Austria-Hungary A dual monarchy since 1867, the two countries had complete control over their own internal affairs, but were linked by a ministerial council responsible for common affairs (e.g. defence), and by the house of Habsburg, whose head was simultaneously Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary (
Francis Ferdinand I, r. 1848–1916; Charles I, r. 1916–18). The internal set-up was complicated by the vast size of the two kingdoms, which included a host of distinctive nationalities who became increasingly assertive. This question was not addressed in either country, since it was held that even small concessions to
nationalist movements would encourage them and lead to the disintegration of the Empire. In the Austrian part, legislators hoped to compensate for this through a liberal economic and social policy designed to achieve economic prosperity and satisfaction with the state. In fact, however, this added social polarization to national fragmentation, and led to the eclipse of the Liberals by the Social Democrats and by the Christian Socialists under the
anti-Semitic Lueger. Hungary was largely unaffected by structural economic change before 1914, so that the social polarization did not occur. However, whereas the problem of nationality was simply not addressed in Austria, it was made much worse in Hungary through a policy of ‘Magyarization’, i.e. enforcing Hungarian culture and language upon other peoples.
Both parts, therefore, had developed a political and constitutional paralysis, compounded by administrative chaos. World War I proved to be an illusory escape, and the Empire imploded in 1918. True to US President
Wilson's Fourteen Points, an attempt was made in the Treaty of
St Germain to enable each nationality to become a viable nation-state. This led to the emergence of
Czechoslovakia, Romania, and ultimately Yugoslavia. In addition, many Poles were included in Poland, while the Trentino and
South Tirol became part of Italy. The rump states of Hungary and Austria survived, though their small size encouraged large-scale resentment and the rise of
Fascism in subsequent years.
