Habsburg Monarchy

Austria's double-headed eagle (1866)

The term Habsburg monarchy - also Habsburg, Habsburg or Austrian monarchy Austro-Hungarian Empire or Habsburg Empire - sums up the science of history , the European together dominions, which the House of Habsburg (since 1736 Habsburg-Lothringen ) from the late Middle Ages ruled until 1918 directly. They consisted in the core of the Habsburg hereditary lands and the countries of the Bohemian and Hungarian crowns and until the replacement or independence of the United Netherlands and Belgium also theBurgundian Netherlands , as well as large parts of Italy . Since Charles I ascended the throne in Spain in 1516 and until the War of the Spanish Succession at the beginning of the 18th century, the term "Habsburg Empire" also includes the countries of the Spanish crown , which, however, since the division into an Austrian and a Spanish line of the Habsburgs after Charles' abdication were ruled separately; one speaks of the Austrian and Spanish Habsburg monarchies for this period. The territories of the Holy Roman Empire directly under the Empire , over which the Habsburgs only exercised indirect supremacy in their function as emperors, are not part of the Habsburg Empire .

The Habsburg conglomerate of countries in eastern Central Europe was essentially the result of a clever marriage policy and was expanded significantly from the end of the 17th century through conquests at the expense of the Ottoman Empire . Since Ferdinand I , a brother of Charles V, it was ruled by the Austrian and since Ferdinand II by the inner-Austrian line of the dynasty . Since the marriage of Maria Theresa , the daughter of the last male heir to the throne, with Franz Stephan of Lothringen, this has been called Habsburg-Lothringen.

The Roman-German Emperor Franz II created the Austrian imperial dignity on his own initiative in 1804 as a reaction to the impending coronation of Napoleon I as French Emperor and the foreseeable collapse of the Holy Roman Empire . He ruled the resulting Austrian Empire from then on as Franz I, while he declared the empire dissolved in 1806. After the so-called equalization of 1867 in the form of a dual monarchy, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy emerged from the Austrian Empire , which was officially named for the first time in a state treaty with Sweden and Norway on June 2, 1868 . Austria and the now equal kingdom of Hungary , for whose multinational empire he was now emperor and king, both continued to be ruled by Franz Joseph I in Realunion , but only regulated foreign policy and military matters as well as voluntary parts of economic policy (currency, customs) together.

The Real Union ended after the defeat of the Habsburg Monarchy as one of the allied Central Powers in World War I under Franz Joseph's successor Charles I on October 31, 1918. Most of the non-German and non-Magyar peoples of Cisleithania and Transleithania had already used the foreseeable defeat of the Habsburg Austro-Hungarian Army for this purpose to enforce their political independence by founding new states. In German Austria , on November 12, 1918, one day after the resignation of Emperor Charles I, the establishment of the First Republic (until 1933) was proclaimed.

This ended the more than 630-year rule of the House of Habsburg. In 1921 Karl made two unsuccessful attempts to regain control of the nominally still existing Kingdom of Hungary. At the urging of the victorious powers in association with the Little Entente , the Hungarian Parliament passed the Dethronization Act in November 1921, which finally withdrew the crown from him and the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.

overview

House coat of arms (1512)

The roots of the Habsburg monarchy date back to the years 1276–1278, when Rudolf IV. Count von Habsburg , who became King of the Romans as Rudolf I in 1273 , left his house with the duchies of Carinthia and Carniola and then with the duchies of Austria and Styria enfeoffed and thus after the interlude with Ottokar II Přemysl of Bohemia took over the inheritance of the Babenbergs . From that date the Habsburgs ruled their main power in Central Europe with only brief warlike interruptions .

From Rudolf Kaše (as Count VI., As King I) in 1307, the Habsburgs had been kings in Bohemia (with interruptions) , and since Albrecht (as Count V, as Emperor I) in 1437, kings in Hungary . They ruled these countries uninterruptedly from Ferdinand I 1526/27. Since that time, the Habsburg monarchy - whose west was part of the Holy Roman Empire , while the east was outside the empire - was one of the great powers of Europe.

