EURO1004 Chapter Notes - Chapter 21: Lands Of The Hungarian Crown, Social Democratic Party Of Austria, Austro-Hungarian Compromise Of 1867
CH 21: THE HABSBURG EMPIRE, 1848-1914
Section A
THE PROBLEMS FACING THE HABSBURG EMPIRE
• “In 1848 the monarchy almost fell apart but thereafter recovered and in many ways
rose rather than declined before 1914 – and one can argue that there was no domestic
or even foreign threat to its integrity until 1918” (Sked, 1984)
• One argument is that the problem was never solved and WWI simply accelerated the
empire’s collapse as the empire might have survived had it not been for the war
• The Habsburg empire that survived the 1848 Revolutions was plagued by two
perennial and related problems – it was an empire brought into existence through a
series of dynastic and historical accidents
• The Habsburgs acquired Hungary following the battle of Mohacs against the Turks in
1526, and acquired Bohemia as a result of the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), and the
Polish part of the empire, Galicia became theirs at the end of the eighteenth century.
• Two racial groups dominated the empire: the Germans (appx. ¼), Magyars (1/5) and
the empire drew its ministers and its bureaucracy almost exclusively from these two
groups making minorities feel disadvantaged and exploited (e.g. overtaxed, made liable
for military service and denied the ability to use their own language)➔ consequentially,
the claims of minority groups within the empire constantly clashed with the interests of
the dominant races
• The empire faced the problem of forming a system of government that meet the
demands of the populace – both the expanding working class and the bourgeoisie – any
elected assembly that was didn’t seem to reflect class differences was likely to be
unaccepted by the others ➔ this resulted in just the Emperor being able to command
the allegiance ➔ reinforcing the argument for the authoritarian, centralised
administration
THE RETURN TO ABSOLUTISM
• Emperor Francis Joseph was an autocrat (dictator) and could see no other solution to
his empire other than centralised, autocratic rule and he judged every political question
by the criterion of whether he thought it would contribute to the empire’s survival
• Francis Joseph came to the throne at a time of instability when the finishing touches
were being put on to the constitution
• Stadion (statesman) produced his own constitution which promised freedom of
conscience and equality before the law – however the Stadion constitution was never
implemented as by the time Hungary’s resistance had been overcome, Stadion had
resigned and his constitution was later officially rejected
• In 1855 a Concordat (agreement/deal) was signed with the Papacy (pope) which
declared the Catholic Church’s property inviolable (unbreakable) and protected its
control over education
• The new regime caused resistance in Lombardy-Venetia and in Hungary and following
the breaking out of war in France in 1859, Francis Joseph was prepared to make
concessions and in October (known as the October Diploma) he conceded the right of
the Reichstrat (one of the two legislative bodies in Germany) to approve: taxation, and
its membership was to be raised to one hundred. Hungary was given a measure of
independence.
• More concessions were needed – known as the February Patent – there was now to be
a Reichstrat made up of two houses, an upper and lower house chosen by provincial
assemblies – but the Hungarians boycotted the new assembly and the Cszechs and Pols
walked out of its first session –
France Joseph acknowledged that the ministry did owe
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some responsibility to the Reichstrat as well as to himself and it was the start of
dismantling the absolutist system that had prevailed since 1851
• In February 1867, they were put to the Hungarian Diet and voted through by 257 votes
to 117 in May – Francis Joseph was crowned in July and the Reichstrat representing the
Austrian half of the empire gave its approval in December.
The terms of the Ausgleich
-
Ausgleigh:
the expression means compromise or balancing out
- It divided the Austrian empire into two: the western part known as Cis-Liethian
Austria which now contained about 60% of the population, and an eastern part,
the Hungarian Crown Lands – remaining 40% of population
- However emperor enjoyed so much power that, they shared a common
parliament – there was to be a single Foreign Minister, a single Defence
Minister and a single Finance Minister with responsibility for financing the
army and the diplomatic service - all questions relating to the army fell within
the competence of the Crown
- Those in the non-German and non-Hungarian speaking parts of the empire
felt that their interests had been overlooked and the Dual Monarchy did
nothing to address their concerns.
