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91-459: In practice, however, its authority was limited to the Danubian and Alpine provinces which had been the core of Cisleithania . Much of its claimed territory was de facto administered by the newly formed Czechoslovakia , and internationally recognized as such. Attempts to create German-Austria under these auspices were ultimately unsuccessful, especially since union with Germany was forbidden in

182-619: A Landeshauptmann , being president of the Landtag as well. From 1868 onwards Emperor Franz Joseph himself (in his function as monarch of a crown land, being king, archduke, grandduke, duke or count) and his Imperial–Royal ( k.k. ) government headed by the Minister-President of Austria were represented at the capital cities of the crown lands—except for Vorarlberg which was administered with Tyrol, and Istria and Gorizia-Gradisca which were administered together with Trieste under

273-850: A condominium between the Austrian and the Hungarian parts of the dual monarchy. As such the local troops of Bosnian Riflemen were subordinated through the Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the Imperial Minister of War. The general peacetime order of battle of the Common Army included: The Austrian part of the monarchy (officially called Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council , unofficially and for short Cisleithania ) had its own government. It included

364-572: A constructive role most of the time. Politics were frequently paralysed because of the tensions between different nationalities. When Czech obstruction at the Reichsrat prevented the parliament from working, the emperor went on to rule autocratically through imperial decrees ( Kaiserliche Verordnungen ) submitted by his government. The Reichsrat was prorogued in March 1914 at the behest of Minister-President Count Karl von Stürgkh , it did not meet during

455-403: A feeling of resentment by many non-Austrian soldiers. The delivery of orders was particularly ineffective, and the bureaucratic and dysfunctional system led to individual ethnic units becoming isolated from the overall high command . This in turn led to ethnic tensions and political violence in the empire, as such language battalions began instigating mutinies and revolts against

546-716: A formal note of protest to the Allies against blocking German-Austrian union, on 10 September 1919 Renner signed the Treaty of Saint Germain and it was ratified by the Constituent National Assembly on 17 October. According to its provisions, on 21 October the country changed its official name from "Republic of German-Austria" to "Republic of Austria". It also lost the Sudetenland and German Bohemia to Czechoslovakia , South Tyrol and Istria (including

637-539: A lack of military interpreters , and this proved to be a major force in the partial dysfunctioning and blunders of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Nearly all officers of the upper ranks spoke German (specifically Austrian German ), and because only a fraction of soldiers spoke German , this produced a logistical obstacle for organizing the military . Likewise the lack of mutual intelligibility between speakers of Hungarian and German led to

728-412: A majority in the area known as German West Hungary and agitated to join to Austria were successful and the area became the state of Burgenland , with the notable exception of the region around the city of Ödenburg (Sopron) which was also intended to be the state capital, but due to a very contentious plebiscite, remained part of Hungary. The only other part of the former German counties of Burgenland in

819-468: A majority of the population. Almost 60% of Cisleithania's population was ethnically Slavic. Religion groups in Cisleithania included Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Evangelicals, Muslims and Jews. Roman Catholics were the largest religious group in the country that accounted for 79% of the population. While on the other hand, Greek Catholics accounted for 12% of the population. In

910-740: A much larger population. Further contributing to the monarchy's military weakness was the low rate of conscription: Austria-Hungary conscripted only 0.29% of its population annually, compared to 0.47% in Germany and 0.75% in France. Attempts to increase the yearly intake of recruits were proposed but repeatedly blocked by officials in Budapest until an agreement was reached in 1912. In the emerging field of military aviation , Austria-Hungary lagged behind other European states. While balloon detachments had been established in 1893, they were mostly assigned to

1001-532: A religious standpoint, the Austro-Hungarian army officer corps was dominated by Catholics . In 1896, out of 1000 officers, 791 were Catholics, 86 Protestants , 84 Jews , 39 Greek-Orthodox , and one Uniate . Of the pre–World War military forces of the major European powers, the Austro-Hungarian army was almost alone in its regular promotion of Jews to positions of command. While the Jewish population of

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1092-471: A republican form and preserved the potential for the continuation of the monarchy. On 25 October, the Provisional Assembly called on all German-inhabited Lands to form their own provisional assemblies. On 11 November 1918, Charles I gave up his right to take part in Austrian affairs of state. He deliberately avoided using the term "abdication", as he wanted to retain his freedom of action in