With Maximilian I , the last knight , the House of Austria-Burgundy was formed with his marriage and his assumption of office as Duke of Burgundy in 1477 , from this time onwards one speaks of the Habsburg Monarchy in the real sense. At the height of the expansion of its dynastic possessions and reigns, the Habsburg universal monarchy divided into an Austrian and a Spanish line with the abdication of Charles V , who as German emperor and king in Spain had ruled a world empire in which the sun never sets . The latter is also called "House of Austria" or Casa de Austria , but its world empire , the Spanish Habsburg monarchy, is not the subject of this article.

A "date of birth" of the (Austrian) Habsburg Monarchy can also be given with the Worms partition treaty of April 28, 1521 or the subsequent Brussels treaty of February 7, 1522, in which the transfer of the Austrian lands from Charles V to his brother Ferdinand I . was regulated. However, in 1550 there was still a failed attempt by Charles V to have his son Philip , who later became King of Spain, elected King of Germany due to the resistance of the German electors and the hesitant policy of his brother , and in this way to keep the universal empire together. The separate succession of the Spanish and Austrian lines (house rules of February 25, 1554) can therefore be regarded as the decisive date for the separation of the two lines, whereby the mutual priority inheritance claims were nevertheless retained in the event that a line expired.

The Spanish line died out in November 1700. France , the great adversary of the Habsburgs of this era (see Habsburg-French opposition ), was able to prevent another Habsburg "encirclement" in the War of the Spanish Succession, and the Bourbons took over the Spanish crown. The Habsburgs were only able to preserve non-Spanish areas of the inheritance of their Spanish relatives, especially the Austrian Netherlands and the Kingdom of Naples , for the Austrian line.

In 1740, the male line of the Austrian Habsburgs died out. On the basis of the Pragmatic Sanction previously issued , Maria Theresa of Austria took over the rulership rights otherwise reserved for men (with the exception of the imperial crown, which was reserved for men in the Holy Roman Empire ) and founded the subsequent ruling house of Habsburg-Lorraine with her husband . It was contested in the War of the Austrian Succession , but the monarchy emerged from the war in a consolidated manner. Maria Theresa's son, the reformer Joseph II , strove to develop the Habsburg monarchy into a unified state with German as the official language, but failed above all in Hungary. Nevertheless, according to Ernst Trost, “German was the Esperanto of the Danube countries”.

As a result of the constitution of the countries directly subject to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine as the Empire of Austria - a reaction to the self-coronation of Napoleon I a few months earlier - the Habsburg monarchy, which had been administered centrally from Vienna since Maria Theresa , was also officially established during the Coalition Wars in 1804 independent state. The Holy Roman Empire was declared defunct in 1806.

The Austrian Empire remained a unified state until the settlement between Austria and Hungary in 1867, when Austria-Hungary was defined as a dual monarchy , the real union of the two states. The monarch, foreign policy, army and navy as well as optionally agreed economic standards such as the common guilder and then the kroon currency remained uniform until 1918.

Due to its size, its population and the claim to validity of its dynasty, the Habsburg monarchy was one of the most important states in Europe (the pentarchy ) . In changing alliances she fought in most European wars. When nationalism established itself as a powerful state idea in Europe in the 19th century , Austria-Hungary gradually lost influence as a state as a whole and, due to its multinationality as a multi-ethnic state, had ever greater problems in the domestic politics of both sub-states. At the end of the lost World War I, they led to the dissolution of the Habsburg monarchy.

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Territorial development of the Habsburg Monarchy

particularities

The Habsburg Monarchy was fundamentally different from other domains and societies in Europe. Western European historians classified the monarchy as a political anomaly , the structural weakness of which meant that it was constantly in a state of crisis and impending decline .

