Cisleithania (An Honorable Retelling)

Socialist Republic of Cislethania
*Sozialistische Republik Cisleithanien* (German)
*Socialistična republika Cislejtanija* (Slovene)
Timeline: An Honorable Retelling
Socialist Republic of Cislethania Sozialistische Republik Cisleithanien (German); Socialistična republika Cislejtanija (Slovene)Timeline: An Honorable Retelling
Flag	Coat of arms
	Anthem: ; Die Arbeiter von Wien (German); Robotníci z Viedne (Slovenian); "Workers of Vienna" https://althistory.fandom.com/wiki/File:Die_Arbeiter_von_Wien.mp3;
	Location of Cisleithania Location of Cisleithania (green)
Capital; (and largest city)	Vienna
Official languages	German • Slovene
Regional languages	Italian
Government	Federal Marxist-Luxemburgist socialist republic
Legislature	National Assembly
Formation
Population
Currency	Cisleithanian schilling (s) (CSS)
Drives on the	right

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Cisleithania (German: Cisleithanien; Slovene: Cislajtanija), officially the Socialist Republic of Cislethania (German: Sozialistische Republik Cisleithanien; Slovene: Socialistična republika Cislejtanija), is a country located in Central Europe. It borders Croatia to the south; Hungary to the east; Czechoslovakia and Germany to the north; and Italy to the west.

Austria emerged at the close of the first millennium, and for a long period was under the rule of Hungary. Initially a margraviate under Bavaria's control, it evolved into a duchy within Hungary by 1156 and was subsequently elevated to an archduchy in 1453. In 1606, a failed rebellion led to the elevation of the region as an autonomous zone with an independent legislature. Much later, it grew to become more autonomous within Hungary.

The Hungarian Empire would collapse into rebellion and fracture along ethnic lines. In the ensuing chaos, Austria would end up losing the Sudetenland and areas of trade interest in Bohemia. The Treaty of Schectenady would establish the current borders of Austria-Slovenia in 1922, and also heavily restricted their military. The Archduchy of Cisleithania was established in 1923, with Charles I as Archduke. Quickly, the country began to shake off its restraints and began to integrate more with the Belgrade Entente of Czechoslovakia, Dacia and Serbia and Montenegro, leading to considerable military expansion.

However, neighbouring nations were looking to expand their influence in the nation, particularly Germany, which was now a socialist republic and wanting to expand its power and influence. The Communist Party of Cisleithania cooperated with Germany, buying arms and tanks, and on the 3rd of January 1934, paramilitary groups stormed the Schonbrunn Palace, beginning the Cisleithanian Civil War. Germany would quickly send in troops, seizing most of the country by September. In 1935, the socialist republic was proclaimed. The nation fought alongside the Allies during the Fourth Great War, and assisted Germany throughout the Cold War. It is one of several nations to hold a de facto communist government despite the end of the tensions of that era.

Etymology[]

The name Cisleithania is a composite of cis- +‎ Leithan +‎ -ia, referring to the parts of the Hungarian Empire ruled by the Austrian government in Vienna, which were mostly located before the river Leitha (from the Viennese perspective), as opposed to Transleithania, Hungarian parts of the empire, mostly located behind the river Leitha.

History[]

Antiquity and Middle Ages[]

The region now known as Cisleithania was inhabited by various Celtic tribes in pre-Roman times, becoming the heart of the Hallstatt culture by the 6th century BC. The city of Hallstatt has the oldest known archaeological evidence of the Celts in Europe. The Celtic Kingdom of Noricum, which encompassed most of modern-day Cisleithania and parts of Slovenia, was annexed by the Roman Empire in 16 BC, becoming the province of Noricum, which endured until 476 AD. The areas of present-day Cisleithania not within Noricum were split between the Roman provinces of Pannonia, covering parts of eastern Austria, and Raetia, including the regions of Vorarlberg and Tyrol. The contemporary town of Petronell-Carnuntum in eastern Cisleithania was a significant military base that evolved into a capital city in the province known as Pannonia Superior. Carnuntum was a thriving community of 50,000 inhabitants for nearly four centuries.

