.

    Background to the Ausgleich

    The Ausgleich was influenced by the growing forces of nationalism as well as events in Prussia. These events challenged Austrian Habsburg rule in Hungary and set the stage for the Ausgleich Compromise of 1867.

    Origin of the Austrian Rule of Hungary

    Hungary was an independent kingdom of Hungary and Bohemia in the late Middle Ages. In 1526, King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia died in battle against invading forces from the Ottoman Empire.

    With no clear heir, his brother-in-law Ferdinand I was elected King of Hungary by the parliament.

    Ferdinand was a Habsburg, the hereditary dynasty that had a large empire in and around Austria and usually held the position of Holy Roman Emperor in the Germanic states. Meanwhile, the main ethnic group in Hungary, including most of the ruling class were Magyars.

    Did You Know?

    The Holy Roman Empire dates to 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne as emperor. The phrase Holy Roman Empire was not widely used until the 13th century. By the 1500s, it had become an entity composed primarily of German states and operated as a loose confederation composed mostly of independent kingdoms and city-states. They voted to elect an emperor, usually from the Habsburg Dynasty. Austria, which became the main holding of the Habsburgs, was often considered to be the de facto leader of the Holy Roman Empire and the German states that composed it.

    From 1526 onward, the Habsburg monarch also served as King of Hungary.

    One key distinguishing factor for Hungary compared to other Habsburg lands was the fact that Hungary had a constitution that dated to before Habsburg rule that established limits on the power of the monarchy. The Habsburg monarchs traditionally abided by this constitution, and Hungary was governed separately from other Habsburg lands.

    However, in 1804, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II declared the founding of the Austrian Empire, which would include all Habsburg lands, among them Hungary.

    Hungary now had a strange status.

    It was formally part of the Austrian Empire, but its constitution also prohibited it from being part of another state. It maintained its own legal and judicial systems and technically, its Diet, or parliament, still held sovereignty to act separately from Austria.

    The 1848 Hungarian Revolution

    This arrangement raises the question of why a compromise was needed in 1867, if for most practical purposes a similar situation was already in place. The 1848 led to a change in status of Hungary.

    Demands for Reform

    Like in much of Europe, the year 1848 brought unrest to the Habsburg Empire. The spread of the ideas of liberalism and nationalism and reaction against the conservative rule established by the Congress of Vienna and the so-called Age of Metternich prompted the outbreak of the Revolutions of 1848.

    Within Hungary, a reformist and opposition liberal movement had been growing for two decades. As news of revolution in Paris reached Austria and Hungary, demands for democratic parliamentary government broke out. Protestors took to the streets in Vienna, Buda, and Pest.

    Did You Know?

    The three cities Buda, Óbuda, and Pest were officially unified in 1873 into the city of Budapest, the present-day capital of Hungary.

    Ausgleich Hungarian Revolutions of 1848 Painting StudySmarterFig 2 - Liberal and nationalist reformer Lasos Kossuth gives a speech in favor of democratic reforms and independence for Hungary in 1848.

    Rollback and War

    At first, the Habsburgs were forced to accept demands for reform. Hungarian reformers created a more or less independent democracy.

    However, by December 1848, a new Habsburg Emperor, Franz Josef, had come to power and sought to crush the forces of liberalism and nationalism. That included bringing Hungary firmly back into the fold by force. Hungarian rebels tried to resist, but with aid from the Russian military, the Austrian army defeated them.

    Hungary was had its old privileges of autonomy revoked in favor of centralized Austrian rule and absolutism. German became the sole language of official government business.

    However, Anti-Habsburg sentiment remained strong in Hungary. In fact, Franz Josef was not formally crowned as King of Hungary until after the Ausgleich, which came about as a result of Austrian misfortune on the battlefield elsewhere.

    Ausgleich Summary Hungarian Revolution of 1848 Fighting painting StudySmarterFig 3 - Painting of fighting during the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, an important precursor to the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867.