The course of the history of the Habsburg Monarchy was essentially determined by five features:

Influences of geopolitics and diplomacy of the balance of power ;
the diversity and individuality of the Habsburg countries;
the identification of the Habsburg dynasty with the Holy Roman Empire;
the reliance on reaching consensus between their domestic elite and foreign associated powers;
the role of the monarchs themselves to ensure the continuity and security of their territories.

Monarchies like Great Britain , France or Spain were able to develop their countries (at least temporarily) into nation- states , which could be traced back to a certain continuity as a geographical unit; a unit that promoted a fundamental degree of economic, cultural and linguistic homogeneity. The separatist movements since the 19th century in Belgium (split from the United Netherlands in 1830 ), Norway (split from Sweden in 1905), Ireland (most of Great Britain split off), Scotland ( 2014 independence referendum failed), the Basque Country and Catalonia (independence referendum announced) show that such developments need not be final. In contrast, the Habsburgs pursued a marriage and inheritance policy aimed at enlargement, in order to bring together completely different countries under their rule.

The monarchy was largely decentralized until the middle of the 18th century. Every single kingdom, duchy, principality, every county that came under Habsburg rule retained its own state government, which operated almost independently of Vienna. The estates of the country had the power and the right to negotiate the demands of the sovereign. The interests of the estates and the nobles often took precedence over those of the sovereign; otherwise he often had to buy the decision that was positive for him with compromises, privileges or other concessions.

In contrast to many other monarchies in early modern Europe, the Habsburg rulers mostly tried to establish consensus with the nobility and clergy , often at the expense of the citizens in the cities and the subjects of the rural manors, who were almost completely excluded from state politics.

State institutions

During his reign (1521–1564), Ferdinand I set up various state organs to improve the governance of the monarchy:

The Secret Council advised the monarch on his policy for the Holy Roman Empire and for the Habsburg lands (some of which were outside the empire).
The court chamber was the forerunner of the finance ministry in the Habsburg monarchy.
The court war council was financially and organizationally responsible for the military affairs of the monarchy.

These authorities were barely modernized under Ferdinand's successors:

The Secret Conference was established by Leopold I to replace the Secret Council after it had too many members due to imperial patronage . It did not take long, however, before the Secret Conference had to deal with the same problems as the Secret Council before.
The Consejo de España was founded by Charles VI. founded to advise him (in vain) on how to enforce his Spanish claims to rule.

The administrative system was thoroughly reformed under Maria Theresa and her successors. Most of the reforms were limited to the Austrian hereditary lands, including the countries of the Bohemian Crown, and did not include Hungary:

The State Chancellery was established in 1742 to determine the foreign policy of the Habsburg Monarchy as well as that of the Holy Roman Empire. These powers have been withdrawn from the Secret Conference .
The General War Commissariat , established in 1746, was given control of the military supplies and in practice had more authority over matters of war than the Court War Council had ever had.
The Directory in Publicis et Cameralibus (established in 1749) was an overarching organ of the hereditary lands. Developed from the amalgamation of the Bohemian and Austrian court chancelleries, it formed, with the exception of the Hungarian states, under different names and frequently changing competencies, the highest central office of political administration until 1848. The agendas also included matters of agriculture, sanitary, trade and industry, taxation, the judicial authorities, legislation, the civilian military and the like.
- The conference in Internis was subordinate to the directorate and had the task of determining common guidelines within the hereditary lands.
- The Supreme Judicial Office , also subordinate to the Directorate , acted as the highest court in the Hereditary Lands.
The Consejo de España was renamed Consiglio d'Italia and was subordinate to the State Chancellery .
The Council of State , established in 1760, was the supreme advisory body of the monarch, who chaired itself if necessary.
The study commission , established in 1760, was given the authority to spread the compulsory school instruction within the hereditary lands.

