Alternative History
Flag of Austria-Hungary (1869-1918)

Merchant flag of Austria-Hungary (1869-1918)

Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the Dual Monarchy, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. 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.

Flag of the Habsburg Monarchy

Co-official flag of Austria-Hungary and flag of the Habsburg Monarchy

It can also refer to the Austrian Empire, proclaimed by Francis II unifying all Habsburg possessions under one central government that existed from 1804 until the Compromise of 1867.

Because of the abundance of "k.u.k." ("kaiserlich und königlich", "imperial and royal") and "k.k." ("kaiserlich-königlich", "imperial-royal") it used in its internal documents - the former for the whole empire, the latter for the Austrian half -, author Robert Musil coined the term "Kakanien" (Cacania) for it.


Alternate versions of Austria-Hungary have been discovered throughout the multiverse:

As the Austrian Empire, the unity of all Habsburg possessions

As Austria-Hungary

As the United States of Greater Austria, a plan proposed by Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

as Danubia