Austria-Hungary

V

Crises at Home, Passivity Abroad: 1895-1906

Between 1895 and 1906, Austria-Hungary was preoccupied with internal problems. During the early years of the compromise, nationalistic and ethnic conflicts were pushed aside, but these conflicts exploded in the mid-1890s. Conflicts between the Germans and the Czechs in Bohemia paralyzed the Austrian Reichsrat. In Hungary, the long-repressed critics of the compromise, mainly the non-Magyar peoples who resented the rule of the Magyars, could no longer be silenced. Negotiations in Hungary for the renewal of the compromise, which had to be approved every 10 years, dragged on from 1897 to 1906 without resolution. Some opponents of the compromise objected to institutionalized Magyar rule. Other opponents insisted that Magyar contingents in the imperial army received preferential treatment.

Francis Joseph handled most of these domestic problems by resorting to his imperial executive powers to rule Austria-Hungary. He governed through the cabinet ministers and appointed civil servants. Since the Austrian Reichsrat and the Hungarian Diet were so divided they could do little more than debate the issues, the emperor enacted emergency legislation and budgets were administered by emergency decrees. He subjected Hungary to a virtual state of martial law. The dual monarchy seemed to be close to breaking apart, especially in 1905 when, in Hungary, the defenders of the 1867 compromise were defeated at the polls. Francis Joseph finally brought the Hungarians in line in 1906 when he threatened to give voting rights to the non-Magyars in Hungary. The Magyars were a minority population in Hungary, and they knew this would end their supremacy. The renewal of the compromise finally won Hungarian approval in 1906.

In foreign affairs between 1895 and 1906, Austria-Hungary seemed to drift. In 1897 Russia and Austria-Hungary agreed to maintain the status quo in the Balkans. This accord significantly reduced tensions in Europe for the next 10 years. However, between 1895 and 1906, Germany and Russia grew closer together. Concerned more with domestic matters, Austria-Hungary neglected its relationship with Britain, a long-time ally of Austria-Hungary in the Balkans. This might have allowed Russia to increase its influence in the Balkans, but Russia was concentrating on expanding its holdings in eastern Asia, a policy that eventually resulted in conflicts with Japan. Russian imperialism in east Asia ended in 1905 when Russia lost the Russo-Japanese War. After that defeat, Russia turned its attention to the Balkans again.

VI

The External Threat, 1906-1914

Although domestic discord troubled the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end, the main threats to the empire after 1906 came more from outside than from within. Specifically, relations between Austria-Hungary and Russia deteriorated to the point where war was increasingly likely.

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At this time, the Ottoman Empire, which had once controlled much of southeastern Europe and still controlled the Straits of Bosporus at Constantinople (present-day İstanbul), was in its final stages of disintegration. In 1908 Austria-Hungary took the Ottoman possessions it wanted when it annexed the Balkan states of Bosnia and Herzegovina, both of which were populated by Slavs. The Russians were denied what they wanted—safe passage for their warships through the Straits of Bosporus, the narrow channel of water that runs between the Black Sea, home of the Russian fleet, and the Mediterranean Sea. Austria-Hungary's unilateral actions angered the Slavs in the region and infuriated the Russians, who were still excluded from the straits. At this time, Germany supported Austria-Hungary, but was unwilling to risk war with Russia. Thus, Austria-Hungary was isolated in its Balkans policy. Austria-Hungary's sense of isolation over the Balkans developed into a national obsession with keeping Russian power in the region to a minimum.

VII

World War I and the End of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1914-1918

Greek and Balkan nationalists carved up the Ottoman Empire during a conflict known as the Balkan Wars (1912-1913). The Balkan state of Serbia was a major victor, emerging as a much enlarged nation that posed a direct threat to Austro-Hungarian holdings in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Austro-Hungarian statesmen were convinced that Russia was working to increase nationalism in the Balkans. It appeared to Austria-Hungary that Russia, a Slavic nation, was encouraging the growth of new, predominantly Slavic states, thus tipping the regional balance of power in favor of Russia and against Austria-Hungary. The Slavic peoples who were, for the most part, denied a voice in the affairs of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, were calling for nationalistic self-determination. The leaders of Austria-Hungary believed that Slavic unrest in the Balkans presented a serious threat to the dual monarchy.

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the presumed heir to the Austrian and Hungarian crowns, was assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia, by a Serbian patriot. The leaders of Austria-Hungary were sure the Serbian government and ultimately the Russians were responsible. Austria-Hungary prepared for war, and this time the Germans were willing to support them. On July 28, 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. For a complete discussion of the conflict, see World War I.

Although the war was started to preserve Austria-Hungary as a great power, it actually destroyed the empire even before defeat and dissolution officially overcame the monarchy. Austria-Hungary had only one ally—Germany, which had its own plans for Europe. These plans made no provisions for a truly independent Austria-Hungary. Austro-Hungarian losses on the battlefield served to increase its dependence on Germany. Francis Joseph died in 1916, and the new emperor, Charles I (1916-1918), tried secretly to conclude a separate peace with the Allies in 1917. However, negotiations failed, and when they became public, outraged Germans from inside and outside the empire brought pressure on the emperor to follow Germany's lead in every respect. The emperor had no option but to comply; Austria-Hungary was suffering losses on every military front. By the end of 1917, Austria-Hungary was almost totally dependent on Germany.

In 1918, although defeat in the war seemed likely, the monarchy's future remained uncertain. In domestic affairs, critics of the 1867 compromise were still demanding more influence within the monarchy, rather than independence outside the monarchy. The states with territorial claims against Austria-Hungary already were defeated in the war. There was considerable support among Austria-Hungary's Allied opponents for preserving the dual monarchy as a buffer against German power in the post-war world. The Allies were prepared to insist on federal reforms that would end the domination enjoyed by the empire's German and Magyar populations. However, the Germans and Magyars of the empire refused to consider such reforms. They staked their future on a German victory, and lost. A final effort by the emperor to save the monarchy by constitutional reform along federal lines was overwhelmingly rejected by the Hungarians.

A new map for central Europe was being drawn up in the months before the end of the war. Beginning in 1917, representatives of the Czechs, Poles, Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes set up organizations in the Allied countries to gain sympathy and recognition. By late 1917 nationalist activities made the monarchy increasingly untenable. Shortages of food and other necessities triggered strikes and demonstrations at home and mutinies in the army and navy. Recognizing that the collapse of the monarchy was inevitable, the nationalist groups within the empire organized national councils that acted as separate governments. The Southern Slavs, meeting in Zagreb on October 6, 1918, advocated union with Serbia, and on October 28 the Czechs proclaimed an independent republic in Prague. On October 31 the Magyars had a revolution that initiated the creation of an independent Hungarian republic. On November 3, Austria and Hungary each signed an armistice with the Allies. On November 11, Charles I relinquished all his royal prerogatives in the administration of the empire and left Austria. His actions brought an end to Austria-Hungary and to the Habsburg monarchy. Within days Austria and Hungary declared themselves republics.

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