Forming a dualistic system in the Habsburg Empire: prerequisites and peculiarities of building new relations between Austria and Hungary

Introduction. After its reformation in 1867, AustroHungary became a unique state entity that abandoned strict centralization and implemented a unique formula of constitutional development. This resulted in a personal union between Austria and Hungary, which adopted different models of domestic and economic development. The establishment of the European Union, the development of multiculturalism, and the increasing role of regions in the development of individual states and the EU as a whole stimulate interest in the history of the Habsburg Empire.
Materials and Methods. Both foreign and, to a lesser extent, domestic historiography note the interest of scientific community in Austro-Hungary and its place in world history. However, the debate on this topic is only intensifying. Different schools and directions either idealize the Habsburg Empire or consider it an “anachronism” in Europe. In the course of working on this topic, legislative acts that laid the foundation of the dualistic system were used as historical sources. The author applied the principles of historicism, objectivity, and systematics in his work on the material.
Analysis. The article emphasizes that even before the defeat in the Austro-Prussian war, the monarchy attempted to reach a compromise with Hungary, which held an exceptional place in the empire and had a “historical right” to restore its own statehood. The war only accelerated this process and contributed to the formation of the dualistic system. Austria and Hungary effectively became independent state entities united by a common monarch and the socalled common affairs. The approval of dualism by the parliaments of both halves of the empire became the basis for its construction. Constitutionalism and liberalism were to ensure its observance in the future.
Results. The dualistic monarchy resulted from a compromise between Austro-Germans and Hungarians, the monarchy, and Hungary. Dualism provided stable development for Austro-Hungary in the last third of the 19th century and the early 20th century. However, the rise of minority national movements required reforming dualism and creating a fundamentally different system.

1. Hungarian-Croatian Agreement of 1868. Brief historical essay and translation with notes. St. Petersburg: State Printing House; 1910. 48 p. (In Russ.).

2. Hungarian Law XII of 1867 on the general affairs of the lands of the Hungarian Crown and other lands under the governance of His Majesty, and on the procedure for resolving them in Modern Constitution: collection of current constitutional acts.Ed. by VM Gessen, BE. Nolde. Vol. II. Federations and republics. St. Petersburg: Pravo; 1907. P. 66-85. (In Russ.).

3. Dronov AM. The language issue on the Military Border of the Habsburg Monarchy in the 1850–1880s in Slavic Almanac. 2016;(12):4454. (In Russ.).

4. Coronation Diploma given to the country by His Royal Majesty upon his happy accession to the throne and coronation, and the royal oath taken at the coronation in Modern constitutions. Collection of current constitutional acts.Ed by V. M. Hessen, B. E. Nolde. Vol. 1. St. Petersburg: Pravo; 1905. P. 181-186. (In Russ.).

5. Act IV on the annual sessions of the Sejm in Modern constitutions: collection of current constitutional acts. Ed. by VM Gessen, BE Nolde. Vol. II. Federations and republics. St. Petersburg: Pravo; 1907. P. 177-180. (In Russ.).

6. Zvezdich P. Austro-Hungarian Agreement in State system and political parties in Western Europe and the North American United States. Ed. by E Smirnov. Vol. 2. St. Petersburg: BM Wolf Printing House; 1904. P. 51-94. (In Russ.).

7. Islamov TM. The Habsburg Empire: formation and development. Novaja i novejshaja istorija. 2001;(2):1140. (In Russ.).

8. History of Hungary in 3 volumes. Volume 2. Moscow: Nauka Publishing House; 1972. 599 p. (In Russ.).

9. Kletecka T. Attempt at an agreement between the Hohenwart government and the Czechs in 1871 in Austria-Hungary: the experience of a multinational state. Moscow: ISiB; 1995. P. 71-81. (In Russ.).

10. Kontler L. History of Hungary. A Millennium in the Center of Europe. Moscow: Ves’ Mir; 2002. 656 p. (In Russ.).

11. Kotova EV. The crisis of the Austrian Empire and the formation of Austria-Hungary, 1859-1867: thesis. Moscow, 1986. 255 p. (In Russ.).

12. Kryuchkov IV. The Hungarian-Croatian conflict in the reports of Russian diplomats at the beginning of the 20th century. Vestnik slavjanskih kul’tur. 2014;(31):117. (In Russ.).

13. Lowell AA. Governments and political parties in the states of Western Europe: France, Italy, Germany, AustriaHungary, Switzerland. Moscow: S. Skirmunt’s publication; 1905. 644 p. (In Russ.).

14. Pavlenko OV. Russia and Austria-Hungary in the mid19th–early 20th centuries: political myths of imperial power. Novaja i novejshaja istorija. 2014;(1):116-134. (In Russ.).

15. Minutes of meeting No. 3. Commission for drafting rules on the procedure for issuing laws of national importance concerning Finland (P.A. Kharitonov Commission). December 20, 1909 In Russia and the independence of Finland. In 3 volumes. Vol. 2. Dynamics of confrontation 1908-1917. Moscow: ROSSPEN; 2021. P. 251-274. (In Russ.).

16. Rauscher V. Foreign Policy and the National Question in the Era of Kalnoki in AustriaHungary: The Experience of a Multinational State. Moscow: ISiB; 1995. P. 132-142. (In Russ.).

17. Khavanov OV. Hungary in the “large colorful garden” of Franz Joseph: political reality and historical myth in Slavic world in the third millennium. 2017;12:274-281. (In Russ.).

18. Shimov Ya. Austro-Hungarian Empire. Moscow: Eksmo Publishing House; 2003. 608 p. (In Russ.).

19. Jasi O. The collapse of the Habsburg monarchy. Moscow: Three squares; 2011. 608 p. (In Russ.).

20. Bridge R. The Habsburg Monarchy among the Great Powers 1815-1918. Oxford: Bloomsbury Academic; 1990. 417 р.

21. Deak I. Beyond Nationalism: A Social and Political history of the Habsburg Officer corps. New York Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1992. 273 p.

22. Jelavich B. Modern Austria: Empire and Republic, 1815-1986. Cambridge University Press; 1987. 346 р.

23. Komjathy М. The creation of the Joint Council of Ministers and its activities during the World War in Minutes of the Joint Council of Ministers of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (1914-1918). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó; 1966. 733 p. (In Germ.).

24. Rutkowski E. Gustav Count Kálnoky. A biographical sketch. Communications from the Austrian State Archives. 1961;(14):330-343. (In Germ.).

25. Sked A. The Decline and Fall of the Habsburg Empire, 1815-1918. London: Longman Publishing Group; 2001. 295 p.

26. Unowsky DL. The Pomp and Politics of Patriotism. Imperial Celebrations in Habsburg Austria 1848-1916. Indiana: Purdue University Press; 2005. 263 p.

27. Wank S. The Nationalities Question in the Habsburg Monarchy: Reflections on the Historical Record in Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota, Center for Austrian Studies. Working Paper 1993;(3):18.