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THE HISTORY OF NATIONS
HENRY CABOT LODGE .PhII.LLD.n)rrOR-IN<:HIEr
AUSTRIA- HUNGARY
Based on the work of
PAUL LOUIS LEGDR.
College de France
by
WM . E. LINGELBACHPhD.
Assistant Professorof European History
University of Pennsylvania
Volume XVII
Illustrated
The H .W. Snow and Son Company
C h i c a ^ o
Copyright, 1907, by
JOHN D. MORRIS & COMPANY
CnPYRKJHT. 1910
THE H. W. SNOW & SON COMPANY
THE HISTORY OF NATIONS
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
HENRY CABOT LODGE, PL.D., L.L.D.
Associate Editors and Authors
AmCHIBALD HSNRT SATCE. LL.O..
Profcuor of AMyriology. Oxford
▼•nity
SIR ROBERT K. DOUGLAS.
Uni- Professor of Chinese, King's College, Lon-
don
CHRISTOPHER JOHNSTON. M.D.. Ph.D..
AMOci*t« Professor of Oriental History and
Archaeology, Johns Hopkins University
C W. C. OMAN. LL.D..
Professor of History, Oxford University
JEREMIAH WHIPPLE JENKS. Ph.D., LL.D.,
Professor of Political Economy and Pol-
itics, Cornell University
KANICHI ASAKAWA. Ph.D..
Instructor in the History of Japanese
Civilization, Yale University
THSODOR MOMMSEN.
Late Professor of Ancient History. Uni-
versity of Berlin
AKTSUR C. HOWLAND. Ph.D..
Department of History, University of Pen*-
•ylvania
WILFRED HAROLD MUNRO, Ph.D.,
Professor of European History, Brown
University
0. MERCER ADAM.
Historian and Editor
FRED MORROW FLING, Ph.D.,
Professor of European History. University
of Nebraska
CHARLES MERIVALE. LL.D.,
Late Dean of Elv. formerly Lecturer in
History. Cambrulge University
FRAN9OIS AUGUSTE MARIE MI6NET.
Late Member of the French Academy
J. HI00IN80N CABOT, Ph.D.,
DepMtment of History, Wellealey College
JAMES WESTFALL THOMPSON, Ph.D.,
Department of History, University of
Chicago
tUL WILLIAM W. HUNTER. F.R.S..
Late Director-General of Sutistics in India
SAMUEL RAWSON GARDINER. LL.D..
Professor of Modem History, King's Col-
lege. London
OIOROK M DUTCHXR. Ph D ^* ^' ^^^^^' ^^-^-t
^ . ' . HI , m' ,'' ... . Commissioner for the Publication of tb»
Profeesor of History, Westoyan University Ancient Laws of Ireland
vi
ASSOCIATE EDITORS AND AUTHORS-Continued
JUSTIN McCarthy, ll.d,.
Author and Historian
AUGUSTUS HUNT SHEARER, Ph.D..
Instructor in History. Trinity ColIege»
Hartford
W. HAROLD CLAFLIN, BJ^.,
Department of History, Harvard Uni-
versity
PAUL LOUIS LEGER,
Professor of the Slav Languages, CAlege
de France
WILLIAM E. LINGLEBACH, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of European History,
University of Pennsylvania
BAYARD TAYLOR,
Former United States Minister to Germany
CHARLES DANDLIKER, LL.D.,
President of Zurich University
SIDNEY B. FAY, Ph.D.,
Professor of History, Dartmouth College
ELBERT JAY BENTON, Ph.D.,
Department of History, Western Reserve
University
SIR EDWARD S. CREASY,
Late Professor of History, University Col-
lege, London
ARCHIBALD CARY COOLIDGE, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of History, Harvard
University
WILLIAM RICHARD MORFILL, M.A.,
Professor of Russian and other Slavonic
Languages, Oxford University
CHARLES EDMUND FRYER, Ph.D.,
Department of History, McGill University
E. C. OTTE,
Specialist on Scandinavian History
EDWARD S. CORWIN, Ph.D.,
Instructor in History, Princeton Uni-
versity
J. SCOTT KELTIE, LL.D.,
President Royal Geographical Society
ALBERT GALLOWAY KELLER, Ph.D.,
Assistant Professor of the Science of So-
ciety, Yale University
EDWARD JAMES PAYNE, M.A.,
Fellow of University College, Oxford
PHILIP PATTERSON WELLS, Ph.D.,
Lecturer in History and Librarian of the
Law School, Yale University
FREDERICK ALBION OBER,
Historian, Author and Traveler
JAMES WILFORD GARNER, Ph.D.,
Professor of Political Science, University
of Illinois
JOHN BACH McMASTER, Litt.D., LL.D.,
Professor of History. University of Penn
sylvania
JAMES LAMONT PERKINS, Managing Editor
The editors and publishers desire to express their appreciation for valuabla
advice and suggestions received from the following: Hon. Andrew D. White,
LL.D., Alfred Thayer Mahan, D.C.L., LL.D., Hon. Charles Emory Smith,
LL.D., Professor Edward Gaylord Bourne, Ph.D., Charles F. Thwing,
LL.D., Dr. Emil Reich, William Elliot Griffis, LL.D., Professor John
Martin Vincent, Ph.D., LL.D., Melvil Dewey, LL.D., Alston Ellis, LL.D.,
Professor Charles H. McCarthy, Ph.D., Professor Herman V. Ames, Ph.D.,
Professor Walter L. Fleming, Ph.D., Professor David Y. Thomas, Ph.D.,
Mr. Otto Reich and Mr. O. M. Dickerson.
vii
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
Histories of Austria have hitherto occupied themselves more with
the international relations of the House of Hapsburg- than with the
destiny of the peoples under its rule. The title of German Em-
peror ^ has caused them to overlook the less high-sounding but
much more real titles of King of Bohemia and of Hungary. The
history of Austria has been found in Switzerland, in Italy, and in
the Low Countries ; in fact everywhere except among those countries
upon which the power of Austria has always rested. It is my
intention in the present work to ignore this traditional point of
view; the story of the Hapsburgs in their relations with countries
not essentially a part of Austria is therefore omitted. Especial
attention is, on the other hand, directed to the three groups which
to-day form the basis of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy — the
hereditary provinces, the Kingdom of Hungary and the Kingdom of
Bohemia, I have endeavored to bring out clearly the relative
importance of the part played by each of these three groups; I
have studied the divergent tendencies of the large racial groups, the
Slav, the Magyar, and the German, which in the Middle Ages,
divided between them the mountain forelands of the Alps and the
valleys of the Upper Elbe and of the Danube. I have left to the
historians of Germany, Belgium and Italy, everything that does
not properly fall within the limits of the Austrian state, and, thus
rigorously circumscribed, my task, which has involved fifteen years
of study and travel, gains much in interest and unity,
Paul Louis Leger
* The French reads, " le titre de Vempereur allemand," though the title the
author has in mind is manifestly that of emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
EDITOR'S PREFACE
The present history of Austria-Hungary is based on the fourth
edition of " UHistoire de I'Autriche-Hongrie" by Professor Leger,
which appeared in 1895. -'■" translating and adapting this work
I have had to deal very freely with the original, often recasting
and re-writing entire sections. In the interests of historical accu-
racy and fairness I have also, where possible, avoided the strong
Slavophil tone of M. Leger's work. With his main thesis, that
the countries under the Hapsburg rule have at no time constituted
a nation in the true sense of the word, I thoroughly agree. Austria-
Hungary, since its dual organization was effected in 1867, quite
as much as was Austria under the absolutist regime, is a political
system rather than a nation. This fact makes imperative a method
of treatment that involves, as Professor Freeman has pointed out,
a good deal of going backward and forward in telling the story
of the lands that have at different times come under the dominion
of the Austrian princes; the story of each land by itself and the
story of them all in relation to the common power; but it is the
only way to arrive at a just appreciation of their history. " There
is no subject," says the same authority in 1889, " on which ordi-
nary readers stand more in need of a clear setting forth of facts
than on that which M. Leger has taken in hand. The facts in
themselves need some thought, and some clearness of thought, to
grasp them, and the difficulty is heightened by popular confusions
both of thought and of language. Much mischief has been done
by one small fashion of modem speech. . . . The * interests ' of
England or France mean the interests of the English or French
people. A * friend ' of England or France would mean a friend
of the English or French people. But when we hear, as we have
heard of a * friend of Turkey,' does that mean a friend of the
people of the land marked * Turkey ' on the map, or a friend of
their foreign oppressor the Turk ? Do the * interests of Turkey *
mean the interests of the Turk, or the exactly opposite inter-
ests of the nations which the Turk holds in bondage? So with
xii PREFACE
* Austria.* One has heard of the * interests of Austria/ the * policy
of Austria ' ; I have seen the words * Austrian national honor * ; I
have come across people who believed that ' Austria ' was one land
inhabited by * Austrians ' and that * Austrians ' spoke the ' Aus-
trian ' language. All such phrases are misapplied. It is to be
presumed that in all of them * Austria ' means something more
than the true Austria, the archduchy; what is commonly meant by
them is the whole dominions of the sovereign of Austria. People
fancy that the inhabitants of those dominions have a common
being, a common interest like that of the people of England,
France or Italy.
" Now it is hardly needful to stop to prove that there is no such
thing as an Austrian language, that a whole crowd of langfuages
are spoken within the dominions of the sovereign of Austria —
German, Magyar, Italian, Ruman, and the various dialects of the
great Slavonic majority. Each of these is the language of a
nation, the whole or part of which is under the rule of an Aus-
trian prince ; but there is no Austrian language, no Austrian nation ;
therefore there can be no such thing as * Austrian national honor.'
Nor can there be an * Austrian policy ' in the same sense in which
there is an English or a French policy, that is, a policy in which
the English or French government carries out the will of the Eng-
lish or French nation. Nor can there be a common * Austrian
interest ' for all the dominions of the sovereign of Austria ; for
the interests of the German and the Magyar on the one hand, of
the Slav and the Ruman on the other, are always different, and
often opposed. In truth, such phrases as * Austrian interests,'
* Austrian policy ' and the like, do not mean the interests or policy
of any nation at all. They simply mean the interests and policy
of a particular ruling family, which may often be the same as the
interests and wishes of particular parts of their dominions, but
which can never represent any common interest or common wish
on the part of the whole.
" It leads to confusion thus to personify * Austria ' in the way
now so common, just as it leads to yet worse confusion so to per-
sonify * Turkey.* Our fathers avoided such confusions. They
spoke of 'the Turk' 'the Grand Turk,' 'the Grand Seignior,'
names which accurately distinguished the foreign oppressor from
the lands and nation which he holds in bondage. So they spoke
of ' the House of Austria,' a form which accurately distinguished
PREFACE xiii
the ruling family from the various kingdoms, duchies, counties,
etc., over which the head of that house holds rule. We must ever
remember that the dominions of the House of Austria are simply
a collection of kingdoms, duchies, etc., brought together by vari-
ous accidental causes, but which really have nothing in common,
no common speech, no common feeling, no common interest. In
one case only, that of the Magyars in Hungary, does the House of
Austria rule over a whole nation ; the other kingdoms, duchies, etc.,
are only parts of nations, having no tie to one another, but having
the closest ties to other parts of the several nations which lie close
to them, but which are under other governments. The only bond
among them all is that a series of marriages, wars, treaties, and
so forth, have given them a common sovereign. The same person
is King of Hungary, Archduke of Austria, Count of Tyrol, Lord
of Trieste and a hundred other things. That is all.
" The growth and the abiding dominion of the House of Aus-
tria is one of the most remarkable phenomena in European history.
Powers of the same kind have arisen twice before; but in both
cases they were very short-lived, while the power of the House of
Austria has lasted for several centuries. The power of the House
of Anjou in the twelfth century, the power of the House of Bur-
gundy in the fifteenth century, were powers of exactly the same
kind. They too were collections of scraps, with no natural con-
nection, brought together by the accidents of warfare, marriage
or diplomacy. Now why is it that both those powers broke in
pieces almost at once, after the reigns of two princes in each case,
while the power of the House of Austria has lasted so long? Two
causes suggest themselves. One is the long connection between the
House of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom
of Germany. So many Austrian princes were elected emperors as
to make the Austrian House seem great and imperial in itself.
I believe that this cause has done a great deal towards the result;
but I believe that another cause has done yet more. This is that,
though the Austrian power is not a national power, there is, as has
been already noticed, a nation within it. While it contains only
scraps of other nations, it contains the whole of the Magyar nation.
It thus gets something of the strength of a national power. The
possession of Hungary has more than once saved the Austrian
power from altogether breaking in pieces. And it is certain that,
at this moment, the policy of the House of Austria, so far as it
»▼ PREFACE
is anything more than the mere policy of a family, is the policy
of the Kingdom of Hungary."
These remarks by Professor Freeman are found in the preface
to an English translation of the first edition of Leger's history of
Austria-Hungary by Mrs. Berbeck Hill. To this work I am in-
debted for considerable assistance, sometimes availing myself freely
of Mrs. Hill's rendering of the original.
In the difficult matter of the spelling of geographical and
proper names I have not followed Leger's attempt to give the form
used by the people themselves, since that would have introduced
too many unintelligible Slav and Magyar forms. I have, instead,
followed the usage of the standard English histories and geogra-
phies ; the result is that where the word has not been anglicized the
German form has, as a rule, been used, as against the Magyar or
Czech.
In writing the history of Austria-Hungary for the last twelve
years I have sought to give an impartial account of the exciting
conflicts that mark the political side of Austrian history during
this period. In this, as in the survey of the country's economic
and social development and of its international relations, I have
throughout allowed the facts to tell their own story, endeavoring
to secure the proper emphasis by selection and arrangement rather
than by comment of my own.
H/^ . ^ •^Zl*^^,^^^;^^^^
UKivntsmr of Pennsylvania
CONTENTS
PART I
ORIGIN AND FORMATION OF THE STATES THAT CONSTITUTE
THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN MONARCHY. FROM
PRIMITIVE TIMES TO 1272
CHAPTER PAGE
I. The Monarchy: its Character and Component
Parts 3
II. Primitive Times, the Roman Occupation and the
German Invasion. 365 B.C.-565 a.d. . . 11
III. The Slavs. 450-650 a.d. ..... 18
IV. Moravia and the Slav Apostles. 658-903 a.d. . 29
V. The Founding of the Magyar State. 892-1038 . 41
VI. Hungary under the Successors of St. Stephen.
1038-1301 50
VII. Bohemia and the Premyslides. 894-1278 . . 62
VIII. Early History of the Austrian Group — the House
OF Babenberg. 973-1246 ..... 88
IX. The Austrian Group under the first Hapsburgs
1273-1493 99
PART II
BOHEMIA AND HUNGARY UNDER ELECTIVE KINGS. 1310-1526
X. Bohemia under the House of Luxemberg. 1310-
1415 113
XL Bohemia and the Hussite Wars. 141 5-1437 . 125
XII. Bohemia under Podiebrad and the Jagellons
1437-1526 143
XIII. Hungary under the House of Anjou and the
Elective Monarchy. 1308- 1444 . . -151
XIV. HUNYADY AND THE HUNGARIAN WaRS WITH THE
Turks. 1444-1526 159
XT
xvi CONTENTS
PART III
THE ACQUISITION OF BOHEMIA AND HUNGARY, AND THE UNI-
FICATION OF THE MONARCHY UNDER THE
EMPERORS. 1493-1740
CHAPTEE ^^^^
XV. The Austrian Emperors. 1493-1740 . . .173
XVI. Bohemia: her first Hapsburg Kings. 1526-1610 . 194
XVII. The Thirty Years' War and the Overthrow of
Bohemia. 1618-1648 204
XVIII. Hungary Divided. 1526-1564 .... 216
XIX. Hungary Freed from the Turks and Reconciled
TO Austria. 1629-1746 227
PART IV
THE STRUGGLE FOR THE UNITY OF THE MONARCHY. 1740-1792
XX. Maria Theresa. 1740-1780 239
XXI. The Internal History of Austria under Maria
Theresa. 1740-1780 251
XXII. Joseph II. 1780-1790 ........ 264
PART V
AUSTRIA DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY AND NAPOLEONIC
ERAS. 1792-1815
XXIII. Francis II. and the Wars against the Revolution
1792-1804 279
XXIV. Francis II. and the Wars against Napoleon
1804-1815 290
PART VI
THE PERIOD OF REACTION AND THE AWAKENING OF THE
NATIONALITIES. 1815-1848
XXV. Francts II. and Metternich. 1815-1835 . . 319
XXVI. Hungary and the Slav Countries. 1790-1835 . 330
XXVII. Ferdinand I. — Austria on the Eve of Revolution
1835-1848 345
CONTENTS xvii
PART VII
REVOLUTION AND REACTION. 1848-1867
CHAPTER PAGE
XXVIII. The Revolutionary Movement. 1848-1849 . . 361
XXIX. The Hungarian Revolution. 1848-1849 . . 368
XXX. The Revolution in Vienna. 1849 . . . 374
XXXI. Early Years of the Reign of Francis Joseph — the
Period of Reaction. 1848- 1860 . . . 378
XXXII. Attempts at Constitutional Government — the
Expulsion of Austria from Germany, i860- 1867 386
PART VIII
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 1867-1910
XXXIII. The Establishment of Dualism. 1867-1871 . 397
XXXIV. Parliamentary Struggle for Federalism. 1871-
1878 408
XXXV. Acquisition and Incorporation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina. 1878- 1894 421
XXXVI. Recent History. 1894- 1910 432
APPENDIX 459
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . ,.. . .... 463
INDEX . .. .., ,„ . ,„ . .i3 • . 469
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
A Hussite Priest Administers the Communion
Photogravure . . . . . . . Frontispiece
Cremating the Body of a Slav Chieftain .
Rudolph von Hapsburg Views the Body of Otokar
Capture of Frederick the Handsome
John Huss is Led to the Funeral Pyre
The Hussite Wars ......
The Engagement of the Children of Maximilian I.
Entry of the Austrian Troops into Buda .
The Arrest of Francis RXkoczi H. .
Frederick the Great before the Battle of Leuthen
Maria Theresa .......
The Last Call to Arms .....
The Congress of Vienna
The Outbreak of the Revolution of 1848 in Vienna
The Coronation of Francis Joseph and Elizabeth at Pesth 398
FACING PAGB
26
76
100
124
230
232
244
252
296
312
362
TEXT MAPS
Races of Austria-Hungary
Europe. End of the VHth Century
Southeastern Europe, circa 910 a.d.
Southeastern Europe during the Crusades.
Central Europe. XVIth Century .
Austria after the Treaties of Utrecht and Rastadt.
1714
I 095- I 270
1713-
PAGE
8
24
43
92
177
190
six
XX LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE.
The Austrian State at the Beginning of the XVIIth
Century 205
Partitions of Poland 281
Austria. 1815 322
Austrian Empire. 1848 362
Vienna 414
The New Danube Channel 416
Southeastern Europe. 1906 . . , . . , 425
PART I
ORIGIN AND FORMATION OF THE STATES
THAT CONSTITUTE THE AUSTRO-HUN-
GARIAN MONARCHY. FROM PRIMITIVE
TIMES TO 1272
HISTORY OF
AUSTRI A-H UNG ARY
Chapter I
THE MONARCHY: ITS CHARACTER AND
COMPONENT PARTS
THE Austro-Hungarian monarchy, notwithstanding the an-
cient traditions of the house of Austria, is one of the
youngest of the European states. In its present form it
dates back only to 1867, the year immediately following Austria's
ill-fated war with Prussia, through which she was separated from
Germany, and forced thenceforward to seek her destiny among the
peoples and lands of the Danube valley. Among these the Hun-
garians in particular have had a strong national development of
their own, and, with the Bohemians, from the time of their first
union with Austria have always been more or less separate and
distinct, enjoying rights and privileges respected, in principle at
least, by all the rulers of the house of Hapsburg.
The history of the Austro-Hungarian state is, therefore, not
the history of a united, homogeneous people. One tie only is com-
mon to all ; it is, and has been for centuries, the house of Hapsburg.
But even the story of the house of Hapsburg cannot more than fur-
nish a thread for a history of this remarkable Austro-Hungarian
state. Nations have an existence independent of that of princely
families, however illustrious these may have been.
The kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia, in offering their
crown to Ferdinand I. of Austria, early in the sixteenth century
(1526), did not understand that they were subordinating their
individuality to a factitious conglomeration of foreign states. After
having had a free and glorious past, under their own national mon-
archs, they sought, in a purely personal union with Austria, the
strength necessary to resist the Ottoman invasions. They did not
contemplate losing their identity either in an Austrian monarchy
or in the Holy Roman Empire. Ferdinand I. brought with him
only the hereditary states, that is. Upper and Lower Austria,
4 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
Styria, Carinthia, Camiola, Gorica, Gradiska, a part of Istria and
the Tyrol, whose total population of Germans and Slavs even
to-day numbers only about seven million inhabitants, not a sixth
of the total population of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy. Nor
could this group, either because of its importance, the brilliancy
of its history, or the superiority of its civilization, claim a right to
absorb or assimilate the two kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary.
On receiving the crowns of St. Vacslav and of St. Stephen, the
Emperor Ferdinand bound himself to respect the rights and privi-
leges which pertained thereto, having given a similar pledge in
regard to Croatia, previously annexed to the crown of Hungary.
Thus it was that, by a series of mutual agreements, freely consented
to, Bohemia, Hungary, and the group of hereditary Austrian prov-
inces passed under the rule of the same sovereign. Nor should the
fact be overlooked that at that time several of the provinces that
make up the monarchy of to-day still belonged to neighboring
states ; Galicia, for example, was a part of the kingdom of Poland,
from which it was not detached until 1773, and Dalmatia was still
subject to the republic of Venice. Lombardy and Venetia, later
held by Austria for more than half a century, were lost as a con-
sequence of the wars of 1859 and 1866.
It will readily appear, therefore, that Austria-Hungary is
essentially a state based upon historic rights, rights which have
not been set aside either by conquest or by the suppression of
unsuccessful revolts.
Nor is there in the history of this complex state that steady
growth of a great race, as in France or in Germany ; that influence
of geographic unity, so strong a factor in national development, as
in the case of Italy; nor the permanent unity of interests and
aspirations which is seen in the case of the republic of Switzerland.
Austria-Hungary does not have natural frontiers; those physical
boundaries determined beforehand by seas, mountain ranges, and
rivers have been largely ignored in the territorial expansion of the
Austrian state. The middle basin of the Danube, with its moun-
tainous surroundings of the Dinaric system, forms a large, well-knit
geographic unit which, from the standpoint of geography, might
well be expected to serve as the seat of a united, homogeneous
people. But the Austro-Hungarian monarchy has pushed out
beyond this natural base in neariy every direction. " From the
hydrographic standpoint," says Reclus, " the Danube and its tribu-
THE MONARCHY 5
taries indeed unite in one basin the mountains of Austria and the
plains of Hungary, but a considerable part of the monarchy is
found outside of these Danubian regions, in the basin of the Elbe,
of the Vistula, of the Dnieper, and of the Adige."
As to the mountain chains, they seldom coincide with the
boundaries of the monarchy. The great chain of the Carpathians
which bounds it on the northeast does not enclose Bukowina, Ga-
licia, and Silesia, which are entirely exposed on the north to
attack from Germany or Russia. Bohemia is almost encircled by
a series of lesser mountains, forming a geographic unit by itself,
and is part of the basin of the Elbe. Toward the southwest the
Austrian frontier is better defined by the Alps, the Adriatic, and
the parallel courses of the Save and the Drave, but even here Istria
lies outside.
Without geographic unity, Austria-Hungary presents, at the
same time, the greatest confusion and anarchy from the ethno-
graphic standpoint. This region, so poorly defined by physical
features, belongs in no sense to one race, strong in its solidarity
and obedience to the same traditions, and prepared for any sacrifice
in order to work out its common future. The races of the monarchy
are many, but four among them, representing the four great
ethnic groups of Europe, have contributed most largely to its his-
tory. They are, first, the Germans of the hereditary provinces;
second, the Slavs, divided into groups according as they inhabit
Bohemia, Galicia, or the provinces of the southeast; third, the
Magyars, of Turanian extraction, in Hungary, and fourth, the
Latins, Rumanians, in Transylvania, and Italians, in the southern
Tyrol and on the shores of the Adriatic.
The relative numerical strength of the different nationalities
of Austria-Hungary has varied considerably from time to time.
According to the census reports of 1900 the total population of
forty-five and a half million was distributed among the different
nationalities as follows:
German 11,306,795
Magyar 8,751,877
Latin
Rumanians . . . 3,030,442
Italians .... 727,102
3.757,544
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
Slavic
Poles .... 4,252,483
Ruthenians . . 3,811,017
Slovenes . . . 1,192,780
Servians and Croa-
tians . . . 3,442,129
Czechs and Slovaks 7,975,038
20,673,447
Gypsies and Other Nationalities 915,604
Total Population . . 45,405,267
These incongruous elements have not assimilated with time.
They have conserved their languages and their traditions, and they
live side by side without amalgamating. The life of the Austro-
Hungarian state rests upon the carefully poised equilibrium of the
ethnic groups that compose it, and this equilibrium, always more
or less imstable, must be preserved or the state will fall to pieces.
Much too considerable a role is generally attributed to the
Germans. This arises from a number of causes, among others the
political dominance of the Gertnan element, especially in the eight-
eenth and early nineteenth centuries, and from a lack of knowledge,
not only of their numerical inferiority, but also of the fact that they
are geographically scattered. Austria, considered as a German
state, does not exist. The number of Germans is only a little over
nine million, though the total is increased by including two million
Jews scattered throughout the monarchy, whose mother tongue is
German, and who exert no inconsiderable influence on the eco-
nomic conditions of the provinces in which they live. But the eleven
million are far from forming a compact group. The only prov-
inces of the Austro-Hungarian state that are entirely German are
the two Austrias and the duchy of Salzburg. To this compact
mass arc joined the Germans of Styria, Carinthia, and the Tyrol,
who live among the Slavs and Italians of their respective provinces.
The group formed by these five provinces comprises, at the most,
five and a half million Germans, and this group is the only one
that can be considered as forming a legitimate part of the greater
Germany of the pan-Germans. Supposing that they should one
day entrt" into this greater Germany because of the principle of
nationality, this very principle will not permit the absorption of
THE MONARCHY 7
the Italians of the Tyrol, or the Slavs of the Adriatic. Almost
thirty leagues would still separate the Germans from Triest, which
they look upon as their great seaport on the Adriatic.
As for the Germans of Bohemia, they constitute scarcely two-
fifths of the present population of the kingdom. They stretch
along the frontiers of Bavaria and Saxony and do not form a geo-
graphic group. In Moravia a group of about five hundred thousand
Germans occupies the north of the province, the remainder of
whose population* is largely Slavic. Even if it is admitted that the
German population of Bohemia and of Moravia approximates three
million, it must be remembered that this figure is of slight impor-
tance in comparison with the great Czech population, which num-
bers nearly six million. Nevertheless the Germans lay claim to
Bohemia on the basis of nationality, as in the case of Alsace, and
also on the basis of a pretended historic right derived from the
Holy Roman Empire. Besides, Bohemia, they say, penetrates to
the heart of Germany, it intercepts the natural boundary, is a thorn
in the German flesh, and must be removed.
In all other parts of the monarchy the Germans form insig-
nificant groups, colonies without special political rights, except in
the case of the Saxons of Transylvania, who, because of custom
and because of their scientific and industrial superiority, enjoy
special privileges and advantages. Taken together, therefore, the
numerical strength of the Germans makes a very respectable show-
ing, but its importance is singularly diminished by the fact that
the different parts which compose it are scattered among Slavic,
Magyar, and Rumanian populations.
The other race which, with the German, is in political control
in Austria-Hungary, is the Hungarian, or Magyar. It occupies
all of the kingdom of Hungary, but not exclusively, for Slavs, Ger-
mans, and Rumanians share it with them. Indeed, only about fifty
per cent, of the population are Hungarians proper, or Magyars,
though over eighty per cent, of the entire population now speak
the Hungarian language, and this proportion is steadily increas-
ing. The Magyars owe their strength to their central position
on the Danube, to the size and homogeneity of their group, and
to certain peculiar political and military qualities which explain why
they have been able to subordinate and Magyarize the less united
populations of the great Hungarian plain.
The Slavic race occupies the north and south of the monarchy.