1183-594: A separate part. Both the "Austrian" and "Hungarian" lands of the Dual Monarchy had large Slavic -settled territories in the north ( Czechs , Slovaks , Poles and Ruthenians ) as well as in the south ( Slovenes , Croats and Serbs ). Cisleithania consisted of 15 crown lands which had representatives in the Imperial Council ( Reichsrat ), the Cisleithanian parliament in Vienna. The crown lands centered on

1274-531: A signatory of the Treaty of Saint Germain . Cisleithania Cisleithania , officially The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council ( German : Die im Reichsrat vertretenen Königreiche und Länder ), was the northern and western part of Austria-Hungary , the Dual Monarchy created in the Compromise of 1867 —as distinguished from Transleithania (i.e., the Hungarian Lands of

1365-682: A unification with Germany whereas Vorarlberg in May 1919 held a plebiscite where 81% supported accession to Switzerland. Several German minority populations in Moravia , including German populations in Brno (Brünn), Jihlava (Iglau) and Olomouc (Olmütz), as well as the German enclave of Gottschee in Carniola also attempted to proclaim their union with German-Austria, but failed. The areas now outside of

1456-429: Is an integral part of the German republic" (Article 2). The latter provision reflected the deputies' view that felt that Austria would lose so much territory in any peace settlement that it would no longer be economically and politically viable as a separate state, and the only course was union with Germany. This was enforced by the refusal of Hungary to sell grain and of Czechoslovakia to sell coal to Austria-Germany. As

1547-584: The Archduchy of Austria ( Erzherzogtum Österreich ) were not states, but provinces in the modern sense. However, they were areas with unique historic political and legal characteristics and were therefore more than mere administrative districts. They have been conceived of as "historical-political entities". Each crown land had a regional assembly, the Landtag , which enacted laws ( Landesgesetze ) on matters of regional and mostly minor importance. Until 1848,

1638-617: The Austrian Empire , but the latter term was rarely used to avoid confusion with the era before 1867, when the Kingdom of Hungary had been a constituent part of that empire. The somewhat cumbersome official name was Die im Reichsrat vertretenen Königreiche und Länder ("The Kingdoms and Lands represented in the Imperial Council "). The phrase was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status until 1915;

1729-793: The Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 , the Austro-Hungarian Army was brought into being. It existed until the disestablishment of Austria-Hungary in 1918 following the end of World War I . Common Army units were generally poorly trained and had very limited access to new equipment, because the governments of the Austrian and Hungarian parts of the empire often preferred to generously fund their own units instead of outfitting all three army branches equally. All Landwehr and Honvéd regiments were composed of three battalions , while Common Army regiments had four. The long-standing white infantry uniforms were replaced in

1820-722: The Austro-Hungarian Navy and the Foreign Ministry , these k.u.k. matters remained reserved for the Imperial and Royal Ministers' Council for Common Affairs of Austria-Hungary. The Austrian Reichsrat , a bicameral legislature implemented in 1861, became the Cisleithanian parliament. Originally consisting of delegates of the Landtage , in 1873 direct election of the House of Deputies ( Abgeordnetenhaus )

1911-604: The Central Powers and an ally of Germany. By May 1918, the empire was facing increasing military failure and defeat, as well as domestic unrest caused by food and fuel shortages. Additionally, the demands of the empire's nationalities were becoming increasingly radicalised, encouraged by the American president Woodrow Wilson 's commitment to self-determination in his Fourteen Points published in January 1918. In October,

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2002-684: The Common Army ( German : Gemeinsame Armee , recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), the Imperial-Royal Landwehr (recruited from Cisleithania ) and the Royal Hungarian Honvéd (recruited from Transleithania ). In the wake of fighting between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary and the subsequent two decades of uneasy co-existence, Hungarian troops served either in ethnically mixed units or were stationed away from Hungarian regions. With

2093-521: The July Crisis and was not reconvened until May 1917, after the accession of Emperor Karl in 1916. For representation in matters relevant to the whole real union of Austria-Hungary (foreign affairs, defence, and the financing thereof) the Reichsrat appointed delegations of 60 members to discuss these matters parallel to Hungarian delegations of the same size and to come, in separate votes, to

