The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council Die im Reichsrat vertretenen Königreiche und Länder (German) | |
|---|---|
| 1867–1918 | |
| Motto: Indivisibiliter ac inseparabiliter (Latin for 'Indivisibly and inseparably') | |
| Anthem: None Imperial anthem Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze (English: God preserve, God protect) | |
 Cisleithania (pink) within Austria-Hungary, the other parts beingTransleithania (green) and theCondominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina (blue) | |
 Map of the Leitha with the demarcation of Cis- and Transleithania (coloured) and the current borders (black) | |
| Status | Constituent ofAustria-Hungary |
| Capital and largest city | Vienna |
| Common languages | |
| Government | Constitutional monarchy |
| Emperor(of Austria) | |
• 1867–1916 | Franz Joseph I |
• 1916–1918 | Karl I |
| Minister-President | |
• 1867–1868 | Prince Karl of Auersperg (first) |
• 1918 | Heinrich Lammasch (last) |
| Legislature | Imperial Council |
| House of Lords | |
| House of Deputies | |
| Historical era | New Imperialism |
| 30 March 1867 | |
| 31 October 1918 | |
| 11 November 1918 | |
• Monarchy abolished | 12 November 1918 |
| Area | |
• Total | 300,005 km2 (115,833 sq mi) |
| Currency | |
| ISO 3166 code | AT |
Cisleithania,[a] officiallyThe Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council (German:Die im Reichsrat vertretenen Königreiche und Länder), was the northern and western part ofAustria-Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in theCompromise of 1867—as distinguished fromTransleithania (i.e., the HungarianLands of the Crown of Saint Stephen east of ["beyond"] theLeitha River). This name for the region was a common, but unofficial one.
The Cisleithanian capital wasVienna, the residence of theAustrian emperor. The territory had a population of 28,571,900 in 1910. It reached fromVorarlberg in the west to theKingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and theDuchy of Bukovina (today part ofUkraine andRomania) in the east, as well as from theKingdom of Bohemia in the north to theKingdom of Dalmatia (today part ofCroatia andMontenegro) in the south. It comprised the currentStates of Austria (except forBurgenland), as well as most of the territories of theCzech Republic andSlovenia (except forPrekmurje), southernPoland,Trieste,Gorizia,Tarvisio,Trentino, andSouth Tyrol,Croatia,Istria,Dalmatia,Montenegro (Kotor Bay),Romania (SouthernBukovina), andUkraine (Northern Bukovina andGalicia).
TheLatin nameCisleithania derives from that of theLeitha River,[1] a tributary of theDanube forming the historical boundary between theArchduchy of Austria and the Hungarian Kingdom in the area southeast ofVienna (on the way toBudapest). Much of its territory lay west (or, from a Viennese perspective, on "this" side) of the Leitha.
After the constitutional changes of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Cisleithaniancrown lands (Kronländer) continued to constitute theAustrian Empire, but the latter term was rarely used to avoid confusion with the era before 1867, when theKingdom of Hungary had been a constituent part of that empire. The somewhat cumbersome official name wasDie im Reichsrat vertretenen Königreiche und Länder ("The Kingdoms and Lands represented in theImperial Council"). The phrase was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status until 1915; the press and the general public seldom used it and then with a derogatory connotation. In general, the lands were just called Austria, but the term "Austrian lands" (Österreichische Länder) originally did not apply to theLands of the Bohemian Crown (i.e.,Bohemia proper, theMargraviate of Moravia andDuchy of Silesia) or to the territories annexed in the 18th-centuryPartitions of Poland (Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria) or the formerVenetian Dalmatia (Kingdom of Dalmatia).
