Chapter 1: Compromises and the Military, 1862-1865
The Architects of the Compromise: Friedrich Ferdinand von Beust and Ferenc Deák
Some historians are inclined to demean Austrian Foreign Minister Fredrich Ferdinand von Beust as an inept diplomat. These people point primarily to his failure to maintain positive relations between his home country of Saxony and Prussia, leading to the near-entry of Saxony into the Austro-Prussian War against Prussia (an eventuality which could well have led to Saxony’s outright annexation) [1]. More contemporarily, Prussians attacked him for opposing Bismarck’s plans for a Prussian-dominated Germany, liberals condemned him for opposing their favored political reforms, and many Austrians doubted his loyalty to Emperor Franz Joseph I, due to von Beust’s Protestant faith. None of these assessments are truly valid; in actuality, von Beust was an intelligent man well-suited to managing both foreign and domestic policy, as evidenced by his actions in the fall and winter of 1862.
Austria and Hungary had both proposed reconciling into some form of Dual Monarchy since 1860, but though Franz Joseph was not necessarily opposed to the idea it took the efforts of Hungarian politician Ferenc Deák (who was willing to go against the more radical, pro-complete-independence elements in his nation) and those of von Beust (who was able to pressure Emperor Franz Joseph into agreeing to such a settlement) to bring about the Compromise. The result was in essence two nations, Austria and Hungary, each with their own parliament and thus each able to govern their own internal affairs, joined in a personal union under Franz Joseph. Foreign policy, external war matters, and certain financial policies were to be handled by joint ministries (these are only the major points of the Compromise - there is not enough space to list the complete and precise details, nor would the majority of readers find them interesting.) For their efforts in bringing about this eventuality, Deák would be rewarded as the first Hungarian Prime Minister, while von Beust would, while remaining Foreign Minister, also become the Minister-President of the new Austro-Hungarian Empire, a post he held until 1864 [2].
The results of tolerance…of a sort
The ultimate effect of the Compromise upon the populace of the Empire, as social historians have often observed, was what is often termed ‘biased multiculturalism’. The Germans and Magyars within the Empire were both considered more or less equal (though bias was naturally shown, depending on the region of the Empire), but other groups were still treated as undesirable, a circumstance for which the Hungarian-governed sections of the Empire were particularly notorious. The Südtirol was a local exception; despite the fact that Italy and Austria had just fought a war, the German and Italian populations of the region settled into a temporary (and somewhat bizarre) mutual peace immediately following the Compromise. It should not, however, be thought that the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1862 was flawless or painless. Far from it, in fact; widespread disapproval amongst Hungarians almost immediately emerged, as arguably most of the Hungarian populace felt that the best opportunity for full independence in a decade and a half had been squandered. There was, as a result, a large increase in disorder in most of Hungary, though in no case did an actual revolt break out (in part because of quick efforts to subdue the agitators by one means or another.)
Agitation for independence in Bohemia
This unrest, in sharp contrast to the situation of the Südtirol, was felt in other regions of the Empire also. A collective effort amongst Bohemians, for example, led to the beginning of the construction of the so-called ‘Czech National Theater’. Though seemingly innocuous, and indeed culturally enlightened, the theater was essentially an attempt to bring about the ultimate independence, or at least full autonomy, of Bohemia by instilling national pride amongst the population. The Sokol movement, itself another vehicle for nationalistic efforts, emerged in Moravia and Slovakia immediately after the Compromise as well. However, it was far easier for the central government to suppress this movement as unwelcomely radical, simply because of the relative absence of the well-connected and wealthy amongst its ranks. An intriguing aside for political historians is the emergence of Karlsbad as a stronghold of liberal thought, beginning roughly around 1864. Despite the fact that Karlsbad was predominately inhabited by Germans, the increasing numbers of tourists visiting the famed hot springs apparently led to the development of a large community of…Bohemians [3].