8
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
The Czechs inhabit the larger part of Bohemia, or the upper Elbe
basin, Moravia, and Silesia; the Slovaks, northern Hungary; the
Poles, the northwest of Galicia; the Ruthenians, the remainder, a
part of Bukowina, and some districts in the northeast of Hungary.
The Slavs of the north artf separated from the Slavs of the
south by the Germans, the Magyars, and the Rumanians. This geo-
graphic separation, added to the dislike of the race for a strong
government, is frequently given as the reasorf that, in spite of their
numerical superiority, they have never been able to dominate the
Germans and Magyars, or even to enforce a recognition of their
claim to equal political rights with these in the monarchy. The
Slavs of the south fall into two groups: the Serbo-Croatians, oc-
cupying the region from Croatia eastward, and including the prov-
inces of Bosnia and Herzegovina; and the Slovenes, who inhabit
Carinthia, Camiola, a part of Istria, and Styria.
The Rumanians are located in the southeast of Hungary, in
Transylvania, and in Bukowina. The Italians form a compact
group in the southern Tyrol, and have colonies in the principal
cities of Istria and the Dalmatian coast.
The vitality as well as the diversity of these different elements
appears in the number of languages possessing a distinct literature.
THE MONARCHY 9
It is not a mere matter of dialects or local idioms, as is the case
in Germany or in Italy, but of forms of speech fixed in literature,
used by the church, consecrated by usage in political assemblies,
and made familiar every day in the press. Austria is a veritable
Tower of Babel. It publishes German, Hungarian, Polish, Ru-
thenian, Czech, Slovak, Serbo-Croatian, Slovene, Rumanian, and
Italian newspapers. And these newspapers are in languages, as a
rule, unintelligible to all except those immediately concerned, and
very frequently represent diametrically opposite tendencies. Cer-
tain groups even go so far as to seek their center of gravity outside
of the monarchy altogether. The Germans look to a greater Ger-
many, the Poles to a regenerated Poland, the Italians toward Italy,
the Slavs of the south toward their kindred in Turkey, the Ru-
manians toward their kindred in Rumania. Only the Czechs and
the Magyars find the aspirations of their nationality within the
empire.
In conformity with the heterogeneous character of the peo-
ple, the emperor of Austria, in the protocols of the chancellery,
assumes the following titles: emperor of Austria, king of Hun-
gary and of Bohemia, of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia, of Ga-
licia and Lodomeria, king of Illyria, grand duke of Austria, of
Bukowina, of Styria^ Carniola, of Carinthia, grand prince of Si-
lesia, margrave of Moravia, count of Hapsburg and the Tyrol.
Of all these titles those which most represent real sovereign power
are those of Bohemia and Hungary. And yet the history of the
two kingdoms of St. Vacslav and St. Stephen, and the ethno-
graphic make-up of the territories brought together under the
Hapsburg rule, have been almost entirely neglected by the his-
torians of the old school.
Chapter II
PRIMITIVE TIMES, THE ROMAN OCCUPATION AND
THE GERMAN INVASIONS. 365 B.C.-565 A.D.
LITTLE is known of the people who occupied the Austro-
Hungarian lands before the Christian era. Their history
^ practically begins with the Roman conquest, and even on
this period the knowledge that has been transmitted is generally
vague and inexact. The Romans, like the Greeks, regarded the bar-
barian peoples with prejudiced eyes; they cared little about their
early history, paid no attention to the native language, of which they
generally remained ignorant, and accepted all kinds of fantastic
legends. There is no doubt, however, that the Austro-Hungarian
territory was inhabited during the stone age. Cut flints found
in Upper and Lower Austria, Bohemia, Moravia, Hungary, and
Galicia establish the fact without question. Articles in bronze
are numerous; and, as utensils in iron are also found, there is
every reason to believe that these different strata reveal an unin-
terrupted succession of inhabitants and civilization in primitive
times. On the other hand, it is difficult to determine the race
which inhabited these regions during this period. Were they Finns,
Iberians, or Aryans? No one knows.
If we disregard" the Greek legends about Illyria and the Adri-
atic coast, it would seem as if the first race which occupied the soil
of present-day Austria was that of the Celts. After having pushed
onward to the extreme west of Europe, in the wake of the great
primeval migration, the Celtic wave swept back toward the center
and east. According to a tradition, the Celts spread out over the
territory between the Rhine and the Vistula and, under their chief,
Sigovesius, occupied the ranges of the Alps and the basin of the
Danube during the fourth century B.C. We know definitely that
in the year 335 b.c. Alexander the Great received Celtic deputies,
on the lower Danube, offering peace and friendship. The Celts
established themselves under different names in the various dis-
10
ROMAN AND GERMAN 11
335-101 B.C.
tricts. The Boii occupied Bohemia, to which they gave their
name; the Taurisci estabhshed themselves in the region of Salz-
burg, Styria, and Carinthia, the Scordisci in Croatia and Slavonia,
the Ambrones toward the mouth of the Vistula. The famous
bronze boars found in Bohemia are regarded as relics of this Celtic
civilization.
The tribes on the shores of the Adriatic known as Illyrians did
not blend with the Celts. The piracies of these maritime popula-
tions brought them into conflict with the Romans, and, under
Ag^on, their king, and later his widow, Teuts, they were con-
quered and obliged to pay tribute. Aquileia was built in i8o B.C.,
Istria became a Roman province, and the city of Triest rose to hold
the conquered people in check. In the year i68 B.C. Genthius,
king of the Illyrians, having allied himself with Perseus of Mace-
donia, was conquered and his territory made tributary to Rome.
The persistency of classic culture and the use of the Italian language
upon the Dalmatian coast to-day go back to this first Roman
conquest.
Once masters of the Adriatic coast, the Romans penetrated
little by little into the interior, and soon found themselves in touch
with the Taurisci and the Rhaeti, who lived isolated among the
mountains of the Tyrol. In the year 115 B.C. the Consul Marius
Aemilius Scaurus attacked and overthrew the Taurisci, but as he
pushed farther north he came in contact with the Germans. About
this time the Cimbri descended toward the south, and defeated
the Romans, who tried to check them at Noreia in Carinthia.
But ten years later the barbarians suffered defeat before the
walls of Aix, in 102 b.c, and at Vercelli in loi B.C. From this
time forward the Alps, Bohemia, and the basin of the Danube
continued to be threatened by the German tribes. The Suevi, the
Marcomanni, and the Hermunduri incessantly attacked the Celts,
and these, thus hemmed in by the Teutons and the Romans, instead
of uniting in order to ward off the danger, divided and weakened
themselves by internal dissensions.
While the Marcomanni were pushing into the country of the
Boii, the Dacians, a people inhabiting the region of the lower
Danube, established a powerful state extending over eastern Hun-
gary, the banate of Temesvar, Wallachia, Moldavia, Bukowina,
and Transylvania. The nationality of the Dacians is still a mat-
ter of dispute, but they are known to have been a warlike, though
If AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
101-13 B.C.
agricultural, people, skilled in working in metal, and enthusiastic
believers in the immortality of the soul. About the middle of the
first century before Christ they were ruled by Berebistas, an
ambitious monarch, eager for conquests and ready to profit by the
discords among his neighbors. The Celts afforded him excellent
opportunities; a conflict having broken out between the Scordisci
and the Boii, the former sought the aid of Berebistas, and through
him defeated the Boii. They were forced to leave their country,
which was for a long time known as Deserta Boiorum. Gradually,
however, the Marcomanni and the Quadi settled the deserted
regions.
Under Octavius the peoples of the Adriatic were brought more
completely than ever under Roman rule. Sisca, on the Save, re-
ceived a Roman garrison and was united to Aquileia by a military
road, later becoming one of the great military posts of the Romans,
and a basis for their actions against the Pannonians who occupied
the lands between the Save, the Danube, and the Alps. Shortly
after this the Dalmatians were also conquered. Then followed the
attack up)on the Alpine tribes, and after a hard struggle the Rhaeti
and the Vindelici were conquered and made subjects of the empire
in 13 B.C. To these new provinces Noricum was added without
a struggle and the Danube became the frontier of the Roman
empire.
Behind this frontier Rome organized the conquered territory,
gave to it her laws and her language, and became in time the
instrument of its conversion to Christianity. Pannonia was placed
under a legatus consularis, Noricum under a procurator, and the
present Camiola became the meeting point of the frontiers of Italy,
Pannonia, and Noricum. Strong garrisons of from 6o,ocx) to
70,000 men secured the submission of the natives. Among the for-
tified towns was one called Vindobona, the Vienna of to-day, which
was held by a legion and, toward the end of the empire, by a squad-
ron of the Danube fleet. As early at 51 a.d. the Save and the
Danube were guarded by a fleet, which was largely increased under
Vespasian and put under the supreme command of an officer at
Vindobona. Three main roads started from Aquileia, intersecting
the provinces, and at Laibach a great number of secondary roads
met. Military boundary stones can still be seen in many places at
distances reckoned from Aquileia, Milan, Sirmium, Bregenz, and
Augsburg.
ROMAN AND GERMAN IS
13 B.C.-104 A.D.
The immediate neighbors of the Romans to the east, after the
occupation of Pannonia, were the Marcomanni. At first the rela-
tions with them were friendly. Maroboduus, the son of a prince of
the Marcomanni, was even sent to the court of Augustus to be edu-
cated. But after the conquest of Noricum and Rhaetia these
friendly relations gave way to distrust. Maroboduus, eager to ex-
tend his power, occupied Bohemia, Moravia, and a large part of
Germany, and fortified his capital, which became a refuge for all
who conspired against Rome. A Roman army led by Tiberius
brought him to terms but was forced to retrace its steps because
of a revolt of Pannonia and Dalmatia. Indeed, it was the Ger-
mans themselves, under Hermann, who, in 17 a.d., finally destroyed
the power of Maroboduus. Two years later Maroboduus found
a refuge from the invading Goths, at Ravenna, which Tiberius
appointed as his place of residence. Some time afterward a num-
ber of wandering races that had settled in the basin of the Theiss,
on the ruins of the kingdom of Dacia, were united under a
king, Decebalus, who obtained Roman architects and artisans, built
fortifications, and worked the rich mines of Transylvania. As his
power grew he defied the Romans, destroyed two armies sent
against him by Domitian, and obliged him to conclude a shameful
peace in 90 a.d., by which Rome bound herself to pay tribute to the
barbarian, and undertook to furnish him with the workmen of
whom he should have need.
Terms such as these Trajan, Domitian's successor, was not
likely to fulfill. He refused to pay the tribute, threw two bridges
over the Danube (not far from the present town of Orsova),
crossed the river, and beat Decebalus on the plains of Temesvar.
He then pushed on into Transylvania, where he forced Decebalus
to fight a second time under the walls of his capital, Sarmizege-
thusa. The Dacian king was obliged to make peace and to give
up the conquered territory, which included his own capital, in loi
A.D. Three years afterward he tried to renew the war; once more
vanquished, he slew himself, and Dacia became a Roman province.
The colonists whom Trajan left on the lower Danube are believed
to be the forefathers of the Rumanian nation of to-day.
The conquest of Trajan marks the highest point reached by the
Roman power in the Danube valley. From the beginning of the sec-
ond century onward, the German races, who had been for a time
kept back by fear of the Romans, again invaded the country, and in
14 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
104-274 A.D.
the second half of the century the waves of this vast flood, which
was by and by to inundate the whole empire, began to break over
the frontiers. About the year 165 of our era the barbarians invaded
Noricum, Pannonia, Rhaetia, and penetrated as far as Aquileia.
In the year 170 a.d. the legate Vindex sustained a defeat which
cost him no less than 20,000 men. In 175 a.d., however, Marcus
Aurelius succeeded in stemming the invading torrent, and was
even able to conclude an advantageous peace. But two years
later the Marcomanni and Quadi revolted, and Marcus Aurelius
died at Sirmium, or, some say, Vindobona, leading an expedi-
tion against them. His son Commodus allowed the Vandals to
settle on the banks of the upper Danube, in the lands which now
form Bavaria and Upper Austria, and for some years it seemed as
if the main current of invasion were going to turn back upon the
upper Danube and the Main. But the prestige of Rome had suf-
fered greatly and the time had come when emperors were made
and unmade by armies. Rhaetia and Noricum were again at-
tacked by the Marcomanni, and part of Dacia was occupied by the
Goths, while the Gepidae and the Burg^ndians took possession of
the northern parts of Transylvania and Hungary. By 274 a.d.
Rome was obliged to abandon the whole of Dacia to the invaders,
and, the Goths becoming masters of the entire province, they
founded a double kingdom on the shores of the lower Danube and
the Black Sea. That of the West Goths (Visigoths) included
Transylvania, Wallachia, Moldavia, and Bessarabia; that of the
East Goths (Ostrogoths) lay between the Dniester and the
Dnieper, on lands which now form part of Russia. It then seemed
as if the German race were destined to control in these lands which
now belong to the Slavs.
From the first century onward fervent adherents of Chris-
tianity were found on the shores of the Adriatic and along the Save
and the Danube. According to tradition, St. Mark evangelized
Aquileia, and consecrated as its first bishop St. Hermagoras, whose
name is still popular among the Slovenes. The apostle St. Luke
is said to have preached in Dalmatia, and Andronicus, one of the
seventy disciples of Christ, is regarded as the first bishop of Sir-
miuiiL However that may be, at the beginning of the fourth cen-
tury Christian communities and an organized clergy were to be
found in all the large towns of Rhaetia, Noricum, Pannonia, and
Dalmatia. Under Diocletian these communities were especially re-
ROMAN AND GERMAN 110
J74-375 A.D.
markable for the fervor of their faith and the constancy of their
martyrs. By the edict of Milan Constantine guaranteed the free
exercise of their rehgion to the Christians, and the church was able
to organize itself openly. In the course of the fourth century
Aquileia and Sirmium became the seats of archbishops, to whom
the neighboring bishops were subject. At Sirmium, in 380 a.d.,
and at Aquileia, in 381 a.d., were held councils in which the doc-
trines of Arius, which had made great progress in Pannonia, were
condemned.
During the reign of Constantine bands of Sarmatians led by
their king, Rausimond, came from the borders of the Sea of Azov,
settled themselves on the banks of the lower Danube, and repeatedly
ravaged the Roman provinces from 319 to 322 a.d. The emperor
repulsed them. Later on the Sarmatians sought help from Rome,
and Constantine helped them to repulse the Goths. Later still we
find a band of Jazyges, chased by the Sarmatians, crossing the
Danube and settling themselves as guests and colonists in Thrace
and Macedonia. From this time the slow but steady infiltration of
these barbarians continued, until the great invasion of the Slavs,
Avars, and Hungarians. Under Constantius, in 356 a.d., the
Alemanni, Quadi, and Sarmatians ravaged Rhaetia and Pannonia,
but were repulsed with heavy loss.
In 364 a.d. Valentinian, a Pannonian, was chosen emperor.
He divided the empire with his brother Valens, himself keeping the
three prefectures of the West, with Milan and Sirmium as his capi-
tals, while Valens took the East and resided at Constantinople.
Both had great difficulty in keeping back the Goths. Valentinian
repelled their attack upon Pannonia, but Sirmium was hard pressed,
and before his death, in 375 a. d., the Western emperor was in a
treaty with them.
Thanks to the great strength of her organization and to the
influence of Christianity and civilization, Rome had hitherto been
able to restrain and absorb the races which pressed her on so many
sides. But to these was now added a new element, hitherto un-
known in Europe, endowed with formidable energy, well disci-
plined, and more to be dreaded than all other barbarians. The
Hims had long lived on the great plains between the Don and the
Caspian. In the year of Valentinian's death they attacked their
neighbors, the Ostrogoths, crossed the Dniester into the kingdom
of the Visigoths, and forced them back upon the Danube. After
16 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
875-493 A.D.
the destruction of the two kingdoms of the Goths the Huns occu-
pied the whole of the country between the Dnieper and the Dan-
ube; they next crossed the latter stream and took possession of a
part of Pannonia. Their invasions had driven away the various
races whom they had met on the road, but in the perpetual changes
of this epoch they had no time to form new states. Thence they
pushed on to the attack of Italy. On the death of Theodosius,
in 395 A.D., the empire was finally divided between his sons Honor-
ius and Arcadius. The two rival divisions quarreled, and the
Huns made use of these quarrels to offer their services to the one
who paid them best. The Emperor Theodosius H. was obliged
to give them an annual tribute of 350, afterward increased to 700,
pounds of gold.
In the year 437 a.d. the command of the Huns fell to Attila,
or Etzel, whom the Middle Ages called, in their terror, the Scourge
of God. He united his people more closely, and led them on ter-
rible ravaging expeditions against Pannonia, Moesia, Thrace, and
Macedonia, before invading Italy and Gaul. In 447 a. d. the em-
pire abandoned Sirmium to him, and undertook to pay him a heavy
tribute. His two expeditions into Italy and Gaul are well known.
He returned to die in his camp between the Danube and the Theiss.
The Hungarians, who belong to the same family of nations as
the Huns, regard Attila as one of their most renowned heroes.
Some of their historians praise him enthusiastically. To this day
the " Attila " is the national dress of the Magyar nobleman.
The empire of Attila did not outlive him; his sons were un-
able to defend it against the Germans, and the Huns were forced
back to the shores of the Black Sea. The Ostrogoths remained
masters of Pannonia; the Visigoths and the Gepidae of the basin
of the Theiss and of Transylvania. But Italy, and Rome itself,
was the goal of these German invaders, and before them the Roman
empire was soon to disappear: the Ostrogoths of Pannonia pressed
on into Moesia, and, in 476 a.d., Odoacer destroyed the empire
of the West.
Thcodoric took possession of Italy in 493 and extended his
rule over Dalmatia, Noricum, and Rhaetia. The Germans who
were settled in the latter province recognized his authority; but
for them the country would have contained nothing but ruins. In
the following century Justinian avenged the Western empire, and
reconquered these provinces, together with Italy. A new people,
ROMAN AND GERMAN 17
493-565 A.D.
the Lombards, had lent him aid in these expeditions, and were
settled by him in Pannonia and Noricum, which they had to de-
fend against the Gepidae. Their king, Alboin, sought allies in this
struggle among the Avars, a people akin to the Huns, and with
their help drove out the Gepidae in 565 a.d. Soon after, the emi-
gration of the Lombards into Italy left these Avars sole masters
of the Danubian territory. With this emigration of the Lombards
into Italy the ceaseless wanderings of the German races over the
Danubian lands come to an end. Like successive tidal waves
they had passed over the region, destroying all traces of Roman
culture and civilization, but at no time remaining long enough to
establish an empire of their own. One or two fertile districts only,
the Tyrol with its valleys and mountains, Salzburg, and Upper
Austria, tempted some to remain behind in the forward movement
upon Rome. The Avars might have been able to found some-
thing more lasting ; but as the Germans retired they were followed
by a new migration, which was to have a great permanent effect
upon the cotmtries of the Elbe and the Danube, that of the Slavs.
Chapter III
THE SLAVS. 450-650
NOTWITHSTANDING the extensive historical research
of the present century, the origin of the Slav races is
still wrapped in mystery. Whole series of conjectures,
based on philological inductions, have been made. One fact only is
certain ; it is that the Slavs, when they first appear in history, are not
a conquering race, broken up into separate tribes. They occupied
the immense plains which stretch behind the Carpathians, the Vis-
tula, and the Dnieper; and they long remained unknown. They
had no Caesar like the Gauls, no Tacitus like the Germans, to relate
their history or write their annals. All we can say is that gradually
as the Germans advanced southward and westward, the Slavs oc-
cupied the lands they abandoned, pushing forward even into the
country between the Elbe and the Oder.
At an unknown date, but doubtless toward the middle of the
fifth century, a branch of the Slavs, the Czechs, left Galicia proper
and penetrated into the mountain quadrilateral now known as
Bohemia. History finds but little that is true among the legends
that are told of this migration. But they are cherished by the
Czech nation, and play so great a part in the struggle for existence
which even to-day it is carrying on, that they must be given more
than a passing notice. According to these traditions there were
three brothers, Cech, Lech, and Rous. Lech, at the head of the
Slav tribe, quitted the home of his race, reached Bohemia, and
there gave his name to a new land. From the next brother, Cech,
tradition derives the name of the race, though why no one has
yet been able to explain. Curiously enough, the Latin chroniclers
of the Middle Ages were altogether ignorant of this name, and per-
sisted in calling the people who bore it Bohemians, because they
occupied the land once held by the Boii.
The Slavs of Moravia, no doubt, soon followed in the track of
their kinsfolk; then came those Slavs who had hitherto remained
18
THE SLAVS 19
450-603
behind the Carpathians, but who now gradually invaded, first Upper
Hungary and Lower Austria, and then Wallachia, Moldavia, and
Transylvania, where they blended with the few remaining Dacians
and Roman colonists, and formed the first elements of the Ru-
manian nation. Although the history of these Slav migrations
remains obscure, they seem to have had a distinct character of their
own which distinguishes them from the German migrations.
The Germans had invaded countries which had been occupied
by the Romans and ruled over peoples whom they found there ; the
Slavs, on the other hand, took possession of the lands which the
Germans had abandoned. They had no need to do so by force of
arms; their invasion was entirely peaceful. But they were not
long allowed to remain in tranquil possession of the lands they had
so easily gained; they were obliged to defend them against the
most pitiless enemies. The Avars first conquered the Slav tribe
of the Dudlebes in Galicia; then, led by their chagan, the terrible
Bajan, a new Attila, they crossed the Carpathians and conquered
the Slavs of Moravia and Bohemia. During these invasions the
Slavs had to suffer from the Avars what the Germans had pre-
viously had to bear from the Huns. The plains of Hungary, lying
between the Danube and the Theiss, became the seat of the Avar
power, and large fortified camps, called brings, protected the in-
vaders against attack. The Slavs had to pay them tribute, furnish
them with soldiers, and at times submit to being transplanted from
one district to another.
It was thus that Pannonia and Noricum were peopled by Slav
colonists, who became the ancestors of the Slovenes. These Avar-
ized Slavs, if one may so call them, came down as far as Friuli,
where their descendants are to be found to this day, speaking a
language which still bears traces of some Altaic influence. Those
who were settled in the valley of the Ems and of the Mur became
known as Carinthian Slavs.
Sure of the obedience and help of the Slavs, Bajan next ven-
tured to attack the Eastern empire, conquered Sirmia, in 584 a.d.,
and made it the base of operations against Byzantium, and, later
on, against Dalmatia and Istria. In 599 he reached Constantinople
and might have taken it had not a pestilence broken out in his
army. This second Attila died in 603. Quarrels broke out among
his heirs. The Slavs who had been conquered demanded their
freedom, and prepared for revolt, and it was at this moment
«0 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
608-630
that a mysterious person, known as Samo the Merchant, first
appeared.
He is said by Fredegar to have been a Frank, who had come to
trade among the Slavs, A later writer, an anonymous historian of
the conversion of the Bavarians and Carinthians, calls him a Ca-
rinthian Slav; but his nationality is left uncertain by all authentic
documents. But whatever his nationality was, Slav, Frank, or
Roman, he made common cause with the people, who offered him
their leadership ; his rule spread over all the tribes of the Wends and
Slavs, and, says Fredegar, " for five and twenty years he governed
them happily. In his reign the Wends fought several battles
against the Huns, and owing to his prudence and courage were
always victorious. Samo had twelve wives chosen from the nation
of the Wends, and had twenty-two sons and fifteen daughters."
Gradually Samo became so dangerous a neighbor to the Franks that
there could not fail to be a collision. " In the year 630 the Slavs,"
writes Fredegar, " slew a number of Frankish merchants in the
kingdom of Samo, and stripped them of their goods. Thus began
the quarrel between Dagobert and Samo. Dagobert sent Sicarius
to this king to ask for justice. Samo did not wish to see Sicarius,
and would not allow him to enter his presence, but Sicarius man-
aged to get to him disguised in the dress of a Slav, and delivered the
message he bore from Dagobert. Samo, however, would repair
none of the wrongs committed, saying only that he intended to
have the matter tried so that justice might be done both in these
matters and in others that had arisen. The enraged envoy had
recourse to threats, and declared that Samo and his people owed
submission to the king of the Franks. Samo replied angrily, * The
land we dwell in is Dagobert's and we are his men, but only so long
as he lives in friendliness with us.' Sicarius answered, * It is not
possible for the Christian servants of God to be the friends of
dogs,' on which Samo replied, ' If you are the servants of God,
we are the dogs of God; and because you continually go against
His will, we have received permission from Him to rend you with
our teeth,' and ordered Sicarius to be driven from his presence."
Dagobert declared war on Samo, and made an alliance with the
Lombards. He attacked the Czechs, while the Lombards made
war on the Slovenes. Samo collected his forces at Wogastiburg,
on the western frontier of Bohemia, and there fought a three days'
battle, in which, as Fredegar himself confesses, the Franks were
THESLAVS «1
630-658
cut to pieces. They returned to their own country, leaving behind
them in their flight even their tents and baggage.
This success increased the fame of Samo, and a prince of the
Slavs of the Elbe district placed himself and his tribe under his pro-
tection. But Samo died in 658, and then his power crumbled to
pieces; the Slav chiefs would recognize no central power, and
anarchy once more reigned among them. Modern Slav historians
are inclined to exaggerate the importance of this mysterious per-
sonage, Samo; they wish to see in him the first representative of
that Slav unity which they are able only to guess at in the past or
dream of for the future. But Samo possessed true political genius
and a talent for organization, which appear to have been foreign
to the race in the earlier ages of its history, and which would seem
to prove that he was not a Slav. He might have played the same
part in the history of the Slavs of the Danube as Rurik in that of
primitive Russia.
The conquests of Samo had not, however, completely de-
stroyed the power of the Avars. Shut in by him on the West, they
had turned with all the more vigor against the Eastern empire, and
attacked Constantinople. Heraclius, however, threatened on one
side by the Avars, on the other by the Moslems, determined to
repeople the desert countries of the Adriatic and the Save by set-
tling in them new races who would have to defend the lands occu-
pied by them, and who would doubtless become converts to the
Christian faith.
Which race should be chosen? Naturally he turned to that
which had been subdued and shamefully ill-treated by the Avars;
and two Slav peoples, the Croats and the Servians, became the in-
struments of the imperial policy. They had settled themselves
north of the Carpathian Mountains, where they were continually
menaced by the Germans and the Mongols. Proposals were first
made to the Croats, and one tribe answered to the appeal ; Heraclius
sent them to attack Dalmatia. The Avars, taken by surprise, were
everywhere forced to retreat, and a war, lasting a few years, ended
in the destruction of a large part of the Avar population and the
enslavement of the rest. Heraclius then turned to the Servians,
and induced one of the chiefs of that nation to bring half the
tribes from the north of the Danube to settle in parts of Thessa-
lonica. Discontented, however, with his lot, this chief returned
home; but the prospect of a struggle with the Avars made him
22 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
630-658
wiser and less exacting. He implored pardon, and appealed to the
kindness of the emperor, who granted him the deserted districts
of upper Moesia, lower Dacia, and Dardania.
Thus were estabHshed on the ruins of the Avar race two new
nations, who founded flourishing states, which, in spite of various
vicissitudes, have lasted to our day. We have no certain informa-
tion of the date of this migration, but it appears to have taken
place about the year 635 or 638. In their own tongue these two
races were called Serbi and Hervati. The land they occupied was
roughly marked out by the Adriatic, on the west, and by the three
rivers, the Drin to the south, the Save to the north, and the Morava
to the east. The frontier between the Servians and the Croats
was uncertain and fluctuating, and their language was similar;
the differences which exist between them at the present day have
been produced largely by historical events. To the one race Chris-
tianity came from Rome, to the other from Byzantium; Latin
became the language of the church of the former, while that of
the latter remained faithful to the Slav idiom. This history of
the two peoples reflects the struggle between the two ecclesiastical
capitals.
There had remained in Dalmatia a Roman element which the
Avars had not completely destroyed. This now receded before
the new colonists, taking refuge in the islands and towns on the
coasts. When the Croats freed themselves from the nominal suze-
rainty of Byzantium, these islands and towns still continued in
their allegiance to it. And down to the present day the old Roman
tradition, kept alive by Italian influence, survives in the region.
The emperor and the Pope lost no time in converting the
new colonists to Christianity, and were able to do so with greater
ease than might have been expected. In the space of about five
and twenty years the Croats had become Christians, and Spalato
was their first metropolis. The Croats of the Save cannot have
been converted so early as those of Dalmatia ; they were still occu-
pied with their struggles against the Franks and Avars, and when
they accepted Christianity it came to them from the distant church
of Aquileia.
