The political map of Europe over the past 100 years has changed substantially. A clear example of this was the dissolution of the Austro Hungarian Empire in 1919, as one of the consequences of the First World War.
Origin of the Austrian-Hungarian Alliance
In the years before the creation of the Empire, the Austrians had suffered important military defeats against the Prussians, on the other hand, in 1866, the Germans expelled Austria from the German Confederation.
At the same time, Hungarians had two strategic motivations: to promote marginalization in the Kingdom of Hungary in order to weaken ethnic and cultural minorities and thus increase their military strength in order to preserve their sovereignty.
Both states decided to ally themselves creating a dual Empire. They shared the same emperor, but continued to maintain their respective parliaments and cultural traditions.
the end of the empire
World War I not only brought death and destruction , but also had political consequences . The instability of the Habsburg-controlled Austro-Hungarian Empire deepened during the last phase of the Great War. In this sense, Emperor Franz José I died in 1916 and in 1918 the Austro-Hungarian army suffered important defeats against Romanian, Italian and Serb troops. Austro Hungarian
Unable to continue the war, the leaders of the Austro-Hungarian Empire decided to surrender in November 1918. This circumstance accelerated the declarations of independence of Slovakia and Serbia and within a few months Emperor Charles I took the decision to definitively dissolve the alliance between Austria and Hungary.
Data of interest
– The territories integrated to the Empire were located in the south eastern part of Europe. They were formed by Austria and Hungary, on the other hand, by the territories of other nations (Poland, Ukraine, Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Montenegro, Czech Republic and Romania). In total there was an extension of 675,000 square kilometers, a surface slightly larger than France.
– Linguistically, there were two official languages (German and Hungarian) and in their borders the following languages were spoken: Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Romanian and Italian. Austro Hungarian
– From an ethnic, cultural and religious point of view there was also great diversity and this circumstance was a constant threat to the stability of the Empire.
– Throughout its 52 years of history there were two monarchs on the throne: Francis Joseph I and Charles I (the latter remained on the throne for the last three years and after the dissolution of the Empire was forced into exile in Switzerland). Austro Hungarian