Habsburg lands

Ancestral lands of the Habsburgs

The actual home lands of the Habsburgs, as they have been historically tangible since the presumed founder of the Habsburgs , Count Radbot im Klettgau , in the 11th century, are possessions in today's Switzerland and Alsace . Even Rudolf von Habsburg , the first Habsburg German king who ruled over areas between the Vosges , Black Forest and Lake Lucerne . When the Habsburgs inherited the Babenbergs , today's Austrian area was added to these possessions .

The Habsburgs played a major role in the early founding of cities and in the development of Baden , Bremgarten , Brugg , Königsfelden , Laufenburg , Sursee and Waldshut . Some of these cities still bear the Habsburg lion coat of arms.

Around 1385 the most important possessions of the ancestral lands included the Landgraviate, lordship and bailiwick of Sundgau , Breisgau , Rheinfelden , Kyburg , Thurgau , Nellenburg , Baden , Lenzburg , Willisau , Rothenburg , Wolhusen , Rapperswil , Gaster , Glarus , Feldkirch , and Freiburg im Üechtland . During this time the ancestral lands were lost to the Old Confederation , the remainder are grouped under the territory of Upper Austria . Of the home countries, only Laufenburg and Rheinfelden held up until 1802, Tarasp until 1807, and in reminiscence the titles Fürsteter Graf von Habsburg and Kyburg in the Emperor's Great Title until 1918.

Later, were largely lost as these possessions in the West and the term hereditary lands to the Hungarian lands and Bohemian crown lands had expanded, it reached under ordinary country still taken from the Babenberg and early in the years of the dynasty acquired dominions, the "old" Archduchy Austria (as a title) and its ducal, count and other neighboring countries , together.

Habsburg hereditary lands

The Habsburg hereditary lands 1648

The term Habsburg hereditary lands is used to describe the territories ruled by the Habsburgs , in which the House of Austria provided the hereditary prince and which had been in the possession of the dynasty for a long time. The content of this term has changed over time. It also served as a demarcation for the family power within the Holy Roman Empire , when its king or emperor was elected several times from 1273 and Habsburg princes in almost continuous succession from 1438.
At that time, the Habsburg hereditary lands already comprised large areas of the German-speaking area, partly in areas of today's Switzerland , Germany , France and Austria as well as in today's Hungary , Italy , Slovenia and Croatia .

After the state constitution in the Kingdom of Bohemia ( Verneuerte Landesordnung 1627) was repealed , it was declared hereditary, like its neighboring countries Moravia and Silesia , as was the case with the Kingdom of Hungary after the Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 , with which the Habsburg Monarchy in an early state sense trained as a unit. Although the population of the original hereditary lands consisted largely of Germans and the Habsburgs ruled these areas for centuries, from the second half of the 18th century, in addition to the German identity , a heightened, dynastically-oriented awareness of Austria gradually emerged within a common Germany . The state parliaments had a great deal of autonomy vis-à-vis the Habsburg rulers, who saw themselves first and foremost as German princes.

The endeavor to also regard the Kingdom of Hungary (i.e. the Hungarian crown and its neighboring countries) as hereditary lands - after all, the Habsburgs had (re) conquered the majority of the country from the Ottomans - became obsolete with the settlement of 1867 (that Franz Joseph and Elisabeth were formally crowned the Hungarian royal couple again in Budapest , was a demonstration of the departure from this theory of the state).

The Burgundian territories (possessions in the Rhine area, especially the Netherlands ) that came to the House of Habsburg from Maximilian I's marriage to the Duchess Maria of Burgundy and her death in 1482 were never counted as part of the Habsburg hereditary lands and came to the Spanish Habsburgs . For the territories that were later incorporated into the monarchy, e.g. B. Galicia , Bukovina and Dalmatia , the term was also not used.

Archduchy of Austria and its neighboring countries and areas

In the 15th century, Lower Austria (present-day Lower Austria , Upper Austria ), Inner Austria (present-day Styria and Carinthia , historical Carniola , around 1500 the county of Görz was also part of the hereditary lands), Upper Austria (historical Tyrol and present-day Vorarlberg ) and Upper Austria (former Vorlande , remaining ancestral lands and newly acquired possessions in today's Switzerland, Bavaria, Baden).

