kuk joint ministries

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The three ministries of Austria-Hungary were designated as joint ministries or Austro-Hungarian ministries , which were responsible for the defined common affairs of both halves of the empire in the sense of a real union after the compromise in 1867 . They were called kuk (imperial and royal); "Imperial" stood for the remaining part of the Austrian Empire , now officially the kingdoms and countries represented in the Imperial Council and called Cisleithanien or Austria for short , "royal" stood for the countries of the Hungarian Crown , called Transleithanien or Hungary for short.

With the settlement, which was codified in the Cisleithan December constitution in 1867 (especially in the Delegation Act ) and in identical transleithan legal articles, instead of the previous unitary state, two states emerged (in Cisleithania often called "halves of the empire") that regulated their internal affairs independently. The compromise between Franz Joseph I and Hungary stipulated that foreign policy and warfare as prerogatives of the monarch were to be administered by imperial and royal ministries and that the financing of both areas was also to be provided by an imperial and royal ministry. (The Austro-Hungarian Navy , administered in the War Ministry, later sought its own joint Navy Ministry; however, the representatives of Hungary did not agree to this proposal.)

The following were stipulated as ministries of both halves of the empire in the delegation laws of Cis and Transleithania (the term delegation here meant that a matter which one state normally had to regulate alone was delegated to a supranational authority):

  • the Ministry of the Imperial and Royal House and Foreign Affairs , the head of which also acted as chairman of the joint council of ministers when the monarch did not preside (see list of incumbents here )
  • the Reich Ministry of War , from September 20, 1911 k. u. k. War Ministry (see list of incumbents here )
  • the Reich Ministry of Finance , from July 14, 1903 joint Ministry of Finance , only intended to finance foreign policy, joint army and navy (see list of office holders here )

The three joint ministers were appointed and dismissed by the emperor and king in contact with, but without an official proposal from the two prime ministers. According to the constitution, the emperor and king were not allowed to appoint joint ministers in addition to cisleithan or transleithan ministers.

The three common ministers formed the Council of Ministers for Common Affairs with the Prime Ministers of both halves of the Reich . The foreign minister presided over it. The chief of staff of the joint army mostly took part. In important cases, the monarch himself took the chair at his own discretion.

The legal basis for the three joint ministries ended on October 31, 1918. On this date, the Kingdom of Hungary, with the consent of the monarch, left the real union with imperial Austria , which thus became a personal union. This ended with the waiver that Karl I./IV. as a monarch on November 11 and 13, 1918.

See also

Lists of ministers:

Such as:

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ § 5 Law of December 21, 1867, concerning matters common to all countries of the Austrian monarchy and the way they are dealt with , RGBl. No. 146/1867 (= p. 402)