Cisleithania
Encyclopedia
Cisleithania was a name of the Austria
n part of Austria-Hungary
, the Dual Monarchy created in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. The name was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status. The Cisleithanian lands continued to constitute the Empire of Austria
, but the latter term was rarely used after 1867, to avoid confusion with the era before 1867, when Hungary had been part of that empire. The somewhat cumbersome official name was Die im Reichsrat
vertretenen Königreiche und Länder (The Kingdoms and States represented in the Imperial Council). In general the country was just called Austria, this term only replacing the former official name in 1915.
The Cisleithanian capital was Vienna
. The territory had a population of 28,571,900 in 1910 and reached from the Duchy of Bukovina (today parts of Ukraine
and Romania
) to the Kingdom of Dalmatia
(today part of Croatia
).
The Latin
name Cisleithania derives from the Leitha river, being the historical boundary between Austria and Hungary in the area southeast of Vienna
— much of its territory lay west (or on "this" side, from an Austrian perspective) of it. Transleithania, the lands of the Kingdom of Hungary
in the Dual Monarchy, lay to the east across the Leitha river.
(Cisleithanian parliament). The crown lands were not states, but provinces in the modern sense. However, they were areas with unique historic political and legal characteristics and were therefore more than mere administrative districts. They have been conceived of as "historical-political entities".
After the consititutional changes of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Hungary
and Croatia
were no longer crown lands. Rather, they constituted a separate state, officially called the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown and commonly known as Transleithania or just Hungary.
, with the exclusion of Vorarlberg, which was administered like a district of Tyrol. The Landtags enacted laws (Landesgesetze) on matters of regional and mostly minor importance. The executive committee of a Landtag was called Landesausschuss and headed by a Landeshauptmann
, being president of the Landtag as well. From 1868 onwards the Emperor himself (in his function as monarch of a crown land, being king, archduke, grandduke, duke or count) and his I. R. government were represented at the capital cities of the crown lands by a stadtholder
(Statthalter), in few crown lands called Landespräsident, who acted as chief executive.
Until 1848, the Landtags were traditional diets
(assemblies of the estates of the realm
). They were disbanded after the Revolutions of 1848
and reformed after 1860 in a new form. Some members held their position as ex 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 Reichsrat
, parliament of Cisleithania, from 1867 consisted of delegates of the Landtags. In 1873, direct election of the Reichsrat was introduced with suffrage for male bourgeois and equal, direct, secret and universal suffrage
for men was introduced in 1907.
In the Reichsrat (with 353 members in 1873 and 516 in 1907), a nationalist struggle between the Germans and the Slavs of the Empire, especially the Czechs, was played out. The Czechs principally denied the right of the Reichsrat to put decisions relevant for the Bohemian Lands, and used means of obstruction as well as absence to torpedo the Reichsrat's work. The I. R. government was wise enough to please Galician Poles by special regulations for this "developing country"; the Polish members of parliament thence played a constructive role most of the time. In the Reichsrat, at first Germans dominated, but with the extension of the suffrage the Slavs gained a majority after the 1907 electoral reform.
Politics were frequently paralysed because of the tensions between different nationalities. When Czech obstruction at the Reichsrat prevented the parliament from working, Emperor Franz Joseph
had to rule autocratically through imperial decrees (Kaiserliche Verordnung) submitted by his government. The Reichsrat was prorogued in March 1914 and did not meet again until May 1917, after the accession of Karl I
in 1916.
