Austrian Hungarian Empire

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.