From 1867, theKingdom of Hungary, theKingdom of Croatia, theKingdom of Slavonia and thePrincipality of Transylvania were no longer "Austrian" crown lands. Rather, they constituted an autonomous state, officially called the "Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St Stephen" (Hungarian:Szent István Koronájának Országai orA Magyar Szent Korona Országai,German:Länder der Heiligen Ungarischen Stephanskrone) and commonly known asTransleithania or just Hungary. TheCondominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina, occupied in 1878, formed a separate part. Both the "Austrian" and "Hungarian" lands of the Dual Monarchy had largeSlavic-settled territories in the north (Czechs,Slovaks,Poles andRuthenians) as well as in the south (Slovenes,Croats andSerbs).
Cisleithania consisted of 15 crown lands which had representatives in the Imperial Council (Reichsrat), the Cisleithanian parliament in Vienna. The crown lands centered on theArchduchy of Austria (Erzherzogtum Österreich) were not states, but provinces in the modern sense.[citation needed] However, they were areas with unique historic political and legal characteristics and were therefore more than mere administrative districts.[citation needed] They have been conceived of as "historical-political entities".[citation needed]
Each crown land had a regional assembly, theLandtag, which enacted laws (Landesgesetze) on matters of regional and mostly minor importance. Until 1848, theLandtage had been traditionaldiets (assemblies of theestates of the realm). They were disbanded after theRevolutions of 1848 and reformed after 1860. Some members held their position asex officio members (e.g., bishops), while others were elected. There was no universal and equal suffrage, but a mixture of privilege and limited franchise. The executive committee of a Landtag was calledLandesausschuss and headed by aLandeshauptmann, being president of the Landtag as well.
From 1868 onwards EmperorFranz Joseph himself (in his function as monarch of a crown land, being king, archduke, grandduke, duke or count) and hisImperial–Royal (k.k.) government headed by theMinister-President of Austria were represented at the capital cities of the crown lands—except for Vorarlberg which was administered with Tyrol, and Istria and Gorizia-Gradisca which were administered together with Trieste under the common name of Austro-Illyrian Littoral— by astadtholder (Statthalter), in few crown lands calledLandespräsident, who acted as chief executive.
Archduchy of Austria above the Enns(unofficially Upper Austria)
Archduchy of Austria below the Enns(unofficially Lower Austria)
Grand Duchy of Kraków(Subdivision of Galicia and Lodomeria)
Duchy of Bukovina
Duchy of Carinthia
Duchy of Carniola
Duchy of Salzburg
Duchy of Silesia(Land of the Bohemian Crown)
Duchy of Styria
Margraviate of Istria(Part of theAustrian Littoral)
Margraviate of Moravia(Land of the Bohemian Crown)
Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca(Part of the Austrian Littoral)Princely County of Tyrol
Princely County of Vorarlberg
Free City of Trieste(Part of the Austrian Littoral)
Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina(Governed Jointly byCisleithania andTransleithania) from 1878According to the "December Constitution", a redraft of the emperor's 1861February Patent, the Austrian government was generally responsible in all affairs concerning the Cisleithanian lands, except for the commonAustro-Hungarian Army, theAustro-Hungarian Navy and theForeign Ministry, thesek.u.k. matters remained reserved for the Imperial and Royal Ministers' Council for Common Affairs of Austria-Hungary.
The AustrianReichsrat, abicameral legislature implemented in 1861, became the Cisleithanian parliament. Originally consisting of delegates of theLandtage, in 1873 direct election of the House of Deputies (Abgeordnetenhaus) was introduced with a four-class franchisesuffrage for male landowners and bourgeois. Equal, direct, secret and universal suffrage—for men—was not introduced until a 1907 electoral reform. In thisLower House (with 353 members in 1873 and 516 in 1907), at first German-speaking deputies dominated, but with the extension of the suffrage the Slavs gained a majority. Anethnic nationalist struggle between German-speaking and Slavic deputies, especially in the context of theCzech National Revival, was played out. Leaders of the movement likeFrantišek Palacký advocated theemancipation of the Slavic population within the Monarchy (Austroslavism), while politicians of theYoung Czech Party principally denied the right of theReichsrat to put any decisions relevant for the "Czech lands", and used means of filibustering as well as absence to torpedo its work. They were antagonized[dubious –discuss] by radicalGerman nationalists led byGeorg von Schönerer, demanding the dissolution of the Monarchy and the unification of the "German Austrian" lands with theGerman Empire.
