Review article
THE 1903 CRISIS OF DUALISM IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
Livia Kardum
; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Bruno Korea Gajski
; Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia
Abstract
The paper deals with the political crisis of dualism in multi-ethnic Austria-
-Hungary caused by the strengthening political opposition of Hungarian magnates
in the Hungarian Parliament, who demanded the introduction of the
Hungarian language as command language of the Hungarian troops. The implication
thereof was a separation of the joint army and a disproval of the joint
supreme commander, Emperor Franz Josef. The Hungarian language issue
was therefore primarily political, and in the final instance it meant further
weakening of connections with the Western part of the Monarchy until the final
Hungarian secession, but also a possibility of further Hungarisation within
the Hungarian borders. The Emperor opposed this by announcing a new electoral
law aimed at depriving the Hungarian minority of its supremacy over the
non-Hungarian majority in Hungary. He was supported by the liberal party
led by Istvan Tisza, who rightly estimated that dualism was first and foremost
protective of Hungarian interests in Hungary. Fear of the new electoral law
sobered up the Hungarian nationalists and they gave up on the revision of
the Austro-Hungarian compromise. Subsequently, the Emperor, driven by immediate
political interests, decided not to enact the law on universal suffrage
in Hungary despite the fact that, under certain favourable political circumstances,
which were, unfortunately, lacking, precisely such a law could potentially
have become the foundation not for bringing down, but for preserving
Austria-Hungary.
Keywords
Austro-Hungarian compromise; Emperor Franz Josef I; István Tisza; Austro-Hungarian army; language of command in the Austro-Hungarian army; electoral law in Hungary
Hrčak ID:
84665
URI
Publication date:
6.6.2012.
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