2184-528: The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes from seizing some of its territory. Countries on the winning side of the war took many territories with German majorities. The Czechs insisted on the historic borders of the Lands of the Bohemian Crown ; thus, three million Germans became Czechoslovak citizens, an indirect precipitant of the Sudetenland crisis 20 years later. A victor nation, Italy occupied and

2275-497: The Landtage had been traditional diets (assemblies of the estates of the realm ). They were disbanded after the Revolutions of 1848 and reformed after 1860. Some members held their position as ex officio members (e.g., bishops), while others were elected. There was no universal and equal suffrage, but a mixture of privilege and limited franchise. The executive committee of a Landtag was called Landesausschuss and headed by

2366-763: The Leitha River , a tributary of the Danube forming the historical boundary between the Archduchy of Austria and the Hungarian Kingdom in the area southeast of Vienna (on the way to Budapest ). Much of its territory lay west (or, from a Viennese perspective, on "this" side) of the Leitha. After the constitutional changes of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Cisleithanian crown lands ( Kronländer ) continued to constitute

2457-728: The Treaty of Versailles , and the new state of the First Austrian Republic was created in 1920. The Austrian Empire of the Habsburgs had been reconstituted as a dual monarchy by the Compromise of 1867 . It comprised the Magyar -dominated " lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen ", the core of which was the Kingdom of Hungary and was sometimes referred to as Transleithania, and the German-dominated remainder of

2548-552: The k.u.k. Infanterie-Regiment (Hoch und Deutschmeister) Nr. 4 became Infanterie-Regiment No. 4 (4th Infantry Regiment). The Landsturm consisted of men aged 34 to 55 who belonged to the Austria k.k. Landsturm and the Hungarian k.u. Landsturm. The Landsturm formed 40 regiments totaling 136 battalions in Austria and 32 regiments totaling 97 battalions in Hungary. The Landsturm was a reserve force intended to provide replacements for

2639-529: The 1867 constitutional arrangements, the Reichsrat was dominated by German Liberals, who generally regarded the army as a relic of feudalism. In Budapest, legislators were reluctant to authorize funds for the joint army but were generous with the Hungarian branch of the army, the Honvédség . In 1867 the military budget accounted for about 25% of all government spending, but the economic crash of 1873 hit Austria-Hungary hard and foreign observers questioned whether

2730-570: The Adriatic port of Trieste ) to the Kingdom of Italy , and Carniola , Lower Styria and Dalmatia to the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes . Article 88 of the treaty, sometimes called a "pre- Anschluss attempt", stated: The independence of Austria is inalienable otherwise than with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations . Consequently Austria undertakes in the absence of

2821-563: The Austrian commanders, whom they saw as out of touch. Desertions and revolts were most common amongst Slavic battalions, particularly the Czech - Slovakian battalions; however, all battalions during the war suffered from these logistical challenges. The battalions' use of languages that were not understood by the Austrian commanders also led to it being extremely difficult to impossible to discover attempts at desertion or revolt. Following

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2912-547: The Austrian half, Orthodox church had 770,000 believers mostly concentrated in Dalmatia and Bukovina which represented 2.3% of the population. The Evengelical churches had 600,000 believers that represented 2% of the population in Cisleithania. Muslims, predominantly Sunni, became the citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the occupation in 1878 and later annexation in 1908. At the time they were called

3003-633: The Christian Social Party, and the Social Democrat Karl Seitz . A 20-member executive committee was appointed to make constitutional recommendations to the Assembly and, on the committee's subsequent recommendation, a State Council was created as an executive body on 30 October. The Council immediately nominated 14 State Secretaries to head up an administrative structure that mirrored the imperial ministries. As at

3094-528: The Crown of Saint Stephen east of ["beyond"] the Leitha River). This name for the region was a common, but unofficial one. The Cisleithanian capital was Vienna , the residence of the Austrian emperor . The territory had a population of 28,571,900 in 1910. It reached from Vorarlberg in the west to the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and the Duchy of Bukovina (today part of Ukraine and Romania ) in

3185-462: The Dual Monarchy could manage a major war without subsidies. Despite increases throughout the 1850s and 1860s, in the latter half of the century Austria-Hungary was still spending less on its army than were other major European powers. While the budget continued to rise—from 262 million crowns in 1895 to 306 million in 1906—this was still far less per capita than for other major European states, including Italy, and about on par with Russia, which had