The series of Slav migrations into the lands now forming the
Austro-Hungarian state closes with the arrival of the Croats and
Servians. These migrations were distinguished, as we have already
remarked, by their peaceable character. The Slavs did not rush
THESLAVS 23
630-658
down on the cultivated lands, attracted by the riches of soil, by the
thirst for conquest, or the mildness of the climate. Their advances
were made peaceably, and they usually took possession of those
districts which had been abandoned by their inhabitants. De-
scending from their home on the farther side of the Carpathians,
from the valleys of the Danube and the Vistula, they took the place
of the Marcomanni in Bohemia, of the Heruli and Gepidae in Mo-
ravia. Sometimes, like the Slovenes, who peopled Carinthia and
Camiola, they allowed themselves to be enrolled in the armies of
their conquerors; sometimes, like the Servians and the Croats,
they simply occupied lands which had been offered to them. No-
where do we find among them the spirit of pillage, the love of con-
quest; nowhere, except in the case of Samo, do we find any idea
of a powerful organization founded either on the unity of race or
on religious ideas. At the time we have now reached, that is to say,
about the middle of the seventh century, they possessed almost
the whole of the present Austria-Hungary — the valley of the Elbe,
the central valley of the Danube, and the shore of the Adriatic.
These lands they defended against the Avars and the Germans,
until the arrival from the steppes of the Ural of the Magyar, who
introduced an entirely new and unexpected element into these
regions.
As we have just seen, the valleys of the Dnieper and the Vis-
tula seem to have been the cradle of the Slavic race. The name
which we now give to the Slavs was not originally borne by the
whole race; it belonged only to the northern tribes living in the
Russia of to-day, toward the Valdai plateau. Those Slavs who
lived near the Carpathians were called Serbs. The importance of
this name will strike us if we recall the frequent mention of the
Sorabes in German history ; it is still borne by the Servians of Tur-
key, and by their distant kinsmen in Saxon and Prussian Lusatia.
The dialects spoken at Bautzen and at Belgrade are so different
that two Slavs from these two towns, brought suddenly face to
face, would be unable to understand each other, and yet both call
themselves Serbi. History has more or less incorrectly preserved
the names of a large number of Slav tribes which it is unnecessary
here to enumerate. On the other hand, it must not be forgotten
that the Germans, in the Latin chronicles, give to the Slavs the
name of Wends.
The constitution of the family among the Slavs, if we may
24
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
630-658
judge from written testimony and, in cases even, from the examples
still to be seen, was entirely patriarchal. The family lived in com-
mon around its chief or elder (staresphina) . The men cultivated
the ground, the women were occupied with domestic work. The
elder represented all tribal interests, offered sacrifices to the gods,
and apportioned to each his share of labor. The members of the
tribe all bore the same name, which was taken from that of its
eUROPE
lOfWtW^ttllTUW-
Roman Empire I
founder. This name always ended in id, pronounced itsi, a ter-
mination which still plays a great part in the geographical names;
for example, the descendants of Lobek were called Lobkovici,
whence Lobkowitz, the name of a family well known in Bohemian
history. Family names sometimes became those of villages they in-
habited. When a family grew too large it sent out colonies, which
in their turn took the name of their leaders, and founded new com-
munities. The union of a certain number of families constituted
THE SLAVS «6
630-658
a tribe. Frequently the tribe took its name from some feature of
the land it inhabited ; thus the Poles were the dwellers of the plain
(pole) ; the Rietchanes were dwellers by the stream (rieka) ; the
Drevlianes the inhabitants of the forest {drevo, wood). Occa-
sionally it was taken from some pursuit practiced by the tribe, as
the Roudnici, the miners. The common interests of the tribes were
discussed in meetings of the heads of the families. The chief filled
all the most important offices; he was priest, judge, and leader of
the armies. Among the Slavs the love of liberty seems to have been
stronger than any wish for law or order. Procopius says, " They
are not governed by a single man, but live as a democracy." They
are without government and hate one another," said the Emperor
Maurice. The well-known saying of Tacitus may be applied to
them, " I love rather a dangerous freedom than a peaceful slav-
ery." How many troubles have come upon Poland from the cus-
tom of the liherum veto, that is, the necessity that every decision of
the diet should be taken on a unanimous vote, one single opposing
voice paralyzing all legislation! Traces of this custom are to be
found in other Slavonic peoples.
Each tribe had a fortified enclosure, which was used as a
place of shelter, or as a basis of attack in time of war. This was
called grad (the strong), and this word is still to be found in that
of some German towns, which were at first Slavonic and were then
gradually Germanized, as the town of Gratz in Styria. The names
of towns, rivers, and tribes, and of the features of the ground were
almost identical in all Slavonic lands, however widely separated
from one another.
Gradually tribes were united, sometimes as a means of self-
defense, sometimes as the result of war, which resulted in the sub-
mission of the conquered. Thus nations were formed; thus the
Czechs took possession of the whole of Bohemia ; thus the Russians
of Novgorod came at last to give their name to an immense empire.
With the birth of nations came that of monarchy, which ended by
becoming the monopoly of a ruling family, and national dynasties
were founded. But to the Slavs the idea of equality was too dear
to allow monarchical institutions to develop easily. The mem-
bers of the royal family obtained appanages on which they main-
tained the greatest independence, and hence the internal wars of
which the history of the early Slavonic monarchies is so full. The
idea of the right of primogeniture had not yet appeared.
£6 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
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As we have already stated, the first Slavs were not conquerors,
but rather cultivators of the soil. The very nature of the vast
plains on which they dwelt directed their efforts and led them to
cultivate com and raise cattle. They seem to have had little taste
for life among mountains; to have early learned the use of agri-
cultural tools, such as the plow and spade ; to have kept bees, and to
have known how to make beer and hydromel.
The comparative study of the Slav dialects enables us to guess
what degree of perfection the domestic arts had reached. The
words common to all or most of the dialects are sufficient to show
that the Slavs not only cultivated the ground, but that they knew
how to practice, no doubt in clumsy fashion, some industries which
are unknown to savage peoples. They were acquainted with iron
and the commoner tools which are made of it; with gold, silver,
copper, and utensils wrought out of these metals; they knew how
to weave vestments of linen, and even glass was to be found among
them. It is possible that some among them were acquainted with
a rude kind of writing. " They read and calculated with strokes
and notches," says an ancient witness.
They knew how to make war, though they cared little for
fighting. We have already learned that they built fortified enclo-
sures to defend their frontiers. They knew how to use the sword,
the lance, the bow, the helmet, and the shield. Among them con-
quering tribes were rare, and the old historians speak of their peace-
ful habits. They tell us that they were kind, industrious, hospitable,
chaste, and passionately fond of music and song. Their women
were held in respect, and were chosen sometimes to lead the fam-
ily, the tribe, and even the nation. Polygamy was met with occa-
sionally, but it was the exception. They had laws, tribunals, and
trials by ordeal; at the same time private revenge, such as exists
to-day in Corsica and Montenegro, appears to have had, among the
early Slavs, all the force of an institution sanctioned by custom.
They had a religious system of their own considerably devel-
oped, though it does not seem to have been of a kind to produce
fanaticism. It readily made way for Christianity, directly the new
faith came to them by means of friendly apostles and not through
conquering missionaries. Among the Slavs of the Elbe and of
Russia paganism developed into a complicated system, but it would
take us long to learn all the gods of their pantheon, and we find
hardly any trace of these divinities among the Slavs of Bohemia,
THE SLAVS jrr
630-658
Moravia, and Camiola. Nowhere would it seem that they wor-
shiped deified men or recognized a blind power in fate.
" The religion of the ancient Slavs," says Jireck, " was a true
worship of nature. According to them the world was peopled with
superior beings, who were good {bozi) or bad (biesi). The bozi
were the more powerful, and the biesi could only act by their per-
mission. Health, happiness, and victory were all the work of the
bozi ; sickness, wretchedness, defeat, were due to the biesi. In the
winter time, however, the biesi got the upper hand. Sacrifices and
vows were offered to the gods to propitiate them. These beings
formed a vast society like that of human beings; they were all the
sons of one greater than them all. The highest god was the god
of heaven, Svarog; the sun and fire were his sons, and together
bore the father's name and were called Svarozici. Among the other
gods the more important were Veles, god of flocks, and Vesna,
called also Siva or Lada, the goddess of spring and of fruitfulness.
Among the biesi we must mention Morana, the goddess of winter
and of death; Tras, the demon of terror, and Stribog, the demon
of the tempest ; and among the inferior beings should be mentioned
the Vilas, nymphs, and the Vjedi, who dwelt in the air, and the
Jezdibaby, sorcerers,^ who dwelt on the earth. The eclipses of the
sun and moon were supposed to be the work of the Vjedi.
" A belief in vampires was common to all the Slavs. They
believed the soul to be immortal; after having quitted the body it
flew from tree to tree until the body had been burned, and then it
went to the Home of Shadows, which the Slavs called Nav, and
which they pictured to themselves as a region of green fields and
groves. In Nav everyone occupied a position similar to that which
he had held during his life ; if he died before the other members of
his family, he found himself alone and deserted. Hence arose the
custom of wives causing themselves to be burned on the funeral
pyres of their husbands. There were also indications of a belief
in a place of sojourn with the biesi, as well as of a home with the
gods."
None of the Slav tribes, except those of the Elbe, had temples
or priests. The head of the family or of the tribe, the prince,
offered the sacrifices to the gods, which consisted in the burning
of animals, especially oxen. The sacrificial fire was lighted on
mountain tops, or other high places. Forests were the usual places
of worship ; in them images of the gods were raised, and objects of
28 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
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sacrifice were placed under the trees. The great festivals of the
year were that of the winter solstice, when vast sacrifices were
offered to the gods of earth and water; that of the renewal, when
Morana (winter) was burned under the form of a manikin, and
Vesna (spring) was carried in triumph; and that of the summer
solstice, when sacrifices were offered to the sun and to fire. Be-
sides these there were frequent festivals during the summer in
honor of the sun and fire, and in commemoration of the dead.
I
1
1
Chapter IV
MORAVIA AND THE SLAV APOSTLES
658-903
THE long series of migrations which took place on the soil
of the future state of Austria-Hungary does not close
with the settlement of the Slavs in these regions. Two
other elements, the Magyars and the Germans from the upper Dan-
ube, invade the land a few centuries later, and between them
occupy both banks of the Austrian Danube. But the annals of the
Czechs, Moravians, and their Slav relations, during the two cen-
turies which passed between the death of Samo, in the seventh cen-
tury, and the Hungarian invasion in the ninth, contain a number
of interesting episodes generally but little known, but well worth
noting.
On the death of Samo the Slav empire, which he had so quickly
succeeded in founding, broke into three portions: Bohemia, within
well-defined geographic boundaries; Moravia, including, besides
the province of that name, the regions of the middle Danube ; and
the country inhabited by the Carinthian Slavs, Carinthia, Camiola,
the north of Styria, and some parts of Lower Austria.
The history of these various nations during the second half of
the seventh and the first half of the eighth centuries is very ob-
scure. The account of the rise of Bohemia in the Latin and Czech
chronicles is fabulous, and only owes what reality it possesses to
that religious faith in it which patriotism and poetry have inspired.
It is a curious fact that Bohemian legends know nothing of Samo,
who played so great a part in the annals of the country. The first
prince mentioned by them is a certain Krok, who is said to have
reigned in the second half of the seventh century. Krok had three
daughters, who are still dear to popular memory. One of these,
Libusa, on the death of her father, was chosen to rule his lands.
Notwithstanding that wisdom with which tradition endows her,
she felt herself too weak to govern a turbulent people alone, and
chose for her husband the laborer Premysl of Stadice. Tradition
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Still points out the field where this Cincinnatus of the Slavs re-
ceived the invitation to leave his plow, and where at the beginning
of the last century a monument was raised to him. Premysl be-
came the founder of a royal dynasty which ruled over Bohemia
down to the year 1306. The chroniclers praise his wisdom and that
of his wife, Libusa, and to her they attribute the founding of
Prague, on the right bank of the Moldau. The German annals
supply us with a few facts. In the year 791 the Czechs allied them-
selves with Charles the Great against the Avars; about the year
806 the Franks invaded Bohemia with three armies, and forced the
inhabitants to pay tribute; in 845 fourteen Bohemian nobles were
baptized at Regensburg. But Bohemian history really begins with
the reign of Borivoj, who was baptized toward the end of the ninth
century. Christianity had made very little progress for three cen-
turies, largely, it is supposed, because the Czechs had had many a
struggle with the Germans, and would be little inclined to receive
kindly the Gospel which came to them through the hands of German
apostles; for, because of the alliance between Charles the Great
and the Pope, Christianity meant nothing but conquest and slavery
to the Slavs. The sword roused hatred against the cross. The ex-
ample, also, of the Saxons, and of the Slavs of the Elbe, was not
likely to encourage the Czechs to embrace the new religion. When,
however, it came to them from Moravia, through the Slav mis-
sionaries, without any suspicion of conquest, it was easily able to
obtain over them the salutary influence it had already gained over
the races of the west and south.
Less fortunate than Bohemia, her neighbor, Moravia has not
even a legendary history. Her name appears for the first time at
the beginning of the ninth century, under its Slav form, Morava
(German March, Moehren). The first prince whose name is
known was Moimir, who ruled at the beginning of the ninth cen-
tury ; like the Czech, Premysl, he gave his name to a dynasty. Dur-
ing his reign Christianity made considerable progress in Moravia,
and the oldest Christian church of which there is any record among
the Moravians was consecrated at Nitra by the Archbishop of Salz-
burg. But in Moravia also it was not until Christianity possessed
a national clergy that the new religion made rapid progress. The
people, as we have already said, distrusted the German preachers,
and, knowing no Latin, could neither understand the German ser-
mons nor the Roman liturgy. As late as 852 the council of Mainz
I
MORAVIA AND THE APOSTLES 81
658-852
pointed out Moravia as a land still knowing little of Christianity:
rudis adhuc christianitatis. Moimir tried to withstand the Ger-
mans, but was not successful ; and in 846 Louis the German invaded
his country, deposed him, and made his nephew, Rostislav, whom
the chroniclers call Rastiz, ruler in his stead.
The new prince determined to secure both the political and
moral freedom of his country. He fortified his frontiers and then
declared war against the emperor. He was victorious, and when
once peace was secured he undertook the systematic conversion of
his people. Thus came about one of the great episodes in the his-
tory of the Slavs and their church, the mission of the Apostles
Cyril and Methodius.
The Slavs of the Danubian valley had already come into con-
tact with both the great centers of Christianity, Rome and Con-
stantinople, between which the great schism had not as yet
taken place. But Rome with all her zeal could only send to the
Slavs foreign missionaries, who were either ignorant or distrusted
by the people; Constantinople, on the contrary, was surrounded
by Slav Christians, who already possessed a native clergy. Ros-
tislav, therefore, sent to the Emperor Michael IH., writing; " Our
people have renounced paganism and have accepted the Christian
faith; but we have no master who can preach to us the Christian
truths in our tongue. Send us one." At that time there were liv-
ing at Constantinople the two brothers Constantine, two priests
already celebrated for their knowledge and the success of their mis-
sion work. In the church they were known by the names of Cyril
and Methodius. Were they Greeks or Slavs? No one knows.
They were born in Thessalonica, a city of many languages, and
their father held there an important office in the state. They had
studied science and languages and had distinguished themselves
among the most learned men of the court of Byzantium. The one
had become a monk, the other a priest, and their reputation had
been increased by their missions to the Arabs and the Khazars.
Their success as missionaries was considered miraculous, and lan-
guages of all kinds were familiar to them. Cyril had been named
the Philosopher; Methodius had refused an archbishopric offered
him by the emperor and the patriarch ; everything seemed to point
them out for the post. They accepted the honorable office as apos-
tles to the Moravians; and Cyril undertook, before setting out on
his mission, to create for the Slav tongue that alphabet which it had
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never yet possessed, and to which his name is still attached (the
CyrilHc alphabet). He also translated the New Testament into
Slav and carried his translation with him into the country. The
two brothers reached Moravia at the end of the year 863, or the
beginning of 864, and were received with great honor by Rostis-
lav. They soon gathered round them the young men destined for
the priesthood, to whom they taught the new alphabet, while they
continued their translations of the sacred books and the liturgy.
" Then," says a Slav legend, " according to the word of the prophet,
the ears of the deaf heard, and the tongue of the dumb was
unloosed."
The names of the new apostles and the news of their success
soon reached the ears of the Pope. He summoned them to Rome,
and they responded to his call. As they crossed lower Pannonia
they visited the Slav Prince Kocel, who confided to their care a
certain number of young ecclesiastics. At Rome they were received
with the highest honors; Pope Adrian H. made them bishops and
consecrated as priests, deacons, or subdeacons several of the dis-
ciples they had brought with them, besides authorizing them to
celebrate the liturgy in the Slav tongue, and approving their trans-
lation of the Scriptures. Cyril died in Rome in February, 869, and
was buried there. Methodius returned alone to his work, the Pope
having assigned to him, as his diocese, all the Slav countries, and
given him a letter to Rostislav and his princely neighbors, Svato-
pluk and Kocel. He approved of the use of the Slav liturgy, but
recommended that the Gospels should be read in Latin, as a sign
of the unity of the church. On his return from Rome Methodius
again spent some time at the court of Kocel in Pannonia.
When Methodius once more reached Moravia Rostislav was
no longer there to receive him. After having struggled success-
fully for some time against the Germans, he had been betrayed by
his nephew and vassal, Svatopluk, into the hands of Karloman,
duke of Carinthia and son of Louis the German, who put out his
eyes and shut him up in a monastery. Svatopluk believed himself
sure of the succession as the price of his treachery, but a very dif-
ferent reward fell to his lot, as Karloman, trusting but little in his
fidelity to the Germans, threw him also into captivity. Later he
was released by Karloman, who hoped he would aid him against
the revolt of the Moravians. Instead, Svatopluk joined them and
successfully attacked the Germans. The independence of Moravia
MORAVIA AND THE APOSTLES 33
869-900
was secured, and, by the Treaty of Forcheim, in 874, it was
recognized.
The German bishops had not seen without envy the success
of Cyril and Methodius and the favors bestowed on them by the
Pope. The extent of their jurisdiction and the value of their
tithes had been considerably lessened by the creation of the new
Slav diocese. They looked upon Methodius as a usurper, and as
such cited him before them and imprisoned him in a convent, where
they kept him for two years. From this time the life of Methodius
was one long struggle against the German clergy. They con-
stantly intrigued against him, and endeavored to withdraw from
him the favor of the Pontiff. He nevertheless persisted in his
work, and about 874 baptized the prince of Bohemia, Borivoj, and
by this means introduced the Slav liturgy into Bohemia. Accusa-
tions against him continually reached the Pope ; now he was accused
of heresy, now he was denounced for his use of the Slav liturgy;
and he was but ill-supported by Svatopluk. He was obliged to go
to Rome to defend himself, but came out victorious from the trial,
Pope John VHI. recognizing his orthodoxy, and once more con-
firming the privileges granted him. It would take us too long to
relate here how the enemies of Methodius substituted false docu-
ments for those which had been drawn up by the Pope himself.
Methodius was again obliged to appeal to the Pontiff, who sanc-
tioned his action in a letter which was publicly read to the assem-
bled people. He passed the last years of his troubled life in com-
pleting his translation of the sacred books, and died in 885. On
his death his disciples had no protection from the persecutions of
their enemies, and were forced to seek refuge among the Bul-
garians, by whom they were eagerly welcomed.
The departure of the disciples of Methodius completely dis-
organized the Slav church. The German bishops of the neighbor-
ing dioceses drew up and sent to the Pope, John IX., in 900, a
factum in which they claimed for themselves jurisdiction over the
country of the Moravians, " a country," said they, " which has
been subject to our kings and our people both as regards Christian
worship and the payment of tribute." " With their will or against
their will," adds this evangelical factum, " they shall be subject to
us": sive velint sive nolint, regno nostra subacti erunt. These
controversies, which were so little animated by the spirit of that
religion which was their object, were put an end to in a most un-
S4 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
869-900
expected and bloody fashion by the invasion of the Magyars.
Moravia was thrown into a state of anarchy, and the Slav liturgy
perished. But few traces of it can be discovered in the history of
those lands which gave it birth. Proscribed in Moravia, it flour-
ished for a time in Bulgaria ; thence it passed to the Servians, Rus-
sians, and the Croats, and then gradually disappeared.
At the present time throughout the empire of Austria Latin
is the language of the Catholic Church. The Slav liturgy is used
only by about three millions of Uniate Ruthenians in Galicia, three
millions of Servians and Rumanians, and about eighty thousand
Catholics on the shores of the Adriatic. Though they returned
more or less willingly to the use of the Latin liturgy, the Slavs of
the Western rite have by no means forgotten the great apostles of
their race; their millennium was celebrated in 1863 with imposing
solemnity, and they are still considered the representatives of that
literary and religious unity of the Slavs which is the dream of many.
Cyril and Methodius deserve a far higher place in religious history
than has hitherto been assigned to them. Their knowledge, their
zeal for the Gospel, their indomitable perseverance, have nothing to
fear from comparison with the apostles of Germany.
But we must return to Svatopluk and his ephemeral empire.
The Treaty of Forcheim secured the independence of Moravia and
thenceforward peace reigned between Svatopluk and Louis the Ger-
man. Complete master in his country, strong in the power of his
army and of his Slav-speaking clergy, Svatopluk might have put
himself forward as the representative and defender of the Slavs
against the Germans. But he did not appreciate the possibilities
of such action. Instead, he showed a marked sympathy for the
Germans and invited them to his court. While helping to spread
the Slav liturgy in his provinces, he himself made use of the Roman
liturgy, and thus opened the door to the pretensions of the German
clergy. He began his reig^ with a crime, he ended it with blun-
ders; he possessed great talents, but his character was not equal
to them, and his policy appears to have been fortunate rather than
able. At one time he was the most powerful monarch of the Slavs ;
Rome was in treaty with him, Bohemia gravitated toward Moravia,
and Moravia held in check the ambitions of the empire. The em-
peror himself, Charles the Fat, came to the Ostmark to try to put an
end to the struggle between Svatopluk and Amulf of Pannonia, and
there received, in 884, a visit from Svatopluk, who promised to
I
MORAVIA AND THE APOSTLES 85
869-900
respect the lands of the empire. In 888 Svatopluk concluded
a treaty of friendship and alliance with Arnulf, which was renewed
in 891. At this time the kingdom of Svatopluk was a powerful
state; it included, besides the Moravia of to-day, Austrian Silesia,
the subject country of Bohemia, the Slav tribes on the Elbe and the
Vistula as far as the neighborhood of Magdeburg, part of western
Galicia, the country of the Slovaks, and lower Pannonia.
But two such ambitious men as Svatopluk and Amulf could
not trust each other; their friendship was based only on mutual
fear ; and as soon as Arnulf believed that he had secured sufficiently
strong allies he once more attacked Svatopluk. He entered into an
alliance with Braclav, a Slovene prince, sought the aid of the king
of the Bulgarians, and, what was of far graver importance, sum-
moned to his help the Magyars, who had just settled on the lower
Danube. Swabians, Bavarians, Franks, Magyars, and Slovenes
moved simultaneously upon Moravia. Overwhelmed by numbers,
Svatopluk made no attempt at resistance: he shut up his troops in
fortresses, and abandoned the open country to the enemy, who rav-
aged it for four weeks. Then hostilities ceased; but no durable
peace could exist between the two adversaries. War again began
in the following year, when death freed Arnulf from Svatopluk.
The populace, which loves to surround its great men with legendary
glory, would not believe that Svatopluk had died like any ordinary
mortal. From the tenth century onward a marvelous story has
been told of him. One night the great Moravian chief left his
camp unobserved, mounted his faithful steed, and gained the
wooded sides of Mount Zobor, near Nitra, where was a well-known
hermitage. Here he slew his horse, buried his sword in the earth,
presented himself before the hermits of the mountain, became a
monk, and lived long without making known his rank, which he
only revealed at the moment of death. Through many vicissitudes
his name remained popular in Moravia, and to this day the people
make use of a proverb, " Seek for Svatopluk," when they wish to
imply, " Seek for justice." Historians have criticised this prince
severely, but we must not forget that almost all we know of him has
reached us through his enemies. " He was a vessel of treachery,"
say the annals of Fulda ; " he overturned the countries with his
greed, and thirsted for human blood." " He was a man of great
genius and great cleverness," writes Regino. " He was valiant and
strong and dreaded by his neighbors," says Constantine Porphyro-
86 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
900-903
genitus. Modem Slavonic writers give him a high place in the his-
tory of the race, and look upon him as a successor of Samo, and
the second great leader in the cause of Slavic unity in the West.
At his death he left three sons. The eldest, Moimir II., he
chose as his heir, and assigned appanages to each of the others. On
his deathbed he begged them to live at peace with one another,
but his advice was not followed. The Moravian kingdom was far
from forming a homogeneous whole. Bohemia refused to remain
a vassal state ; the Magyars invaded Moravian Pannonia, and forced
Moimir into an alliance with them. Arnulf fomented the discord
between Moimir II. and Svatopluk II. ; and, in the year 900, the
Bavarians, together with the Czechs, invaded Moravia. In 903 the
name of Moimir disappears. Cosmas of Prague shows us Moravia
at the mercy of Germans, Czechs, and Hungarians; then history
is silent, towns and castles crumble, churches are overthrown, the
people scattered. " A mournful silence reigns over the universal
desolation," says the Czech historian Palacky, " and we know not
when or how this work of horror was accomplished." The brief
duration of the Moravian kingdom has been justly compared to
that of the mounds of sand which are raised by the breath of the
tempest, and by the tempest dispersed. This monarchy of a day
has not even left ruins behind it; we hardly know the site of the
capital of Svatopluk, that marvelous city of Velehrad (ineffabilis
mmiitio), where Methodius baptized the prince of Bohemia. The
poetry of the people alone remains, bewailing the memory of a
vanished world :
" Hard by the broad Danube, hard by the foaming waves of
the Morava, ... bleeds the wounded heart of the Slavs. O
land of our noble fathers ! theater echoing to our ancient struggles f
thou liest entombed in thy vast expanse; the arrow of misfortune
has pierced thy breast. Thy time has gone by; thy glory sleeps
an internal sleep. Thy sons find only the shadow of their fathers'
glory.
" The sword of Moimir slumbers ; beneath ruins the helmet of
Svatopluk lies buried. Only once in a long while from this bosom
of forgetfulness a memory flies to heaven in song.
" Nitra, dear Nitra ! great Nitra ! where are the times of thy
prosperity? Nitra, dear Nitra! thou mother of the Slavs, when I
think of thee, I needs must weep. Formerly thou wast the mother
of the whole Danube, the Vistula, and the Morava. Thou wast
MORAVIA AND THE APOSTLES 37
748-822
the throne of Svatopluk, when his powerful hand ruled ; thou wast
the holy city of Methodius, when he taught our fathers the word of
God. Now is thy glory veiled in shadow. Thus do times change !
thus the world passes ! "
The Slovenes, or Slavs of Carinthia and Carniola, were of
little importance during these early times. After the death of Samo
they separated from the Czechs, and were able to organize a
state. Borut, their first prince whose name is known, sought the
aid of Pepin the Short against the Avars in 748, and obtained
it at the price of almost complete submission to the Prankish
monarch. His successor, Karat, was obliged to renew this vas-
salage. Chotimir, who was a cousin of Borut, was brought up
in Bavaria, and was a Christian; he was a fervent apostle of the
Gospel among the Slovenes. With the help of Virgil, bishop of
Salzburg, he worked hard at the conversion of his people, which
was effected solely through the German clergy, and its first result
was the complete Germanizing of the Slavs of Salzburg and the
Tyrol. The history of these Slavs belongs in the main to that of
the Ostmark and the empire.
One thing only deserves to be recorded here, and that is the
curious mode in which the Carinthians installed their princes. The
ceremony took place near the town of Klagenfurt. A peasant
mounted on a rock awaited the coming of the new prince, who ad-
vanced, clothed in rustic garments. The peasant asked, "Who is
this who approaches ? " The people answered, " It is the prince
of this land." The peasant then asked, "Is he a good judge? is
he the friend of truth ? " and, on receiving a reply in the affirmative,
the peasant yielded his place to the newcomer, who mounted the
rock and, brandishing his sword, swore to defend the country of
the Slovenes. This custom lasted down to the fifteenth century.
