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.