For representation in matters relevant to the whole of Austria-Hungary (foreign affairs, defence, and the financing thereof) the Reichsrat appointed a delegation of 60 members to discuss these matters parallel to a Hungarian delegation of the same size and to come, in separate votes, to the same conclusion on the recommendation of the responsible common minister. In Cisleithania, the 60 delegates consisted of 40 elected members of the House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus) and 20 members of the Upper House (Herrenhaus). 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
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n part of Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
, the Dual Monarchy created in 1867 and dissolved in 1918. The name was used by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status. The Cisleithanian lands continued to constitute the Empire of Austria
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
, but the latter term was rarely used after 1867, to avoid confusion with the era before 1867, when Hungary had been part of that empire. The somewhat cumbersome official name was Die im Reichsrat
Reichsrat (Austria)
The Imperial Council of Austria from 1867 to 1918 was the parliament of the Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of the Herrenhaus and the Abgeordnetenhaus...
vertretenen Königreiche und Länder (The Kingdoms and States represented in the Imperial Council). In general the country was just called Austria, this term only replacing the former official name in 1915.
The Cisleithanian capital was Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
. The territory had a population of 28,571,900 in 1910 and reached from the Duchy of Bukovina (today parts of Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
and Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
) to the Kingdom of Dalmatia
Kingdom of Dalmatia
The Kingdom of Dalmatia was an administrative division of the Habsburg Monarchy from 1815 to 1918. Its capital was Zadar.-History:...
(today part of Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
).
The Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
name Cisleithania derives from the Leitha river, being the historical boundary between Austria and Hungary in the area southeast of Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
— much of its territory lay west (or on "this" side, from an Austrian perspective) of it. Transleithania, the lands of the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
in the Dual Monarchy, lay to the east across the Leitha river.
Crown lands
Cisleithania consisted of 15 crown lands which had representatives in the ReichsratReichsrat (Austria)
The Imperial Council of Austria from 1867 to 1918 was the parliament of the Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of the Herrenhaus and the Abgeordnetenhaus...
(Cisleithanian parliament). The crown lands were not states, but provinces in the modern sense. However, they were areas with unique historic political and legal characteristics and were therefore more than mere administrative districts. They have been conceived of as "historical-political entities".
After the consititutional changes of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary comprised present-day Hungary, Slovakia and Croatia , Transylvania , Carpatho Ruthenia , Vojvodina , Burgenland , and other smaller territories surrounding present-day Hungary's borders...
and Croatia
Kingdom of Croatia
Kingdom of Croatia can refer to:* Kingdom of Croatia * Kingdom of Croatia * Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia...
were no longer crown lands. Rather, they constituted a separate state, officially called the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown and commonly known as Transleithania or just Hungary.
| State | German name | Capital | # |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria, Lower Archduchy of Austria The Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire... |
Niederösterreich | Wien Vienna Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre... (Vienna) |
8 |
| Austria, Upper Archduchy of Austria The Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire... |
Oberösterreich | Linz Linz Linz is the third-largest city of Austria and capital of the state of Upper Austria . It is located in the north centre of Austria, approximately south of the Czech border, on both sides of the river Danube. The population of the city is , and that of the Greater Linz conurbation is about... |
14 |
| Bohemia Kingdom of Bohemia The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country located in the region of Bohemia in Central Europe, most of whose territory is currently located in the modern-day Czech Republic. The King was Elector of Holy Roman Empire until its dissolution in 1806, whereupon it became part of the Austrian Empire, and... |
Böhmen | Prag Prague Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million... (Prague) |
1 |
| Bukovina | Bukowina | Czernowitz (Cernauti) | 2 |
| Carinthia Duchy of Carinthia The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was separated from the Duchy of Bavaria in 976, then the first newly created Imperial State beside the original German stem duchies.... |