Following the fall of the Roman Empire, the area was initially invaded by the Germanic Rugii, making this region a part of "Rugiland." In 487, Odoacer, a barbarian soldier and statesman from the Middle Danube, conquered most of modern Austria, incorporating it into his Kingdom of Italy. By 493, the Ostrogoths, another Germanic tribe, had conquered the land, establishing the Ostrogothic Kingdom. After its fall, the region was invaded by various groups including the Alemanni, Baiuvarii, Slavs, and Avars. Charlemagne, King of the Franks, took control of the area in 788, promoted colonization, and introduced Christianity. As a part of Eastern Francia, the core territories now known as Austria were granted to the Babenberg dynasty. The arrival of the Magyars, the predecessors to modern Hungarians, resulted in the region falling to Hungarian control by 955. While the Hungarians had been repulsed from further invasions into Germany, the region that was Austria itself was never liberated entirely. Hungarian customs were largely forced on the population, and mandatory conscription on behalf of the Hungarian government led many of German descent to fight alongside the Hungarians in their invasions of Italy.

The earliest documented mention of the name Austria dates back to 996, where it appears as 'Ostarrîchi', denoting the realm of the Babenberg March. By 1156, the 'Privilegium Proclamation' by Hungary had raised Austria to the rank of a duchy. Then, in 1192, the Babenberg family extended their rule to include the Duchy of Styria. Hungarian lords still often confiscated Austrian lands, which produced frequent rebellions by the urban elites, but these were often quashed with relative ease due to the brutality of Hungarian enforcement methods. Hungary established a system of trade which connected Vienna directly with occupied territories in Venice, allowing it to make voyages overseas. Austrian nobles were granted rights by the Esterhazy royal family in exchange for military service, a practice which has been identified as "Magyarfeudalism" by modern scholars.

Early modern era[]

After a chaotic interregnum from 1301 to 1308, Charles I of Hungary, the inaugural Angevin monarch and a direct descendant of the Árpád lineage, successfully reinstated royal power and defeated oligarchic foes known as the "little kings." His successor, Louis the Great (1342–1382), led successful military campaigns from Lithuania to the Kingdom of Naples and ruled as King of Poland starting in 1370. Following his demise without a male successor, Sigismund of Luxembourg (1387–1437) took the throne, later becoming Holy Roman Emperor in 1433. The first translation of the Bible into Hungarian was completed in 1439. In 1437, Transylvania was rocked by a six-month-long peasant uprising against feudalism and the clergy, inspired by Hussite ideologies. John Hunyadi, hailing from a lesser noble family in Transylvania, climbed to prominence as a mercenary commander. Matthias Corvinus (1458–1490), John Hunyadi's son and the final influential king of medieval Hungary, was the first non-dynastic noble to claim the Hungarian crown. In 1606, the Austrian nobles launched a revolt against Hungary, concluding with their defeat and Hungarian concessions on behalf of the Austrians.

In 1722, the succession law in Hungary led to a conflict known as the War of the Hungarian Succession, involving Michael I's daughter Amalia and his brother Joseph. The Waldensian nations supported Joseph due to his promise to reform the country in favor of religious minorities, primarily non-Catholics. France and Castile, recently independent, backed Amalia. This conflict resulted in the weakening of northern German states, especially those in the Hanseatic League, and the loss of Hungarian territories in San Esteban, Greece, and parts of Montenegro. The Rakoczi line, to which Amalia and Joseph belonged, lost favor following their deaths at the Battle of Miskolc in 1731. Consequently, the Esterhazy line ascended to the throne with support from England, Rhomania, and the Dutch Republic, under Prince Nikolaus II. Nikolaus ended the conflict and brought stability to Hungary after its southern losses, but he could not reclaim San Esteban, which had declared independence and was then taken by Castile.

The Hungarians began granting substantial noble rights to the Austrians in exchange for Viennese banks to be tied to those in Buda. This ensured that there was a stable monetary exchange within the empire. However, following the French invasion in 1796, the region became a protectorate rather than an official territory, due to French demands that Hungary relinquish control of Austria in order for French traders to access Adriatic ports. Hungary, and thus Austria, became a French ally as a result. The diversion of Hungarian troops to focus on quelling revolts in Bohemia and Slovakia left the Austrian territories underdefended, laying the groundwork for a future independence campaign.

19th and 20th centuries and modern era[]

Cisleithania assisted the Hungarians, and thus the French Empire, during the Third Great War. Figures such as Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf led the Cisleithanian campaigns into Poland, which proved efficient due to the collapse of Lublin as an entity by 1917. However, increased debts at home resulted in mutiny, alongside the fact that Allied forces pressing into Italy, a French puppet, threatened the nation's sovereignty. As the Imperial economy plunged into severe hardship and starvation, the army's morale faltered, and it struggled to maintain its position. Nationalists within the empire grew increasingly resentful as the military, empowered by expanded wartime authorities, routinely suspended civil rights and displayed varying levels of disdain towards different national groups within the Austrian protectorate of Hungary. During the final Italian offensive, the Cisleithanian Army was deployed without food or ammunition supplies and engaged in battle without political backing for an empire that was, in effect, non-existent.