3276-470: The Dual Monarchy in this period was the Austro-Hungarian occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the summer of 1878. When troops under the command of Josip Filipović and Stjepan Jovanović entered the provinces expecting little or no resistance, they were met with ferocious opposition from elements of both Muslim and Orthodox populations there. Despite setbacks at Maglaj and Tuzla , Sarajevo

3367-475: The Empire collapsed and a ceasefire was announced, the Provisional Assembly sought to forestall socialist revolution by organizing a coalition government led by the minority Social Democrats. Karl Renner became Chancellor and Victor Adler became Foreign Minister. The Social Democrats co-opted newly created soldier and worker councils and used their control over labour unions to implement social policies that blunted

3458-630: The First World War. In the late 19th century the army was used to suppress unrest in urban areas of the empire: in 1882 and 1887 in Vienna and notably against German nationalists at Graz and Czech nationalists in Prague in November 1897. Soldiers under the command of Conrad von Hotzendorf were also used against Italian rioters in Trieste in 1902. The most significant action by soldiers of

3549-478: The German people in Austria are resolved to determine their own future political organization to form an independent German-Austrian state, and to regulate their relations with other nations through free agreements with them. They also elected three Presidents of the Assembly, one from each of the three political groupings: Franz Dinghofer ( de ) of the German National Movement, Jodok Fink of

3640-542: The Honvéd). The infantry regiments of the k.u.k. army had four battalions each; the infantry regiments of the k.k. and k.u. Landwehr had three battalions each, except the 3rd Regiment of the "Tiroler Landesschützen" (Tyrolian fusiliers), that had also four battalions. In 1915 units that had nicknames or names of honour lost them by order of the War Ministry. Thereafter units were designated only by number. For instance,

3731-475: The Imperial and Royal Ministry of National Defence (completely independent from the Imperial War Ministry). In peacetime it had complete authority and responsibility for the Imperial-Royal Landwehr and its: The Hungarian part of the monarchy (officially called Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen , unofficially and for short Transleithania ) also had its own government. One of its ministries

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3822-466: The Imperial council in Vienna and by the Hungarian parliament in Budapest. Without the Austrian and Hungarian parliamentary ratifications, the decisions of the delegates were not valid in Austria or in Kingdom of Hungary. The largest group within Cisleithania were Austrian Germans (including Yiddish -speaking Jews ), who made up around a third of the population. German-speakers and Czechs made up

3913-600: The Kingdom of Hungary also not to become part of the Austrian Republic due to the treaty was Preßburg ( Bratislava ) which went to Czechoslovakia (now the capital of Slovakia ). German-Austria originally consisted of nine provinces ( Provinzen ): Despite the prohibition of the use of the term "German-Austria", the republic's unofficial national anthem between 1920 and 1929 was "German Austria, you wonderful country" ( Deutschösterreich, du herrliches Land ). Its words were penned by then-Chancellor Karl Renner ,

4004-600: The Mohammedans and they were accounted for 1.2% of the population. Jews, according to the resource, represented 4.6% of the whole Austro-Hungarian population. 48°30′N 16°23′E  /  48.500°N 16.383°E  / 48.500; 16.383 Austro-Hungarian army The Austro-Hungarian Army , also known as the Imperial and Royal Army , was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations:

4095-599: The Social Democrat position to allow further negotiation to take place. The Christian Social Party accepted it as well, but said they had reservations because of their "religious and dynastic convictions". Calling themselves "the Germans of the Alps and Sudetens ", all 208 deputies met on 21 October, and unanimously voted that they now constituted the "Provisional National Assembly" for German-Austria. They declared that:

4186-399: The common name of Austro-Illyrian Littoral— by a stadtholder ( Statthalter ), in few crown lands called Landespräsident , who acted as chief executive. According to the "December Constitution", a redraft of the emperor's 1861 February Patent , the Austrian government was generally responsible in all affairs concerning the Cisleithanian lands, except for the common Austro-Hungarian Army ,

4277-459: The consent of the said Council to abstain from any act which might directly or indirectly or by any means whatsoever compromise her independence, particularly, and until her admission to membership of the League of Nations, by participation in the affairs of another Power. This clause effectively foreclosed any attempt by Austria to unite with Germany. Likewise, the Treaty of Versailles , dictating