Comment column sorts according to the time of acquisition

country	capital city	ethnicities	religion	Remarks	Coat of arms ⁽¹⁾
Archduchy of Austria under the Enns	Vienna	German	Roman Catholic , Lutheran	Historic heartland and namesake of the Habsburg monarchy. Established around 976 as a Bavarian border region, mentioned as Ostarrîchi in 996 , Babenberg duchy in 1156 ; 1278 to Rudolf I , in 1282 loan from Albrecht V./I. and Rudolf II , then called Austria above and below the Enns , separation briefly 1458–1463 into two duchies, 1783/84 Austria above the Enns finally separated, since then about today's federal state of Lower Austria
Duchy of Steyer (Styria)	Steyr , Graz from 12th century	Germans , Slovenes	Roman Catholic , Lutheran	Karantanische Mark , from 1122 Steyrmark , 1180 Duchy of Steyer ; 1278 fiefdom to Rudolf I (as emperor), 1282 enfeoffment from Albrecht V./I. and Rudolf II. , 1564–1619 part of Inner Austria ; Area of today's federal state of Styria and the end of October 1918, belonging since then to Slovenia Lower Styria
Duchy of Carinthia	Klagenfurt	Germans , Slovenes	Roman Catholic , Lutheran	Baierische Grenzmark since the 8th century, 976 duchy (area St. Pölten - Verona - Istria ), changing dukes and territorial separations 1276–1286 to Rudolf I , then counts of Görz ( Meinhardiner ), 1335 enfeoffment of Albrecht II. , 1564– 1619 part of Inner Austria , 1809–1814 to the French Empire ; 1918 Canal Valley to Italy, Mießen Valley to Slovenia
Duchy of Carniola	Laibach	Slovenes , Germans	Roman Catholic , Lutheran	Separated from Carinthia in 1040 as the margraviate of Carniola (roughly today's eastern Slovenia ), 1276–1286 to Rudolf I , then Count of Görz ( Meinhardiner ), 1335 enfeoffment of Leopold I , 1364 duchy, 1564–1619 part of Inner Austria , 1809–1814 French Empire
City of Trieste and its territory	Trieste	Italians , Slovenes , Germans	Roman Catholic	Roman ( Aquileia ), Frankish in 774, under the Friuli march , 12th century independent rule, in 1382 under protection ( Leopold III ) at the request of the city, 1564–1619 part of Inner Austria , 1805–1806 and 1809–1813 to the French Empire ( Illyrian provinces ), 1814–1849 with the Austrian kgr. Illyria , then part of the coastal lands , 1867 crown land; 1919 to Italy
(Fürstete) Grafschaft Tirol (and Vorlande / Vorarlberg)	Meran , Innsbruck from the beginning of the 15th century	Germans , Italians	Roman Catholic	Bavarian counties as early as the 7th century, united in the 12th / 13th centuries Century: today's state of Tyrol without East Tyrol (at Gft. Görz ), South Tyrol , Trentino ( Hzgt. Trient 1207) 1363 to Habsburg ( Rudolf the Stifter ), 1446 as Tyrol and the Vorlande (part of Upper Austria , co-administration of the front Austrian provinces, go to 1807 largely lost), prince in 1493, 1400s – 1496 ( older Tyrolean line ) and 1620s – 1665 ( younger Tyrolean line ) ruled by branch lines, 1805 to Bavaria, 1809–1814 to Kr. France, from 1814/15 princes of Tyrol and Vorarlberg , 1861 this separated, 1918 German South Tyrol and Trentino to Italy