Temesvar proved surprisingly accepting of Austro-Hungarian rule
Partially to reduce the risk of the spread of these sorts of dangerous ideas, policies were enacted to attempt to assimilate more rapidly the population of the Banat region into the greater Austro-Hungarian state, thus stifling nascent nationalistic movements in the region. Other regions may have been more logical to target, but Banat was chosen because of the population of both Germans and Hungarians, and the fact that both the Austrian and Hungarian parliaments could agree that working to undermine existing Romanian and Serbian claims on the province would be highly desirable. Contrary to many expectations, however, these efforts met with a surprising amount of success, exemplified by the famous Temesvar Parade in which Romanians, Hungarians, Germans, and even Serbs all greeted arriving government officials with a large celebratory march while flying a homemade, somewhat crude, but nonetheless recognizable Austro-Hungarian flag.
Strossmayer and the beginnings of his importance
Perhaps more directly important for the Empire was the emergence of Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer. A somewhat radical native Croatian, in 1863 he began the propagation of a concept revolving around the unification of the Slavic people of the Balkans [4]. He was not, however, outrightly opposed to the basic concept of an Austro-Hungarian Empire, unlike later supporters of a Yugoslavic state; rather, he was interested in developing a framework for autonomy for Croatia and other Balkan territories within the overarching Empire – essentially, bringing them to an equal footing with the Austrians and the Hungarians. It is noteworthy also that he shared close ties with several of the major figures, including František Palacký, in the developing liberal nationalistic ideology of the Bohemian regions, and was heavily influenced by them. Arguably, the early steps taken independently by these figures was the beginning of the movement towards a more federated Empire, though this was unsurprisingly not recognized at the time.
Strossmayer was far from alone in his efforts to bring about a degree of Balkan autonomy. Croatia had essentially been placed under the control of Hungary in the terms of the Compromise, but its populace (thanks to the movement of Strossmayer and his various Croatian colleagues) was strongly interested in some form of independence. An attempt was made in 1863 to turn Croatia into a state within Hungary, but despite Strossmayer being at the head of the Croatian delegation nothing came of this. It would take another year before a secondary Compromise would be struck. In this Croatian-Hungarian Compromise of 1864, Croatia was granted some autonomy within Hungary, becoming essentially the junior partner in a personal union, but because Hungary maintained control over the majority of Croatia’s government the autonomy was much less than was initially hoped for. However, Croatia was granted independence in several areas, notably in regards its military (they were permitted to recruit their own home-guard army, the
Kraljevsko Hrvatsko Domobranstvo, from Croatian and Dalmatian territories.)
Composite illustration showing the initial Army Reform policies, and some of their effects
This brings us to one of the more important ramifications of the original Compromise. The new military of Austria-Hungary was formed by three distinct armies: the Royal Hungarian Honvéd (an independent Hungarian), the Imperial-Royal Landwehr (an independent army for Austria), and the joint Common Army. The Honvéd would recruit from Hungary, Transylvania, Galicia, and the various South Slavic territories, while the Landwehr was recruited from Austria and Bohemia. The Common Army, logically, drew from all regions of the Empire. Though this arrangement served to keep both parts of the Dual Monarchy relatively happy, it was also plagued by the unwillingness of the Austrian and Hungarian parliaments to share the joint costs of maintaining the Common Army, preferring to strengthen their own respective armies instead [5].
Despite these inherent problems, the recognition that the complete lack of military preparedness had been the root cause of the defeats drove a massive program of reorganization and reform. These changes were facilitated with one of the first laws to be implemented in the new Empire. This saw a 50% increase in military funding approved, the disbanding of undermanned regiments (even those with historical significance), and the commencement of large-scale recruitment not merely of soldiers but of officers in the population centers of the Empire. Perhaps to counter the somewhat aggressive implications of this move, the Emperor at long last signed the 1862 Geneva Convention. Both parliaments approved this, and thus even as Austria-Hungary became war-ready again it also joined the ranks of the civilized nations committed to reducing as much as possible the cruelty of armed conflict.