4368-768: The context of the Czech National Revival , was played out. Leaders of the movement like František Palacký advocated the emancipation of the Slavic population within the Monarchy ( Austroslavism ), while politicians of the Young Czech Party principally denied the right of the Reichsrat to put any decisions relevant for the " Czech lands ", and used means of filibustering as well as absence to torpedo its work. They were antagonized by radical German nationalists led by Georg von Schönerer , demanding

4459-419: The control of the Commander-in-Chief, Emperor Franz Josef . By 1914, however, Franz Josef was 84 years old and the chief of staff, Count Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf , effectively had more power over the armed forces. Conrad favored an aggressive foreign policy and advocated the use of military action to solve Austria-Hungary's territorial disputes with Italy and Serbia . Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen

4550-424: The core "Austrian" provinces and had a population of 6.5 million. While Bohemia and Moravia were predominantly Czech , Germans constituted a majority in a strip of territories that edged their borders, recently self-proclaimed as provinces of the Sudetenland and German Bohemia . The German population of Bohemia and Moravia was 3 million. From 1914 to 1918, Austria-Hungary fought in the First World War as one of

4641-426: The current Republic of Austria often had significant non-German minorities and occasionally non-German majorities and were quickly taken by troops of the respective countries they were to eventually join. Regarding East Silesia , plans for a plebiscite fell through, and the area was divided between Czechoslovakia and Poland. On the other hand, ethnic Germans in the western part of the Kingdom of Hungary that formed

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4732-415: The dissolution of the Monarchy and the unification of the " German Austrian " lands with the German Empire . After 1893, no k.k. government was able to rely on a parliamentary majority. Nevertheless, Polish members of parliament and politicians like Count Kasimir Felix Badeni achieved some success involving Galician Poles by special regulations for this "developing country"; thence the Polenklub played

4823-626: The east, as well as from the Kingdom of Bohemia in the north to the Kingdom of Dalmatia (today part of Croatia and Montenegro ) in the south. It comprised the current States of Austria (except for Burgenland ), as well as most of the territories of the Czech Republic and Slovenia (except for Prekmurje ), southern Poland and parts of Italy ( Trieste , Gorizia , Tarvisio , Trentino , and South Tyrol ), Croatia ( Istria , Dalmatia ), Montenegro ( Kotor Bay ), Romania (Southern Bukovina ), and Ukraine (Northern Bukovina and Galicia ). The Latin name Cisleithania derives from that of

4914-417: The empire, informally called "Austria" but semi-officially given the name Cisleithania . Cisleithania included the core "Austrian" provinces, together with Carniola , Dalmatia , the Austrian Littoral ( Gorizia and Gradisca , Trieste and Istria ) to the south, and Bohemia , Moravia , Silesia , Galicia and Bukovina to the north and east. The dual monarchy, or Austria-Hungary as it came to be known,

5005-482: The end of October, therefore, the German-speaking part of the empire effectively had two governments: the new administration created by the Provisional National Assembly and the imperial government appointed by the emperor under Heinrich Lammasch , last minister-president of Cisleithania . The monarchy was still formally in existence and, in fact, the imperial government was pleased with the constitutional measures brought in on 30 October, believing that they did not assume

5096-433: The enlisted ranks reflected the diversity of the empire the army served; in 1906, out of every 1000 enlisted men, there were 267 Germans , 223 Hungarians , 135 Czechs , 85 Poles , 81 Ruthenians , 67 Croats , 64 Romanians , 38 Slovaks , 26 Slovenes , and 14 Italians . To aid communication between the multitude of ethnicities, the army developed a simple language called Army Slavic , based primarily on Czech. From

5187-437: The event that his Austrian subjects recalled him. Nevertheless, this decision effectively ended 700 years of Habsburg rule. The next day, 12 November, the National Assembly officially declared German-Austria a republic and named Social Democrat Karl Renner as provisional chancellor . On the same day it drafted a provisional constitution that stated that "German-Austria is a democratic republic" (Article 1) and "German-Austria

