| Federation of Austria-Hungary Bund Österreich-Ungarn (German) Osztrák-Magyarország Szövetsége (Hungarian) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Timeline: War Avoided | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Anthem Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze ("God preserve, God protect") | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Map of Austria-Hungary, 1935
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| Capital | Vienna | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Languages | German, Hungarian | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Government | Constitutional dual monarchy (1867–1921) Federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy (1921–1941) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Emperor | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - | 1921–1941 | Karl I | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime Minister | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - | 1921–1924 (first) | Jodok Fink | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - | 1939–1941 (last) | Karl Renner | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Legislature | Imperial Council Diet of Hungary | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - | 1867 Compromise | 30 March 1867 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - | Dual Alliance | 7 October 1879 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - | Bosnian Crisis | 6 October 1908 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - | Federation | 19 July 1921 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - | Austro-Hungarian Wars | 15 March 1938 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - | Dissolution | 30 March 1941 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Gulden (1867–1892) Krone (1892–1941) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Austria-Hungary, officially the Federation of Austria-Hungary from 1921 to 1941 and often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the Dual Monarchy, was a sovereign state and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1941. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and was dissolved towards the end of the Austro-Hungarian Wars in 1941.
From 1867 to 1921, it was officially a dual monarchy which was a real union between Cisleithania, the northern and western parts of the former Austrian Empire, and the Kingdom of Hungary. 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. From 1878, Austria-Hungary jointly governed Bosnia-Herzegovina, which it annexed in 1908. Austria-Hungary was ruled by the House of Habsburg and constituted the last phase in the constitutional evolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. The union was established by the Austro-Hungarian Compromise on 30 March 1867 in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War. 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. Then after the constitution was adopted in 1921, five states were formed - Austria,
Austria-Hungary 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 Russia, and the third-most populous (after Russia and Germany). The Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry in the world, after the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. 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 Germany.
The Austro-Hungarian Compromise remained bitterly unpopular among the ethnic Hungarian voters because ethnic Hungarians did not vote for the ruling pro-compromise parties in the Hungarian parliamentary elections. Therefore, the political maintenance of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise (thus Austria-Hungary itself) was mostly a result of the popularity of the pro-compromise ruling Liberal Party among ethnic minority voters in the Kingdom of Hungary.
After 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina came under Austro-Hungarian military and civilian rule until it was fully annexed in 1908, provoking the Bosnian crisis among the other powers. The northern part of the Ottoman Sanjak of Novi Pazar was also under de facto joint occupation during that period, but the Austro-Hungarian army withdrew as part of their annexation of Bosnia. The annexation of Bosnia also led to Islam being recognized as an official state religion due to Bosnia's Muslim population.
From 1914 to 1916, Austria-Hungary, alongside Italy, was at war with Serbia, and subsequently defeated the little country, although Austria-Hungary was criticised for aggression towards Serbia by Russia and Greece. After three years, Serbia was free from occupation. Despite the victory, Austria-Hungary became politically unstable, as revolutionaries across the country were still politically fighting for freedom - because of this, Charles I allowed for a constitution to be drafted and ratified in 1921, which created a unified Emperor title for the country and the position of Prime Minister, although it was quite ineffective since nationalists around the country still wanted independence. The country was neutral during the Second Franco-Prussian War although it later supported Poland during the Polish-War of Independence.
Austria-Hungary was one of the more economic-suffering countries in Europe during the Great Depression, which was the final straw for nationalists. In 1938, revolutionary governments formed in the states of Bohemia, Croatia, Hungary and Montenegro. The federal Austro-Hungarian government tried to keep the country together, but by 1941, the country was losing battles to the revolutionary states. Prime Minister Karl Renner then held a conference with the other ministers, including Charles I, and agreed to dissolve the country.