The people who had imagined it deserved a more brilliant destiny.
The historic individuality of the Croats is much more clearly
marked than that of the Slovenes. We have already seen how, on
their arrival in their new country, they adopted Christianity with-
out difficulty. The Germans could invoke no pretense of conver-
sion to justify their attempts at conquest among the Croats, but it
was sufficient reason for German ambition that the Croats bordered
on the empire. In 796 Charles the Great crushed the Avars by
taking their fortified camp, and after 822 even their name disap-
pears from the chronicles. Thus master of the country between the
88 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
823-1070
Danube and the Theiss, Charles the Great's dominions included
the numerous and still independent Croats. The margrave of Friuli
was appointed to attack their coast, and the Croats of Dalmatia
and Slavonia passed from the yoke of Byzantium to that of the
empire. But they did not willingly accept the Prankish rule. Their
chief, Ljudevit (823), revolted against the foreign yoke, but was
defeated and forced to fly to Servia, where he was assassinated.
We cannot undertake to relate the tangled history of the Croats
of Dalmatia and the Save districts. Toward the end of the ninth
century they were finally united, and the great zhupan Mutimir
(892-900) proclaimed himself chief of the Croats by the grace of
God, organizing his court on the model of the other European
courts.
In Croatia, as in Moravia, Western influences banished the
Slav liturgy, and the Croats found themselves more and more sep-
arated from the Servians, while the introduction of the Latin lan-
guage prepared the way for the Venetians. These gradually took
possession of the whole coast of the Adriatic, and their doges adopted
the title of dukes of Dalmatia. For the rest of the land the over-
lordship of Byzantium was gradually renounced by Drzislav (970-
icxDi). One of his successors, Peter Kresimir, called the Great,
recovered the Dalmatian cities and the Isles, and took the title
of king of Dalmatia ; conquered from the Bulgarians the district of
Sirmia which they had captured, and from the Servians part of
Bosnia ; he also seized part of Carniola, Styria, and Istria.
During his reign a council was held at Spalato to combat the
Slav liturgy, which still enjoyed the popular favor in spite of all the
anathemas hurled against it, and Kresimir supported Pope Nich-
olas II. in his measures for driving the national tongue out of the
church. It took refuge in a few isles of the Adriatic, where it has
lasted down to our time.
King Svinimir, or Zvonimir (1075), ^^ known best from his
relations with Pope Gregory VII. That Pontiff, who was carry-
ing on an energetic struggle with the empire, aimed at directly at-
taching to the Holy See those secondary states which were
dependents neither of Germany nor Byzantium. He sent Cardinal
Gebizon to Croatia, bearing royal insignia to Zvonimir. Zvonimir
was consecrated in the basilica of St. Peter, in Spalato (1076), in
the name of the Pope, and received from the hands of his envoy
the royal diadem, sword, and scepter. In return for this honor he
MORAVIA AND THE APOSTLES 39
1076
promised to remain faithful and obedient to the Holy See, to cause
tithes to be paid, to oblige the clergy to live decent lives, and to
prevent all marriages forbidden by the laws of the church, and all
traffic in slaves. He also undertook to pay two hundred ducats
yearly to the Pope. The chronicles of Croatia look upon the reign
of Zvonimir as the climax of the national power : " Under good
King Zvonimir the country lived in joy, the cities were full of gold
and of silver. The poor man had no fear that the rich would do him
wrong; the servant dreaded no wrongdoing from his master. The
king defended them, and they had nought to fear but the anger of
God." Zvonimir died without children, and the nobles of Croatia
and Dalmatia elected one of his relations, Stephen II., who reigned
but a short time. He was the last king of the line of the Derzislavic,
and on his death the Croats, after long discussion, offered their
crown to Ladislas, king of Hungary, who accepted it.
The organization of the kingdom of Croatia and its institutions
deserve a passing mention. The Croats were grouped together in
families in the same way as the other Slav races. A certain num-
ber of families made up a zhupa, at the head of which was a zhupan.
In early times one among the zhupans was recognized as the head
of the nation, with the title of the great zhupan; he had no abso-
lute authority, but took counsel with his colleagues. These zhu-
pans, who are named in the Latin texts suppani, were called by
foreigners duces, comites, and principes.
Around the great zhupan, or king, gathered a nobility of the
counts and barons. The powers of the great zhupan do not seem
to have differed from those exercised later on by the kings; this
supreme authority, moreover, was hereditary. At the same time
we find that when there was no lawful heir, the people exercised
the right of election : it was thus that the ban Zvonimir was elected
ccncordi totius cleri et populi electione. Legislative, administrative,
and judicial functions were exercised by the king with the aid of a
national assembly. The capital was Belgrade.
After the king, the most important officers of the state were
the bans. At first there was but one ban, who was a kind of lieu-
tenant general ; but later on there were seven of them, each known
by the name of the province he governed. To this day the royal
lieutenant of Croatia is called the ban. All grave questions of
legislation, of peace and war, and of election to the throne were
treated in the diets, whose organization is but ill-defined. The
40 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
107»
towns on the Dalamatian coast had preserved municipal institutions
of Roman origin, which were independent of the rest of the
kingdom.
At the head of the church was the archbishop of Spalato, which
was the metropolis of the rest of the kingdom. Byzantine ortho-
doxy made but little progress in Croatia, and we have already seen
with what distrust the Roman clergy and the Holy See treated the
Slav liturgy, even though it was Catholic. The court of Rome
remained all-powerful in Croatia; the church was rich, and the
monasteries, especially those of the Benedictines, very numerous.
The Latin language, owing to the influence of Rome, became the
official language of politics, literature, and religion. At the same
time there remain some manuscripts which prove that the national
tongue was occasionally used in legal proceedings.
Chapter V
THE FOUNDING OF THE MAGYAR STATE
892-1038
THE Hungarian nation appears in history under two names,
that of Magyar, used by themselves, and that of Hun-
garian, used by foreigners. The first time we hear of them
they are spoken of as Hving by the chase near the Volga River and
the Ural Mountains. Nomadic tribes wandering over the immense
plains of eastern Russia, they gradually made their way westward,
and settled near the shores of the Black Sea. There seven tribes
are said to have given command to a young leader named Arpad,
who became the founder of a dynasty. The wealth of Europe
seems to have attracted them, as Italy had formerly attracted the
Germans, and the imprudence of the Western monarchs opened a
way for them to the very heart of its fertile lands. First the East-
ern emperor implored their help against the Bulgarians, and then
Arnulf sought their aid against Svatopluk.
The region of the Danube into which they came had been rav-
aged and occupied by their ancestors or kinsmen for more than
two centuries. The Huns of Attila had encamped there, and they
had been followed by the Avars, who had settled there from the
end of the sixth century down to the time when Charles the Great
destroyed their great bring between the Danube and the Theiss
in 796.
The first attack of the Magyars, which was directed against
Moravia in 892, was unsuccessful. Two years later, however, they
returned, determined this time to settle in whatever part of the land
they might be able to conquer. Few examples of a migration so
vast are to be found in the history of barbarian invasions. Two
hundred and sixteen thousand men bearing arms, which implies a
total population of almost a million, are the numbers mentioned in
the national traditions, where it is said that this multitude took
nearly three years to cross the Carpathians.
The nation was led with so exact and wise a discipline as to
call forth the admiration of an illustrious Byzantine critic. " Their
41
4« AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
892-894
vigorous bodies," says Sayous, " used to the privations of the
desert, felt neither heat nor cold, neither hunger nor thirst. Ac-
customed to all manner of hardships, no task seemed impossible to
them. Every kind of weapon, sword, bow, or lance, was alike to
them, for they knew how to fight both on foot and on horseback;
but, horsemen rather than foot soldiers, they preferred to fight on
their small and agile steeds, which never felt fatigue, and the arrow
was their favorite weapon. When arrayed for battle they were
divided into bodies of one thousand men each, who were equally
prepared to form one compact mass or to pour down upon the
enemy in flying squadrons from every side at once. A cloud of ar-
rows was the prelude to a furious onslaught which bore all before
it, and often a pretended flight finished the complete rout of their
enemies when they were madly confident of victory."
The legends of the Magyars tell us the names of some of the
small Slav princes who were the first to give way before this terrible
invasion. But they tell us nothing of the manner in which the Mo-
ravian kingdom was conquered. By the end of the tenth century
we find the ruin of that power completed, and the rule of the Mag-
yars established in the whole of the district along whose center
runs the Danube, and whose north and east are bounded by the Car-
pathian Mountains.
The invasion had the gravest consequences for the history of
these lands. " It was not a mere immigration of a Finnish race,
destined to disappear as the Huns and Avars had already disap-
peared, or to become absorbed like the Bulgarians among the con-
quered race. The intellectual qualities of the Magyars, the finest
of the Altaic races, their physical strength, their immense numbers,
their keen patriotism, guaranteed them against destruction or ab-
sorption, slow or rapid."
The advent of this people and their settlement upon the
ruins of Moravia was a mortal blow to the Slavs. The Czech his-
torian Palacky says, " The invasion of the Hungarians was the
greatest misfortune that ever befell our race. From Holstein to
the Peloponnesus the Slav tribes extended; they were but loosely
united and their customs differed, but they were all vigorous and
ready for civilization. In the center of this vast region a nucleus
had been formed by the efforts of Svatopluk, about which a great
Slav civilization might have developed. But the hopes of the Slavs
were ruthlessly destroyed by the appearance of the Magyars."
THE MAGYAR STATE
43
894-955
The lands on which they had settled did not suffice for the new
conquerors. The Magyar hordes brought with them nomadic and
warlike instincts which time and the influence of the Christian re-
ligion alone could transform and prepare for civilization. They
invaded the Venetian country; but the city of the lagoons beat
them back, as it had already beaten back the Huns. In 907 Arpad
died, and, according- to tradition, his remains lie at the foot of the
rock of Buda, where he had located his capital or camp. , Under his
son Zoltan the invasions continued ; the Germans suffered a terrible
defeat at Presburg in 907; then again in 910, near Augsburg; but
T
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE CastemDnpir
CIRCA 910 A.D.
they repulsed the Magyars before Wels, where, if we are to be-
lieve their account, eighty-six Magyars alone escaped. An old
German poem proudly celebrates this victory : " They fought a
terrible fight. Many a Hungarian lost his life; the Bavarians
avenged their women and children. So many Hungarians were
killed that no one could tell the number nor count the dead. They
fled night and day till they reached the Leitha. Yet were they not
weary of the fight."
In 924 it was again Italy that they attacked, and even Provence
and Champagne saw the terrible horsemen within their borders.
At last, however, their progress was definitely stopped by the
44 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
955-997
battle of Augsburg, in 955. Thenceforward the Magyars were
forced to fall back, and to content themselves with those lands
which they had secured in the valley of the Danube. King Geiza
(972-997) was the first pacific ruler of pagan Hungary.
Thus a new military state appeared which was destined to play
an important part in the history of these lands. Within the limits
of the Magyar kingdom, in almost every part, was a large Slav
population, whose language and laws were to exercise a lasting
influence on the Hungarians. On the southeast they touched on
the Romance element, which, from the time of the Roman colonies
of Trajan, had continued to develop there. Numerous marriages
with these neighbors gradually modified the primitive type of the
Magyars ; they have long since lost the high cheek bones and slant-
ing eyes of the Mongols, and, improved by the intermixture of
races, they have become one of the most beautiful, perhaps the
most beautiful, race in Europe.
Few traces of the religion of the pagan Mag^yars are left to-
day, and it is difficult to make out their system of mythology from
the popular superstitions. They seem to have recognized a supreme
god, Isten, the father of men, and below him a number of sec-
ondary deities, such as the demon Ordog, and Mano, the evil
spirit. Below these again are the tiinder, fairies and apparitions
who influence the destiny of man in various ways. Sayous says:
" Somewhere among the mountains of Transylvania lies the palace
of the king of the Hinder, where he dwells with his queen and many
beautiful maidens; this palace is built of silver and copper, and is
guarded by a golden lion ; it is reflected in a shining lake and sur-
rounded by great forests, where the song of birds fills the air with
delightful melody. A tradition of the comitat of Houth tells
how, in a spot which is now deserted and covered with stones, with
here and there the stump of an old tree, there formerly lived fairies
who, at break of day, combed their golden locks over the country
in such fashion that every one was rich ; but a miser seized one of
the fairies, intending to cut off all of her hair, whereupon they all
took flight, and the land was filled with desolation, and poverty
took the place of plenty. In the town of Deva the good fairy used
to appear every seven years ; while other fairies built walls for men
and made them rich with their treasures, till human ingratitude con-
tinually disappointed them and forced them to quit the place. Be-
sides the fairies of the earth there were also those of the air and
THE MAGYAR STATE 45
955-997
of the water. One of the most poetical and most original fancies
of the Magyar imagination was Delibab, the fairy of the south,
the personification of the mirage, who was the daughter of the
plain, the sister of the sea, the beloved of the wind. Lakes and
rivers were peopled by mysterious spirits. The elements were the
objects of worship. And further, " Alone among all created things
the human soul preserved an indestructible and immortal existence ;
it could return to earth, especially if it had been the soul of an
illustrious warrior. The soul passed beneath the vault of death
on horseback, and crossed a bridge which led to happiness in an-
other world — a. warrior's happiness, as the funeral ceremonies had
been those of a warrior."
Power was divided between the priests and the prince. The
priests offered songs and prayers, and even human sacrifices, upon
altars in the woods. A nomadic race, such as were the Magyars
before their conversion to Christianity, could have but a very im-
perfect form of government. It was military rather than political.
The power of the highest chief had no limits but those imposed by
the right of self-government possessed by each tribe. He was
chosen by the voice of the people, and it would seem that the choice
had become hereditary in the family of Arpad, though without the
right of primogeniture being recognized either by custom or
law. This election was confirmed by the supreme judicial power,
and by the general assembly of the chiefs, assisted by many of the
freemen.
All the members of a family, and even of a tribe, looked upon
each other as brothers ; they were all free and all noble. Here we
find the origin of that numerous class of petite noblesse which has
always been the strength of Hungary. " The headship of the fam-
ilies and tribes was partly hereditary, partly elective. The land as-
signed to the tribe or family by the duke or by the national assem-
bly was the property of all, even when the various branches of the
family had divided it into portions. On these they might build the
huts which gradually became houses, and pasture their cattle until
it was brought under cultivation, but still it remained the property
of the tribe. The chief had no peculiar domain. It was not until
later, when Hungary had become an agricultural country, that
properties were well defined, and that the chiefs became proprietors
of part of the land and feudal lords of the rest. In early times the
ducal tribe, the one which was under the immediate authority of the
46 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
955-997
prince, settled in the center of the country near Pesth and
Stuhlweissenburg."
Naturally the old Magyars had but little taste for town life;
they left the towns to their old inhabitants, or else peopled them
with colonists from foreign countries. Their nomadic life afforded
but small opportunity for intellectual or artistic culture; the Mag-
yar archaeologists can find few ruins belonging to this pagan time,
and not a verse has reached us of the rhapsodies sung by the bards
in the honor of their heroes, or at the great festivals and marriages.
All we know is that music played a large part on these solemn
occasions. The weird melodies of the gypsies may perhaps have
preserved some faint echoes of those early songs.
Geiza I., referred to above as the first pacific king of pagan
Hungary, had married as his second wife a sister of the duke
of Poland, Mieczyslaw. She had been converted to Christianity,
and, like Clotilde of France, this princess knew how to use her in-
fluence in favor of her religion. She persuaded her husband to
receive the missionaries who came to preach the Gospel in the
country of the Magyars, and Pilgrim, archbishop of Lorch, under-
took the systematic conversion of the nation. He sent priests from
his diocese into Hungary, and in 974 he announced five thousand
conversions to the Pope. Foreigners, who, up to this time, had
practiced their religion secretly, began to profess it openly, had their
children publicly baptized, and built churches. Geiza himself con-
sented to be baptized, but long afterward he continued to mix pagan
ceremonies with the Christian rites. The great Czech apostle, St.
Adalbert, bishop of Prague, continued the work begun by Pilgrim.
About 994 he went to Gran, where the duke of Hungary then dwelt,
and solemnly baptized the son of Geiza, to whom he gave the name
of Stephen. Henceforth the court of the duke became the resort
of knights from all the neighboring countries, but especially from
Germany, and these knights, entering into intimate relations with
the native nobility, drew Hungary and the empire into still closer
union. Prince Stephen, heir-presumptive to the throne, married
the Princess Gisella, daughter of the duke of Bavaria, while one
of the daughters of Geiza became the wife of the Polish Duke Bole-
slav, and another married Urseolus, doge of Venice. Through
these alliances Hungary obtained for itself a recognized place
among European states, and the work begun so well by Geiza was
completed by Stephen, to whom was reserved the honor of estab-
I
I
THE MAGYAR STATE 417
997-1000
lishing the position of his kingdom in Europe and of completing
its conversion. When this prince came to the throne in 997, the
countries surrounding Hungary were all ruled by celebrated
princes. Otto III. governed Germany; Boleslav III., Bohemia;
Boleslav the Brave, Poland ; Vladimir the Great, Russia ; and Basil
XL, Byzantium. In order to maintain the existence of Hungary
among these flourishing states it w^as needful that it should attain
the same degree of civilization, and this was the work of Stephen,
honored by the Hungarians as the second founder of their nation.
In the very beginning of his reign Stephen had to struggle
against the revolts of a pagan chief, Koppany, who saw in the
introduction of Christianity danger to the native institutions. He
overcame him beneath the walls of Veszprim, and, once freed from
this formidable enemy, Stephen gave all his thoughts to the spread
of Christianity among his people. His zeal was refmarkable.
" Hungary became Catholic," says the Magyar historian, Verboczy,
" not through apostolic teaching, nor through the invitation of the
Holy See, but through the laws of King Stephen." He was not
always content to use persuasion alone to lead his subjects to the
new faith ; he hesitated not to use threats also. He sent an ambas-
sador to Rome to treat directly with Pope Sylvester, who graciously
received the homage offered for the kingdom, and by a letter, dated
March 27, 1000, announced that he took the people of Hungary
under the protection of the church.
On August 15, in the year 1000, the king was crowned at
Gran with the crown sent to him by the Pontiff. The coronation
of Stephen secured the continuance of power to the dynasty of
Arpad. He still, however, met with some resistance, especially in
Transylvania, where the native prince, Giulay, refused to sanction
the Christian religion. Stephen marched against him, defeated
him, and granted Transylvania to a voievode of the race of Ar-
pad. He reconquered part of Moravia from Bohemia, and dared
even to attack Germany on the side of Bavaria, but being attacked
in his turn, was obliged to make peace.
Under this great king Hungary became an independent king-
dom between the two empires of the East and West, and was prob-
ably enabled to preserve its independence by that equilibrium which
was now established between these two ambitious rivals. The state
was completely united, and was not divided into appanages. The
king was supreme, but he had a council of the old and wise men
48 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1000-1038
continually at hand to advise him, " For," said Stephen, in the di-
rections which he wrote for his son Emerich, " it is right that each
should busy himself with that which suits him best, the young with
fighting, the old with counsel." He himself calls this institution
regalis senatus, regale concilium, primatum conventus, commune
concilium.. Hungarian historians see in it the first elements of the
national diet; rough beginnings, doubtless, and as little subject to
fixed rules as had formerly been the meetings of the tribes in the
plain.
Ecclesiastically the kingdom was divided ?nto ten bishoprics,
all subject to the archbishop of Gran. Stephen also founded sev-
eral abbeys, which were granted to the Benedictines, who opened
schools, while churches were built by Italian and Byzantine
architects.
Politically the nation was divided into comitats. The germ
of this division had existed already among the Slavs, who had
to make way for the Magyars, and the name, like most of the po-
litical terms used in Hungary, was borrowed from the Slav lan-
guage. The name zhupan became in the Magyar ispan, a word
which plays so prominent a part in the history of the nation. Each
comitat possessed a camp {var)y and these camps formed together
a complete system of defense. The comitat was governed by a
count (ispan), who exercised civil and military authority in the
name of the king; he was aided by a general, major exercitus, by a
castellan, or governor, and by centurions and decurions.
When Stephen began to reign property was of two kinds,
the property of the state and the property of the tribe. Stephen
maintained the property of the state, but put an end to all tribal
rights; he declared that each citizen had the right to keep and to
bequeath to his children the possessions he had acquired, or which
he had received from the king. But we must not look upon these
royal gifts as hereditary fiefs. The aristocracy was formed of those
who held high offices, and was divided into two classes. The first
included the counts, bishops, the leaders of the army, and perhaps
the descendants of the chiefs of the old Magyar tribes. The second
was composed more especially of warriors. After these two
classes came the soldiers of the fortified towns and the citizens.
Quite early we find a large number of Germans among the inhab-
itants of certain towns ; they were known by the name of hospites.
The towns exercised municipal self-government under the control
THE MAGYAR STATE 49
1000-1038
of the ispan and the bishop. The mass of the peopU did not pos-
sess land. The artisans were the connecting link between the nobles
and the serfs. Stephen did not suppress slavery, but he improved
the condition of the slaves.
The king was supreme judge, and under some circumstances
he administered justice in person. Bishops and abbots, civil and
military dignitaries, could only be summoned to appear in the
king's court, presided over either by the sovereign himself or by
the count palatine. This court acted also as a court of appeal
against all judgments delivered by the counts of towns, bishoprics,
or abbeys. Oral witness was admitted, as well as trial by single
combat. The penal code was very severe. The right of sanctu-
ary was refused to all who conspired against the king or country,
and he who sowed discord among the people was condemned to
lose his tongue. A false witness had his arm cut off; murderers
had to pay a heavy fine ; at the same time the murderer of a slave
was only obliged to pay the value of the slave to his master. The
murder of a wife was punished according to the rank of the mur-
derer ; a count paid to the family of his wife fifty young oxen, a war-
rior only ten. Human life was tolerably cheap. The loss of a
limb cost more ; it could only be atoned for by the loss of the same
limb, thus putting in practice the old Bible precept, " an eye for
an eye, a tooth for a tooth." Rape was punished by the payment
of ten or five oxen, according to the rank of the criminal. The
thief who could not restore the value of the thing stolen was sold as
a slave. Thus did this imperfect legislation combine Mosaic prin-
ciples with the customs of barbarians.
The revenue of the king was made up of the contributions of
the artisans and the lower classes, the taxes on towns, the pro-
duce of mines and salt works, a monopoly of the coinage, and
some portion of all fines. Besides this, subjects were bound to
maintain the royal household as the king traveled from place to
place. Every man had to serve as a soldier; the warriors of the
nation were summoned by a bloody sword sent from comitat to
comitat ; and the castles were the meeting-places of the nobles. The
laws of Stephen are contained in fifty-six articles, divided into
two books. His ideas on all matters of government are also to be
found in the counsels which he wrote, or caused to be written,
for his son Emerich, and which have more than one claim to our
interest.
Chapter VI
HUNGARY UNDER THE SUCCESSORS OF
ST. STEPHEN. 1038-1301
THE son for whom the great king had written his maxims
died before his father, in 103 1, and is honored as a saint
by the church. The last years of King Stephen were
harassed by rivalries and plots. He died in 1038, thirty-eight years
after his coronation to the very day, and was buried at Stuhl-
weissenburg. Stephen had chosen as his successor his nephew,
Peter, the son of the Doge Urseolus. This prince, a stranger in
Hungary, made himself unpopular by his insolence and by the
brutal way in which he behaved toward the widow of his predeces-
sor; the Hungarians rose against him, and elected in his stead
Samuel Ala, the chief of one of the tribes. Peter thereupon fled
to Germany, and implored help from Henry HI., promising to pay
tribute to that prince if he would replace him on his throne. The
German diet declared war against Hungary; the imperial army
penetrated as far as Gran, and Samuel Ala was obliged to purchase
peace on humiliating conditions. More fortunate in a second cam-
paign, he repulsed the Germans, but his tyranny, which proved as
great as that of Peter, provoked a fresh insurrection. Peter again
sought his old allies, and on the occasion of a solemn festival he
did homage to the emperor for the kingdom of Hungary and re-
ceived investiture of it. This act of humiliation, however, was of
no avail ; a popular assembly at Csanad pronounced him dethroned,
and, in 1046, proclaimed in his stead Andrew, son of Vladislav the
Bald.
The beginning of Andrew's reign was marked by a violent
reaction among the pagans against Christians and foreigners, but
Andrew succeeded in maintaining his position, had himself con-
secrated, and was able at last to forbid, on pain of death, all exer-
cise of the rites of paganism. He was attacked by the emperor,
but with the help of his brother Bela successfully resisted him, and
concluded an honorable peace. Soon afterward, however, in 1061,
£0
J
I
SUCCESSORS OF STEPHEN 61
1061-1092
he was dethroned by Bela, and died fighting on the banks of the
Theiss. Bela also had to suppress a new rising of the pagans
against Christianity. He endeavored, by wise economic measures,
to remedy the disastrous condition into which Hungary had fallen
as the result of these perpetual struggles, but he died from an acci-
dent in 1063. According to an Asiatic custom which still prevails
in Turkey, he was succeeded by his nephew Koloman. This prince
was only twelve years of age, and the emperor, Henry IV., tried
to take advantage of his youth. He was reproached for this, and
Pope Gregory VH,, who was then struggling against the emperor,
encouraged the opposition. " The kingdom of Hungary," he said,
" owes obedience to none but the church."
Ladislas the Holy succeeded in 1077, and made himself
equally independent of emperor and Pope. He withstood success-
fully all Koloman's attempts to recover the crown which had been
torn from him, and managed to keep on good terms with the court
of Rome, which consented to canonize both King Stephen and his
son Emerich. He was not less fortunate in his struggles against
the Cumans and Petcheneguens^ who continued to invade Hungary.
He overcame them on the banks of the Temes, and then offered
them a permanent settlement in the country on condition that they
become Christians. They accepted his offer, and colonized a por-
tion of the valley of the Theiss, being bound, in return for the land
they received, to furnish bowmen to the royal army. On the
death, moreover, of the Croat king, Stephen H., in 1090, Ladislas
obliged that country to accept as their new king the Magyar prince
Almos, son of Geiza I., and thus prepared the way for the union
of the two crowns which was soon after to be effected.
Like St. Stephen, Ladislas was the law-giver of his country.
In a great assembly of prelates, nobles, and citizens, held at Sza-
bolcz in 1092, he promulgated laws of which the most important
treat of religious matters. They authorize the marriage of priests,
notwithstanding the decisions of Gregory VII. on ecclesiastical
celibacy, and they carefully regulate the collection of tithes. They
contain penal measures against the last adherents of paganism ; any-
one who offers sacrifices near a tree or spring is condemned to for-
feit an ox ; the Jew who works on Sunday, the Mussulman convert
who returns to Mohammedanism, are both to be punished. Other
laws of St. Ladislas concern the administration of justice, enact
penalties for theft, and regulate the protection of property. They
52 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1092-1102
are extremely severe; the theft of a goose is punished by the loss
of an eye, and all acts of violence are suppressed with Draconian
rigor. The church has shown her gratitude to the monarch who
gave her so many proofs of his attachment and submission by plac-
ing him among the number of her saints.
The dying Ladislas chose his nephew Koloman as his suc-
cessor. This young prince, destined at first for the church, was
very learned for those times, and was called by his contemporaries
the Scholar. Shortly after his accession the Crusaders marched
through Hungary. The excesses committed by these bands of
enthusiastic but undisciplined men were but little likely to inspire
the Magyars with respect for their cause. Koloman, after having
allowed the first portions of the army to march through his lands,
>vas obliged to arm his subjects against the plunderers who were
ravaging his country. When Godfrey of Bouillon reached the
frontier he demanded an interview with Koloman, in which the
latter, in order to secure good order and the peace of the land, fixed
the route of the Crusaders and demanded hostages. By these
means all the annoyance and disorder which had arisen from the
first armies was successfully avoided.