5278-470: The fact that there was no common parliament. The common diplomatic and military affairs were managed by delegations from the Imperial Council and the Hungarian parliament. According to the compromise, the members of the delegates from the two parliaments had no right to debate, they had no right to introduce new perspectives and own ideas during the meetings, they were nothing more than the extended arms of their own parliaments. All decisions had to be ratified by

5369-409: The first line units. However, the Landsturm provided 20 brigades who took to the field with the rest of the army. The Standschützen (singular: Standschütze ) were originally rifle guilds and rifle companies that had been formed in the 15th and 16th centuries, and were involved time and again in military operations within the borders of the Austrian County of Tyrol . A Standschütze was a member of

5460-465: The first time women were allowed to vote. Out of the 38 German inhabited constituencies only 25 participated and 159 deputies were elected to the 170 seats with Social Democrats as the largest party. Social Democrats won 72 seats, Christians Socials 69 and German Nationalists 26. The Constituent National Assembly first met on 4 March 1919 and on 15 March a new government was formed, once again led by Karl Renner. Austrian Social Democrats, despite being one of

5551-618: The former Venetian Dalmatia ( Kingdom of Dalmatia ). From 1867, the Kingdom of Hungary , the Kingdom of Croatia , the Kingdom of Slavonia and the Principality of Transylvania were no longer "Austrian" crown lands. Rather, they constituted an autonomous state, officially called the "Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St Stephen" ( Hungarian : Szent István Koronájának Országai or A Magyar Szent Korona Országai , German : Länder der Heiligen Ungarischen Stephanskrone ) and commonly known as Transleithania or just Hungary. The Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina , occupied in 1878, formed

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5642-402: The fortress artillery, except for a brief period from 1909 to 1911 when they were under command of the multifaceted Verkehrs Brigade. Realization that heavier-than-air machines were necessary or useful came late, and Austria-Hungary acquired only five airplanes by 1911. In 1914 the budget for military aviation was approximately 1 ⁄ 25 th the amount spent by France. Austria-Hungary entered

5733-420: The independence of Czechoslovakia and the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (the latter unified with Serbia that December to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes , later called Yugoslavia), Hungary withdrew from the dual monarchy and the Austro-Hungarian army surrendered to Italy at Vittorio Veneto . With the empire collapsing, the Habsburg administration signed an armistice on 3 November and

5824-519: The lands of the Dual Monarchy 4.4% including Bosnia and Herzegovina ), Jews made up nearly 18% of the reserve officer corps. There were no official barriers to military service for Jews, but in later years this tolerance eroded to some extent, as important figures such as Conrad von Hötzendorf and Archduke Franz Ferdinand sometimes expressed anti-Jewish sentiments. Franz Ferdinand was also accused (by Conrad) of discriminating against Protestant officers. The Austro-Hungarian Empire often suffered from

5915-413: The last Habsburg emperor, Karl I , relinquished his powers on 11 November. On 21 October 1918, the deputies representing German-speaking areas in the Abgeordnetenhaus , the lower chamber of the Reichsrat , the imperial Parliament of Cisleithania , declared that they were the new Provisional National Assembly for German-Austria. With the impending collapse of the empire becoming apparent earlier in

6006-420: The later half of the 19th century with dark blue tunics, which in turn were replaced by cadet grey uniforms during the initial stages of World War I. In September 1915, field gray was adopted as the new official uniform colour. As the Common Army was plagued with supply shortages, when field gray uniforms were first introduced, remaining stocks of the preexisting cadet grey uniforms remained in use alongside

6097-400: The law permitted the summoning of a common session of both delegations and the eventual counting of the votes in total, but the Hungarians, who averted any Imperial "roof" over their part of the dual monarchy, as well as the common ministers, carefully avoided reaching this situation. Austria-Hungary as a common entity did not have its own jurisdiction and legislative power, which was shaped by

6188-469: The laws of historical growth. It is nothing but the remnant of what remained of the old Empire after other nations had broken away from it. It remained as a loose bundle of divergent Lands. On 13 November 1918, German-Austria asked Germany to start negotiations of union and on 15 November sent a telegram to President Wilson to support union of Germany and Austria. On 12 March 1919, the Constituent Assembly re-confirmed an earlier declaration that German-Austria