Austrian foreland	Ensisheim , from 1648 Freiburg im Breisgau	German	Roman Catholic	Administrative name of the old ancestral lands since the 10th century, whose scattered lands have been forfeited over the centuries, except for Vorarlberg ; from 1446 with Tyrol as Tyrol and the foreland ; Ruled by branch lines 1564–1619 ( Older Tyrolean Line ) and 1623–1665 ( Younger Tyrolean Line ); the other territories later called Vorderösterreich , lost to the Electorates of Baden and Württemberg in 1805 , given up at the Congress of Vienna in 1814/15.	⁽¹⁾
(Princely) County of Gorizia (and Gradisca)	Gorizia	Italians , Slovenes , Germans	Roman Catholic	in the 12th century as a county ( Meinhardiner ), areas in the South Tyrol-Carinthia-Adria area, princes in 1365, parts already in 1364, 1374, 1460 to Habsburg, in 1500 finally bequeathed to Maximilian I , princes in 1504, part of Inner Austria from 1564–1619 . 1747 expanded to the Fürstete Grafschaft Görz und Gradisca ( Fürstete Grafschaft Gradisca 1717 by inheritance to Habsburg); 1809–1814 to the French Empire ( Illyrian provinces ), 1814–1849 to the Austrian kgr. Illyria , then part of the coastal lands , 1867 crown land; 1918 to Italy and Yugoslavia
Archduchy of Austria above the Enns	Linz	German	Roman Catholic , Lutheran	Originally part of the Duchy of Austria; 1458–63 own duchy ( Albrecht VI. , 2nd Habsburg division); from the 16th century onwards part of the country (principality), in 1779 expanded to include parts of eastern Bavaria ( Innviertel ), 1783/84 independent crown land, 1805–1815 western part (Innviertel, Hausruckviertel ) to Bavaria, in 1816 expanded to include the Salzburg district , which in 1849 became the Salzburg crown land
Margraviate of Istria	Mitterburg	Croatians , Italians , Slovenes , Germans ,	Roman Catholic , Lutheran	Conquered by Charlemagne in 789, 803 part of the Margraviate of Friuli , 828 own county, with Friuli ( Mark Aquileia ), 952 to Bavaria , 976 to Carinthia , 1040 margraviate (near the Duchy of Merania ); from the 11th century partly Görzisch ( Grafschaft Mitterburg ), from the 13th century mostly near Aquileia , 1291 the Republic of Venice ; Mitterburg already belonged to the Habsburgs in 1374, total 1797 ( Peace of Campo Formio ), 1809–1813 to the French Empire, 1814–1849 to the Austrian kgr. Illyria , then part of the coastal lands , 1867 crown land with joint administration in Trieste; 1918 to Italy and Yugoslavia
Duchy of Salzburg	Salzburg	German	Roman Catholic (Lutherans 16-18th century exiled )	former Archbishopric of Salzburg : Rupertine Missionary Bishopric 696, 798 Archbishopric, 1328 regional order, around 1350 spiritual imperial principality, secularized in 1803; 1803–1806 Electorate (Habsburger secondary school), 1806–1810 Duchy, loss to Bavaria ( Salzachkreis ) , then from 1816 Salzburgkreis from Austria ob der Enns, 1849 Kronland
Austrian coastal region (littoral)	Trieste	Italians , Slovenes , Germans	Roman Catholic	Acquisitions on the Adriatic from 1366, formed in 1849 as crown land from Görz-Gradisca, Istria and Trieste from the kingdom of Illyria , in 1867 again divided into three crown lands with a common governor and administration in Trieste; 1918 to Italy and Yugoslavia	⁽¹⁾
State of Vorarlberg	Bregenz	German	Roman Catholic	Parts of Upper Austria , from 1814/15 part of Tyrol, 1861 own crown land ( Hohenems , Feldkirch , Bregenz , Sonnenberg etc. , administratively further near Tyrol)

⁽¹⁾ Austro-Hungarian countries, Hugo Ströhl around 1890, with the exception of Upper Austria in 1512 and the coastal region around 1860.

