United States of Greater Austria (Franz's World)

The United States of Greater Austria (German: Vereinigte Staaten von Groß-Österreich) is a confederation of states located in Central Europe and ruled as a constitutional monarchy under the House of Habsburg. The state was created after the dissolution of the Dual Monarchy and the end of the Third Balkan War.

July Crisis
Following the assassination attempt on Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 1914, the Austrian-Hungarian government investigated the attempt. One of the attempted assassins, Gavrilo Princip, was captured and interrogated. Apparently the organization he was a part of, Black Hand, had connections with the Serbian government. Serbia denied any connections with the terrorist organization, but Austria-Hungary refused to believe them. In July they issued several demands including the prevention of publication of propaganda advocating the violent destruction of Austria-Hungary, removing the people behind this propaganda from the Serbian Military, arresting the people on Serbian soil who were involved in the assassination plot and preventing the clandestine shipment of arms and explosives from Serbia to Austria-Hungary. Serbia refused to agree to any of the demands, but Austria-Hungary did not go to war after it became apparent that Germany would not back them up. The July Crisis went down as another close-call for war between the Great Powers.

Third Balkan War
The death of Franz Joseph I in 1916 led to the ascension of Franz Ferdinand as Emperor of Austria and Apostolic King of Hungary. Franz Ferdinand immediately made it known that he was against the Dual Monarchy and planned the reform the system. Emperor Franz Ferdinand planned to radically redraw the map of Austria-Hungary, creating a number of ethnically and linguistically dominated semi-autonomous "states" which would all be part of a larger confederation renamed the United States of Greater Austria. Under his plan, language and cultural identification was encouraged, and the disproportionate balance of power would be corrected.

The idea was met with heavy opposition from the Hungarians, since reform would mean a significant territorial and power loss for Hungary (though the other ethnic groups of Austria-Hungary were supportive of the idea). By 1917, it became clear that Emperor Franz Ferdinand was not going to back down from implementing the USGA, Hungary declared independence and kicked off the Third Balkan War. Thanks to the diplomatic efforts of Sir Edward Grey, the other Great Powers remained neutral in the conflict, though it did not stop them from sending clandestine support to their side. Serbia and Romania, however, went to war on the side of Hungary.

In 1918, the Hungarian communists took over the leadership of the various Hungarian factions seeking independence. Bela Kun declared the creation of the Soviet Republic of Hungary. Kun was also able to encourage communist volunteers from other nations, such as the Spartacus Brigade from Germany. Not all communists supporters were successful in reach the Hungarian lines. Vladimir Lenin was arrested after attempting to enter Austria from Switzerland.

In 1919, Greece joined the war on the side of Austria and invaded Serbian controlled Macedonia. On May 3, 1919, Budapest fell to Austrian forces, though it would not be until November when the Third Balkan War was ended after Serbia and Romania agreed to peace. According to the Treaty of Sofia, the newly created United States of Greater Austria were able to get Serbia (and Romania) to agree to similar terms that they tried to get them to agree to during the the 1914 July Crisis. Serbia also ceded Macedonia to Greece.

Death of an Emperor
Emperor Franz Ferdinand, founder of the United States of Greater Austria, died of pneumonia in 1924. Thanks to his leadership the USGA was officially formed and the Hungarians were brought in as members of the USGA after occupation ended in 1921. Meanwhile, Franz Ferdinand oversaw the creation of an elected parliament made up of representatives of the 16 states. His economic policies also helped increase the industrialization of the country. Despite these successes, terrorist activities by Serbian separatists continued in the USGA, and today remains a major security issue. He was succeeded by Otto I who has ruled as Emperor of the USGA to this day.

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States

 * Deutsch-Österreich (German-Austria)
 * Deutsch-Böhmen (German-Bohemia)
 * Deutsch-Mähren (German-Moravia)
 * Böhmen (Bohemia)
 * Slowakenland (Slovakia)
 * West-Galizien (West Galicia)
 * Ost-Galizien (East Galicia)
 * Ungarn (Hungary)
 * Seklerland (Szeklerland)
 * Siebenbürgen (Transylvania)
 * Trento (Trentino)
 * Triest (Trieste and Gorizia)
 * Krain (Carniola)
 * Kroatien (Croatia)
 * Woiwodina (Vojvodina)
 * Bosnia and Herzegovina