Jagonia
03-11-2005, 19:30
OOC: Basically just a factbook. Since Austria-Hungary wasn't very old, I've redone the entire history, making it more militaristic.
Map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/71/Austria-hungary.png
Galicia is now German, and Serbia has been annexed by Austria-Hungary.
The K.u.K. (Kaiserlich und Königlich-Imperial and Royal) Empire of Austria-Hungary is, in relation to others, not an old country. While the Habsburg dynasty may have branches in many a European nation, their own country is merely a child, about as old as the United States of America.
The country was conceived in 1859, when Austria began a minor campaign into Tyrol. This set off a chain reaction, with Tyrol's allies decalring war on Austria and it, in turn, declaring war on them. Eventually, two sides were formed: the Austrian Empire, as well as its allies Salzburg and Silesia, versus the so called "Coalition of Free Nations".
Despite the best efforts of the Coalition, they could not stand against the Austrian forces and were defeated one by one. Finally, only Hungary and a couple of smaller states remained. In a final Austrian push, their forces broke through to Budapest, effectively forcing the Hungarians to surrender with the Treaty of Budapest in February 1867.
With the defeat of the Coalition, Austria declared control over its former members, and renamed themselves the Empire of Austria-Hungary (also known as the K.u.K. Empire of Austria-Hungary, or the Austro-Hungarian Empire.)(For those interested, Salzburg and Silesia both entered the Austo-Hungarian Empire as provinces, but both retain special priveledges.)
Austria-Hungary is a very diverse nation, with 11 major ethnic groups: German/Austrian (24%), Hungarian (20%0, Czech (13%), Polish (10%), Ruthenian (8%), Romanian (6%), Croat (5%), Slovak (4%), Serb (4%), Slovene (3%) and Italian (3%). Despite this wide variety of races, and originally a variety of languages, Austria-Hungary maintains an equal society, with now a single, universal language: Austro-Magyar.
Austro-Magyar was first proposed in 1876, with the language being finished in 1879, and being introduced into education in 1883. Now, 87% of the population know and speak the language. It is based mainly, as can be deduced from the title, off the Austrian dialect of German and off Magyar, the language of Hungary. While these languages may seem incompatible, Herr Schmidt, a German Doctor of Modern Languages, managed to create a full, colourful language from these two different sources.
The government of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has three distinct sections: the monarch, a hereditary position occupied by the Habsburg dynasty, the monarch, while not a total autocrat, has a large amount of control over the nation and is its figurehead; the cabinet, a group of individuals elected from various parties, the cabinet is the backbone of the government, proposing new laws and discussing actions; the regional directorates, a number of small cabinets, each governing its own body of land, the directorates are elected by a regional census, and each has at least one of its members in the national cabinet. Every minority has the ability to voice itself in the government, preserving the equality is the trademark of the Empire.
In 1910, during the reign of Franz Josef, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand had gone on parade in Sarajevo, the capital of the Bosnia-Herzegovina region, when assassins from the Serbian group "The Black Hand" attempted to kill him. Their motivation is of yet unknown, but it is believed that the Serbian government had pushed them into doing it on behalf of a major foreign power, whose identity will not be disclosed. The attempt failed, but it resulted in an invasion of Serbia by Austro-Hungarian forces. A puppet government was installed and ruled until 1940. It was used to try to fight the Ottomans covertly, but failed and was annexed, and has become the most recent addition to the Empire.
In 1912, Franz Josef died from blood loss when a Serbian anarchist shot him at close range. He was succeeded by Franz Ferdinand, who has ruled as Emperor to the present day.
In 1915, the Second German War broke out. In a rush to grab new territory, Germany invaded Austria-Hungary, whom it had formerly maintained good relations with. As the Austro-Hungarian army was currently preoccupied in the south, in the Balkan War (see above), a ceasefire was quickly agreed on the terms that the K.u.K. Empire ceded Galicia and Lodomeria to the Germans. To this day, many Austro-Hungarians retain a vendetta against the Germans, including the Emperor.
In 1916, a war known as the Balkan Incident broke out between Austria-Hungary versus the "Balkan League" of Romania, Montenegro and Greece, whose armies attacked through Bulgaria. Despite being outnumbered, the better trained and equipped armies of Austria-Hungary triumphed, but lost the province of Galicia to Germans due to undergarrisoning. (This is not to be confused with the Balkan Wars of the Ottoman Empire and Balkan League)
Map: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/71/Austria-hungary.png
Galicia is now German, and Serbia has been annexed by Austria-Hungary.