Countries of the Bohemian Crown

The countries of the Bohemian Crown (Czech: Země koruny české ) included Bohemia , Moravia , the county of Glatz and Silesia (from 1742 only Austrian Silesia ) as well as the two Lusatia (two margraviates ceded to Saxony with all sovereign rights in 1635 ) and other neighboring countries. The Bohemian countries were formally linked in a personal union, the King of Bohemia was both Duke of Silesia and Margrave of Moravia. The other countries were incorporated in Bohemia and had titular claims.

The Bohemian crown came to Habsburg, previously at the Jagiełło house , after the battle of Mohács (1526) against the Ottomans, when the estates Ferdinand I , the brother of Emperor Charles V , were elected King of Bohemia. In 1627 Ferdinand II issued the Renewed State Order , in which the Bohemian Crown was declared hereditary. As a result, the Bohemian lands were counted among the Habsburg hereditary lands, both by the Habsburgs themselves and by the Bohemian nobility, and a slow process of integration with the Austrian hereditary lands was set in motion.

From the Compromise in 1867 onwards, the term The Kingdoms and Countries represented in the Imperial Council was used for the countries that remained in the Empire ( Cisleithania ).

As early as 1848, especially in Bohemia, there had been Czech secession tendencies; an Austro-Czech settlement similar to the settlement with Hungary did not materialize, however, because the large German minority in the Bohemian countries refused to come under Czech rule and preferred to be ruled from Vienna. In Moravia there was a balanced Moravian Compromise in 1905 ; In Bohemia, however, instead of cooperation between the nationalities, confrontation prevailed: after its escalation, the Bohemian state parliament was dissolved in 1913. During the First World War , the Imperial and Royal Government saw the opportunity in 1915 to introduce the expression Austrian Lands for all of Cisleithania; parliamentary opposition from the Czechs was not to be feared, since the Reichsrat had been adjourned since 1914.

country	capital city	ethnicities	religion	Remarks
Kingdom of Bohemia	Prague	Bohemians ( Czechs ), Germans	Roman Catholic , Hussites and Anabaptists (15th / 17th century), Lutheran	895 under the Přemyslid duchy, 1085 kingdom, since the 14th century electorate of the Holy Roman Empire , since 1526 with all crown lands part of the Habsburg hereditary lands, dissolved in 1918
Margraviate of Moravia	Brno , formerly also Olomouc	Moravians (Czechs), Germans	Roman Catholic, Hussites and Anabaptists (15th / 17th century), Lutheran	Originated from Greater Moravia around 907 , near Bohemia since 1031
Duchies in Silesia	Breslau , then Opava	Germans, Czechs (Bohemians and Moravians), Poles	Roman Catholic, Lutheran	1138 Polish duchy, from 1249 divided into numerous sub-areas , all of which belong to Bohemia until 1348, the greater part after the division of Silesia as a result of the First Silesian War in 1742 and 1763 Prussian , the rest Austrian Silesia (Upper and Lower Silesia)
Margraviate of Niederlausitz	Luebben	Germans, Sorbs	first Roman Catholic, then Lutheran	Margraviate Lusatia since the 10th century, incorporated into Bohemia in 1370, already largely evangelical around 1540, ceded to the Electorate of Saxony in 1635
Margraviate of Upper Lusatia	Bautzen	Germans, Sorbs	Lutheran, Roman Catholic	from the 12th century as the Land of Budissin for the first time Bohemian, in 1329 again to Bohemia, since the 15th century referred to as Upper Lusatia, ceded to the Electorate of Saxony in 1635

Countries of the Hungarian crown

The countries of the Holy Hungarian St. Stephen's Crown (Hungarian: Szent István Koronájának Országai , Croatian: Zemlje krune Svetog Stjepana , Slovak: Krajiny Svätoštefanskej koruny ) were in what is now Hungary, Slovakia , Ukraine , Romania , Serbia , Croatia , Slovenia and Austria . In contrast to the other parts of the Habsburg Monarchy, these countries or parts of the country were outside the Holy Roman Empire.