- It had been claimed that Hungary exercised a disproportionate influence over
the empire as a whole, dragging it into Balkan entanglements that would have
been better avoided
- Despite criticism, the
Ausgleich
worked after an approach and it gave Hungary
a greater degree of independence than she had enjoyed since the 16th century.
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY UNDER THE
AUSGLEICH
, 1867-1914
Relations between Austria and Hungary
- The relations between Austria and Hungary continued to be tense sometimes
after 1867 – but over the 50 years the
Ausgleich
lasted it never reached the
point of armed conflict
- Politics in Hungary still revolved around the relationship with the empire, what
was known as ‘the issue of public law’
- Concessions were made in 1903 including: a reduction in the term of service to
two years, the use of Hungarian as the language of command in Hungarian
regiments and a change of oath of loyalty required of all soldiers, which was
now to be to the Hungarian Constitution
- Opposition parties came into existence and a won a substantial majority in the
elections held in 1905 as a Coalition of New Parties
- The economic relationship between Austria and Hungary was now to be called
a Customs Treaty, but there was no immediate change in tariffs
Cis-Leithian Austria under the Ausgleich
-
When the
Ausgleich
was approved by the Reichstrat in Vienna a number of
constitutional laws were added to it leaving the Crown with most of its powers,
including the right to appoint the Minister President, a veto over legislation, the
power to rule by decree in emergency, and command of the armed forces
-
The constitution guaranteed that the Austrian citizen was assured of freedom of
religious belief and practice, freedom of speech and freedom of the press and
all citizens were declared equal before the law, with pubic offices being made
open to them
-
It didn’t work perfectly though – e.g. the Bohemians and Moravians rejected
the
Ausgleich
as it favoured the Hungarians
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-
Karl von Stürgkh was an Austrian politician and Minister-President of
Cisleithania during the 1914 July Crisis that led to the outbreak of World War
I - he was killed by the son of the leader of the Austrian Social Democratic
Party in October 1916 whilst shouting “down with absolutism! We want
peace!”
-
The Habsburg empire failed on both counts
AUSTRIAN FOREIGN POLICY, 1849-1908
• Following Austrian’s defeat in the wars with France and Piedmont (region of Italy
bordering France) (1859-60) and with Prussia (1866) their objectives clearly had to
change
• Francis Joseph was determined to hang on to what remained of his empire but now
Austrian ambitions were focused on the Balkans rather than on Germany
• Russia’s ambition was to secure control over the Dardanelles (waterway in Turkey),
whereas Austrian’s ambitions varied with circumstance and who was in office
• Austro-Russian relations from 1867-1914 saw periods of mutual cooperation
punctuated by moments of high tension, the last of which helped to lead to the First
World War
• The exact status of Bosnia-Herzegovina remained dangerously undefined, the
provinces were still nominally under the rule of Sultan, but were to be ‘occupied and
administered by Austria-Hungary’.
• 1897 – Francis Joseph met Goluchowski (Polish statesmen) and reached an informal
agreement that both countries would seek to preserve the status quo in the Balkans
•
With hindsight, the annexation/invasion of Bosnia-Herzegovina was one fothe most
fateful mistakes made by the Austrian government, and it paved the way for Austrian
entry into WWI and the destruction of the empire.
CH 22: RUSSIA, 1894-1914
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Document Summary
1526, and acquired bohemia as a result of the thirty years war (1618-1648), and the. Polish part of the empire, galicia became theirs at the end of the eighteenth century: two racial groups dominated the empire: the germans (appx. In february 1867, they were put to the hungarian diet and voted through by 257 votes to 117 in may francis joseph was crowned in july and the reichstrat representing the. Austrian half of the empire gave its approval in december. Ausgleigh: the expression means compromise or balancing out. It divided the austrian empire into two: the western part known as cis-liethian. Austria which now contained about 60% of the population, and an eastern part, the hungarian crown lands remaining 40% of population. However emperor enjoyed so much power that, they shared a common parliament there was to be a single foreign minister, a single defence.
