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Austria-Hungary

1867–1918 empire in Central Europe / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire[lower-alpha 3] or the Dual Monarchy, was a constitutional monarchy and multinational state in Central Europe[lower-alpha 4] between 1867 and 1918.[7][8] Austria-Hungary was a military and diplomatic alliance of two sovereign states.[9] It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War and was dissolved shortly after its defeat in the First World War.

Quick facts: Austro-Hungarian MonarchyÖsterreichisch-Ungar...
Austro-Hungarian Monarchy
Österreichisch-Ungarische Monarchie (German)
Osztrák–Magyar Monarchia (Hungarian)
1867–1918
Motto: Indivisibiliter ac inseparabiliter
("Indivisibly and inseparably")
Anthem: Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze
("God preserve, God protect")
Austro-Hungarian_Monarchy_%281914%29.svg
Cisleithania%2C_Lands_of_the_Crown_of_Saint_Stephen%2C_Bosnia_and_Herzegovina.svg
  Cisleithania, or "Austria"
Capital
Largest cityVienna
Official languages
Other spoken languages:
Czech, Polish, Ruthenian, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovene, Italian, Romani (Carpathian), Yiddish,[4] and others (Friulian, Istro-Romanian, Ladin)
Religion
Demonym(s)Austro-Hungarian
GovernmentConstitutional dual monarchy
Emperor-King 
 1867–1916
Franz Joseph I
 1916–1918
Karl I & IV
Minister-President of Austria 
 1867 (first)
F. F. von Beust
 1918 (last)
Heinrich Lammasch
Prime Minister of Hungary 
 1867–1871 (first)
Gyula Andrássy
 1918 (last)
János Hadik
Legislature2 national legislatures
Historical era
30 March 1867
7 October 1879
6 October 1908
28 June 1914
28 July 1914
31 October 1918
12 November 1918
16 November 1918
10 September 1919
4 June 1920
Area
1905[6]621,538 km2 (239,977 sq mi)
Currency
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Flag_of_the_Habsburg_Monarchy.svg Austrian Empire
Legal successors: Blank.png
Austria Flag_of_Austria.svg
Hungary Flag_of_Hungary_%281918-1919%29.svg
Other territorial successors: Blank.png
Czechoslovakia Flag_of_the_Czech_Republic.svg
Poland Flag_of_Poland.svg
West Ukraine Flag_of_Ukraine.svg
Yugoslavia Flag_of_Yugoslavia_%281918%E2%80%931941%29.svg
Romania Flag_of_Romania.svg
Italy Flag_of_Italy_%281861-1946%29_crowned.svg
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Austria-Hungary was ruled by the House of Habsburg and constituted the last phase in the constitutional evolution of the Habsburg monarchy. It was a multinational state and one of Europe's major powers at the time. Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire, at 621,538 km2 (239,977 sq mi)[6] and the third-most populous (after Russia and the German Empire). The Empire built up the fourth-largest machine-building industry in the world, after the United States, Germany and the United Kingdom.[10] Austria-Hungary also became the world's third-largest manufacturer and exporter of electric home appliances, electric industrial appliances, and power generation apparatus for power plants, after the United States and the German Empire.[11]

At its core was the dual monarchy which was a real union between Cisleithania, the northern and western parts of the former Austrian Empire, and the Kingdom of Hungary. Following the 1867 reforms, the Austrian and Hungarian states were co-equal in power. The two states conducted common foreign, defense, and financial policies, but all other governmental faculties were divided among respective states. A third component of the union was the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, an autonomous region under the Hungarian crown, which negotiated the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement in 1868. After 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina came under Austro-Hungarian joint military and civilian rule[12] until it was fully annexed in 1908, provoking the Bosnian crisis.[13]

Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers in World War I, which began with an Austro-Hungarian war declaration on the Kingdom of Serbia on 28 July 1914. It was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The Kingdom of Hungary and the First Austrian Republic were treated as its successors de jure, whereas the independence of the West Slavs and South Slavs of the Empire as the First Czechoslovak Republic, the Second Polish Republic, and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, respectively, and most of the territorial demands of the Kingdom of Romania and the Kingdom of Italy were also recognized by the victorious powers in 1920.