The History of the Habsburg Empire 1700-1918

This is the eagerly awaited second volume of Jean Bérenger's history of the Habsburgs. It covers the last two centuries of their rule and provides a compelling account of the fluctuations of Habsburg dynastic power and its disintegration after World War One. Bérenger gives a rich portrait of Habsburg greatness under Maria Theresa and Joseph II and shows how their successors proved more adroit at riding the tide of nationalism in their multi-ethnic empire than is often recognised. Cover 1 Half Title 2 Title Page 4 Copyright Page 5 Table of Contents 6 List of Maps and Tables 10 Introduction: The Habsburg Inheritance (1273-1700) 12 1. The War of the Spanish Succession (1665-1713) 16 The dynastic problem 16 The First Partition Treaty (1668) 18 Franco-German rivalry 19 The Second Partition Treaty (1689) 21 The Third Partition Treaty (1700) 23 The Grand Alliance of the Hague (1701) 25 The forces face-to-face 27 The Hungarian War of Independence (1702-11) 28 Joseph I (1705-11) 31 The end of the Hungarian conflict: the compromise of Szatmár (1711) 32 Utrecht (1713) 33 2. The Achievement of Charles VI (1711-40) 37 The last baroque sovereign 37 Charles VI and prince Eugene 39 The peace with France 39 The Austro-Turkish war (1716-18) 41 The Treaty of Passarowitz (1718) 42 The Austro-Spanish Conflict (1717-19) 42 Charles VI's economic policy 43 The Pragmatic Sanction (1713) 44 The War of the Polish Succession (1733-38) 46 The Austro-Turkish war 48 3. A Great Power on a Fragile Basis 51 The imperial army 51 The weaknesses of the imperial army 55 Attempts at financial reform: the work of Gundaker von Starhemberg 57 Earlier attempts at rectifying the monarchy's finances (1665-75) 58 The mistakes of Charles VI 60 The nationalities 60 State-right and linguistic pluralism 64 4. The Accession of Maria-Theresa and the Crisis of 1740 67 The crisis of 1740 67 The character of Maria-Theresa (1717-80) 71 Haugwitz's reforms (1749) 74 The birth of the modern state 75 5. The Age of the Enlightenment and Austrian Society 78 Jansenism 79 Reformkatholizismus 80 The reform of the censorship 81 Jansenist circles 83 Books and periodicals 84 The spread of the Enlightenment 85 The principal themes of reflection 87 6. The Reforms of Maria-Theresa and the Consolidation of the State 91 The Seven Years War 91 Kaunitz's reforms 95 Economic policy 98 Maria-Theresa and the condition of the peasantry 100 The advance of public education 103 The foreign policy of the co-regency (1765-80) 105 7. Joseph II, Enlightened Despot 110 The centralized and unified state 110 Joseph II: pater patriae or philanthropist 116 8. Leopold II and the End of the Enlightenment (1790-92) 121 Peter Leopold, an enlightened despot 121 Leopold II and Hungary 125 The state of the monarchy in 1792] 128 Vienna, a European city 130 9. Austria Confronts the French Revolution (1792-1815) 136 The domestic response 137 The war with France (1792-1815) 140 Metternich 143 The Congress of Vienna (1814-15) 144 10. The Age of Metternich (1815-48) 149 Metternich and Europe: the Holy Alliance 149 Metternich's domestic policies 152 The awakening of the nationalities: the Slavs 156 The Hungarians 158 Economic progress in the Empire 159 Vienna in the age of Biedermeie 163 11. The Revolution of 1848 167 The ideological foundations of the revolution 167 Events 171 The reforms 175 The reaction 178 Francis Joseph (1848-1916) 179 The Hungarian War of Independence (1849) 181 12. The Rearguard Fights Back (1849-67) 185 The triumph of the forces of conservatism 185 The privileged army 189 The achievements of neo-absolutism 193 The constitutional reforms of 1860-61 196 13. 