Kärnten | Klagenfurt Klagenfurt -Name:Carinthia's eminent linguists Primus Lessiak and Eberhard Kranzmayer assumed that the city's name, which literally translates as "ford of lament" or "ford of complaints", had something to do with the superstitious thought that fateful fairies or demons tend to live around treacherous waters... |
3 |
| Carniola Duchy of Carniola The Duchy of Carniola was an administrative unit of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy from 1364 to 1918. Its capital was Ljubljana... |
Krain | Laibach Ljubljana Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants... (Ljubljana) |
4 |
| Dalmatia Kingdom of Dalmatia The Kingdom of Dalmatia was an administrative division of the Habsburg Monarchy from 1815 to 1918. Its capital was Zadar.-History:... |
Dalmatien | Zara Zadar Zadar is a city in Croatia on the Adriatic Sea. It is the centre of Zadar county and the wider northern Dalmatian region. Population of the city is 75,082 citizens... (Zadar) |
5 |
| Galicia and Lodomeria Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was a crownland of the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire, and Austria–Hungary from 1772 to 1918 .This historical region in eastern Central Europe is currently divided between Poland and Ukraine... |
Galizien und Lodomerien | Lemberg Lviv Lviv is a city in western Ukraine. The city is regarded as one of the main cultural centres of today's Ukraine and historically has also been a major Polish and Jewish cultural center, as Poles and Jews were the two main ethnicities of the city until the outbreak of World War II and the following... (Lviv) |
6 |
| Littoral Austrian Littoral The Austrian Littoral was established as a crown land of the Austrian Empire in 1849. In 1861 it was divided into the three crown lands of the Imperial Free City of Trieste and its suburbs, the Margraviate of Istria, and the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, which each had separate... |
Küstenland | Triest Trieste Trieste is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south and east of the city... (Trieste) |
7 |
| Moravia March of Moravia The March or Margraviate of Moravia, was a marcher state, sometimes de facto independent and varyingly within the power of the Duchy, later Kingdom of Bohemia... |
Mähren | Brünn Brno Brno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District... (Brno) |
9 |
| Salzburg Duchy of Salzburg The Duchy of Salzburg was a Cisleithanian Kronland of the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary from 1849–1918. Its capital was Salzburg, while other towns in the duchy included Zell am See and Gastein.... |
Salzburg Salzburg -Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for... |
10 | |
| Silesia Austrian Silesia Austrian Silesia , officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia was an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Empire, from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary... |
Schlesien | Troppau Opava Opava is a city in the northern Czech Republic on the river Opava, located to the north-west of Ostrava. The historical capital of Czech Silesia, Opava is now in the Moravian-Silesian Region and has a population of 59,843 as of January 1, 2005.... (Opava) |
11 |
| Styria Duchy of Styria The history of Styria concerns the region roughly corresponding to the modern Austrian state of Styria and the Slovene region of Styria from its settlement by Germans and Slavs in the Dark Ages until the present... |
Steiermark | Graz Graz The more recent population figures do not give the whole picture as only people with principal residence status are counted and people with secondary residence status are not. Most of the people with secondary residence status in Graz are students... |
12 |
| Tyrol County of Tyrol The County of Tyrol, Princely County from 1504, was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, from 1814 a province of the Austrian Empire and from 1867 a Cisleithanian crown land of Austria-Hungary... |
Tirol | Innsbruck Innsbruck - Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus... |
13 |
| Vorarlberg Vorarlberg Vorarlberg is the westernmost federal-state of Austria. Although it is the second smallest in terms of area and population , it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein... |
Bregenz Bregenz -Culture:The annual summer music festival Bregenzer Festspiele is a world-famous festival which takes place on and around a stage on Lake Constance, where a different opera is performed every second year.-Sport:* A1 Bregenz HB is a handball team.... |
15 |
Politics
Each crown land had a regional assembly, the LandtagLandtag
A Landtag is a representative assembly or parliament in German-speaking countries with some legislative authority.- Name :...
, with the exclusion of Vorarlberg, which was administered like a district of Tyrol. The Landtags enacted laws (Landesgesetze) on matters of regional and mostly minor importance. The executive committee of a Landtag was called Landesausschuss and headed by a Landeshauptmann
Landeshauptmann
Landeshauptmann is a former German gubernatorial title equivalent to that of a governor of a province or a state....