The newly established Cisleithanian state was, ostensibly, on less stable footing than Hungary. In contrast to its previous Hungarian counterpart, Austria had not truly existed as a nation. Although the Cisleithanian state had persisted in various guises for 700 years, its unity was solely due to allegiance to various royal houses. After losing 60% of its prewar economic deposits from the Hungarian Empire, Vienna found itself an opulent and disproportionately large imperial capital without an empire, earning it the sardonic nickname of “national hydrocephalus.” Increased economic downturn led to the downfall of the attempted Cisleithanian Republic, which collapsed to open rebellions by various factions by 1928. The global economic crisis worsened the issue, making the region susceptive to foreign invasion. To prevent a potential Hungarian or Italian intrusion, German forces, assisting the communist revolutionaries, entered the country in 1934, proclaiming a socialist republic modeled after the one in Berlin.

During the Fourth Great War, Cisleithania's geography allowed it to fend off invasions by the fascist French government and its allies, including Hungary, though it was subject to inland border skirmishes following the collapse of Germany. Despite pre-war enmities, Cisleithania assisted Czechoslovakia during the Hungarian invasion, culminating in a victory in the region by 1943. The government granted substantial rights to ethnic minorities, including Slovenes, Croatians, and Dalmatians. These were also implemented alongside a rollback for property rights by those of Hungarian descent, under claims that the majority had been collaborators with fascist Hungary during the war. A staunch ally of Germany, Cisleithania was a fervent supporter of the Frankfurt Pact during the Cold War. It hosted exercises in Vienna and refused to establish diplomatic relations with the Union of England or the United States; however, it communicated with the latter through an embassy in Hawkinsville. Interestingly, Cisleithania would retain very hardline policies throughout the late 60s, during the sweeping reforms implemented by Chancellor Frahm in Germany.

The Great Reforms in Germany led to a moderation of previously aggressive policies in Cisleithania, coinciding with student protests in Vienna, Triest and Laibach in the late 80s. Press restrictions were eased, and the government transitioned to include democratic principles, while removing party loyalty requirements for popular voting. The 1990s saw the election of a large number of non-Austrians to government positions. More recently, the country saw the election of the Slovene Slavoj Žižek as chancellor, a member of the nation's "postmodern intellectual movement". Economic disparities have still continued, as has rising debt due to high military spending and poor suburban development outside of the capital of Vienna.

Government and politics[]

Parliamentary system[]

The Parliament of Cisleithania is situated in Vienna, the nation's capital and largest city. Cisleithania was established as a federal, representative communist republic through the Federal Constitutional Law in 1935. The country's political system, with its five federal states, is grounded on the 1920 constitution, which was amended in 1939. The Prime Minister of Cisleithania serves as the head of state and is elected directly by a majority vote, with a run-off if needed. The Chancellor of Cisleithania, as the head of government, is appointed by the Prime Minister and is responsible for forming a government reflective of the lower house's partisan makeup. The government may be dismissed by a Prime Ministerial decree or a vote of no confidence in the Nationalrat, the lower house of parliament. Historically, voting for the Prime Minister and Parliament was mandatory in Cisleithania, but this requirement was phased out between 1982 and 2004.

Cisleithania's parliament is bicameral, consisting of two chambers. The Nationalrat, with 183 seats, is reconstituted every five years through a general election, or when the Nationalrat is dissolved by the federal Prime Minister upon the federal chancellor's request, or by the Nationalrat itself. Every citizen aged 16 and above has the right to vote, a change implemented in 2007 when the voting age was reduced from 18. In federal elections, while parties must surpass a 4% vote threshold to participate in the proportional distribution of seats, candidates can also be directly elected in one of the 33 regional electoral districts if they secure a seat through a direct mandate (Direktmandat).

Subdivisions[]

Cisleithania is officially subdivided into the two constituent countries and three autonomous regions.

Subdivisions of Cisleithania
Type	Name	German name	Slovene name
Constituent country	Austria	Österreich	Avstrija
Constituent country	Slovenia	Slowenien	Slovenija
Autonomous region	Burgenland	Burgenland	Gradiščanska
	Istria	Istrien	Istra
	Trieste	Triest	Trst