The most important act of this reign was the annexation of
Croatia. In 1090 St. Ladislas had been elected to the throne of
Croatia, and he, on his death, left the government of it to his
nephew Almos, who very soon made himself unpopular. Koloman
drove him out of Croatia, and had himself proclaimed king. He
next set about the conquest of Dalmatia from the Venetians, seized
the principal towns, and granted them full power of self-govern-
ment. Then, in 1102, he had himself crowned at Belgrade king
of Croatia and Dalmatia. From this time the position of Croatia,
as regards Hungary, was very much the same as the position of
Hungary in regard to Austria in later times. The destinies of the
two kingdoms of St. Stephen and Zvonimir were united, but Croa-
tia maintained a more or less definite individuality, and the ban or
viceroy of Croatia was the representative of the autonomy of a Slav
state associated with a Magyar state, a condition of things which
has remained down to the present day. At this time the Croats
freely chose as their king one who undertook to respect their
laws. They preserved the right of administering their internal af-
fairs, of electing their own bishops and zhupans, and of granting
the rights of citizenship to whomsoever they would ; they kept their
SUCCESSORS OF STEPHEN 63
1102-1141
own coinage, army, and taxes. The relations between the two
kingdoms are still partly regulated by this old agreement, and the
Croats proudly quote this maxim of public law : regnum regno non
prcescribit leges.
Koloman continued the legislative work of Stephen and
Ladislas, and improved the penal laws of his predecessor, making
them more merciful. He was sufficiently liberal and enlightened
to do away with all trial for sorcery, " inasmuch as there are no
sorcerers." He increased the number of the law courts, restrained
judicial combats, and established a rigorous distinction between
ecclesiastical and lay discipline, and no longer allowed the celibacy
of the clergy.
The end of Koloman's reign was disturbed by revolts and con-
spiracies caused by his brother Almos, who had been deprived
by him of the government of Croatia. After pardoning him several
times, Koloman yielded to the barbarous spirit of the age, and
caused the eyes of his brother, and of his little nephew of five years
of age, to be put out; but this is the only act of barbarity that
history records of this enlightened sovereign, who enlarged the
kingdom till its boundary touched the sea, and finally secured its
position in civilized Europe. Among the kings who occupied the
throne of Hungary during the twelfth century, none can be com-
pared with Koloman and St. Ladislas.
Stephen H., the son of Koloman, succeeded at the age of
thirteen, and died in 1131, after an uneventful reign. As his suc-
cessor he had appointed that son of Almos whom Koloman had
blinded, and who reigned under the title of Bela II. the Blind.
Bela revenged himself cruelly on all whom he suspected of having
caused his misfortunes, and it is related that in one single day at
the diet of Arad, in 11 32, he ordered sixty-eight of his enemies to
be slain. Geiza II., the son of Bela, succeeded him, in 1141, at
the age of ten. Comparatively speaking, his reign was a happy
one; and it was marked by an event of considerable importance in
the internal history of Hungary — ^the arrival of Saxon colonists
in northern Hungary and Transylvania. Faithful to the teaching
of St. Stephen, Geiza settled them in the comitat of Zips at the foot
of the Carpathians, and in the valley of Maros, on the left bank of
the lower Theiss. The Germans were easily able to reclaim the
forests which clothed the sides of the Tatra, and founded there four
and twenty towns, which had the right of electing their own priests
54 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1141-1147
and magistrates according to statutes written in their own language.
Their obligations to the king were light: they had to furnish him
with a certain number of troops, and to recognize his supreme au-
thority in judicial matters. The Saxons of Transylvania enjoyed
complete autonomy. Sole proprietors of the soil, they could pre-
vent the settlement on it of Magyars or Szeklers, and their national
assemblies had an exclusive right to make the laws.
The reign of Stephen III., son of Geiza IL, was disturbed by
the rivalry of his two uncles, and unsuccessful attempts to bring
Hungary under the Eastern empire. His brother, Bela HI., owing
to his Byzantine education, was at first received with distrust, but
his ability and moderation gained him the confidence and love of
his people. It was he who married Margaret of France, the daugh-
ter of Philip Augustus, and compiled a most interesting statement
of the revenues of his kingdom.
The reigns of these three princes were signalized by wars
against the Russians of Galicia and against Venice. Bela had,
however, obliged one part of Galicia to do homage to him, and on
this were founded the claims of Hungary to Galicia, claims to
which Andrew IL hoped to give color by taking the title of king
of Galicia and Lodomeria, and which were revived by Austria at
the time of the first partition of Poland.
Meantime the republic of Venice, seeing the rule of Hungary
definitely established on the shores of the Adriatic, took alarm at
so formidable a neighbor. The Doge Falieri asked for the alliance
and help of Constantinople, whose power was also threatened by
the growth of Hungary. In the war which followed the town of
Belgrade, where Koloman had had himself crowned, was entirely
destroyed, and Zara, on the Adriatic, left in possession of the Vene-
tians. The rest of Dalmatia remained in the hands of Bela III.;
he treated the province well, and confided its defense to the familv
of the Frangipani, henceforward well known in history.
The relations of Hungary with the two empires of the East
and West spread the renown of her power through the whole of
Europe. In 1147 King Louis VII. and the Emperor Conrad
crossed Hungary on their crusade, and Louis VII. speaks highly
in his letters to Suger of the warm welcome which he received,
though the German chronicler, Otto of Freising, draws a pic-
ture of the country which is not very flattering, and represents
the Magyars as little more than well-disciplined savages : " One
SUCCESSORS OF STEPHEN 55
1147-1217
might well reproach fortune, or stand amazed at the long-suffer-
ing of God, when one sees so fair a country in the possession
of such monsters." The connection with France was strengthened
by the marriage of Bela with the Princess Margaret. Hun-
garian students began to find their way to Paris. When Fred-
erick Barbarossa crossed the country at the head of the third Cru-
sade, in 1 189, he was received with great magnificence, fetes
were held in his honor, and Constance, the daughter of Bela, was
affianced to the duke of Suabia. The relations of Hungary with
Byzantium were less friendly. On several occasions Constantinople
endeavored to bring the country under her control; but with the
help of Vladislav, king of Bohemia, the Hungarians were able to
maintain their independence.
The period following the death of Bela HI. is marked by the
rivalry b^ween his two sons, Emerich, who ruled from 1196 to
1204, and Andrew, king from 1205 to 1235. The latter became
very unpopular because of the infamous favorites brought to the
court by his wife, Gertrude of Meran. Indignant at the scandalous
life of the court, the people rose against the queen and slew her
while her husband was absent in Galicia, which he was vainly try-
ing to bring under his scepter. He soon married again, and in
1 21 7 set out on a Crusade, from which he returned because of ill-
health, without having reached the Holy Lands.
On his return he found Hungary in the greatest disorder. The
royal authority had been much diminished since the days of Kolo-
man, a feudal oligarchy had grown up, and the clergy had pos-
sessed themselves of secular estates. The hereditary right of the
family of Arpad to the crown was still contested, nor was the law
of primogeniture accepted within the family itself. We have al-
ready seen formidable rivals disputing the throne in several of the
reigns. The support of the great territorial lords, lay and ecclesi-
astical, had become of great importance to the sovereign, and to
obtain it he had gradually deprived himself of his domains to divide
them among a powerful and greedy minority of his subjects. The
smaller landholders were neglected, and diets met less frequently.
The great dignitaries of the church, enriched by the royal bounty,
had become a state within the state and relied upon the Pope to re-
sist the royal commands. The Holy See, faithful to the traditions
of Gregory VH., endeavored to exercise within the kingdom an
authority equal, if not superior, to that of the king. The state of
56 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1217-1222
the whole kingdom called for prompt remedies ; but far from daring
to carry out energetic measures, Andrew yielded continually to the
current which had swept before it each one of his predecessors, and,
in 1 219. he issued an edict making all gifts and honors granted by
previous kings irrevocable and hereditary. The result of such a
measure would have been to create a complete oligarchy, on which
thenceforth both king and populace would have been dependent.
But the edict gave rise to much discontent. A diet was sum-
moned in 1222, and a law enacted known as the Golden Bull — the
Magna Charta of Hungary. In it Andrew II., calling himself
hereditary king of Hungary, Dalmatia, Croatia, Servia, Galicia,
and Lodomeria, solemnly enumerates the privileges of the people,
or rather of the small landowners. He promised to hold a solemn
diet each year in the town of Stuhlweissenburg ; to imprison no
noble until he had been regularly tried and sentenced; tt> raise no
tax on the lands of either noble or priest; to summon no noble to
accompany the king, at his own expense, beyond the frontiers of
the kingdom; to allow no suit which involved the loss of life or
property to be tried by the palatine without the knowledge of the
king; to indemnify the families of those nobles who lost any relations
in the wars ; to admit no guests or colonists on the soil of Hungary
to any dignity whatsoever without the consent of the diet; no
longer to make hereditary the grants of coraitats or offices; to
allow tithes to be paid in kind and not in money ; and to grant land
to no foreigner. The Golden Bull contained thirty-one articles,
of which these are the chief, while the last ordained that seven
copies should be made of it, and sent to the king, to the Pope, to the
Knights Hospitalers, to the Temple, to the chapter house at Gran,
to the chapter house at Kalosca, and to the palatine, who was to see
that the charter was observed by the kings and the nobles. If the
king should attempt to violate it, " the bishops and nobles of the
kingdom have the right to remonstrate, and to resist the sovereign,
sine nota alicujus itiMelitatis," i. e., without by so doing laying
themselves open to the charge of high treason. This last article
was to play an important part in the history of Hungary, for to it
are due many of those rebellions which give so revolutionary a
character to the history of a country otherwise so conservative.
The constitution of Andrew II. is far from fulfilling the ideal
of modem times. It was, nevertheless, a great advantage then and
maintained the unity of Hungary by preventing hereditary succes-
SUCCESSORS OF STEPHEN 67
1222-1235
sion to office and the consequent division of the country into a num-
ber of principalities. It secured to the nation — ^that is to say to
the nobles — the right of criticising the administration, and it
obliged the king to respect the national rights by placing all his
actions under the control of the palatine, who thus became a sort
of prime minister.
Soon after the promulgation of the Golden Bull a special
charter was granted to the Saxons of Transylvania, securing their
privileges. Their political and religious autonomy was confirmed;
they were to be subject to no authority except a court chosen by the
king. In return they were to furnish him with five hundred armed
men in case of a defensive war, and one hundred for foreign expedi-
tions. The Golden Bull was again solemnly confirmed in 1231, when
some new clauses were added to it, which enacted that the bishops
were to be present at the yearly diet at Stuhlweissenburg ; that if
the palatine ruled badly, the states were to choose one more worthy ;
and also that no Jew or Mussulman was to receive govern-
ment employment.
The reign of Andrew II. has become memorable in the history
of Hungary owing to the Golden Bull ; apart from that it was not
fortunate. Like King John of England, his name is associated
with a legislative document of the highest importance, but, like him,
he has left behind a reputation for feebleness and want of character.
His son, Bela IV., began his reign in 1235, under the best auspices.
He withstood his enemies both from within and without, among
them the Emperor Frederick II., who had put forward a claim to
tribute from Hungary. Unfortunately he soon had to deal with a
more pitiless enemy than the Germans. The Tatar Khan, the
Mongol Batou, followed by a formidable army, forced his way
through the defiles of the Carpathians and invaded the valley of the
Theiss.
The Mongols belonged to the same race as the Magyars,
but the Magyars had become Christian and European. These pagan
Mongols attacked Europe with a fanaticism which can be compared
only with that of the Saracens ; but while the Mussulmans founded
new states, and had in fact attained to a high degree of civilization,
the Mongols were nothing but destroyers.
The alarm of their approach was great throughout the land.
The bloody sword was sent from town to town, from castle to cas-
tle. The Cumans, who formed the vanguard of national re-
58 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1235-124S
sistance, were unable to withstand their onslaught, and Waizen
fell. In the general terror the Cumans were accused of treason,
and their chief and the leading men among them were put to death,
which so angered the tribe that they passed over to the side of the
Mongols. The royal army came up with the forces of Batou on
the banks of the Sajo, a tributary of the Theiss, and there suffered
a terrible defeat, in which, according to some historians, a hundred
thousand, according to others sixty thousand, men perished.
"Fere extinguitur militia regni Hungarice" writes the emperor
Frederick. Hungary as far as the Danube was at the mercy of the
barbarians; Pesth was taken; Varad yielded after a heroic resist-
ance ; Csanad was destroyed. The Mongols pushed forward as far
as Croatia, where the Croats put a stop to their further progress by
the victory of Grobnik in 1241. After many adventures, Bela
found refuge in Austria, where Duke Frederick, to whose care he
had confided his family and treasures, took shameful advantage of
his misfortunes. In exchange for the hospitality which he granted,
he obliged Bela to give up to him the three Hungarian comitats
which lay nearest to the Austrian states. At last Christendom was
aroused. King Vacslav of Bohemia called upon the princes to
come to the aid of Hungary, and the Pope ordered a crusade to be
preached. With the usual disinterestedness of German sovereigns,
the emperor offered to save Hungary on condition that he should
receive her homage. Meantime, winter came on, and the frozen
rivers became the allies of the invaders. The Mongols crossed the
Danube and took Gran. Bela fled to Dalmatia, closely followed by
the barbarians; but they did not succeed in seizing him, and the
Slavs of Dalmatia and the Italian colonists finally repulsed them in
furious conflicts. Beaten back, they next penetrated as far as Ra-
gfusa, and would have gone still farther had they not received orders
to retrace their steps. The Asiatic hordes returned to Asia, the
most horrible cruelty marking the last days of their ephemeral
conquest.
Slowly Hungary recovered from the ruin they had caused;
colonists from Germany filled up the gaps in the population, and
towns were rebuilt, surrounded by stronger fortifications, and
adorned with finer buildings. But from this time forward Hungary
had an enemey even more formidable in the house of Austria.
We have already seen how the unknightly Frederick had taken ad-
vantage of the misery of Hungary to get possession of three of her
SUCCESSORS OF STEPHEN 69
1246-1290
comitats. As soon as he was free from the Mongols Bela set to
work to reconquer them. He marched against Frederick and de-
feated him on the banks of the Leitha, in 1246, Frederick perish-
ing in the fight. With this prince the house of Babenberg came to
an end. Bohemia and Hungary both laid claim to the inheritance,
and though Bela was unable to prevent the king of Bohemia from
gaining possession of Austria, he succeeded in establishing his own
son Stephen in Styria. War broke out between the two kingdoms,
and ended in favor of Bohemia. But Premysl Otokar H. proved
a generous foe; he would not, according to his own expression,
" enfeeble the great kingdom of Hungary, only to open again
the road to the two kingdoms to the Tatars." Later on he married
the daughter of the king of Hungary.
But there was soon to appear upon the scene a third com-
batant, who knew how to turn to his own advantage the rivalry of
the two kingdoms; this was Rudolf of Hapsburg. Rudolf drew
Ladislas IV. into an alliance, and at the battle of Marchfield, where
Premysl Otokar fell, 56,000 Hungarians and Cumans fought by
the side of Austria. Thus Hungary, while she ruined Bohemia,
founded the power of Austria, which was so soon to be turned
against herself. In his letters written at this time Rudolf shows
the greatest tenderness for the Hungarians : " My beloved sons,
bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh " ; a dozen years later, as
emperor, he claimed the right to dispose of the crown of Hungary
as its suzerain.
The last years of King Bela IV. had been disturbed by the re-
volts of his son Stephen. In fact this prince was the real king, and
it was to him that the envoys of the duke of Anjou applied when
they came to negotiate the marriages which were to secure Hungary
to the Angevin house. His young son, Ladislas, succeeded him in
1272, a foolish and dissipated prince, who earned the hatred of
his people by his avowed partiality for the Cumans. This wander-
ing and half-pagan race were still looked upon as almost foreigners
by the rest of the nation. Ladislas determined to convert them to
Christianity and to a settled mode of life, and assigned to them that
district between the Danube and the Theiss which is called to this
day Greater and Lesser Cumania. Ladislas, who betrayed a par-
tiality for their women that was unworthy of his position, was
assassinated by the Cumans in 1290. He left no son, but he had
adopted the grandson of Andrew II., and this prince was crowned
00 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1290-1301
under the name of Andrew III. Andrew energetically resisted the
claims of the Hapsburgs and of the Holy See, repulsed the invasion
of Albert of Austria, and laid siege to Vienna. The court of Rome,
which was favorable to the Neapolitan princes of the house of
Anjou, would never recognize Andrew III., and during his reign
Charles Robert of Anjou forced his way into Croatia, and had
himself crowned at Agram by the Papal legate. The death of An-
drew, in 1 301, put an end to these rivalries. He was the last
prince of the house of Arpad.
Hungary is still grateful to these monarchs of the transition
period who laid down the lines along which the Magyar race was
to develop. On various occasions they had tried to extend their
rule over the neighboring countries, but the titles of king of Servia,
of Bosnia, of Galicia and Lodomeria, and of Bulgaria, had never
represented any real authority, and at most recall a momentary
occupation or an ephemeral protection. The only important acquisi-
tion of the dynasty of Arpad was the annexation of Croatia,
which gave Hungary a seaboard. We have already described how
Croatia preserved her autonomy. Transylvania also, at the other
extremity of the kingdom, had her own peculiar constitution. The
Transylvanian diet was divided into three nations, the Hungarians,
the Szeklers, and the Saxons. The old inhabitants of the country,
the Wallachians, who had been conquered by the Magyars or by
the Saxon colonists, were only peasants and counted for nothing.
The Szeklers, who were all freemen and noble, formed a special
body of horsemen to whom was intrusted the defense of the fron-
tier, and in return for this service they were exempted from
taxation.
We have seen how the constitution of Andrew II. had placed
obstacles in the way of the increase of power among the oligarchical
aristocracy and territorial lords, and had aimed at preventing the
partition of the kingdom. The lesser nobles were always on the
watch to maintain their own privileges and to prevent encroach-
ments on the part of the great lords. About this time we first see
a distinction growing up between magnates and simple deputies.
The assemblies of the comitats became periodical, and formed the
best guarantee of public liberty. The citizen class was without
political influence, and was largely composed of foreigners, Jews,
Germans, and Italians. Considerable privileges were accorded to
the Jews, who were so ill-treated in other parts of Europe. During
SUCCESSORS OF STEPHEN 61
1290-1301
this period also vines began to be cultivated and wine of good
quality produced.
The Hungarian nobles gradually imitated the nobles of the
rest of Europe, introducing into the country knightly manners
and usages. They began to take an hereditary name from their
estates, and to use coats-of-arms, and trials by combat became the
fashion.
Those arts which are the most delicate expression of civiliza-
tion had made much less progress in Hungary than elsewhere. The
Gothic style of architecture, however, penetrated into the country,
and French architects were employed at this time. A Frenchman,
Villard de Hannecourt, built the Gothic church at Kassa, and
Mathias of Arras the cathedral at Prague. The clergy distin-
guished themselves rather by their courage in battle or their ardor
in fighting heresy than by their learning. In 1279 the synod of
Buda, alarmed doubtless at the progress of the Patarine heresy,
placed a limit on the knowledge which monks were to be allowed
to acquire, and forbade them to study in foreign schools. The
most important school in the kingdom was the studium generate at
Veszprim, which conferred no degrees, but which endowed scholar-
ships at the University of Paris for its best students. Latin was
universally known and studied among the upper classes, but at the
same time books were so rare that a complete copy of the Bible cost
half of a village. The Magyar tongue tended to give way before
Latin, which was the medium of the church and of the government ;
it was, however, still used, though very few fragments have come
down to us from these primitive times : only a funeral oration and a
legend of St. Margaret.
Chapter VII
BOHEMIA AND THE PREMYSLIDES
894-1278
BORIVOJ was the first Christian prince of Bohemia. He
built the first Bohemian church, and dedicated it to St. Cle-
ment. His son Spytihnev (894-912) put an end to the
connection of Bohemia with Moravia, and went to Regensburg
to ask for the protection of Germany, in the vain belief that by
so doing he made the independence of his kingdom more secure.
Bohemia was attached to the bishopric of Ratisbon, and the Latin
liturgy replaced the Slav liturgy, of which but few traces now re-
main in the country.
At this period Bohemia was far from being a united kingdom.
It consisted of a number of small states, with the principality of
Prague as the chief, which were often at war with one another.
These dissensions proved most favorable to the ambition of Ger-
many. In 928 Henry the Fowler, in alliance with Arnulf of Ba-
varia, entered Bohemia and obliged St. Vacslav, the prince, to pay
him an annual tribute of 500 pieces of gold and 120 oxen. It was
St. Vacslav who founded the cathedral of St. Vit, at Prague, and
legends have surrounded his name with a halo of tender memories.
Like Robert the Pious and St. Louis, he has become the typical
example of a devout and charitable prince. During his life, as well
as after his death, he was believed to work miracles. When en-
gaged in single combat against a prince of the Czechs an angel from
heaven bore him company and terrified his adversary by the won-
drous sight. When they took his body from Boleslava to Prague
the car which bore it crossed by itself a river over which there was
no bridge. On arriving before the court of justice it stopped sud-
denly and could not be moved; it was discovered that an innocent
man was unjustly imprisoned in the building, and as soon as he was
set at liberty the car went on. The name of Vacslav, under its
I^tin form of Venceslas, or the German form Wenzel, became
popular throughout Europe, and Bohemians still sing the old can-
99
THE PREMYSLIDES 63
936-999
tide of the Middle Ages: " Svaty Vacslave, vevodo ceske seme."
" St. Vacslav, voievode of the land of the Czechs, our prince ! pray
for us to God and the Holy Spirit, kyrie eleison." His portrait
long adorned the standards and the coins of Bohemia.
His brother and successor, Boleslav, who, it is said, assassi-
nated him for patriotic reasons, tried to rid Bohemia of the suze-
rainty of the German emperor, but as a result of defeat in a war
lasting from 936 to 950 he was obliged to submit to the Emperor
Otto and pay the tribute. Afterward he became the firm ally of
Otto, and sent a thousand Czechs to help him against the Magyars.
He himself took possession of part of Moravia and the land of the
Slovaks, while his conquests on the banks of the Vistula brought
him into close neighborhood to the Poles. His daughter, Dubravka,
married the Polish prince, Mieczyslaw, and converted him to Chris-
tianity, thus bringing Poland into the bosom of the church in 966.
Boleslav H. (967-999) continued his father's conquests to-
ward the east, and took possession of Galicia, but that province
was recovered later on by the Russian prince, Vladimir the Great
in 981. At this period the power of Bohemia was considerable,
and Boleslav was able to interfere as arbiter in the conflicts which
took place between the German margraves and the duke of Poland.
He obtained permission from the emperor and the bishop of Ratis-
bon to found a see at Prague, subject to the archbishop of Mainz;
the bishop to be chosen by the prince and the people, but to re-
ceive investiture from the emperor. The first bishop was a Saxon
priest called Thietmar, and his successor was the celebrated Czech
saint, Vojtech, better known under the name of St. Adalbert, one
of the great figures in the religious history of the Middle Ages.
After having organized the church of Bohemia, St. Adalbert
was invited into Hungary by Geiza I., whose son, the future king
St. Stephen, he baptized. Later on he gave up his bishopric, and
after being for a time the confessor of Otto HI., he traveled into
Poland, whose king, Boleslav the Brave, sent him to convert the
heathen on the shores of the Baltic. In these distant lands he was
murdered by the Prussians in 997. Boleslav the Brave caused him
to be buried in the church at Gnesen, whither, three years later,
the Emperor Otto came to worship at his grave. The Poles ascribe
to him the first of their religious songs, the most ancient monument
of their language, the hymn to the Virgin beginning " Boga rod-
ska." Prince Boleslav H. successfully defended his country
64 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
999-1092
against the attacks of the Germans and Poles, notwithstanding the
fact that Bohemia was distracted in his reign by civil wars. In
his time monasteries were first founded, schools arose around the
churches, and Latin civilization spread more and more throughout
the land.
Under the successors of Boleslav II. Bohemia fell into a state
of deplorable anarchy, and became alternately the tool of Germany
and Poland. A powerful sovereign, Boleslav the Brave, reigned at
this time in Poland, and he obliged Bohemia to accept as her ruler
a Polish prince named Vladivoj, who, however, afterward recog-
nized the suzerainty of the empire and acknowledged himself its
vassal. Boleslav the Brave tried to conquer Bohemia for
himself, but he did not succeed, Bretislav (1037-1055) finally
establishing the independence of Bohemia and introducing an era
of renewed vigor. He also took advantage of the fact that Poland
had been left without a ruler. After the death of Boleslav the Brave
he conquered Silesia and Lesser Poland, and took Cracow by assault
He next entered Greater Poland and pushed on to Gnesen, took
possession of the remains of the national apostle, St. Adalbert,
and bore them off to Prague. But he was ordered by the emperor
to g^ve up his conquests, and of all the territory he had seized he
retained only a part of Silesia with the episcopal see of Vratislav,
or Breslau.
Bretislav had five sons, and, fearful of the disputes which
might arise among them, he ordained that henceforward succession
to the throne should be determined by primogeniture, while younger
sons were to receive dependent appanages, a settlement known as the
seniorate. This wise arrangement was, however, but little re-
spected. His successor, Spytihnev II., maintained his place with
difficulty till his death, in 1061, when he was succeeded by Vratislav
II., who became the first king of Bohemia (1061-1092). He di-
vided Moravia between his two brothers, giving to the one Olmiitz,
and to the other Briinn. He also founded a bishopric at Olmiitz.
The beginning of his reign was marked by an incident which re-
veals the hostility of the Czechs to the German favorites who held
high civil and ecclesiastical offices, and through princely marriages
and the ecclesiastical organization drew Bohemia closer to Ger-
many. When in 1069 Vratislav wished to nominate as bishop
of Prague a German named Lanzon, the nobles and military chiefs
who were assembled round his camp near Nachod demanded the
THEPREMYSLIDES 66
1092-1111
bishopric for the Prince Jaromir, who, in the end, succeeded in
obtaining it, though, according to custom, he was obliged to go to
Mainz to receive investiture from the archbishop.
Vratislav lent the aid of his troops to the Emperor Henry IV.
in his struggles against the Saxons, and in return for this he ob-
tained possession of Lusatia, a Slav district, which was thus united
to Bohemia. Later on he again helped the emperor in his expedi-
tions against Italy, three hundred Czech warriors taking part in
the siege of Rome, and as a reward for this service the emperor
granted him the title of king in 1086, He also gave up the tribute
hitherto paid to the empire by Bohemia in exchange for a loan of
four thousand marks of silver. Henceforward Bohemia was only
bound to furnish to the emperor three hundred armed knights, well
equipped, for expeditions into Italy. On June 15, 1086, Vratislav
and his wife Svatova were solemnly crowned at Prague, in the
cathedral of St. Vit, by the Archbishop Egilbert. Thus was con-
stituted that kingdom of Bohemia which, with the kingdom of
Hungary, was one day to form a principal part of the Austrian
empire. In order to understand the struggles of modern politics
it is needful to recall the double origin of the two kingdoms,
the one founded by the Holy See, the other by the empire. Hence
arose those retrospective claims on Bohemia which Germany has
since put forward. The title of king bestowed on Vratislav was,
however, purely personal, and was not transmitted to his successors.
The reigns of the immediate successors of Vratislav offer but
few points of interest. Bretislav II. (1092-1111) abolished the
wise law which had established primogeniture in the family of
the Premyslides. He even asked the Emperor Henry IV. to grant
the investiture to his brother Borivoi, and by so doing recognized the
imperial right to treat Bohemia as a fief of the empire, threw
her provinces into their old state of anarchy, and strengthened the
claims which Germany was continually advancing over Bohemia.
Hence arose a long series of conflicts between the princes of Prague,
Olmiitz, and Briinn, conflicts in which the empire took occasion
more than once to interfere, selling its protection to one or the other
of the combatants. Indeed, during this period Germany, Bohemia,
Moravia, and Poland were perpetually at war with one another,
and the emperor claimed the right to dispose of Bohemia as a fief.
More than once these pretensions met with energetic resistance.
Thus Prince Sobeslav I. did not hesitate to declare war against
66 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1111-1173
Lothair, who had claimed the right of giving Bohemia to whom he
pleased, and had bestowed it on Prince Otto of Olmiitz. Sobeslav
refused to appear before the tribunal before which he was cited by
the emperor, and replied in these proud words: "My hope is in
the mercy of God and in the help of St. Vacslav and St. Vojtech,
who will not see this country delivered into the hands of for-
eigners," The Bohemians rallied round the standard of St. Vac-
slav, and the emperor, vanquished at Chlumec, was obliged to re-
nounce his claims and to recognize Sobeslav as prince of Bohemia
in 1 1 26. He even conferred on him the title of high cupbearer of
the empire.
