The Austro-Hungarian Empire
in 'Castle Falkenstein'.
A Brief(?) Falkensteinian chronology for the Austro-Hungarian
Empire in the late 19th century.
1848
Dec 2nd: Franz
Joseph ascends to the Imperial throne (aged 18) after his Uncle
Emperor Ferdinand abdicates.
Revolts throughout the Empire including Vienna itself!
1854
Apr 24th: Franz
Joseph marries Elisabeth of Bavaria (aged 15 and King Ludwig's
second cousin)
1858
Aug 21st: Crown
Prince Rudolf born, their third child after two daughters.
1859
War with France
in Italy. Numerous defeats for the Austrians ending with
complete disaster at Solferino on 26th June.
1860
First split in
the Imperial marriage.
Corruption in the Army, suicides and arrests amongst higher
officers.
1863
Ferdinand
Maximillian (Franz Joseph s brother) is offered the crown of
Mexico. He is forced renounce all rights to the
Austrian throne.
1864
Ferdinand
Maximillian becomes Emperor of Mexico.
Austria and her ally, Prussia, fight a successful war against
Denmark and are ceded Schleswig-Holstein.
1866
June 15th:
Austrian Empire and the Second Compact at war with Prussia.
Austria loses Holstein to Prussia. Prussians invade Hesse-Cassel,
Hannover and Saxony (i.e. all the German states east of the Inner
Sea), then move on into Bohemia (part of Austria-Hungary).
June 28th:
Battle of Gitschin. Austrian defenders hold back Prussians until
their Landfortresses arrive the next day.
July 2nd: The Battle of Konigssieg. Austrian forces suffer heavy
casualties along with their allies, Bavaria. Defeat is narrowly
avoided when the new Bavarian Aero-fleet successfully attacks the
Prussian Landfortresses.
The infant Kingdom of North Italy attempts to take Venice by
force. Their fleet is almost totally destroyed by the Austrian
Imperial Navy at the Battle of Lissa. Venetia remains Austro-Hungarian
territory.
Empress Elisabeth rejoins her husband.
1867
A major crisis
is averted when the Hungarian Compromise is adopted.
Franz Joseph and Elisabeth are crowned King and Queen of Hungary
and the Dual Monarchy of Austro-Hungary is created.
June 19th: Ferdinand Maximillian is defeated and executed in
Mexico. His widow Charlotte, goes mad and has his body preserved
by magic. She is still taking his corpse from court to court
trying to raise support for the re-establishment of the Empire of
Mexico.
1868
Austro-Hungarian
army is increased to 800,000 men.
Another marital split, Elisabeth spends most of the year in
India studying mystic teachings.
1869
Franz Joseph
visits the opening of the Suez Canal. On the way he stops off at
Jerusalem (he holds the ancient hereditary Hapsburg family title
of King of Jerusalem) by kind permission of the Ottoman Sultan.
Herr Skoda builds a huge steelworks in Bohemia.
1871
Attempts by
Czechs to get Bohemian Compromise establishing a
triple monarchy fail.
1872
May 28th:
Sophie, Franz Joseph s domineering mother dies.
1873
May 1st:
Opening of the Vienna International Exposition. The event is a
financial failure, partly due to a cholera scare in Vienna as it
starts.
Gisela (Emperor s surviving daughter) marries Leopold of Bavaria.
May 9th: Black Friday crash on the Bourse (Vienna Stock
Exchange)
1874
Franz Joseph is
the first Austrian Emperor to visit St. Petersburg.
He and Elisabeth become grandparents (of Gisela s first child).
Empress Elisabeth visits England and meets Queen Victoria.
1875
Death of
Ferdinand (Franz Joseph's uncle) the previous Emperor.
Elisabeth is with Franz Joseph for only a few days all year.
Uprising against Ottoman rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
1876
Franz Joseph
meets the Czar to discuss reactions to Serbia and Montenegro in
case of war.
Ottoman troops massacre Bulgarians, Serbia and Montenegro declare
war on Ottoman empire.
1877
Russia, allied
to Serbia and Romania, is at war with Ottoman empire.
Austria-Hungary declares neutrality in the Russo-Turkish war
1878
Franz Jospeh s
father, Franz Karl, dies.
Earl Salisbury (British Ambassador) suggests combined action by
Austria-Hungary, Britain and France against Russia, in support of
Ottoman empire. Franz Joseph refuses to join either side.
Ottoman empire asks Russia for an armistice which is granted.
A British fleet is sent to Constantinople but later withdraws.
At the Congress of the Balkans, Austria allowed to occupy Bosnia
and Herzegovina. Austrian troops meet fierce resistance when they
move into these two countries.
1879
Bismarck visits
Vienna to meet Franz Joseph.
Austro-Hungarian troops defeat Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Imperial couple s twenty-fifth wedding anniversary celebrated
with a grand parade organised by Makart, a famous artist.
1880
Franz Joseph's
Fiftieth birthday, He travels throughout the Empire.
Czech declared an official second language in Austrian Empire.
1881
Crown Prince
Rudolf marries Stephanie of Belgium.
The Ringtheather in Vienna burns down killing many people,
Franz Joseph rushes back from Godollo (his hunting estate in
Hungary).
Secret treaty signed with Serbia.
1882
Franz Joseph
and Elisabeth escape an assassination plot in Trieste.
600th anniversary of the establishment of the House of Hapsburg.
Insurgency in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Austrians support Prince Milan in declaring himself, King of
Serbia.
The Nationalities of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The Empire is an unlikely amalgum of nationalities with a total population of approximately forty-five million people. This population was made up of over a dozen ethnic groups.
In the Austro-Hungarian Empire in New Europa in 1872, there were approximately:
12 million Germans (largely Austrians)
10 million Hungarians
6.5 million Czechs
2 million Slovaks
5 million Poles
4 million Ruthenes
3 million Croats
0.5 million Serbs (later over 2 million)
2.9 million Roumanians
1.4 million Slovenes
1.9 million Italians
0.5 million Islamic Slavs
0.5 million Others
Not unsurprisingly, given human nature, there were many areas of friction between these groups on ethnic abd religous grounds. That said, the immense Imerial and Royal bureacracy seems to have managed to keep this under control most of the time.
Those who chose to take up service in "the Emperor's many coloured coats" (refering to the different branches of the army, navy, diplomats and bureaucrats) were expected to give up the nationality they were born into and take on a new identity that of the Habsburg Empire.
The latest addition to the armed forces of the Empire is the Imperial and Royal Airfleet
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