Union
between Austria and Hungary took place in 1867. Overall political
authority was held by Emperor Franz
Josef. Over 51 million people lived in the 675,000 square
kilometres of the empire. The two largest ethnic groups were Germans
(10 million) and Hungarians (9 million). There were also Poles, Croats,
Bosnians, Serbians, Italians, Czechs, Ruthenes, Slovenes, Slovaks
and Romanians. Overall, fifteen different languages were spoken in
the Austro-Hungarian empire.
Austria and Hungary shared the same currency but other state functions
rested with the national governments. Both states had unelected upper
houses and elected lower houses of parliament. Hungarian politicians
complained that the Austrian parliament was too powerful and that
they were considered to be junior partners.
The Austro-Hungarian government feared attack
from Russia . In 1879 Austria-Hungary and
Germany agreed to form a Dual
Alliance. This became the Triple
Alliance when in 1882 it was expanded to include Italy.
The three countries agreed to support each other if attacked by either
France or
Russia. The Triple Alliance was renewed every five years.
As a counter weight to the Triple Alliance, Britain, France created the "entente cordiale" in 1904. Three later Russia joined Britain and France and "Triple Entente" was created in 1907. The Triple
Entente created by Britain, France and Russia, reinforced the belief for all parties, that military alliancies were necessary.
The Austro-Hungarian Imperial Army was
officially under the control of the Commander-in-Chief, Emperor Franz
Josef
Created on ... août 20, 2003