During the reign of Sobeslav, in consequence of the increase
in the number of the various branches of the Premyslide family,
Bohemia and Moravia were broken up into a large number of appan-
ages, which led to internal conflicts and revolts that had to be
suppressed by the prince by force of arms. He endeavored to
secure the crown for his son, and to this end had him elected by
the diet of Sadsko. But immediately after his death the zhupans
offered the throne to his nephew, Vladislav H. (1140-1173), whom
they believed they could direct as they wished. Vladislav H. did
not fulfill their hopes, and the Moravian princes and the great nobles
entered into an alliance against him, raised an army, and obliged
him to ask for help from the emperor. He defeated them, forced
them to retreat to Moravia, and took from them the principalities
of Znaim, Brunn, and Olmiitz.
During his reign a Papal legate. Cardinal Guido, was sent to
Bohemia to supervise the organization of the Catholic Church;
celibacy was imposed upon the clerg^y, and the legate reconciled
Vladislav with the Moravian princes, obtaining for them the resti-
tution of their estates. Vladislav was the first Czech prince who
went on the Crusades. He left the government in the hands of
his brother Diepolt, in 1147, and with many Czechs followed the
Emperor Conrad to Jerusalem. After his return he was soon at
war with Frederick Barbarossa. Frederick had seized Silesia,
which was a Bohemian fief, and in consequence of this act the
prince of Bohemia refused the three hundred armed men for the
expedition against Rome that Bohemia was bound by old treaties
to furnish. In 11 56 Silesia was restored to Bohemia, and finally
Frederick granted Vladislav the title of king for himself and his
successors. In return the new king, with a large force, joined the
I
1
i
THE PREMYSLIDES 67
1173-1197
emperor in the expedition he was about to undertake against Milan.
He was obliged, however, to raise the troops at his own expense,
as the diet refused to admit his right to levy an army for so dis-
tant and useless an expedition.
Later on Vladislav went to the aid of the king of Hungary,
Stephen HI., whose two daughters his sons had married. Again
the diet refused to grant him an army, but he set out with volun-
teers and fought with some success against the Eastern emperor.
These victories, which spread his fame abroad in foreign lands, did
not, however, prevent the revolt of the princes at home, and the
Emperor Frederick, with but little gratitude for old services, fa-
vored their attempts. In 1173 Vladislav, weary of power, abdi-
cated and retired to a convent. Several rivals contended for
supreme power, and all were cited to appear before the tribunal of
Barbarossa at Nuremberg. The emperor claimed the right of de-
ciding the succession and, at the same time, suppressed the title of
king which he had previously granted to Vladislav. Again Bo-
hemia fell into anarchy. The emperor interfered continually in its
affairs, and inglorious struggles mark the period. Only on the ac-
cession of Premysl Otokar I., in 1197, did the country again
breathe freely.
This time of anarchy proved fatal to Bohemia. The quarrels
among the princes increased the power of the nobles, who believed
they had the right to decide the election to the throne, while they
also made the interference of the empire in the internal affairs of
the nation increasingly easy. The great lords oppressed the people
and exacted from them heavy taxes and enforced labor. To escape
from these exactions the small proprietors found themselves obliged
to seek the protection of the more powerful lords, and this enabled
the nobles to form bodies of vassals dependent on themselves.
Magnates who had supported the prince at the time of his elec-
tion claimed a right to be repaid for such support by gifts of land.
In this way an hereditary nobility was gradually created, whose
power no longer depended on the ofifice they held in the household
or army of the prince, but on the possession of large estates. The
owners of these large estates claimed all the rights of sovereigns,
the administration of justice, the levying of troops, and the power
of leading them to battle under standards of their own. This
hereditary great nobility begins to take form toward the end of the
twelfth century. It was naturally much more independent of the
68 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1197-1204
prince than an aristocracy of officials, and its assemblies were real
diets in which the acts of the prince were discussed and controlled.
As early as the twelfth century it was a generally established,
though unwritten, principle that the prince had no right, except in
the case of invasion, to summon the national army without the con-
sent of the diet ; and that laws could only be passed with its help. It
was only under extraordinary circumstances that the king might
levy taxes, as he possessed large estates which amply sufficed for his
own requirements. As was the case throughout Europe, the church
had acquired considerable influence. Papal legates frequently vis-
ited the country. There were six cathedral chapters in Bohemia
and nine Benedictine monasteries, besides many convents. Almost
all the peasants were serfs of the soil, some privileges and a certain
amount of freedom being granted, however, to those who had
cleared the ground of forests. There was but little commerce,
and what there was had fallen mainly into the hands of Jews and
foreigners, especially Germans. Ever since the time of Vratislav
there had been a German colony in Prague, and this colony, with a
special court of its own, obtained many of the more important posi-
tions in the state and the church, owing to the close relations with
the empire, the Czech princes usually marrying German princesses,
who used their influence in favor of their countrymen. We often
find the heir to the throne bearing two names, one Slav, the other
German, as for example Vladislav-Heinrich, and the policy of such
monarchs, who were half Slav and half German, was as a rule
dynastic rather than national.
On the death of the Emperor Henry IV., in 1197, Philip of
Suabia was elected emperor, but his rights were disputed by Otto
of Brunswick. Premysl took the side of Philip, and obtained im-
portant advantages for his country in exchange for his services.
The emperor agreed to interfere no more in the internal affairs of
Bohemia, but simply to confirm her own choice of a prince; he
restored the royal titl^, and renounced all right to the investiture
of the bishop of Prague. Premysl had himself solemnly crowned,
and, in 1204, Innocent III., by a special bull, confirmed the royal
title granted to the princes of Bohemia.
The friendship of the emperor and the new king lasted but
a short time. It was soon disturbed by a war which ended in a
treaty, followed by the betrothal of the emperor's daughter, Cune-
gunda, to the heir of the king of Bohemia. Later on Premysl lent
THE PREMYSLIDES 69
1204-1230
his aid to Frederick II., to insure his election to the empire, and
again obtained payment for his services by important concessions
from the emperor. The kings of Bohemia were no longer to be
obliged to furnish three hundred men for expeditions to Rome, this
tribute being replaced by the payment of three hundred marks in
gold ; they were no longer to be required to attend the diets of the
empire, unless they were held in towns near their frontiers, such
as Bamburg, Nuremberg, or Merseburg. Besides this Frederick
gave Premysl several towns in Meissen, and when Premysl caused
his son Vacslav to be elected and proclaimed by the national diet,
this election was immediately recognized by the emperor. The suc-
cession to the throne by the law of primogeniture in the direct line
thus became finally the law of the kingdom. Premysl more than
once used his power with an energy which had never been shown
by any of his predecessors; on the death of Vladislav, margrave
of Moravia, he assigned that province as an appanage to his two
younger sons, and in his own lifetime he had his son Vacslav
crowned king of Bohemia. At this coronation was omitted for the
first time the ceremony of showing to the new prince the sandals
and wallet of the laborer Premysl, the founder of the dynasty; no
doubt the Bohemians were ashamed of this old national custom,
and did not care to make use of it before the foreign princes. But
the populace saw in this omission an irritating sign of the increasing
ascendency of the foreigner in their land. The number of Ger-
mans in the capital was growing rapidly, while in the provinces
they had colonized certain towns, and had even begun to found
whole villages on the northwest frontier of Bohemia.
Vacslav, called the One-eyed, peacefully succeeded his father
in 1230. His education had been entirely German, and his reign
proved a golden age for the Germans. They obtained leave to for-
tify the towns they dwelt in, and at this time the native nobility
began to build for themselves strong castles, to which they usually
gave German names, such as Steinberg and Lichtenburg. The
knightly orders, such as the Hospitalers and Templars, also estab-
lished " commanderies " in the country, while the Dominicans and
Begging Friars multiplied greatly. Luxury increased, and knightly
habits and customs became the fashion. King Vacslav was one
of the most brilliant sovereigns in Europe ; he invited minnesingers
to his court, and himself composed love songs after the fashion of
the day.
70 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1230-1239
His reign, however, was not peaceful. The growing enmity
of the house of the Premyslides and the house of Austria led to
continual wars between them, in which Bavaria and Hungary took
the side of Bohemia. In the end Frederick of Austria was obliged
to give up to Vacslav some of his lands to the north of the Danube,
and the Austrian Princess Gertrude, the heiress of the duke of Aus-
tria, was affianced to Vladislav, the heir-apparent of Bohemia.
This marriage prepared the way for the annexation of Austria and
Styria to the crown of Bohemia.
A more serious event was the invasion of Moravia by the
Tatars, or Mongols. We have already seen how these dreaded
hordes rushed in upon Europe. One of them at this time invaded
Silesia, and the whole of Christendom took fright. Pope Gregory
IX. caused a crusade to be preached against them, but the quarrels
then going on between the Holy See and the empire made any
united effort impossible, and the threatened lands were obliged to
depend upon themselves for their defense. King Vacslav manfully
withstood the storm, and assembled under his banner 40,000 foot
soldiers and 6000 horsemen. The enemy had already penetrated
into Moravia, where they pillaged, ravaged, and burned towns,
castles, and monasteries. The inhabitants fled to the woods. The
fortified towns of Olmiitz and Briinn alone resisted the invaders,
who overthrew everything in their course. The Czechs met the
Tatars beneath the walls of Olmiitz, where they were victorious, and
the Tatars, either in consequence of the terror inspired by this defeat,
or as the result of that capricious restlessness which has always dis-
tinguished Asiatic invaders, suddenly turned aside and threw them-
selves upon Hungary.
With the removal of the common danger the alliance with
the house of Austria came to an end. Frederick even wished to
give up the marriage proposed between the Princess Gertrude and
Prince Vladislav, and war alone induced him to keep his word.
The young prince received Moravia as a marriage gift from his
father, a province in the hands of the king since the year 1239;
and soon afterward, on the death of Frederick, the last of the
Babenbergs, he obtained possession of Austria and Styria. But
young Vladislav died the following year, and the emperor has-
tened to place a lieutenant of his own over these two provinces.
Vacslav dared not interfere at that time, as his own throne was
menaced by dangerous conspiracies. The greater part of the
THE PREMYSLIDES 71
1239-1253
nobles had been irritated by his amours, his excessive prodigality,
and his favorites. The malcontents insisted that Premysl Otokar,
the son of Vacslav, should share the government with his father.
War broke out between the father and son, and Vacslav put down
the insurrection only with assistance from the German princes.
Premysl Otokar, however, was invited, in 1251, by the states of
Austria, to become their ruler, and in spite of the opposition of
Bela, king of Hungary, who disputed the possession of Styria, he
was able to retain the larger part of his new territory. Vacslav
the One-eyed, who had rendered his son no assistance whatever in
these difficult circumstances, died in 1253. It was in the reign of
this knightly prince that Bohemia adopted the arms which she
bears to this day, a crowned lion with two tails, argent, on a field
of gules.
On his accession to the throne of Bohemia, Premysl Otokar
II. was one of the most powerful monarchs of Europe, Bohemia,
Moravia, Upper Lusatia, and Upper and Lower Austria being united
under his rule. The character of the new king was equal to the
character of his high position. He had apparently done wrong in
taking up arms against his father, but the conduct of Vacslav and
the interests of the kingdom had justified his rebellion. Just, hard-
working, and valiant in war, he was both a wise ruler and an able
leader. National historians accuse him of having, like his father
and his uncle, encouraged foreign manners and customs too much,
and consequently of having helped to increase the influence of the
Germans in Bohemia. The rhymed chronicle of Dalemil exclaims,
" How sad to think that so noble a king should not have remained
true to his native tongue! What glory he would have acquired,
and what riches! He could have destroyed all his enemies."
Premysl Otokar's first care was the royal domain, which had been
impoverished and dismembered by the carelessness of his father
and by civil war. He obliged all estates held illegally to be given
up to him, and built fortresses on his lands, which he placed in the
hands of burgraves, whose business it was to maintain order and
public security and to check all risings of the nobles. He increased
the number of German colonies in Bohemia and Moravia, and
created a certain number of royal towns, which paid taxes directly
to the king and had the right of self-government, subject only to
the royal control.
Owing to these measures the riches both of the kingdom and
7« AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1253-1256
of the royal domain increased considerably during the reign of
Premysl Otokar II. ; but at the same time the increasing number
of foreigners and the introduction of a new system of law prepared
the way for numerous disputes in the future. No prince had ever
ascended the throne under such favorable circumstances. Frederick
II. had just died in Italy, and the long interregnum in the empire,
during which the electors offered the crown to the highest bidder,
had begun. Otokar was either the relative or the friend of almost
all his more powerful neighbors. In Bavaria alone he had enemies,
who envied him the possession of Upper Austria, while the king of
Hungary, supported by the princes of Cracow and Galicia, was the
only neighbor he needed to fear. Pope Innocent IV. was favorable
to him, and in the beginning of his reign invited him to undertake
a crusade against the pagan Prussians on the shores of the Baltic,
whom the Teutonic knights had not yet been able either to conquer
or convert. Such an enterprise had almost a national interest for
Bohemia, for it was in these distant lands that the great apostle of
the Czechs, St. Vojtech, had been martyred. Under the command
of Premysl Otokar and the margraves of Brandenburg and Meis-
sen, 60,000 men marched northward and crossing the frozen rivers
made their way into the country of the pagans, burned the sacred
trees and the images of their gods, and defeated the Prussians, of
whom a large number were baptized. Otokar founded the city of
Konigsberg in the conquered land. Thus, by a strange freak of
fortune, a king of Bohemia founded in a pagan land the town
where in later times the sovereigns of German Prussia were to
be crowned.
These exploits spread the fame of Premysl Otokar throughout
Europe, and in 1256 the archbishop of Cologne came to Prague to
offer him the imperial crown. He refused it, and the electors then
bestowed it on Richard of Cornwall, brother of the king of Eng-
land, a prince who possessed but little power, and not an inch of
land in Germany. Premysl Otokar, however, was far from taking
no interest in the affairs of the neighboring lands. Soon after this
we find him interfering in favor of the archbishop of Salzburg, his
relative, whom the princes of Bavaria wished to deprive of his see.
This act of interference brought him into conflict with Hungary,
as Styria took advantage of it to free herself from the suzerainty
of Hungary, and Otokar settled one of his lieutenants at Gratz.
The struggle between Bohemia and Hungary began to take for-
THEPREMYSLIDES 78
1253-1256
midable proportions, for we find Bela IV. and his allies set on foot
an army of 140,000 men, a considerable number for those times,
while Otokar marched against them, aided by the margraves of
Brandenburg and Meissen and the princes of Silesia and Camiola.
The two adversaries met in the plains of Austria, on the two
banks of the Morava, or March, near its juncture with the Danube.
Neither army dared cross the stream to begin the attack. According
to the knightly custom of the time Otokar sent a messenger to the
king of Hungary to demand either that he should cross the river or
that he should allow the army of the Czechs to cross, in order that
the battle should begin in proper form. Bela chose to cross himself,
and Otokar withdrew his troops in order to leave him a clear field.
The battle took place near the village of Cressennbriinn. The heavy
Bohemian cavalry, clad in armor, repulsed the impetuous attack of
the Hungarians, the Cumans fled, and Prince Stephen, heir-pre-
sumptive to the crown of Hungary, was seriously wounded. Soon
the rout of the Hungarians became general; 18,000 men were slain,
and it is said that 14,000 were drowned in the Morava. The
Czechs pursued the enemy as far as Presburg. Bela sued for peace,
abandoning all claims on Styria, and shortly after Richard of Corn-
wall granted the investiture of this Austrian province to Premysl
Otokar.
This success increased the fame of Otokar. The Tatars named
him the Iron King, because of the heavily armed knights whom he
led to war; the Christian princes called him the Golden King, be-
cause of the magnificence of his court. But this mighty monarch
had no heir. He therefore obtained permission from the Pope to
divorce his wife, Margaret of Austria, widow of the last of the
Babenbergs, whom he had married for ambition, and sought the
hand of the Princess Cunegunda, daughter of the Russian prince,
Michael Vsevolodovitch, who had taken refuge in Hungary at the
time of the Tatar invasion. She was the granddaughter of Bela,
and this marriage strengthened the alliance which had been con-
cluded between the two kingdoms. It was celebrated with great
pomp on the plain of Morava, which had so lately been the scene
of the struggle between their armies.
Soon after this a successful expedition against Bavaria, un-
dertaken on behalf of the archbishop of Salzburg, enabled Bohemia
to acquire some new territories, among others, Eger, where Wal-
lenstein was assassinated in later times. Otokar was now more
74 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
12S6-1274
powerful than any of the German princes, and, finding himself in
a position to dictate to them, he resolved to free his country from
the spiritual suzerainty of the archbishopric of Mainz and to create
an archbishopric at Olmutz; but he was not able to carry out his
intention. In 1269 Ulric, duke of Carinthia and Carniola, dying
without children, left his lands to the king of Bohemia, who took
possession of them in 1269 in spite of the resistance offered by
the patriarch of Aquileia, Philip, and the king of Hungary, Stephen
V. The kingdom of Bohemia now extended from the Riesenge-
birge to the Adriatic, War broke out once more between Bohemia
and Hungary, during which the Magyars ravaged Austria and car-
ried off 16,000 persons into captivity. Otokar, in return, invaded
Hungary, captured Presburg and Nitra, crossed the Danube, and
defied the Hungarians on the banks of the Leitha. Want of pro-
visions and an unexpected attack by Duke Henry of Bavaria obliged
him, however, to make peace. Again in 1271 the archbishop of
Cologne came in the name of several of the German princes to offer
him the imperial crown, and again Otokar deemed it prudent to re-
fuse. No doubt the crown of St. Vacslav, though it might be less
brilliant, appeared to him far more secure than that of the empire.
This was, however, a fatal mistake for Bohemia and her king,
as Rudolf of Hapsburg was elected in his stead, and Rudolf soon
found it impossible to maintain his position with dignity while so
powerful a rival as the king of Bohemia remained. The election
had taken place without Otokar's consent, and in defiance of his
rights as an elector, and no sooner did he hear of the accession of the
new sovereign than he hastily concluded a peace with Hungary,
against which country he had again taken up arms in consequence
of the assassination of his father-in-law, Bela. He protested against
the election of his rival, and appealed to the Pope, Gregory X. But
in 1274 the Sovereign Pontiff recognized the new emperor. Rudolf
prepared for the struggle with his formidable adversary, calling
to his aid both the power of the law and of arms. He persuaded
the assembly of princes, in a meeting held at Nuremberg, to decide
that all fiefs of the empire which had become vacant since the ex-
communication of Frederick H. ought to belong to the king of the
Romans, and that every vassal who should not receive investiture
in the space of a year and a day should forfeit his fiefs. This was
to demand from Otokar all that he had inherited from the houses
of Carinthia and Austria. The Count Palatine Ludwig cited
THE PREMYSLIBES 76
1274-1275
Otokar to appear before the tribunal of the empire, on the ground
that he had not done homage for his dominions in the appointed
time. Besides this Rudolf excited the subjects of Otokar in Aus-
tria, Carinthia, and Styria to revolt, invited the archbishop of Salz-
burg and the bishop of Passau to assist the rebels, and entered into
a secret understanding with some of those nobles in Bohemia who
could not forgive the kiijg for having deprived them of the crown-
lands which they had unjustly appropriated. He also entered into
an alliance with Frederick, burgrave of Nuremberg, Menhardt, the
count of Tyrol, and Ludwig of Bavaria. All the enemies of Otokar
rallied round the emperor, but the king of Bohemia believed him-
self sufficiently powerful to hold his own against them. He sub-
dued the revolts in Austria and Styria, and even invaded the do-
mains of the church in Salzburg.
On May 15, 1275, Otokar was placed under the ban of the
[empire, and all his lands and offices declared forfeited within a
^ear if he did not submit. At the expiration of that time a German
irmy assembled at Nuremberg for the invasion of Bohemia, while
le count of Tyrol prepared to attack Carinthia and Styria. The
duke of Bavaria, who had at first taken the side of Otokar, also
abandoned him, and the Hungarians, gained over by Rudolf, un-
lertook to march against Austria and Moravia. Success crowned
[the efforts of the allies. Carinthia and Styria fell into the hands of
[Meinhardt of Tyrol, while Rudolf, throwing himself suddenly upon
Lustria, captured Vienna. This town had been devoted to Otokar,
)ut yielded before the threat of Rudolf to tear up all the vines
^hich had been planted round the city.
Otokar had concentrated his army on the frontiers of Bavaria,
[on which side he expected the enemy. Surprised by these unfore-
rseen attacks, he now made a forced march on Austria, but at this
[critical moment the family of the Vitkovici, one of the most power-
[ful in his kingdom, whose chief was Zavisa of Falkenstein, aban-
doned the cause of their king, and set to work to ravage the royal
domain. It seemed impossible to withstand so many enemies
at once ; the army of Otokar was reduced to 20,000 men, while the
forces of his adversary were far more considerable. The king
of Bohemia found himself forced to sue for peace, and to gain it he
was obliged to sacrifice to Rudolf those countries which, together
with the kingdoms of Hungary and Bohemia, were in time to form
the larger part of the Austrian empire, namely, Carinthia, Carniola,
76 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1275-1278
Austria, and Styria, together with the territory of Eger. His
only son, Vacslav, was to marry the daughter of Rudolf, and Hart-
mann, the son of Rudolf, the daughter of Otokar. The first of the
Hapsburgs thus entered upon that policy of marriages which was
one day to establish the fortunes of his house. Not content with
having despoiled and humiliated the king of Bohemia, he se-
cured for his heirs the inheritance of the crown of St. Vacslav, in
case of the extinction of the house of Premyslides. Rudolf gave
his daughter Lower Austria and forty thousand golden ducats as
dowry, and a like sum to the daughter of Otokar. The king of
Hungary was a third party to the treaty, and Bohemia was forced
to restore all the lands she had taken from him in the last war.
By the terms of this treaty Otokar recognized Rudolf as the
emperor, and accepted from his hands investiture for the kingdom
of Bohemia and the landgraviate of Moravia. As it was understood
by the king of Bohemia, this clause neither interfered with the in-
dependence of the realm nor with its internal government. Rudolf,
however, insisted on regarding Bohemia as an integral part of the
empire, and claimed the right to interfere in those disputes which
arose between Otokar and the Bohemian nobles who had deserted
his cause; in a word, he meant to reduce Bohemia to a state of
complete vassalage. Otokar resisted, and long negotiations were
entered into by the two kings, but they came to nothing. Two such
rivals could not be reconciled, and it was inevitable that one of
them should be forced to submit to the other. Otokar had but a
small army of 30,000 men with which to fight the empire, and no
other allies than the princes of Silesia. Nevertheless, he began a
fresh campaign, and during the summer of 1278 he made his way
into Lower Austria by the Morava and reached Marchegg, close
to the glorious battlefield of Cressennbriinn, on the right bank of
the stream. Rudolf, who had established his seat of government
at Vienna, marched to meet him, and soon forced him to retreat.
On Augfust 26, 1278, a battle took place which was one of the most
terrible of the Middle Ages, and one of the most important in its
results.
Rudolf had secured the alliance of the king of Hungary, and
the battle beg^n with a furious attack on the flanks of the Bohemian
army by the Cuman horsemen on their swift steeds. The two kings
themselves more than once took part in the fight, and the fortunes
of the day remained for some time doubtful, but suddenly the rear
RUDOLF VON HAPSBURO VIEWS THE DEAD BODY OF OTOKAR, SLAIN ON
THE MARCHEfJO. I278
Painting by A. Zick
THE PREMYSLIDES 77
1275-1278
g-uard of the Bohemian army, at the moment of their advance, took
to flight, and the day was lost. Otokar rushed into the midst of
his enemies and gave himself up as prisoner, but he was slain by
two Austrian knights, and his body, stripped of its armor, was
shamefully outraged. Rudolf, who arrived too late to save his
life, caused his remains to be gathered together and carried to
Vienna, where they were clothed in the royal purple and exposed
for four and twenty days. The court of Rome, which was one of
the many allies of Rudolf, had placed the king of Bohemia under
an interdict, and his body was, in consequence, refused Christian
burial. But Bohemia took no heed of the interdict. Both the
church and the nation mourned for the sovereign who, notwith-
standing his faults, had gained so much glory for his kingdom.
There were some who regretted him even in Germany. " Virtue
and honor," says Henry of Heimburg, " weep for the king of Bo-
hemia; his hand was liberal; he was the rampart of Christendom
against the pagans ; he was a lion of courage, an eagle of goodness.'*
Rudolf did not lay down his arms on the death of the king
of Bohemia, but, at the head of his victorious army, he made his
way into Moravia. The towns here were mostly inhabited by Ger-
man colonists, by whom he was gladly welcomed, but he allowed
the country districts to be horribly ravaged, and treated the whole
land as conquered territory and a fief of the empire. To some of
the towns he granted important privileges, making Briinn one of
the free cities of the empire. The nobles submitted, and Cune-
gunda, the widow of Otokar, threw herself and her son on the
mercy of the conqueror. In Bohemia, meanwhile, the greatest con-
fusion prevailed. Those nobles who had been faithless to Otokar,
and whom he had banished from the kingdom, returned and pre-
pared to offer the crown to Rudolf, while the patriots who wished
to maintain the independence of their country made ready to de-
fend it. Young Vacslav, the heir of Otokar, was only seven years
of age. Two princes were eager to become his guardians — Henry
of Breslau and Otto of Brandenburg; the latter was nephew of the
late king, and was able to furnish some troops for the defense of
Bohemia. Meantime Rudolf had invaded Bohemia, but he did not
feel himself sufficiently strong to complete its conquest. He there-
fore determined to conclude a treaty that would leave him complete
freedom of action in the future. Accordingly an agreement was
entered into by which he was allowed to keep Moravia in his
78 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1278-1280
power for five years, during which time the government of Bo-
hemia was to be left in the hands of Otto of Brandenburg. The
old arrangements regarding marriages between the Hapsburgs and
the Premyslides were renewed, and it was decided that Vacslav
should marry the Princess Guta, who was the daughter of Rudolf,
and the emperor's son, Rudolf, Aneska, the daughter of Otokar.
The oldest of these children who were thus sacrificed to the ambi-
tion of their father was not ten years of age. But Rudolf was not
satisfied with a simple promise ; he insisted that these unions should
receive the sanction of the church, and the double marriage was
celebrated on the same day in the town of Iglau in Moravia.
After the ceremony the children returned to the care of their par-
ents, that their education, which had scarcely been begun, might
be completed. The queen-mother of Bohemia and the new regent
established themselves at Prague, and Rudolf returned to Austria,
after having confided the temporary government of Moravia to the
bishop of Olmiitz, who had formerly been one of the devoted ad-
herents of Otokar, and was now the no less zealous supporter of
his successful adversary.
It was no spirit of self-sacrifice which led the margrave of
Brandenburg to undertake the guardianship of his young cousin.
No sooner was he settled at Prague than he set himself indus-
triously to work to plunder the country which he had been ap-
pointed to rule. At last the Czech nobles grew tired of the inso-
lence of Otto, and becoming indignant at the insults inflicted on the
heir of the king, obliged Otto to quit Bohemia and return to his
own country. But he carried off the young prince with him and
left the government in the hands of Eberhardt, bishop of Bran-
denburg. The latter suppressed the insurrection with the help not
only of the Germans already settled in Bohemia, but of adventurers
of all kinds who had come out of Saxony prepared to take posses-
sion of the country as their prey, and Bohemia became the scene of
furious struggles, in which the sentiment of nationality so long
dead among the nobles was again thoroughly aroused by the new
invasion of the Germans. At last Rudolf interfered. In the
month of September, 1280, he entered Bohemia, and brought about
a truce by which the nobles and the representatives of the towns
agreed to maintain the regency of Otto of Brandenburg, provided
that he would not leave the government in the hands of foreigners
during his frequent absences from the country; that he would send
THE PREMYSLIDES 79
1280-1283
all the foreign troops back into Brandenburg; oblige all Germans
who were not settled in the land to leave it within three days on
pain of death ; and that, on the payment of fifteen thousand marks
of gold, he would bring back the young Prince Vacslav to his capi-
tal. But notwithstanding this agreement Otto managed to keep
Vacslav in his power for three years longer, and finally agreed to
give him up to his people only on condition of their paying an addi-
tional ransom of twenty thousand marks of gold, or, should they
fail to produce the sum required, the surrender of a certain number
of the most important strongholds in the kingdom.
At last, in 1283, after a delay of five years, Vacslav returned
from his captivity and ascended the throne. Rudolf, true to his en-
gagements, gave up Moravia to him, and later on interfered to pre-
vent the payment of the twenty thousand marks which the margrave
of Brandenburg tried to extort. The Bohemians had looked for-
ward with impatience to the accession of a prince who symbolized to
them the reawakening of the spirit of nationality and the new life
which animated the kingdom. But Vacslav was too young to gov-
ern alone, and his mother, Cunegunda, came with him to Prague.