The pay-off was immediate; whereas Austrian imperial armies had been incredibly disorganized, now the armies of the Empire were being staffed by proper officers, administered by a general staff at the central Austro-Hungarian War Ministry. The Emperor still had a great deal of influence in the military theater (he remained the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, could declare war, and still had the right to control the organization of the military), but this detachment of military command ensured that the army would be better able to operate in times of war [6]. Similarly, while the troops remained somewhat poorly equipped, proper breech-loading rifles were becoming standardized, and tactics were modernizing. And while by no means were Austro-Hungarian officers truly world-class, compared to the armies of the Empire’s predecessor states (and those of many of the Empire’s neighbors), the leadership of the military was now considered relatively good. In part, this was because of the necessary tolerance of different ethnic and religious groups within the army. Though far from what we today would consider tolerant (as previously mentioned, various groups, especially but by no means exclusively in the Hungarian regions, were regularly discriminated against), it is noteworthy that Austria-Hungary distinguished itself among the Great Powers of Europe in being a state where Jews were often permitted to serve both as soldiers and as officers. Indeed, an entire regiment of Hussars from Lvov in the Galician region was raised from amongst the Ashkenazi Jewish population there, and served with some distinction [7].
Egyptian officials were happy to approve the permit request, especially after a small ‘donation’ was made
Though its focus was internal at the time, it should not be imagined that the Empire had retreated entirely from the world stage, however. The foreign policy of von Beust saw what can only be described as the stirrings of a longing for Austria to have a renewed place on the world stage. These “Dreams of Empire”, tied with the growing European interest in Egyptian history, led Austria-Hungary to lodge a request with the Egyptian government to allow some teams of archaeologists to conduct excavations in the nation. The request was granted, and though the permit was hardly as exclusive as many in the
Ministerium des Äußern (that is, the Foreign Ministry) believed, and though the first ‘archaeologists’ were little more than inept looters, it was nonetheless the beginning of Austria’s reemergence as a true world power.
Roughly, the series of events bringing about the North German Federation and their ramifications. Some mapmakers had yet to come to terms with the fact that Denmark’s name no longer stretched to Schleswig.
Meanwhile, Bismarck and others had succeeded in manufacturing a revolt in the Danish satellite state of Schleswig-Holstein, persuading Germans in favor of unification with Prussia to throw out the influence of the Danish king via a sudden coup. Before the Danes could react, Wilhelm I celebrated the annexation of the nation into Prussia, and almost as immediately most of the remaining German Confederation nations were reorganized into the unified and Prussian-dominated North German Federation. Had these events taken place a year or two later, one has to suspect that von Beust would have seized the opportunity to exact revenge upon Prussia, but at the time the military reorganization had not yet been completed, and Austria could again do little but protest.
Despite this, by 1865, little more than two years after the defeat, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had rebuilt its armed forces to a more than acceptable extent. Further development of military technology and improvement in troop quality was ongoing, yet despite the drastic alterations both internally and in the larger world the nation seemed to have recovered. Now came the next stage of recovery: internal development.
[1] Whew, the fact that there’s no Second Schleswig War in this timeline and that everything’s shifted up about four years makes for a lot of complexity to incorporate historical events and figures right now. Still, as in OTL, von Beust flees as Prussian troops advance through Saxony, even though Saxony stayed neutral in this war (they weren’t allied with Prussia in-game yet, for some reason). Thus, he still ends up in Vienna, and is temporarily appointed to the post of Foreign Minister to convince Napoleon III to negotiate peace. The appointment is made permanent shortly thereafter, and he then segues into his historical role.
[2] Deák in OTL turned down the post of Prime Minister, but here I figured it might be interesting for him to accept it. von Beust’s governmental positions are historical, albeit 4 years early.
[3] *rimshot* - Dr. Coppenger is not above incredibly lame jokes.
[4] This section is basically OTL, though again a little on the early side. Strossmayer, however, will return.
[5] As historical as it can be. Translating real-world military divisions into Vicky II is much easier said than done; though it‘s definitely not 100% accurate, for gameplay purposes I‘m saying one unit in Vicky is equal to a real-world regiment. Also, “Uhlans” are being represented by dragoons in-game.
[6] Not historical – the Emperor in OTL maintained essentially complete control over military matters (which ended up working really well…) ITTL the Central Staff is more independent, and though the Emperor still has a lot of control over it chances are it won’t stagnate as much.
[7] I was honestly surprised that this pop could support an entire unit. Though it still doesn’t top the time I raised a regiment of Romania troops as Britain...from the Xhosa province of South Africa.