The Hungarian state parliament consisted largely of Magyar nobles and had the right to elect the king. A united Diet of the Kingdom of Slavonia and the Kingdom of Croatia also had this right, regardless of Hungary's choice.

In 1687, during the Great Turkish War, the Hungarian Parliament declared the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen to be hereditary. In return, the Habsburgs had to grant the Hungarian nobility considerable concessions: the state parliament had to be convened regularly, Hungary was allowed to govern itself in part, and the nobility were exempt from tax liability. This gave Hungary a special rank within the Habsburg Monarchy, which it was mostly able to maintain until 1867.

In 1867 the Austro-Hungarian compromise took place, with which Hungary achieved full internal independence from 1867–1918. Since then one speaks of Transleithanien .

country	capital city	ethnicities	religion	Remarks
Kingdom of Hungary	Pressburg Buda (German then: oven , from 1784)	Hungarians , Slovaks , Serbs , Germans , Ruthenians , Romanians	Roman Catholic , Greek Catholic , Calvinist	1526–1541 divided between Ferdinand I and Johann Zápolya . 1541–1699 partially occupied by the Ottoman Empire .
Kingdom of Slavonia	Osijek	Croatians , Serbs	Roman Catholic , Greek Orthodox	1526–1699 largely occupied by the Ottoman Empire, united with Croatia in 1849 to form the crown land of Croatia and Slavonia .
Kingdom of Croatia	Agram	Croatians , Serbs	Roman Catholic , Greek Orthodox	1097-1918 mostly personal union , and since 1867 Real Union with the Kingdom of Hungary , 1849 Slavonia to crown land Croatia and Slavonia united.
Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia	Agram	Croatians , Serbs	Roman Catholic , Greek Orthodox	Created in 1849 through the unification of the Kingdoms of Croatia and Slavonia.
City of Fiume with area ( Rijeka )	Fiume	Italians , Croatians , Hungarians		Bought by the Habsburg Monarchy in 1465, transferred to the Hungarian states in 1526, administered for a long time from Graz ( Inner Austria ), 1779 corpus separatum , 1809–1815 with the French kingdom of Italy, 1815 with Austria, 1867 free city of the Hungarian crown, later a county
(Greater) Principality of Transylvania (Transylvania)	Kolozsvár (Cluj -Napoca ) , Nagy-Szeben (Sibiu)	Romanians , Szeklers (Magyars), Transylvanian Saxons (Germans)	Romanian Orthodox , Romanian Greek Catholic , Lutheran , Calvinist , Roman Catholic	Conquered in 1687. Until 1711 under his own prince. Elevated to the Grand Duchy in 1765, part of Hungary in 1867.
Banat	Temesvar	Romanians , Hungarians , Germans , Serbs	Roman Catholic , Serbian Orthodox , Romanian Greek Catholic	Occupied by the Ottoman Empire from 1526–1718. 1718 own crown land , 1779 part of Hungary.
Voivodeship of Serbia and the Temesian Banat		Serbs , Romanians , Germans , Hungarians	Serbian Orthodox , Romanian Greek Catholic	Vojvodina and Banat , 1849 by separation from Hungary and areas of the Serbian military border, 1849 own crown land, 1860 divided between Hungary and Croatia-Slavonia.

Other countries

In addition to the areas that the Habsburgs inherited after the death of Ludwig II , other areas were also joined to the Austrian Habsburg monarchy between 1526 and 1804. Some were conquered by the Ottoman Empire , others were acquired after the Spanish Habsburgs died out. Galicia came to the House of Austria through the partition of Poland . The Grand Duchy of Tuscany , the Duchy of Parma and the Duchy of Modena were temporarily ruled by the Habsburgs (as secundogenitures ), but did not form part of their monarchy, which was mostly ruled from Vienna.