During her exile in Moravia she had married Zavisa of Falkenstein,
a Czech nobleman, who was an elegant cavalier and a poet of some
talent. He had won the love of the royal widow by his brilliant
qualities, and obtained great influence over Vacslav. This influ-
ence continued even after the death of Cunegunda, and enabled him
to enrich himself at the expense of the state, while he encouraged
Vacslav in his love of pleasure. When the young Queen Guta was
sent to Prague, Rudolf insisted on the removal of Zavisa from the
court, and he was forced to retire to his estates on the confines of
Bohemia and Moravia. Still powerful and still ambitious, he mar-
ried the sister of Ladislas, king of Hungary, and was accused of
endeavoring to make his lands an independent principality. Such a
subject was too formidable not to be an object of fear to the king.
Vacslav invited him to visit Prague, and then threw him into
prison. He amused himself during his captivity by the composition
of songs in the Bohemian tongue, which continued popular for a
long time, but which have now entirely disappeared. The friends
of the prisoner rose in arms, and help was sent to them by the king
of Hungary, while Rudolf also interfered by sending troops to
his son-in-law. The rebels held out for some time, and it was neces-
sary to besiege them one by one in their castles. Rudolf gave Vac-
80 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1280-1283
slav a piece of advice which was rather politic than Christian,
when he suggested that he should take his prisoner Zavisa on all
his expeditions, and summon each burgrave to surrender, telling
him that, in case of refusal, the head of Zavisa would be cut off.
This advice was followed, and several of the rebels submitted in
consequence. At last the king arrived before the castle of Hluboka,
not far from Budweiss, which was commanded by Vitek, the
brother of Zavisa. The dreadful summons was proclaimed, but
Vitek did not believe the threat and would not yield, whereupon the
head of his brother was cut off before his eyes in front of the castle
ditch. The tragic end of Zavisa, his brilliant qualities and his poetic
talents secured for his name great popularity, which has been re-
vived in the present century through newly awakened interest in
the national literature.
At the time of the execution of Zavisa, Vacslav was only nine-
teen, and this act of severity so frightened the rebels that the royal
authority was thenceforward recognized throughout the land. The
young king increased the revenues of the crown, and worked on a
large scale the silver mines of Bohemia, which were then extremely
rich, especially that of Kutna Hora, " the mountain of mines." He
kept up a luxurious court, which enriched the town of Prague, and
made it a favorite abode of foreigners. It became in his day the
seat of several renowned schools. At the same time a series of for-
tunate events placed the crown of Poland on the head of Vac-
slav, making him one of the most powerful monarchs of Chris-
tendom.
For some time past the custom of creating appanages had
seriously weakened Poland. It was now more or less equally di-
vided among all the princes who were descended from the dynasty
of the Piasts ; the one who ruled Lesser Poland, and whose seat of
government was at Cracow, being the overlord. His power, how-
ever, had become almost nominal, for the right of primogeniture
was but little respected, and Mazovia, Silesia, and Greater Poland
had each in turn endeavored to get possession of his territories.
Even the lesser principalities themselves began to split up, and in
Silesia alone we hear of no less than ten princes. A party in
Cracow was formed, which offered the province of Lesser Po-
land to the king of Bohemia. Vacslav accepted the offer, proceeded
to Cracow, and took possession of that town and of the duchy of
Sandomir.
THE PREMYSLIDES 81
1283-1306
But the troubles of Poland continued, and a few years later
the nobles of Greater Poland also offered their province to Vacslav.
He caused himself to be crowned at Gnesen, obliged the princes
of Mazovia to recognize his suzerainty, and thus united the king-
dom of the Piasts to that of the Premyslides. This union, which
might have proved so very advantageous for the two countries,
was unfortunately of very short duration, and did not last beyond
the life of Vacslav. The time had not yet come for the Slav peoples
to understand the duties which their common origin imposed upon
them and the need there was for common action against the Ger-
mans. Only a short time before Premysl Otokar had invited the
Poles to help him in his struggles against the insatiable ambition of
|the Germans, and had received but little assistance. In years to
Icome the two crowns of Bohemia and Poland were once more to be
[united on the same head ; but the two countries were unable to form
permanent state.
In 1 30 1, the house of Arpad having become extinct, the crown
)f Hungary was also offered to Vacslav, but fearing to accept it for
limself because the Pope had already chosen Robert of Anjou, he
^induced the Magyars to crown his young son. This election the
[Pope and Emperor Albert refused to acknowledge. The latter
lUed upon Vacslav to renounce the crown and demanded the ces-
sion of Meissen and Eger, and the payment of the arrears of the
tenths due the empire from the mines of Kutna Hora. To enforce
his claims he invaded Bohemia, but was unsuccessful. Vacslav in
turn prepared to invade Austria, but died before he could carry out
his project.
His successor, Vacslav V., concluded an unfavorable peace,
surrendering Meissen and Eger, the emperor agreeing not to med-
dle in the relations between Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland. The
new ruler was, moreover, a frivolous, debauched prince, with little
care for his prerogative. He gave away his claim to Hungary and
Poland, though in the latter case he relented and tried to reassert
his rights. But on his march to Poland he was treacherously as-
sassinated at Olmiitz. Vacslav left no son, and with him the
dynasty of the Premyslides, who had reigned over Bohemia since
mythical times, became extinct in 1306. The race of Arpad in
Hungaria, as we have seen, died out in 1301. There is something
curious in this coincidence.
The death of the last of the Premyslides marks an important
82
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1283-1306
date in the history of Bohemia. Up to this time, notwithstanding
frequent periods of anarchy, the country had recognized the hered-
itary authority of a national dynasty. But after the death of Vac-
slav without heirs, we rarely find it governed by a national king.
The foreign elements which had settled within it continued to in-
crease in numbers and power. Before turning to this new period
it will be worth while to look back for a brief survey of Bohemia's
relations with the empire, and of her internal condition and the
development of her civilization.
The neighborhood of Germany has always been dangerous for
non-German nations, and Bohemia has felt this more than most
countries. Since the time when Charles the Great, with the help of
the Pope, restored the empire of the West, the emperor had looked
upon himself as the temporal head of Christendom. Those lands
which the emperor did not attempt to conquer were regarded as
owing that privilege directly to the imperial generosity. At times
it was necessary to purchase the privilege by payment of tribute,
and thus, according to the somewhat doubtful testimony of Ein-
hard, Bohemia paid tribute to Charles the Great. In a document
of the year 817 Louis the Pious represents Bohemia, and also the
country of the Avars, and of the Slavs to the west of Bavaria,
as all forming part of the empire. At the end of the ninth century,
as we have already seen, Bohemia was paying to the emperor a
tribute of 120 oxen and 500 marks of silver. In 895 the two
princes, Spytihnev and Vratislav, tired of the authority of Svato-
pluk, did homage for their states to the emperor. In 928 Prince
Vacslav I. renewed the engagement to pay the tribute of oxen and
silver.
In 108 1 this was changed into an agreement which bound
Bohemia to furnish 300 knights to accompany the emperor to Rome
for his coronation. On the other hand, we do not hear of the
princes of Bohemia doing homage or claiming investiture at the
accession of each German sovereign, and the payment of tribute
proves nothing more than that there was an international treaty be-
tween them. Vassals did not pay tribute. Louis the Child and
Henry the Fowler paid tribute to Hungary, but they were not the
vassals of Hungary; Poland at one time paid tribute to Bohemia in
the same way, but she was not her vassal. The emperor never ex-
ercised any right of sovereignty over Bohemia; he never levied
troops, he exercised no judicial authority, nor could he bind Bo-
THE PRE MY SLIDES 88
1283-1306
hernia by the treaties which he entered into with the court of Rome.
The interference of the empire in the disputes of the princes of
Bohemia was exactly the same in character as the interference of
the Czechs themselves in the affairs of Poland and Hungary. The
Emperor Lothar failed in his attempts to impose a prince on Bo-
hemia in 1 1 26. At the beginning of the twelfth century a Bohemian
prince received the honorary title of cupbearer as a reward for
services rendered to the empire. Later on Otokar L and Vacslav
L took part in the election of the emperor, but this title of elector
was a purely personal one, and involved no sort of obligation on
the part of Bohemia itself. As time went on the German emperors
took advantage of the rivalries and quarrels of the Bohemian
princes, and tried more than once to get possession of certain por-
tions of Bohemia, such as the bishopric of Prague and the mar-
gravate of Moravia, but after each attempt the unity of the king-
dom was quickly restored. When once the Pope had given his
sanction to the adoption of the royal title, any special connection
between the prince of Bohemia and the emperor resting on the
imperial grant must have disappeared. After the election of Ru-
dolf, Premysl Otokar H. was called upon to do homage for
Bohemia and Moravia, and we have seen to what a struggle this
claim gave rise. Albert L, in his treaty with Vacslav, renounced
this claim, but we shall soon see how it was revived during the time
of anarchy which followed the tragic death of the last of the
Premyslides. Thus the claim of the empire was never clearly de-
fined. The power and individual pretensions of each sovereign
differed, and history can only state the facts without being able to
lay down any definite rule.
The crown of Bohemia was elective before it became heredi-
tary, and the prince was assisted by a diet which was at first com-
posed of the chiefs of tribes, heads of families, and the representa-
tives of the free cities. Later on the earlier Premyslides convoked
diets, in which we find the princes of the royal family, the higher
clergy, twelve judges chosen by the sovereign, and the representa-
tives of the nobles. The powers of this diet were mainly judicial
and deliberative ; but it elected the prince, who could only be chosen
from the ruling family; called out the national militia, and in ex-
ceptional cases levied taxes. It also elected the bishop of Prague.
But its powers were never very clearly defined, and the prince often
governed without its aid. From the end of the twelfth century the
84
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1283-1305
power of the diets increased, and we often find them refusing their
permission to the sovereign to levy troops and extraordinary taxes.
The diet was also the highest court of justice. The earliest au-
thentic documents dealing with the relations between the prince
and the diet bear the date 1310. The nobility was at first formed
of the chiefs of the tribes, and later on of officials chosen by the
prince, but the whole order of nobility was gradually modified by
the feudal ideas which prevailed in Germany.
The territory of the kingdom of Bohemia during this period
repeatedly extended beyond the present limits of Bohemia and
Moravia, but the outlying districts, most of which were occupied
by inhabitants not belonging to the Czech race, were soon lost.
Their loss would have been of but slight importance if the Czechs
had been a strong and united nation within the quadrilateral
formed by the mountains of Bohemia and Moravia. Unfortu-
nately this was not the case. They allowed themselves to be not only
weakened externally, but also internally, by the constant infiltration
of a German element, which, from many points of view, was far
more dangerous than serious defeats in the field. The time came
when Bohemia had to struggle not only against enemies from with-
out, but also with enemies from within. The Czechs had found Bo-
hemia deserted and they had occupied only the center of the coun-
try; the Germans had gradually taken possession of the moun-
tainous districts and the frontiers, which had at first remained
uncultivated and uninhabited. The Christian princes of Bohemia,
unhappily, sought their wives among the Germans, and these for-
eign princesses brought to the court a large number of their coun-
trymen, while a great many German priests and monks found their
way into the churches and monasteries. German merchants, who
settled in the vicus Teutonicorum in Prague, ended by getting pos-
session of an entire district of the town. From the twelfth century
onward whole towns and villages of Germans were to be found
along the frontiers, where the soil had been lately reclaimed, and
many royal and baronial towns which were built by the king, nobles,
and abbots were occupied by German settlers. The celebrated
poets of Germany, Ulric of Turlin, Wolfram of Eschenbach,
and Henry of Freiburg, now appeared at the Bohemian court,
and renowned soldiers peopled their estates with Germans. The
mines of Kutna Hora and of the German Ford also attracted many
foreigners.
THE PREMYSLIDES 85
1283-1308
The Slav agriculturists gladly left all trade and industry in
the hands of foreigners: in Poland the Jews, and in Bohemia the
Germans, acquired their monopoly. Some far-seeing patriots be-
came alarmed at the growth of German influence. The Czech
chronicle of Dalemil, compiled probably in the fourteenth century,
expresses, sometimes in very outspoken fashion, the grief and anger
Wtoi a Slav who sees his native tongue and his fatherland threatened.
The following words are put into the mouth of the Princess Libusa:
" If a foreigner comes to rule you, your nation will not last. A wise
man does not consult foreigners. A foreigner will employ the peo-
ple of his own tongue and will seek to do you evil. He will divide
your inheritance among his own people. Look well that you trust
not your fortune to the stranger, O Bohemian chief ! There, where
but one language is spoken, there glory is to be found." But these
warnings of the unknown patriot were to remain without any echo
till the days when the Hussites unfurled the standard alike of re-
ligious reform and of national unity.
Bohemia had been Christianized by Moravia and Germany,
but in consequence of the destruction of the archbishopric of the
Moravians she had been placed under the jurisdiction of Ratisbon,
and remained so until the creation of the episcopal see of Prague,
which was attached to the archbishopric of Mainz. The Pope,
when he made Bohemia into a bishopric, insisted that the Roman
liturgy alone should be employed. At first the bishop was usually
elected by the diet and the prince together; after the middle of the
twelfth century, however, he was chosen by the chapter, whose
choice was ratified by the prince.
Notwithstanding the Papal decrees, the Slav liturgy con-
tinued to find some adherents. Nevertheless the Latin soon sup-
planted the native tongue as the language of the church, and in
this way helped not a little to clear the way for the progress of
German influence. Most of the foreign orders flourished in Bo-
hemia, and the only schools in the country belonged to them. In
the thirteenth century the most celebrated school was the Studium
Generale established in the castle at Prague, where grammar and
logic were taught by eminent masters. The clergy possessed con-
siderable influence, and Bohemia remained faithful to Catholic
unity down to the fourteenth century, the first heresies making their
appearance in the beginning of that century.
Though the literature of that time was but little developed, it
86
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1283-1306
had produced some works of interest. The Latin tongue, so dear to
the priests, had not entirely put an end to national culture. Cosmos,
dean of the chapter of Prague, wrote a chronicle of Bohemia at the
beginning of the eleventh century, which now, in spite of the
pseudo-classical style of the author, is extremely valuable. We find
religious hymns, sacred texts, and lyric and heroic poems in the lan-
guage of the Czechs — some describing the life of the nation and
of great poetic value — others, imitations of Christian or romantic
legends of the Middle Ages, such as the legends of St. Catherine.
St Dorothy, and Alexander the Great.
Neither were the fine arts neglected. The church interested
itself in their development and employed them for religious pur-
poses. At the end of the eleventh century Bozetech, abbot of the
Slav monastery of Sazava, is spoken of as a clever painter and a
skillful carver in wood and stone. The chronicle relates how the
bishop of Prague, jealous of his powers, imposed upon him a sin-
gular penance ; he ordered him to carve a Christ in wood of the size
of life, and to bear it to Rome on his shoulders. The two styles
of art, the Byzantine and the Italian, may be said to have met in
Bohemia, but the triumph of the Roman church carried with it
that of Italian art. A large number of churches were built in the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries, among them the Roman basilica
of St. Vit at Prague. Altogether about 150 churches in the
Roman style are known to exist in Bohemia. Gothic art made its
appearance there in the thirteenth century, and reached its highest
point of delicacy in the fourteenth.
We have already seen how Prague became the seat of a bril-
liant and knightly court under the last Premyslides. The corona-
tion of Vacslav II., in 1297, was one of the most brilliant cere-
monies of the Middle Ages. " It was," says a German chronicle,
" such a festival as had never been celebrated, either by a king of
Assyria, or by Solomon himself." The numbers of strangers who
flocked to it was so vast, that, according to contemporary accounts,
food had to be found for nineteen thousand horses. There came to
it not less than twenty-eight princes, lay and ecclesiastic; the arch-
bishops of Mainz and Magdeburg, the bishops of Prague, Olmiitz,
Cracow, Basel, and Constance; the Archduke Albert of Austria,
with a suite of seven thousand knights; the princes of Saxony,
Brandenburg, and Meissen. The town of Prague was not large
enough to hold the crowd of visitors, and a vast palace of wood,
THE PREMYSLIDES 87
1283-1306
decorated with valuable tapestry, was built on the neighboring
plain, and there the guests of high rank were entertained magnifi-
cently. In the public squares the fountains flowed with wine. The
coronation took place in the cathedral of St. Vit. The royal crown
was worth two thousand marks of silver; the sword and buckler,
three thousand ; the mantle, four thousand ; and no one dared to say
what was the worth of the girdle, the rings, and the royal cap.
Chapter VIII
EARLY HISTORY OF THE AUSTRIAN GROUP
—THE HOUSE OF BABENBERG. 973-1246
A USTRIA, as is well known, is but another form of the
/\ German Oesterreich, the kingdom of the East. This cele-
X ^ brated historical name appears for the first time in 996, in
a document signed by the Emperor Otto III., in regione vulgari
nomine Osterrichi. The land to which it is there applied was
created a inarch, or border province, after the destruction of the
Avar empire, and was governed by two margraves or counts of the
frontier. The two margravates included Friuli, properly so called,
lower Pannonia to the south of the Drave, Carinthia, Istria, and
the interior of Dalmatia, the seacoast having been ceded to the
Eastern emperor, and lower Pannonia to the north of the Drave,
upper Pannonia, and the Ostmark, properly so called, respectively.
The Ostmark included the Traungau to the east of the Enns, which
was completely German, and the Grunzvittigau. The ecclesiastical
government of these lands was divided between the bishops of
Salzburg and Aquileia. The bishopric of Salzburg had been
founded in 710 by St. Emeran of Poitiers; that of Aquileia pre-
sumed to date its foundation from the time of the apostle St. Mark.
The population was principally composed of Germans and Slavs,
but except in Dalmatia these Slavs gradually lost their individuality
and could not be distinguished from the rest of the inhabitants.
The early history of these countries lacks that unity which dynastic
and national interest gives to Hungary and Bohemia. They form
but a portion of the German empire, and have no strongly marked
life of their own.
The march, with its varying frontier, had not even geographical
unity. In 876 it was enlarged by the addition of Bavaria; in 890
it lost Pannonia, which was given to Bracislav, the Croat prince, in
return for his help against the Magyars; and in 937 it was de-
stroyed and absorbed by the Magyars, who extended their frontier
to the River Ems. After the battle of Lechfeld, or Augsburg,
HOUSE OF BABENBERG 89
973-1056
in 955, Germany and Italy being exposed to Hungarian invasions,
the march was reconstituted and granted to the Margrave Burk-
hard, the brother-in-law of Henry of Bavaria. Leopold of Baben-
berg succeeded him in 973, and with him begins the dynasty of
Babenberg, which ruled the country during the time of the Premysl-
ides and the house of Arpad.
The Babenbergs derived their name from the castle of Baben-
berg, built by Henry, margrave of Nordgau, in honor of his wife,
Baba, sister of Henry the Fowler. It reappears in the name of the
town of Bamberg, which now forms part of the kingdom of Ba-
varia. Leopold, on whom the chroniclers bestow the title of the
Illustrious, was already count of the Donaugau, the district in which
lies the town of Ratisbon, and of the Traungau, while his father,
Berthold, was count of the Nordgau, the land lying north of Ratis-
bon. In his time the town of Molk, on the Danube above Vienna,
was captured from the Magyars, and it is said Leopold there
founded a monastery for twelve secular priests. He perished at
Wiirzburg, struck by an arrow aimed at his nephew, Henry of
Schweinfurt, to avenge the blinding of one of the knights of that
town. His eldest son, Henry I. (994-1018), received investiture
for the margravate from Otto III. Though not of right an heredi-
tary office, the margravate soon became so, and remained in the
family of the Babenbergs; the march was so important a part of
the empire that no doubt the emperor was glad to make the defense
of this exposed district the especial interest of one family. The
other sons of Leopold were equally well provided for. Ernest ob-
tained the duchy of Suabia, and Poppo the bishopric which had been
recently founded at Bamberg, and afterward that of Triest. The
emperor also granted a large number of hereditary domains along
the shores of the Danube to the Margrave Henry. The conversion
of the Magyars to Christianity had softened the manners of this
conquering race, and made Henry's task of protecting Germany
comparatively easy, but Adalbert (1018-1056) had a hard struggle
against them, and owes his name of the Victorious to the successes
he gained. He extended the march of Austria as far as the banks
of the Leitha. He also helped the emperor considerably against
Hungary, and received in return fresh grants of estates within the
march for himself and his heirs.
The Ostmark was almost doubled in size under the rule of
Adalbert, who chose the town of Tulln, on the Danube, between
90 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1056-1138
Vienna and Molk, as his place of residence. His son, Ernest the
Valiant (1056-1075), gave a fresh proof of the loyalty of the
Babenbergs to the emperor and empire by his death in battle against
the Saxons at Unstrut. But Leopold the Handsome (1075-1096)
proved faithless to the traditions of the family, and took the side of
Gregory VH. against the Emperor Henry IV. in the quarrel about
investitures. He was defeated by the imperial forces and reduced
to submission, but soon after took up the cause of the anti-king,
Hermann of Luxemburg. Henry IV. thereupon granted investi-
ture for the march of Austria to Vratislav, duke of Bohemia, but
Vratislav was never able to gain possession of the land, and in
spite of the disloyalty of Leopold the Handsome, his son, Leopold
III., succeeded him in the government of the march. This prince,
who proudly styled himself margrave of Austria by the grace of
God, entered into an alliance with the king of the Romans, Henry
v., who had revolted against his father. Henry V. rewarded him
for his valuable assistance by giving him his sister Agnes in mar-
riage. She was the widow of Frederick of Suabia, so that the
marriage allied the house of Austria with the future dynasty of the
Hohenstaufen. Agnes had eighteen children, of whom two, Leo-
pold and Henry, succeeded their father. One of these eighteen
children was the celebrated annalist, Otto of Freisingen, bishop of
the town of that name. By their marriage the daughters of Leopold
allied the house of Babenberg with the ruling families of Thuringia
and Montferrat, with the Piasts of Poland and the Premyslides of
Bohemia. When the Salic dynasty became extinct in the person of
Henry V., Leopold III. was proposed as emperor, together with
Frederick of Suabia and Lothar of Saxony: a strong proof of the
importance which had been acquired by the march of Austria and
the family which governed it. Leopold retired in favor of Freder-
ick, but the princes chose Lothar of Saxony.
Leopold was very generous toward the church. He founded
new monasteries and enriched those which already existed. He
gave Klosterneuburg to the Benedictines, and Heiligenkreuz to the
Cistercians ; he also richly endowed Kremmunster and St. Florian.
On his death, the Emperor Lothar granted investiture to one of
his younger sons, Leopold IV., 1136-1141. In 1138 the brother-
in-law of Leopold, Conrad of Hohenstaufen, duke of Franconia,
was made emperor. It was now that the struggle began between
the house of Hohenstaufen and the great house of Welf, whose
^,
HOUSE OF BABENBERG 91
1138-1192
representative was Henry the Proud, duke of Saxony and Bavaria.
Henry was defeated in the unequal strife, and was placed under the
ban of the empire, while the duchy of Saxony was awarded to Albert
the Bear, count of Brandenburg, and the duchy of Bavaria fell to
the share of Leopold IV., in 1138. Henry the Proud died in the
following year, leaving behind him a son under age, who was
known later on as Henry the Lion. His uncle, Welf, would not
submit to the forfeiture by his house of their old dominions, and
marched against Leopold to reconquer Bavaria, but he was defeated
by Conrad at the battle of Weinsberg in 1140. Leopold died
shortly after this victory, and was succeeded both in the duchy of
Bavaria and in the margravate of Austria by his brother, Henry IL
This prince was surnamed lasomirgott, from his favorite motto,
lach sam mir Gott helfe — so God be my aid. He was the first
ereditary duke of Austria.
Henry H., lasomirgott (1141-1177), endeavored to strengthen
himself in Bavaria by marrying Gertrude, widow of Henry the
Proud, and forcing her to obtain from her son, Henry the Lion, a
renunciation of all his rights in favor of her new husband. But
after the death of his mother Henry declared his renunciation null
and void, and in 11 56 the diet of the empire declared that Bavaria
should be restored to Henry the Lion. It was owing to the wise
council of his relation, Otto of Freisingen, that Henry lasomirgott
finally gave up Bavaria, which now became a separate duchy, an
imperial edict, dated September 21, 11 56, declaring the new duchy
hereditary even in the female line. Henry II. was one of the
founders of medieval Vienna. In Rome's imperial days Vindobona
had been an important and a favorite municipium, but it had declined
since then. Henry II. now constructed a fortress there, and, in
order to civilize the surrounding country, sent for Scotch monks, of
whom there were many at this time in Germany.
In 1 1 77 Leopold V., called the Virtuous, succeeded Henry
lasomirgott. In his reign the duchy of Austria gained Styria, an
important addition to its territory. Its duke, Otokar, dying with-
out heirs, willed it to Leopold, and in 1192 Styria, which was in-
habited by Germans and Slovenes, became a permanent part of
Austria.
Leopold V. was the first of the Austrian princes whose name
was known in Western Europe. He joined the third Crusade, and
thus came in contact with most of the Catholic kings of the time. He
92
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1138-1192
first visited the Holy Land in 1 182 ; on his return thither in 1 191 he
met PhiHp Augustus and Richard CcEur de Lion, and at the siege
of Acre quarreled with the turbulent king of England. In 1192
he returned to his own land. Shortly after, Richard Coeur de Lion
was over taken by a storm between Venice and Aquileia, and de-
termined to cross Europe incognito in order to regain England.
Leopold heard of his presence in his territories, and was not slow
SOUTHEASTERN EUROPE
to revenge himself on his detested rival. He had him made a pris-
oner and confined in the castle of Diirrenstein, near Krems on the
Danube, and before selling his prisoner to the emperor for twenty
thousand marks, extracted from him a promise of a marriage be-
tween the houses of Babenberg and Plantagenet.
The successor of Leopold V. was Frederick I. Like his father
he was an ardent Crusader, and only returned from Palestine to
die. During his absence his brother Leopold, sumamed the Proud,
HOUSE OF BABENBERG 93
1192-1230
who had been made duke of Styria by his father, was intrusted
with the regency in Austria. He succeeded Frederick, in 1198,
and played an important part in the affairs of Germany, attaching
himself to the cause of Philip of Hohenstaufen. Later he left
Austria to take part in a crusade in Spain against the Moors, and
in 1 217 he again took the cross, set out for Palestine, accompanied
by Andrew II., king of Hungary, and distinguished himself in the
expedition against Damietta.
The Emperor Frederick II. took every possible means of as-
suring the fidelity of so powerful a vassal and so valiant a knight.
On the death of the archbishop of Cologne, he appointed him
Reichsverweser, or vicar of the empire, and he gave his daughter
in marriage to Leopold's son Henry. This alliance with the im-
perial house, and the important position in Christendom which
Leopold had acquired, enabled him to play the part of mediator in
the quarrels which arose between Frederick and the Pope, Honorius
III. With this end in view he journeyed into Italy in 1229, where
he died in the following year, after having successfully accom-
plished his mission.
At home Leopold endeavored to develop the commerce and
trade of his country. He made Vienna the staple town, and lent
a sum of thirty thousand marks of silver to the city to enable it to
increase its trade. He adorned it with many new buildings, among
them the Neue Burg. He strengthened the defenses of the fron-
tiers, founded new monasteries, and granted municipal rights to
Enns, Krems, and Vienna. But while busy with the interests of
the state, Leopold did not forget those of his private domains, which
he increased by the acquisition of various allodial estates within
his duchy. Besides these he purchased lands in Carniola from
Bishop Gerald of Freisingen, and paved the way to the future an-
nexation of Carniola to Austria. The revenue of the state in his
time rose to about sixty thousand marks of silver.
Leopold the Proud was succeeded by his son, Frederick the
Fighter (1230-1246). The short reign of this prince was one
continued struggle against his neighbors. With the Emperor
Frederick II. he fought against Hungary and against Bohemia,
and then he turned against Frederick to assist the Lombard cities,
in support of the emperor's rival, Henry of Thuringia, who had
married his sister Margaret. His aim seemed to be complete inde-
pendence, and it was not long before he was placed under the ban
94 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1230-1246
of the empire, and Bohemia, Bavaria, Brandenburg, and Hungary
all took up arms against him. The celebrated chancellor, Peter de
Vinea, was called upon to write a violent pamphlet against him,
in which he was represented as a treacherous member of the empire
and a monster of iniquity who had forfeited the imperial clemency.