    Austria's Decline: The Impetus for the Austro-Hungarian Compromise

    Despite the suppression of the Hungarian revolt and the re-imposition of absolutism throughout the Habsburg Empire, its long decline had begun.

    Subsequent fighting in the Crimean War strained the empire's budget, and a lack of cooperation from Hungary and other minorities in the empire made it difficult for the military to be effective.

    In the 1866 Austro-Prussian War, Prussia, who had emerged as a major rival, handed the Austrian Empire another disastrous defeat. These wars drove the empire into financial crisis, on the verge of bankruptcy.

    Hungarian nationalists saw their chance to push for concessions and a return to their autonomous status.

    Prussia and German Unification

    Since at least the early 1800s, some German nationalists had called for the creation of a unified Germany. One key debate among German nationalists was whether a German nation state would be created strictly from the Germanic states, or if a "Greater Germany" that included Austria would be part of it.

    Austrians were ethnic Germans and spoke German, and Austria had traditionally been seen as the leader and protector of the other German states. However, some German nationalists worried a unification of Germany under Austrian leadership would be complicated due to the multiethnic Austrian Empire to the east.

    Also, by the mid-1800s, Prussia had emerged as a rival to Austria and another potential leader of a unified Germany. Delegates to an assembly of representatives from the different German states had even offered the King of Prussia the crown of a unified Germany in 1848, which he turned down at the time.

    However, when Prussia went to war with France in 1870, its chancellor Otto von Bismarck had cleverly aligned al of the German states with Prussia and a unified Germany was declared at the conclusion of the war with Prussian King Wilhelm I named emperor of a Germany that did not include Austria.

    The Ausgleich Compromise of 1867

    Hungarian leaders met with the Austrian imperial court to discuss Hungary's status in the empire.

    The compromise they reached, called the Ausgleich Compromise of 1867, or just the Ausleich for short, restored Hungary as an independent state.

    It created the so-called Dual-Monarchy, where Franz Josef I ruled as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary.

    Ausgleich Compromise of 1867 Coronation of Franz Josef Painting StudySmarterFig 4 - Painting depicting the coronation of Franz Josef as King of Hungary, establishing the Dual Monarchy.

    Beneath the emperor, Hungary and Austria would maintain separate governments, each with their own legislative body and prime minister.

    Hungary had its old constitution restored, and it maintained its own laws and legal system. There was no common parliament, and Austria and Hungary were separate legal entities.

    However, the two states remained unified as the Austro-Hungarian Empire for matters of foreign policy. A common Ministry of Finance was also created, but it only dealt with military expenditures and the issuing of a common currency. However, each state was largely financially independent of the other.

    Ausgleich Significance

    The Ausgleich Compromise had a significant effect on the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It established the structure the Dual Monarchy would have until its collapse.

    It also contributed to the growing force of nationalism among the different ethnic minorities in the empire, causing disability.

    The Ausgleich and special status granted to Hungary emboldened other national groups to make their own demands concerning autonomy within the empire. This especially became the case for Serbs living in Austria-Hungary who wished to join the new nation-state of Serbia, which gained independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1878.

    Ausgleich Significance Ethnic Map of Austria and Hungary StudySmarterFig 5 - A map showing the different ethnic groups in Austria-Hungary.

    Did you know?

    Austria-Hungary was dismantled after World War One. Not only were separate states of Austria and Hungary created, but parts of the empire also were given to the newly created states of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and Poland, as well as to Romania. Some of these states were later split up even further later in the 20th century, a testament to the lasting impact of nationalism in the region.

    Another significant issue created by the Austro-Hungarian Compromise was the status of the military. Hungarian nationalists often opposed increases to the military budget on the grounds it would only serve to increase Austrian power at the expense of Hungary. Such political disagreements stunted the growth and modernization of the Empire’s armed forces, and the empire had only a fraction of the military budget of the other major European Great Powers.

    When World War I broke out in 1914, due in large part to Serb nationalism within the empire, the stagnation of the empire's military would play a key role in its poor fortunes, culminating in their defeat and dissolution.

