Austro-Hungarian Empire

Coordinates: 48°12′N 16°21′E / 48.200°N 16.350°E / 48.200; 16.350TimelineAll races of the empire have equal rights, and every race has an inviolable right to the preservation and use of its own nationality and language. The equality of all customary languages ('landesübliche Sprachen') in school, office and public life, is recognized by the state. In those territories in which several races dwell, the public and educational institutions are to be so arranged that, without applying compulsion to learn a second country language ('Landessprache'), each of the races receives the necessary means of education in its own language.I presented His Majesty with letter and the attached memorandum. The Kaiser read both papers quite carefully in my presence. First, His Majesty assured me that he had expected us to take firm action against Serbia, but he had to concede that, as a result of the conflicts facing , he needed to take into account a serious complication in Europe, which is why he did not wish to give any definite answer prior to consultations with the chancellor....across central Europe ... The majority lived in a state of advanced misery by the spring of 1918, and conditions later worsened, for the summer of 1918 saw both the drop in food supplied to the levels of the 'turnip winter', and the onset of the 1918 flu pandemic that killed at least 20 million worldwide. Society was relieved, exhausted and yearned for peace.Flag of the House of HabsburgCivil ensign 1869–1918Civil ensign 1786–1869;Naval ensign 1786–1915(de facto until 1918)War ensign(not implemented)Royal Hungarian maritime ensignImperial Standard with Lesser Coat of arms (until 1915; used also for Austrian Empire)Imperial Standard with Medium Coat of arms (until 1915; used also for Austrian Empire)Imperial Standard (1915-1918)Flag of Imperial Austria (Cisleithania)Flag of the Kingdom of HungaryFlag of the Kingdom of Croatia-SlavoniaCommon small coat of arms(until 1915)Common small coat of arms(1915–1918)Common medium coat of arms(until 1915)Common medium coat of arms(1915–1918)Small coat of arms of the Austrian part(1915–1918)Medium coat of arms of the Austrian part(1915–1918)Small coat of arms of the Hungarian part(1915–1918)Medium coat of arms of the Hungarian part(1915–1918)The Bosnian wartime militia (Schutzkorps), which became known for its persecution of Serbs, was overwhelmingly Muslim.Der § 63 spricht auch von einer kroatisch-slavonisch-dalmatinischen vereinigten Fahne auf Reichstagsgebäude. Diese Fahne war bis anno domini 1902 allen Dimensionen nach gleich ungarische Fahne.Austria →(1918–)Czechoslovakia →(1918–1993)State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs→(1918) Coordinates: 48°12′N 16°21′E / 48.200°N 16.350°E / 48.200; 16.350 Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire or the Dual Monarchy, was a constitutional monarchy in Central and Eastern Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed when the Austrian Empire adopted a new constitution; as a result Austria (Cisleithania) and Hungary (Transleithania) were placed on equal footing. It dissolved into several new states at the end of the First World War. The union was established by the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 on 30 March 1867 in the aftermath of the Austro-Prussian War. It consisted of two monarchies (Austria and Hungary), and one autonomous region: the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia under the Hungarian crown, which negotiated the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement in 1868. It was ruled by the House of Habsburg, and constituted the last phase in the constitutional evolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. Following the 1867 reforms, the Austrian and Hungarian states were co-equal in power. Foreign and military affairs came under joint oversight, but all other governmental faculties were divided between respective states. 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 the Russian Empire, at 621,538 km2 (239,977 sq mi), and the third-most populous (after Russia and the German Empire). The Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry of 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 the German Empire. 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. Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers in World War I, which began with an Austro-Hungarian war declaration on the Kingdom of Serbia on 28 July 1914. It was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The Kingdom of Hungary and the First Austrian Republic were treated as its successors de jure, whereas the independence of the West Slavs and South Slavs of the Empire as the First Czechoslovak Republic, the Second Polish Republic and the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, respectively, and most of the territorial demands of the Kingdom of Romania were also recognized by the victorious powers in 1920. The realm's official name was in German: Österreichisch-Ungarische Monarchie and in Hungarian: Osztrák–Magyar Monarchia (English: Austro-Hungarian Monarchy), though in international relations Austria-Hungary was used (German: Österreich-Ungarn, Hungarian: Ausztria-Magyarország). The Austrians also used the names k. u. k. Monarchie (English: 'k. u. k. monarchy) (in detail German: Kaiserliche und königliche Monarchie Österreich-Ungarn, Hungarian: Császári és Királyi Osztrák–Magyar Monarchia) and Danubian Monarchy (German: Donaumonarchie, Hungarian: Dunai Monarchia) or Dual Monarchy (German: Doppel-Monarchie, Hungarian: Dual-Monarchia) and The Double Eagle (German: Der Doppel-Adler, Hungarian: Kétsas), but none of these became widepsread either in Hungary, or elsewhere. The realm's full name used in the internal administration was The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen. German: Die im Reichsrat vertretenen Königreiche und Länder und die Länder der Heiligen Ungarischen Stephanskrone