6279-410: The leading Marxist parties with its Austromarxism current, did not attempt to seize power or to institute socialism. However, the majority of conservative, Catholic politicians still distrusted them and this led to the fatal left–right split that plagued the First Republic and led to its downfall by 1934. Social Democrat leader Otto Bauer wrote: German-Austria is not an organism which has followed

6370-411: The month, the three main political groupings representing German-speakers in the lower chamber began negotiations on the way forward. The largest group was the German nationalists, a collection of smaller parties, with a total of 109 deputies elected in the last imperial elections, in 1911 . Their primary objective was Anschluss or union with Germany. The conservative monarchist Christian Social Party

6461-403: The newer colour. The last known surviving member of the Austro-Hungarian Army was Franz Künstler , who died in Bad Mergentheim in May 2008 at the age of 107. The major decisions 1867–1895 were made by Archduke Albrecht, Duke of Teschen , who was the cousin of the Emperor Franz Joseph and his leading advisor in military affairs. According to historians John Keegan and Andrew Wheatcroft: In

6552-587: The population of the empire had risen to nearly 50 million by 1900, the size of the army was tied to ceilings established in 1889. Thus, at the start of the 20th century, Austria-Hungary conscripted only 0.29% of its population, compared to 0.47% in Germany , 0.35% in Russia, and 0.75% in France . The 1889 army law was not revised until 1912, which allowed for an increase in annual conscriptions. The ethnic make-up of

6643-504: The press and the general public seldom used it and then with a derogatory connotation. In general, the lands were just called Austria, but the term "Austrian lands" ( Österreichische Länder ) originally did not apply to the Lands of the Bohemian Crown (i.e., Bohemia proper, the Margraviate of Moravia and Duchy of Silesia ) or to the territories annexed in the 18th-century Partitions of Poland ( Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria ) or

6734-473: The right to self-determination . Historically, the Germans had been dominant in the Habsburg monarchy , and their power and influence greatly outweighed their numbers. Even within Cisleithania the Germans represented only 37% of the population. However, Upper and Lower Austria , Salzburg , Carinthia , Vorarlberg and most of Styria and Tyrol had a predominantly German population. These territories were

6825-471: The same conclusion on the recommendation of the responsible common ministry. In Cisleithania, the 60 delegates consisted of 40 elected members of the House of Representatives ( Abgeordnetenhaus ) and 20 members of the Upper House ( Herrenhaus ). The delegations convened simultaneously, both either in Vienna or in Budapest, though spatially divided. In case of not getting the same decision in three attempts,

6916-710: The socialist appeal. Charles went into exile in Switzerland on 24 March 1919. Angered that he had left without a formal abdication, Parliament passed the Habsburg Law , which dethroned the Habsburgs and confiscated their property. Charles was permanently banished from Austria, while other male Habsburgs could return only if they gave up all claims to the throne. Timeline Elections to the Constituent Assembly were held on 16 February 1919 and for

7007-505: The terms of peace for Germany, forbade any union between Austria and Germany. With these changes and the settling of Austria's frontiers, the era of the First Republic of Austria began. On 22 November, the national assembly officially claimed sovereignty over all the majority-German territory of the former Habsburg realm: a total area of 118,311 km (45,680 sq mi) with 10.4 million inhabitants. This included nearly all

7098-595: The territory of present-day Austria, plus South Tyrol and the town of Tarvisio , both now in Italy; southern Carinthia and southern Styria , now in Slovenia ; the recently proclaimed provinces of Sudetenland and German Bohemia (which later became parts of Nazi Sudetenland ), now in the Czech Republic ; and East Silesia (now divided between Poland and Czech Republic). In practice, however, its authority

7189-405: The wake of defeat in the 1866 Austro-Prussian War Austria-Hungary avoided major wars in the era between 1867 and 1914 but engaged in a number of minor military actions. Nevertheless, the general staff maintained plans for major wars against neighboring powers, especially Italy, Serbia and Russia. By contrast, the main enemies Russia and Serbia had engaged in large scale warfare in the decade before

7280-527: The war with only 48 first-line aircraft. Austria-Hungary had a complex military structure. The country had three main distinct ground forces. As a union the Monarchy had a common government of three ministers (Minister of the Imperial Household and Foreign Affairs; Minister of War and Minister of Finance). The Imperial Minister of War had authority over the Common Army and the Navy. The Common Army