After 1893, nok.k. government was able to rely on a parliamentary majority. Nevertheless, Polish members of parliament and politicians likeCount Kasimir Felix Badeni achieved some success involving Galician Poles by special regulations for this "developing country"; thence thePolenklub played a constructive role most of the time. Politics were frequently paralysed because of the tensions between different nationalities. When Czech obstruction at the Reichsrat prevented the parliament from working, the emperor went on to rule autocratically through imperial decrees (Kaiserliche Verordnungen) submitted by his government. TheReichsrat was prorogued in March 1914 at the behest of Minister-President CountKarl von Stürgkh, it did not meet during theJuly Crisis and was not reconvened until May 1917, after the accession of EmperorKarl in 1916.
For representation in matters relevant to the wholereal union of Austria-Hungary (foreign affairs, defence, and the financing thereof) theReichsrat appointed delegations of 60 members to discuss these matters parallel to Hungarian delegations of the same size and to come, in separate votes, to the same conclusion on the recommendation of the responsible common ministry. In Cisleithania, the 60 delegates consisted of 40 elected members of the House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus) and 20 members of the Upper House (Herrenhaus). The delegations convened simultaneously, both either in Vienna or in Budapest, though spatially divided. In case of not getting the same decision in three attempts, the law permitted the summoning of a common session of both delegations and the eventual counting of the votes in total, but the Hungarians, who averted any Imperial "roof" over their part of the dual monarchy, as well as the common ministers, carefully avoided reaching this situation. Austria-Hungary as a common entity did not have its ownjurisdiction and legislative power, which was shaped by the fact that there was no common parliament. The common diplomatic and military affairs were managed by delegations from the Imperial Council and the Hungarian parliament. According to the compromise, the members of the delegates from the two parliaments had no right to debate, they had no right to introduce new perspectives and own ideas during the meetings, they were nothing more than the extended arms of their own parliaments. All decisions had to be ratified by the Imperial council in Vienna and by the Hungarian parliament in Budapest. Without the Austrian and Hungarian parliamentary ratifications, the decisions of the delegates were not valid in Austria or in Kingdom of Hungary.[2]
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The largest group within Cisleithania wereAustrianGermans (includingYiddish-speakingJews), who made up around a third of the population. German-speakers andCzechs made up a majority of the population.[3] Almost 60% of Cisleithania's population was ethnically Slavic.
| Ethnicity | % of total population |
|---|---|
| Germans | 33% |
| Czechs | 22% |
| Poles | 15% |
| Ruthenians (Ukrainians) | 12% |
| Slovenes | 5% |
| Italians | 3% |
| Croats | 3% |
| Other | 7% |
| Source:Allgemeines Verzeichnis der Ortsgemeinden und Ortschaften Österreichs nach den Ergebnissen der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1910 (ed. by K.K. Statistische Zentralkommission, Vienna, 1915) (the latest Austriangazetteer, register of political communities, giving the results of the 1910 census) | |
Religion groups in Cisleithania included Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, Evangelicals, Muslims and Jews. Roman Catholics were the largest religious group in the country that accounted for 79% of the population. While on the other hand, Greek Catholics accounted for 12% of the population. In the Austrian half, Orthodox church had 770,000 believers mostly concentrated in Dalmatia and Bukovina which represented 2.3% of the population. The Evengelical churches had 600,000 believers that represented 2% of the population in Cisleithania. Muslims, predominantly Sunni, became the citizens of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after the occupation in 1878 and later annexation in 1908. At the time they were called the Mohammedans and they were accounted for 1.2% of the population. Jews, according to the resource, represented 4.6% of the whole Austro-Hungarian population.[4]