, being president of the Landtag as well. From 1868 onwards the Emperor himself (in his function as monarch of a crown land, being king, archduke, grandduke, duke or count) and his I. R. government were represented at the capital cities of the crown lands by a stadtholder
Stadtholder
A Stadtholder A Stadtholder A Stadtholder (Dutch: stadhouder [], "steward" or "lieutenant", literally place holder, holding someones place, possibly a calque of German Statthalter, French lieutenant, or Middle Latin locum tenens...
(Statthalter), in few crown lands called Landespräsident, who acted as chief executive.
Until 1848, the Landtags were traditional diets
Diet (assembly)
In politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is mainly used historically for the Imperial Diet, the general assembly of the Imperial Estates of the Holy Roman Empire, and for the legislative bodies of certain countries.-Etymology:...
(assemblies of the estates of the realm
Estates of the realm
The Estates of the realm were the broad social orders of the hierarchically conceived society, recognized in the Middle Ages and Early Modern period in Christian Europe; they are sometimes distinguished as the three estates: the clergy, the nobility, and commoners, and are often referred to by...
). They were disbanded after the Revolutions of 1848
Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas
From March 1848 through July 1849, the Habsburg Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrian Germans, Hungarians, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians,...
and reformed after 1860 in a new form. Some members held their position as ex 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 Reichsrat
Reichsrat (Austria)
The Imperial Council of Austria from 1867 to 1918 was the parliament of the Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was a bicameral legislature, consisting of the Herrenhaus and the Abgeordnetenhaus...
, parliament of Cisleithania, from 1867 consisted of delegates of the Landtags. In 1873, direct election of the Reichsrat was introduced with suffrage for male bourgeois and equal, direct, secret and universal suffrage
Suffrage
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply the franchise, distinct from mere voting rights, is the civil right to vote gained through the democratic process...
for men was introduced in 1907.
In the Reichsrat (with 353 members in 1873 and 516 in 1907), a nationalist struggle between the Germans and the Slavs of the Empire, especially the Czechs, was played out. The Czechs principally denied the right of the Reichsrat to put decisions relevant for the Bohemian Lands, and used means of obstruction as well as absence to torpedo the Reichsrat's work. The I. R. government was wise enough to please Galician Poles by special regulations for this "developing country"; the Polish members of parliament thence played a constructive role most of the time. In the Reichsrat, at first Germans dominated, but with the extension of the suffrage the Slavs gained a majority after the 1907 electoral reform.
Politics were frequently paralysed because of the tensions between different nationalities. When Czech obstruction at the Reichsrat prevented the parliament from working, Emperor Franz Joseph
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
had to rule autocratically through imperial decrees (Kaiserliche Verordnung) submitted by his government. The Reichsrat was prorogued in March 1914 and did not meet again until May 1917, after the accession of Karl I
Karl I of Austria
Charles I of Austria or Charles IV of Hungary was the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the last Emperor of Austria, the last King of Hungary, the last King of Bohemia and Croatia and the last King of Galicia and Lodomeria and the last monarch of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine...
in 1916.
For representation in matters relevant to the whole of Austria-Hungary (foreign affairs, defence, and the financing thereof) the Reichsrat appointed a delegation of 60 members to discuss these matters parallel to a Hungarian delegation of the same size and to come, in separate votes, to the same conclusion on the recommendation of the responsible common minister. In Cisleithania, the 60 delegates consisted of 40 elected members of the House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus) and 20 members of the Upper House (Herrenhaus). 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.
Population
| Ethnicity | % of total population |
|---|---|
| Germans | 33% |
| Czechs | 22% |
| Poles Poles thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe... |
15% |
| Ruthenians Ukrainians Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens... (Ukrainians) |
12% |
| Slovenes | 5% |
| Italians | 3% |
| Croats Croats Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 4 million Croats living inside Croatia and up to 4.5 million throughout the rest of the world. Responding to political, social and economic pressure, many Croats have... |
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 Austrian gazetteer Gazetteer A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or directory, an important reference for information about places and place names , used in conjunction with a map or a full atlas. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup of a country, region, or continent as well as the social... , register of political communities, giving the results of the 1910 census) |
|