7371-547: Was a constituent part of the German republic. Pan-Germans and Social Democrats supported the union with Germany, while Christian Socialists were less supportive. During spring and summer of 1919, unity talk meetings between German and Austrian representatives continued. All this changed after 2 June 1919 when the draft peace treaty with Austria was presented, which demonstrated that the Western Allies were opposed to any union between Germany and Austria. After submitting

7462-480: Was appointed Supreme Commander of the Austro-Hungarian army by Franz Joseph on July 11, 1914. It was thought he would not interfere with the operational and tactical plans of Conrad von Hötzendorf. Friedrich remained Supreme Commander until February 1917, when Emperor Charles I decided to assume the office himself. The Common Army ( k.u.k.— kaiserlich und königlich ) consisted of: The Imperial-Royal Landwehr ( k.k. or kaiserlich österreichisch/königlich böhmisch )

7553-443: Was awarded Trentino and South Tyrol , of which South Tyrol is still majority German-speaking. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia) was given parts of Carinthia and Styria . The Klagenfurt region was retained after a plebiscite on 20 October 1920 , when three-fifths of voters voted to remain with Austria. Later plebiscites in the provinces of Tyrol and Salzburg yielded majorities of 98 and 99% in favor of

7644-570: Was effectively two states with the Habsburg monarch as Emperor of Austria in Cisleithania and King of Hungary in Transleithania. For the most part, each had their own institutions. There were separate parliaments and separate governments and ministries for "imperial Austria" and "royal Hungary". Austria-Hungary was a multinational entity comprising Germans and Hungarians, as well as nine other major nationalities, who increasingly demanded

7735-514: Was introduced with a four-class franchise suffrage for male landowners and bourgeois. Equal, direct, secret and universal suffrage—for men—was not introduced until a 1907 electoral reform. In this Lower House (with 353 members in 1873 and 516 in 1907), at first German-speaking deputies dominated, but with the extension of the suffrage the Slavs gained a majority. An ethnic nationalist struggle between German-speaking and Slavic deputies, especially in

7826-489: Was limited to the Danubian and Alpine provinces of the old Habsburg realm—with few exceptions, most of present-day Austria. However, the Allies of World War I opposed such a move. They had committed themselves to the cause of the Habsburg realm's minorities, and assumed almost without question that they wished to leave Austria and Hungary. German-Austria was largely powerless to prevent the forces of Italy, Czechoslovakia , and

7917-688: Was occupied in October. Austro-Hungarian casualties amounted to over 5,000 and the unexpected violence of the campaign led to recriminations between commanders and political leaders. In 1868, the number of active-duty troops in the army was 355,000, and the total could be expanded to 800,000 upon mobilization. However, this was significantly less than the European powers of France , the North German Confederation and Russia , each of which could field more than one million men. Though

8008-487: Was the Royal Hungarian Honvéd Ministry (also completely independent from the Imperial War Ministry). In peacetime it had complete authority and responsibility for the: Official designations were as follows: After war was declared, 3.35 million men (including the first call-up of the reserves and the 1914 recruits) gathered for action. The Austro-Hungarian Imperial Army was officially under

8099-603: Was the next largest with 65 deputies and the Social Democrats , who favoured a democratic republic, had a representation of 37 deputies. In early October 1918, the Social Democrats were the first to call for all "German-Austrians" to be united in a German-Austrian state. They had recognised the right of all nationalities of the empire to self-determination and they said this should equally apply to German-Austrians. The German nationalists were willing to accept

8190-620: Was the premier land force. It was the best equipped and had the main role to secure the borders of the Monarchy. In case of war it was to absorb the Austrian Landwehr and the Hungarian Honvéd within its command structure. For that reason the Common Army was organised in army corps even in peacetime, while the Landwehr and Honvéd were organised in territorial districts. The provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina were governed as

8281-587: Was the standing army of Austria responsible for the defence of Austria itself. The mountain infantry had the following units: The Royal Hungarian Landwehr ( königlich ungarische Landwehr ) or Royal Hungarian Honvéd ( k.u. Honvéd ) was the standing army of Hungary. A part of the Honvéd was the Royal Croatian Landwehr (Kraljevsko hrvatsko domobranstvo), which consisted of 1 infantry division (out of 7 in Honvéd) and 1 cavalry regiment (out of 10 in

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