The K.u.K. (Kaiserlich und Königlich-Imperial and Royal) Empire of Austria-Hungary is, in relation to others, not an old country. While the Habsburg dynasty may have branches in many a European nation, their own country is merely a child, about as old as the United States of America.
The country was conceived in 1859, when Austria began a minor campaign into Tyrol. This set off a chain reaction, with Tyrol's allies decalring war on Austria and it, in turn, declaring war on them. Eventually, two sides were formed: the Austrian Empire, as well as its allies Salzburg and Silesia, versus the so called "Coalition of Free Nations".
Despite the best efforts of the Coalition, they could not stand against the Austrian forces and were defeated one by one. Finally, only Hungary and a couple of smaller states remained. In a final Austrian push, their forces broke through to Budapest, effectively forcing the Hungarians to surrender with the Treaty of Budapest in February 1867.
With the defeat of the Coalition, Austria declared control over its former members, and renamed themselves the Empire of Austria-Hungary (also known as the K.u.K. Empire of Austria-Hungary, or the Austro-Hungarian Empire.)(For those interested, Salzburg and Silesia both entered the Austo-Hungarian Empire as provinces, but both retain special priveledges.)
Austria-Hungary is a very diverse nation, with 11 major ethnic groups: German/Austrian (24%), Hungarian (20%0, Czech (13%), Polish (10%), Ruthenian (8%), Romanian (6%), Croat (5%), Slovak (4%), Serb (4%), Slovene (3%) and Italian (3%). Despite this wide variety of races, and originally a variety of languages, Austria-Hungary maintains an equal society, with now a single, universal language: Austro-Magyar.
Austro-Magyar was first proposed in 1876, with the language being finished in 1879, and being introduced into education in 1883. Now, 87% of the population know and speak the language. It is based mainly, as can be deduced from the title, off the Austrian dialect of German and off Magyar, the language of Hungary. While these languages may seem incompatible, Herr Schmidt, a German Doctor of Modern Languages, managed to create a full, colourful language from these two different sources.
The government of the Austro-Hungarian Empire has three distinct sections: the monarch, a hereditary position occupied by the Habsburg dynasty, the monarch, while not a total autocrat, has a large amount of control over the nation and is its figurehead; the cabinet, a group of individuals elected from various parties, the cabinet is the backbone of the government, proposing new laws and discussing actions; the regional directorates, a number of small cabinets, each governing its own body of land, the directorates are elected by a regional census, and each has at least one of its members in the national cabinet. Every minority has the ability to voice itself in the government, preserving the equality is the trademark of the Empire.
In 1910, during the reign of Franz Josef, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand had gone on parade in Sarajevo, the capital of the Bosnia-Herzegovina region, when assassins from the Serbian group "The Black Hand" attempted to kill him. Their motivation is of yet unknown, but it is believed that the Serbian government had pushed them into doing it on behalf of a major foreign power, whose identity will not be disclosed. The attempt failed, but it resulted in an invasion of Serbia by Austro-Hungarian forces. A puppet government was installed and ruled until 1940. It was used to try to fight the Ottomans covertly, but failed and was annexed, and has become the most recent addition to the Empire.
In 1912, Franz Josef died from blood loss when a Serbian anarchist shot him at close range. He was succeeded by Franz Ferdinand, who has ruled as Emperor to the present day.
In 1915, the Second German War broke out. In a rush to grab new territory, Germany invaded Austria-Hungary, whom it had formerly maintained good relations with. As the Austro-Hungarian army was currently preoccupied in the south, in the Balkan War (see above), a ceasefire was quickly agreed on the terms that the K.u.K. Empire ceded Galicia and Lodomeria to the Germans. To this day, many Austro-Hungarians retain a vendetta against the Germans, including the Emperor.
In 1916, a war known as the Balkan Incident broke out between Austria-Hungary versus the "Balkan League" of Romania, Montenegro and Greece, whose armies attacked through Bulgaria. Despite being outnumbered, the better trained and equipped armies of Austria-Hungary triumphed, but lost the province of Galicia to Germans due to undergarrisoning. (This is not to be confused with the Balkan Wars of the Ottoman Empire and Balkan League)