    Ausgleich - Key takeaways

    • The Ausgleich was a compromise signed in 1867 between the Austrian Habsburg Empire and Hungarian Nationalists.
    • This Austro-Hungarian compromise granted Hungary near complete autonomy in internal affairs, while the Austrian Emperor served as a dual monarch of Austria and Hungary, and the two remained united for matters of foreign policy.
    • The compromise came about as a result of Austria's decline, and it rights Hungary had enjoyed before the failed Revolution of 1848.
    • Despite the agreement, the Ausgleich highlighted the growing forces of nationalism from the minorities within the empire. Instability and decline continued until the breakup of Austria-Hungary after World War I.

    References

    1. Fig 1 - Map of Europe 1867 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Europe_1867_map_en.png) by Alexander Altenhof (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:KaterBegemot), licensed under CC-BY-SA-4.0 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:CC-BY-SA-4.0)
    Frequently Asked Questions about Ausgleich

    What was the Ausgleich of 1867?

    The Ausgleich of 1867 was a compromise agreement where Hungary received autonomy but remained part of the Habsburg Austrian Empire for foreign policy and military purposes, creating the Dual Monarch of Austria-Hungary.

    When did Austria and Hungary merge?

    The merging of Austria and Hungary dates to 1526, when the Habsburg Dynasty, who ruled Austria also acquired the throne of Hungary. Hungary remained largely independent and autonomous until 1848, when Austrian forces put down a rebellion and put it under centralized rule. However, in 1867, the Ausleich Compromise again gave Hungary a large degree of autonomy while maintaining the unity of Austria-Hungary as a dual monarchy for foreign policy matters. 

    How did Austria and Hungary unite?

    Austria and Hungary united after an Austrian king became king of Hungary, although they remained largely independent in practice. In 1804, the Austrian Empire was declared with Hungary a part of it, atlhough it retained a large degree of autonomy. In 1849, more centralized Austria control was established after a rebellion, but Hungarian autonomy was returned in the 1867 Ausgleich Compromise.

    How did the Ausgleich impact Austria?

    The Ausgleich made Hungary practically autonomous. It weakened Austrian prestige and military power, and also contributed to growing nationalism among other ethnic minorities.

    What countries did Austria-Hungary split into?

    Austria-Hungary split into Austria, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia, and also contributed land to Poland and Romania after World War One.

    Save Article

    Test your knowledge with multiple choice flashcards

    Choose the best explanation of the dual monarchy.

    What does the word Ausgleich mean in German?

    Which of the following were ongoing problems worsened by the Ausgleich? (check all that apply)

    Next

    Discover learning materials with the free StudySmarter app

    Sign up for free
    1
    About StudySmarter

    StudySmarter is a globally recognized educational technology company, offering a holistic learning platform designed for students of all ages and educational levels. Our platform provides learning support for a wide range of subjects, including STEM, Social Sciences, and Languages and also helps students to successfully master various tests and exams worldwide, such as GCSE, A Level, SAT, ACT, Abitur, and more. We offer an extensive library of learning materials, including interactive flashcards, comprehensive textbook solutions, and detailed explanations. The cutting-edge technology and tools we provide help students create their own learning materials. StudySmarter’s content is not only expert-verified but also regularly updated to ensure accuracy and relevance.

    Learn more
    StudySmarter Editorial Team

    Team History Teachers

    • 10 minutes reading time
    • Checked by StudySmarter Editorial Team
    Save Explanation Save Explanation

    Study anywhere. Anytime.Across all devices.

    Sign-up for free

    Sign up to highlight and take notes. It’s 100% free.

    Join over 22 million students in learning with our StudySmarter App

    The first learning app that truly has everything you need to ace your exams in one place

    • Flashcards & Quizzes
    • AI Study Assistant
    • Study Planner
    • Mock-Exams
    • Smart Note-Taking
    Join over 22 million students in learning with our StudySmarter App
    Sign up with Email