1866, The Decisive Year 202 German politics in the neo-absolutist era 202 The Crimean War and the eastern crisis (1853-55)] 206 The war in Italy 207 The duchies 208 The origins of the Austro-Prussian war (1866) 209 The forces confront each other 211 Operations 213 The Battle of Sadowa (3 July 1866) 214 The attitude of the French government 216 Austrian irresolution (July 1866) 217 The Nikolsburg Armistice 218 14. The Austro-Hungarian Compromise (1867) 220 The diploma of 1860 220 The Compromise of 1867 221 The modernization of the Austro-Hungarian empire 221 Universal suffrage 222 The nationalities question 224 State-right and the historic nations 225 The irredentist movements 229 The consequences of the Compromise 230 15. Economic Expansion During the Reign of Francis Joseph 236 The situation in 1913 243 The population 245 16. Political Life from 1867 to 1914 247 The liberal era (1867-79) 248 The Hungarian liberals in power 251 The cabinet of Kálmán Tísza (1875-90) 252 The new political forces 255 The Christian social phenomenon 258 The nationalities question 259 The work of the conservatives (1879-1914) 260 The Austro-Hungarian constitutional conflict of 1905 262 Changes in mentality: pan-Germanism 262 17. The Monarchy During the First World War 266 Austria-Hungary in 1914, an economic power 268 The elements of cohesion 270 Military catastrophe 272 The conduct of the war 273 The evolution of mentalities 275 Economic catastrophe 277 1918, the year of defeat 279 18. Finis Austriae: Dissolved or Put to Death? 283 The death of Francis Joseph 283 The emperor Charles I (1916-18) 287 Attempts at a separate peace 289 Political catastrophe 292 The reasons for the break-up 295 Conclusion 301 A German dynasty (1273-1555) 301 Universal monarchy and the empire of Charles V (1519-55) 302 The Empire divided (1556-1700) 303 Habsburg-Lorraine (1740-1918) 305 The Habsburgs and the French Revolution 306 The break-up of Austria-Hungary 307 Chronology 308 Glossary of German Terms 313 Bibliography 317 Guide to Further Reading in English 322 Maps and Genealogical Tables 329 Index 339 This is the first part of a two-volume history of the Habsburg Empire from its medieval origins to its dismemberment in the First World War. The second part, on the Habsburg Empire from 1700 to 1918, is now in preparation. The present volume, which is self-contained, meets a long-felt need for a systematic survey in English of the Habsburgs and their lands in the late medieval and early modern period. While it is primarily concerned with the lands and peoples of central and northern Europe who had been brought under the personal rule of the Habsburg dynasty by the end of the Middle Ages - most notably the Austrians, Germans, Czechs and Hungarians - the history of the Spanish Habsburgs in Spain and the Netherlands is also covered in sufficient detail to show the reader how the fortunes of the Austrian and Spanish branches of the family were interlinked. The family history of the Habsburgs themselves is skillfully interwoven with the processes of state formation. Much biographical detail of the dominant personalities of the dynasty emerges from the narrative; and though the treatment is primarily political, there are extended discussions of economic developments, social change, and major cultural movements. Because the Habsburg Empire was, and remained, dynastic and diverse rather than national and centralised, it covered a huge range of different peoples, cultures, constitutions and separate histories. Few historians have had the breadth of knowledge - or the courage - to attempt a single systematic survey of its development and its fortunes. Yet the Habsburgs were the great superpower of Central Europe for five centuries until our own, and, in the period covered by the present volume, much more even than that - as rulers also of Spain and the Netherlands, and with the headship of the Holy Roman Empire itself as a de facto family possession. The size of the task is thus itself an indication of the size of the gap that Professor Berenger's first volume now fills. Clear, balanced, authoritative and accessible, it is a remarkable feat of synthesis and exposition. This is the second volume of Berenger's history of the Habsburg Empire. The work explores the complex relationships of the ethnic groups within the Empire - particularly the Czechs and the Hungarians - and shows how the dynasty survived and gained strength before World War I.