The lands of the upper Enns as far as Linz fell into the hands of
Otto of Bavaria, while Vienna was declared an imperial city, and
a lieutenant was sent by the emperor to govern the conquered Aus-
trian territory. But the Fighter defended himself with vigor, and
in the end reconquered part of his land, and became reconciled with
the emperor in 1240. Frederick annulled the privileges recently
given to Vienna, and at the diet of Verona, in 1245, confirmed the
powers which had been granted to the dukes of Austria in 11 56.
Thus the very revolts of Austria against the empire turned to her
advantage, while the misfortunes which now burst over her neigh-
bors were of equal benefit to her.
The Mongols had invaded Hungary, and King Bela applied for
help to Austria, offering in exchange for her assistance to pledge
to Frederick the Fighter three of his comitats. Frederick, who was
as little generous toward Bela as his predecessor had been toward
Richard Coeur de Lion, demanded their entire surrender, and then
declared war against Hungary. He died on June 15, 1246, on the
banks of the Leitha, slain, according to some, by the Hungarians;
according to others, by one of his own followers. He was hated
even by many of his own subjects. " A hard man," one of the
chronicles calls him ; " cruel in his judgment, brave in fight,
greedy, and rapacious. He had filled with terror both his friends
and his neighbors. No man loved him; all feared him," Ulric of
Lichtenstein, the knightly poet of Styria, is more tender of his
memory : " He is dead ... he has left great woe behind him
in Styria and in Austria. . . . Many are now poor who were
rich. . . . His soul must be in heaven, for he was kind to the
brave." With him the dynasty of Babenberg came to an end.
Their remains lie in the church of the little town of Molk, which
has long since been eclipsed by the splendor of Vienna.
The immediate authority of the princes of the empire over
the lands which had been intrusted to them had been greatly in-
creased by the right of inheritance, conferred in the first instance
upon the margraves, and afterward upon the dukes, while the quar-
rels with the Popes had helped to weaken the authority of the
HOUSE OF BABENBERG 95
1230-1246
emperors. Gradually corporations, lay and ecclesiastical, monas-
teries, towns, and citizens were freed from their dependence on the
emperors, and placed under the authority of the princes. This
authority is called by German historians Landeshoheit , i. e., lord-
ship over a particular district. We find this spirit of " particular-
ism " especially strong in southern Germany. Thus as early as
1 1 84 Otokar, duke of Styria, called himself Landesherr, lord of the
land ; and the annexation of Styria to Austria must have strength-
ened the feeling of local independence.
With the development of the Landeshoheit the old nobility de-
clined, and its place was filled by an official nobility, composed of
the followers of the prince who bore office about his person; and
very soon the difference between these two classes disappeared, as
both became equally dependent on the prince. In this matter again
Styria set the example to Austria, the dukes of Austria having
promised the ministeriales of Styria that they would observe those
privileges which had been granted to them by their earlier princes.
As regards municipal law, also, Styria was ahead of Austria.
As early as 1212 the towns of Enns obtained from the emperor a
municipal code, or stadtrecht, the text of which is preserved to
this day among its archives. According to this code, the lord of
the land is the archduke, and for him is reserved the punishment of
certain crimes; his will is law. Under him judicial authority is
exercised by a town judge, assisted by an inferior magistrate
(nachrichter) and by police (schergen), who are paid officials.
The stadtrecht is mainly a code of criminal law founded on the
principal of wehrgeld; in all cases of pecuniary compensation a
third of the fine is allotted to the judge. Trials by ordeal are
allowed. The law of inheritance permits the wife or child to in-
herit, or the nearest relations, if they reside on the land of the
duchy ; if not, they are only to have half. The foreigner who dies
in the land is allowed to leave his property to whomsoever he likes ;
if he dies without a will, for a year and a day it is held in trust for
his heirs; if no one then claims it, it is to become the property of
the duke. A municipal council is formed by six of the highest
burgesses, whose business it is to control the markets and to watch
over the interests of the town. The legal maxim of England, " A
man's house is his castle," is well known; the stadrecht maintains
the inviolability of the household in almost the same words : " We
will that for each citizen his house shall be a fortress {pro muni-
96 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
-1230-1246
tione) for himself, his family, and whomsoever may enter his door."
Every violation of the hearth is punished by a fine of five marks or
the loss of a hand. The citizens are to have the right of keeping
horses, both for their business and amusement.
Leopold VI. took this code as his model for the one he granted
to Vienna in 1221, wherein, indeed, he carried its principals even
farther. Thus to the laws concerning the inviolability of the house-
hold it is added that no one shall enter a house with a bow or a
quiver; that no one shall walk about the town with a poignard at
his girdle, under penalty of the payment of a talent and the for-
feiture of the weapon; that he who shall conceal a weapon in his
boot shall pay ten talents or lose his hand. The chief citizens of
each district of the town are ordered to exercise supervision over
all business transactions exceeding the amount of two talents. A
striking analogy is to be found between the municipal laws of
Babenberg and those of the Flemish and Picard towns, Ghent,
Bruges, Ypres, Arras, Furnes, and Laon. This is explained by the
large trade which the Flemings carried on in the Danubian
countries, especially in Hungary. Flemish merchants resided in
Vienna, and as early as 1208 we find them in possession of certain
privileges.
The laws concerning the Jews deserve special notice, as they
are singularly liberal for the time. From 1200 onward they have
their synagogues in Vienna. The coining of money is intrusted
to them, with the title of " counts of the chamber." Some of the
laws show remarkable tolerance, especially if we consider the
prejudices of the Middle Ages; for example, if a stolen article is
found in the house of a Jew it is enough for him to swear that he
has purchased it, and he has only to restore it for what he gave for
it. The laws of Hungary, Poland, Bohemia, and Thuringia con-
cerning Jews were all copied from those of Austria.
Under the protection of peaceful laws the trade and industry
of Austria developed rapidly. The situation of the country was
especially fortunate as regards commerce, placed as she was on the
frontiers of Germany, Bohemia, and Hungary, and with the Dan-
ube as her river. A rhymed chronicler enthusiastically celebrates
her splendor and prosperity : " This land has everything in abun-
dance— cattle and wine, com and other fruits, all that is needed for
the food of man — game and fish and excellent bread. The Danube,
with her clear waters, adorns the landscape, and brings day and
HOUSE OF BABENBERG 97
1230-1246
night without pause all that is needed to the towns and the
villages."
Commercial relations between Styria and Italy were estab-
lished at an early date. To increase them Leopold built a bridge
of stone over the Save, at the spot called to this day Steinbriick.
But trade in those days was far from being free. For example,
the town of Gratz had the rights of a staple town ; all foreign goods
had to be brought there to be weighed on the town scales, and
could only be carried by the town wagons. The rules of the staple
in some other towns contained still more irksome regulations. All
goods sent through the town of Bruck, on the River Mur, had to
be exposed in the public square and put up at auction, and only
that portion which had found no purchaser among the citizens
was allowed to leave the place.
Enns was the great commercial city on the way from Ratis-
bon to Vienna. It was the great warehouse of the Augsburg mer-
chants, who went to buy furs at the fair of Kiev, and carried west-
em wares into Russia. Along the same road were Medlich, St.
Polten, Tulln, Stein, and Mauthausen. Along it traveled the mer-
chants of Burgundy, Lorraine, Cologne, and Maestricht ; the woven
stuffs of the east, the furs of Hungary, the silks of Venice, found
their way by it to the north and west. Purchase and sale were
carried on partly by money, partly by barter. The money of the
Babenbergs was coined at Venice and Neustadt ; few of these coins
remain. For those times the riches of Austria were great, and
manners improved in consequence of this prosperity. The mon-
asteries furnished a large number of chroniclers, and schools were
opened by the monks. The theater seems to have been unknown;
we meet with but one mention of an Easter mystery, Osterspiel;
this was at the monastery of St. Florian. Poetry, however, was
cultivated with ardor at the court of the Babenbergs, and, accord-
ing to tradition, Leopold VI. was a poet and Frederick the Fighter
wrote love songs. Three of the most celebrated of the minne-
singers, Reinar von Hagenau, Walter von der Vogelweide, and
Reinar von Zweter, passed part of their lives there. Walter called
Austria his second fatherland. It was there, he said, that he
had learned to sing and to relate stories. Several times he cele-
brates the names of Leopold VI. and Frederick the Fighter. Tann-
haiiser praised Frederick 11. during his life and mourned for him
after his death. " With him," he says, " all joy is dead." Another
98 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1230-1246
poet, Nidhart of Reuenthal, the Bavarian, also dwelt for some time
in Austria, and his poems very pleasantly describe the dances and
rustic games of the country.
But the minnesingers did not flourish in Austria only. We
find them also in Styria, where lived Rudolf van Stadek, and
where may still be seen the castle of Ulric von Lichtenstein, on
the banks of the Mur. He was cupbearer to Duke Frederick.
This singer of the most tender sentiments and most refined gal-
lantry never knew how to read or write. At the famous poetical
tournament at the Wartburg, at the court of Thuringia, where the
seven greatest singers then living rivaled one another in singing
the praises of their masters, it was to the sun itself, says the legend,
that Henry of Oftedingen compared the duke of Austria.
Chapter IX
THE AUSTRIAN GROUP UNDER THE FIRST
HAPSBURGS. 1273-1493
HISTORIANS have given the name of " the Austrian In-
terregnum " to the period which elapsed between the
death of the last of the Babenbergs and the accession of
the first prince of the house of Hapsburg. We have already seen,
in the history of Bohemia, how the inheritance of the last Baben-
berg was for a time united to Bohemia; thirty years elapsed after
the death of Frederick the Fighter before it fell into the hands of
the family which now holds possession of it. The origin of this
family has been a constant puzzle to the fertile imaginations of
genealogists. Some among them trace it back to the Merovingians,
others to the Carlovingians, others again, to Ethico, duke of Ala-
mannia, who is supposed to have been the common stock from
which sprang the houses of Hapsburg, Lorraine, and Baden.
What is quite certain is that the house of Hapsburg is of Alamannic
origin. The first domains held by it were in Alsace, Switzerland,
and Suabia. It took its name from the castle of Hapsburg, which
was built in the year 1027 by Werner, bishop of Strasburg, on the
heights of Windisch, near the River Aar, in what is now the canton
Aargau.
The first mention of the castle of Hapsburg, Habichtsburg,
the castle ,of vultures, the ruins of which still remain, occurs in
a document of the year 1099. The immediate successors of
Werner increased the family possessions and influence through for-
tunate marriages and gifts, and especially by acting as advocates
and stewards for neighboring abbeys and cities. But it was not till
the succession of Rudolf of Hapsburg, first, in 1240, to the scat-
tered family estates on the upper Rhine, and then, in 1273, to the
imperial dignity, that the Hapsburgs take their place among the
princely families of Europe. Rudolf was born in 1218, was early
instructed in the exercise and use of arms and knightly practices,
and became one of the most redoubtable warriors of his day. Ac-
100 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1273-1291
tive, aggressive, warlike, and yet prudent, he soon won for him-
self a wide reputation for prowess and wisdom, and before his
death the Hapsburg possessions not only had been increased enor-
mously, but their political center of gravity shifted from the Rhine
to the middle Danube. It is to Rudolf that the Austrian state
owes its origin, and the extensive nature of his acquisition affords
ample justification for the exclamation of the bishop of Basel,
" Sit fast, good Lord, or Rudolf will have Thy throne."
Rudolf's acquisition of the Austrian lands in his great victory
on the March Field in 1278 over Otokar has been narrated in con-
nection with the history of Bohemia. Upper and Lower Austria,
Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola, and rights of investiture in Bo-
hemia and Moravia were added to the hereditary estates, and the
basis for the modern Austria was laid. It is true that Rudolf ex-
perienced great difficulty in transferring the Austrian territories
to his family, but in the end the Hapsburg sway was acknowl-
edged by all. In 1282, after obtaining the sanction of the electors,
he solemnly invested his two sons, Albert and Rudolf, with Austria,
Styria, and Carniola; and a few years later, in 1286, he assigned
Carinthia to Menhardt of Tyrol, to reward him for the help he had
received from him in his war against Premysl Otokar. But the
states of Austria and Styria were but little satisfied with their new
master; they disliked the Suabian counselors whom Albert brought
with him, and before long a revolution broke out in Austria. The
town of Vienna, which, during the struggle with Otokar, Rudolf
had made into a fief directly dependent upon himself, revolted, and
was only subdued by force of arms. Nor was he more fortunate in
regard to the imperial dignity. For notwithstanding his signal
service to the empire and his earnest efforts to secure the election
for his only surviving son, Albert, the electors persistently refused
to comply with his wishes. Rudolf died on July 15, 1291, in his
seventy-third year, and his body was interred at Spire with those of
former emperors. He was a remarkable man and a ruler well
worthy of the illustrious house which for so many generations has
continued in unbroken descent as rulers in Austria. His personal ap-
pearance was most unusual. Over six feet in height, he was tall
and slender, with a small head, pale face, and large aquiline nose.
His face when in repose was grave and serious, but in conversation
at once became animated, reflecting the enthusiasm and energy of
his thoughts and feelings. He dressed very simply, and his man-
THE FIRST HAPSBURGS 101
1291-1335
ners were pleasing and chivalrous. Of his reign his contemporary
tells us that in spite of great wars " his very name spread fear and
terror among the licentious barons, and joy among the people; as
the light sprung from darkness, so arose peace and tranquillity from
war and desolation. The peasant resumed the plow, which he had
neglected ; the merchant, whom the fear of plunder had confined to
his dwelling, now traversed the country with confidence and se-
curity; and robbers and banditti, who had roved fearlessly in the
face of day, now hid in coverts and wastes."
Rudolf's son and successor, Albert I., did not obtain the
imperial crown till 1298, and in Austria his reign was disturbed
by troubles with the town of Vienna and also with the archbishop
of Salzburg. He did succeed in getting the crown of Bohemia for
his son, but he was unable to retain it. Two centuries were to
elapse before the house of Hapsburg was to gain possession of the
kingdom of St. Vacslav. In 1308 Albert died at the hands of an
assassin in Switzerland. His son, Frederick the Handsome, vainly
tried to obtain the imperial crown; together with that of Bohemia
it passed to the house of Luxemburg. Out of this grew a long
war, which ended in the battle of Miihldorf and the defeat of Fred-
erick in 1322. Nevertheless Frederick concluded a treaty with his
rival which secured to them a joint jurisdiction. Frederick took
the title of king of the Romans, but he had hardly any of the power
attached to the name. He died in 1330. His two brothers, Albert
the Wise and Otto the Gay, threatened to renew the war with the
emperor, but a common danger from the king of Bohemia, who had
married his second son, Henry, to the celebrated Margaret Maul-
tasche, or Margaret of the pouch-mouth, daughter of the duke of
Tyrol and Carinthia, and who hoped by this union to regain the
duchies for Bohemia, again united the emperor and the Austrian
princes. By the Treaty of Hagenau, in 1330, it was arranged
that on the death of Duke Henry, who had no male heirs, Carin-
thia should become the property of Austria, and the Tyrol that of
the emperor. Henry died in 1335, whereupon the emperor, Louis
of Bavaria, declared that Margaret Maultasche had forfeited
all rights of inheritance, and proceeded to assign the two provinces
to the Austrian princes, with the exception of some portion of the
Tyrol, which devolved on the house of Wittelsbach. Carinthia
alone, however, obeyed the emperor; the Tyrolese nobles declared
for Margaret, and with the help of her father-in-law, John of Bo-
102 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1335-1358
hemia, she was able to keep possession of this part of her in-
heritance. Thus early did the Tyrolese display that loyalty for
which they afterward became so famous.
Carinthia also did not long remain in the undisputed posses-
sion of Austria. Margaret was soon divorced from her youthful
husband, and shortly after married the son of the Emperor Louis
of Bavaria, who hoped to be able to invest his son, not only with
the Tyrol, but also with Carinthia. During the whole of this time
Bohemia and Austria were in a perpetual state of oscillation and
unstable equilibrium. When, however, Charles IV. of Bohemia
was chosen emperor, he consented to leave Carinthia in the posses-
sion of Austria. Albert did homage for it, and rejoiced all the
more at the restoration of peace with the empire because just then
his unsuccessful struggle with Zurich and Glarus claimed all his
attention.
This prince not only increased the territories of Austria, but
his home policy was also extremely able, and his good government
earned for him the surname of the Wise. He gave Vienna a
new municipal code, also one to Klagenfurt, the capital of Carin-
thia, and put an end to trial by combat in the latter country. He
died in 1358, at the age of sixty-nine. " He was," says a contem-
porary, " a man beloved of God, honored in many lands, and a
generous father to many kings and princes."
According to the wish of their father, the four sons of Albert
reigned after him; but the eldest, Rudolf IV., exercised executive
authority in the name of the others. This prince was called by four
surnames — the Silent, the Magnificent, the Learned, and the
Founder. " Each one," says Krones, " characterized one of his
qualities. He always preserved the greatest secrecy about his plans.
He surrounded himself by a magnificent court, and loved high-
sounding titles, not from childish vanity, but because he knew how
much importance the world attaches to such things. He was in all
things the rival of his father-in-law, Charles IV., but more espe-
cially in that which concerned foundations in favor of the church,
and of science and art; he was learned in the knowledge of history,
a knowledge rare among his contemporaries. We are even told that
he had a secret method of writing, which was no doubt the art of
writing in cipher." He was only nineteen when he came to the
throne, but he had already married one of the daughters of the
Emperor Charles IV. Notwithstanding this family alliance,
THE FIRST HAPSBURGS 103
1358-1364
Charles had not given Austria such a place in the Golden Bull as
seemed likely to secure either her territorial importance or a proper
position for her princes. They had not been admitted into the elec-
toral college of the empire, and yet their scattered possessions
stretched from the banks of the Leitha to the Rhine ; three dukes of
Austria had filled the highest place in the empire, and yet they were
excluded from its council, and were thrown into the shade by their
old rival, the house of Luxemburg. These grievances were en-
hanced by their feeling of envy toward Bohemia, which had attained
great prosperity under Charles IV. It was at this time that in order
to increase the importance of his house, Rudolf or his officers of
state had recourse to a measure which was often employed in that
age by princes, religious bodies, and even by the Holy See. It was
pretended that there were in existence a whole series of charters
which had been granted to the house of Austria by various kings
and emperors, and which secured to their princes a position en-
tirely independent of both empire and emperor. According to these
documents, and more especially the one called the privilegium
majus, the duke of Austria owed no kind of service to the empire,
which was, however, bound to protect him; only in case of an ex-
pedition against Hungary was he bound to furnish troops, and then
only twelve knights; he was to appear at the diets with the title of
archduke, and was to have the first place among the electors; the
prince might dispose of the state as he wished without even con-
sulting the emperor; he need not go outside his dominions to seek
investiture, but was to receive it on his own land, and on horseback ;
no fief in his lands could be held by the emperor. All these privi-
leges were secured, not only to the dominions of Austria at that
time, but to all lands they might become possessed of in the future.
Rudolf pretended that these documents had just come to light, and
demanded their confirmation from Charles IV., who refused it.
Nevertheless, on the strength of these lying charters, he took the
title of palatine archduke, and used the royal insignia without wait-
ing to ask the leave of Charles.
Charles IV., who could not fail to be irritated by these pre-
tensions, in his turn revived the claims which he had inherited from
Premysl Otokar II., to the lands of Austria, Styria, Carinthia, and
Carniola. These claims, however, were simply theoretical, and no
attempt was made to enforce them, and the mediation of Louis the
Great, king of Hungary, finally led to a treaty, in 1364, between
104 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1358-1364
the two princes, which satisfied the ambition of the Hapsburgs.
By this treaty the houses of Hapsburg in Austria and of Luxem-
burg in Bohemia each guaranteed the inheritance of their lands to
the other, in case of the extinction of either of the two families, and
the estates of Bohemia and Austria ratified this agreement. A
similar compact was concluded between Austria and Hungary, and
thus the boundaries of the future Austrian state were for the first
time marked out.
Rudolf himself gained little by these long and intricate nego-
tiations, the Tyrol being all he added to his territory. Margaret
Maultasche had married her son Meinhard to the daughter of Al-
bert the Wise, at the same time declaring that, in default of male
heirs to her son, the Tyrol should once more become the possession
of Austria, and it did so in 1363. This was a most important event
to Austria. It united Austria with the old possessions of the Haps-
burgs in Switzerland and Germany, and opened the way into Italy.
Rudolf persuaded Margaret Maultasche to take up her residence in
Vienna, in order to secure himself against any possible caprice on
the part of that restless and dissolute princess. Her memory still
survives among the Tyrolese. A woman of insatiable lust and bold-
ness, she is one of the strange creatures of the Middle Ages, and
plays a conspicuous part in the national legends. The Tyrolese
peasant still believes that, on the nights following the fasts of the
four seasons, the phantom of the bose gret, the wicked and volup-
tuous princess, may be seen among the ruins of the old castle of
Neuhaus.
The reign of Rudolf IV., though so full of events, was but
short. He endeavored to rival his father-in-law, Charles IV., in
everything, and loved to say that in his own lands he would be
pope, emperor, bishop, and dean. His home government was as
able as his foreign policy. Though he had falsified charters, he
never falsified the coinage, a financial expedient which was but too
much in fashion in the Middle Ages. He imposed a tax on wine
and beer, and encouraged trade and manufactures. On April 7,
1356, he laid the foundations of the cathedral of St. Stephen at
Vienna, one of the noblest monuments of Gothic art in Europe.
Charles IV. had founded the University of Prague; Rudolf insti-
tuted the University of Vienna on the model of that of Paris, and
endowed it with large estates and numerous privileges. This uni-
versity was divided into four nations, the Austrian, Rhenish, Hun-
THE FIRST HAPSBURGS 105
1364-1404
garian, and Saxon, and from the first had teachers of renown, such
as the theologians Henry of Langenstein and Henry of Aoyta.
Rudolf died in 1365 at Milan, whither he had gone to marry
his young brother, Leopold, to the sister of Barnabo Visconti. He
had reigned for seven years — one of the shortest reigns of his dy-
nasty, but also one of the most important.
He left no children. His two brothers, Albert with the Plaited
Hair (d la tresse), and Leopold HI., called the Pious, succeeded
him. Their tempers were so different that they could not reign
together, and, breaking through all the traditions of their family,
they divided the hereditary estates in 1379. Albert kept Austria,
and left Styria, Carinthia, the Tyrol, and the old possessions of
the Hapsburgs in Suabia and Alsace to Leopold. The Emperor
Charles IV. was only too glad to ratify a division which could not
fail to weaken a formidable power. " We have long labored," he
said, " to humiliate the house of Austria, and, behold, now it hum-
bles itself!"
The reign of the first prince of the Albertine branch presents
no feature of importance. In that of his son, Albert IV., 1395-
1404, William, the eldest son of Leopold III., laid claim to the
administration of all the Hapsburg domains, notwithstanding the
agreement between their fathers, and after a long struggle a new
compact was entered into by the cousins by which Albert kept Aus-
tria and even Camiola, recognizing William as co-regent. Under
Albert IV. the sect of the Vaudois made considerable progress in
Austria, in spite of the strong measures he took against them. He
was a man of great piety, and liked to spend much of his time among
the monks of Marbach. Some of his contemporaries give him the
name of the Patient. In 1400 he undertook a dangerous pilgrim-
age to Palestine, the fame of which was much noised abroad, and
earned for him the fanciful title of Mirabilia Mundi. He took the
part of Vacslav IV., king of Bohemia, in his struggles against his
enemies, and in return for his help received from that prince a rati-
fication of the treaty of succession entered into by Bohemia and
Austria in the time of Rudolf. He was equally successful in his
dealings with Hungary, from whose king he obtained a similar
convention. He died in 1404 on an expedition against Moravia to
punish certain Moravian lords who had ravaged Austrian territory.
His son, Albert V., was only seven years old at the time of'his
father's death; during his minority the princes of the Leopoldine
106 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1404-1438
branch were his guardians. Their brutal government provoked
serious discontent in Austria, and the nobles proclaimed the prince
of age when he was only fourteen. Albert V. was a wise adminis-
trator. Moreover, his marriage with Elizabeth, daughter of the
Emperor Sigismund, king of Bohemia and Hungary, in 1422, se-
cured to him the possession of Moravia, which was the dowry of
that princess, and the probable succession to the thrones of both
those kingdoms. In 1437, after the pacification of Bohemia, Sigis-
mund assembled the estates of Bohemia and Hungary and proposed
Duke Albert as his successor, and he was accepted by the Hun-
garians and by the Catholics of Bohemia. On the death of his
father-in-law he was chosen emperor under the name of Albert
II., and thus, in 1438, united the three crowns which had been so
much coveted by his family. Thenceforth the dynasty of the Haps-
burgs was to keep uninterrupted the possession of the imperial
throne. The Albertine branch became extinct on the death of
Albert's son, Ladislas the Posthumous, duke of Austria, king of
Bohemia and of Hungary, in 1457.
Leopold the Pious (1365-1386) had obtained, in the division
of the Austrian dominions, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, and the
Tyrol, together with the old family possessions in Suabia and Al-
sace. He rounded his dominions by several acquisitions, only one
of whicli, the town of Triest, is of any importance to Austrian his-
tory. Weary of the double rule of the Venetian republic and the
patriarch of Aquileia, this town voluntarily sought the protection
of Leopold in 1382, only stipulating that he should confirm its
privileges and its municipal liberty. This acquisition was of
great importance to Austria, as it gave her access to the sea and
brought her nearer to northern Italy, where she interfered repeat-
edly in the struggles between the towns and the princes. Less for-
tunate in Switzerland, where the Forest Cantons rose against him,
Leopold lost both victory and life at the battle of Sempach in 1386.
This led to the overthrow of the Hapsburg claims to overlordship
and to the independence of the confederation.
The reigns of Leopold's immediate successors, William and
Leopold IV., have no interest for us. On the accession of Fred-
crick of the Empty Purse, in 141 1, the dominions of the Leopoldine
branch, after several divisions, were formed into two groups — one
including the Tyrol and the Voriande, those, namely, in south-
western Germany ; the other, Styria, Carinthia, and Carniola. Fred-
I
i
THE FIRST HAPSBURGS 107
1438-1440
erick settled himself at Innsbruck, and his brother Ernest, the Man
of Iron, at Gratz. Ernest married Cymburga, daughter of the
Polish duke of Mazovia. It is said to be from her that the Haps-
burgs have inherited the thick, protruding lip which is so character-
istic of the family. She was the mother of the Emperor Frederick
IV. and grandmother of Maximilian.
Frederick had to maintain a struggle against the nobles of
the Tyrol, who formed a strong league against him under the
leadership of the lord of Wolkenstein. He sought aid against them
among the citizens and peasants. He did his best to remain at peace
with the Swiss, but they managed to profit by his troubles. On
his way to the Council of Constance Pope John XXIII. had met
Frederick at Meran, and had then conferred on him the title of
gonfalonier of the church. In return for this honor Frederick
helped the Pope in his flight from Constance, and even offered him
an asylum in his dominions. For this he was placed under the
ban of the empire and excommunicated, and the Swiss, rising in re-
volt, destroyed the castle of Hapsburg. Frederick was obliged to
yield. He gave up John XXIII. to his enemies, and was forced to
surrender all his domains and to receive in return from the em-
peror, as an act of grace, just what he chose to restore to him.
" You know the power of the dukes of Austria," Sigismund is said
to have exclaimed. " Judge then from what you have seen what
an emperor can do." This saying may be coupled with that at-
tributed to Ernest, the Man of Iron : " God be with you, Haps-
burg," said the emperor to him in a contemptuous tone. " Thanks,
Luxemburg," replied the Man of Iron. That Frederick was not
deprived of the Tyrol was due to his brother Ernest, and yet he
had more than once to contend against Ernest, as the latter was
both ambitious and turbulent. On his death, in 1424, Frederick
became the guardian of his two sons, Frederick and Albert, who
were minors and who reigned together. Frederick of the Empty
Purse died in 1439. The citizens and peasants of the Tyrol, to
whom he had granted many privileges, still reverence his memoiy.
His son Sigismund (1439-1496) succeeded to his Austrian pos-
sessions, and his nephew, Frederick V., became emperor in 1440,
under the name of Frederick IV. (1440-1493). Under him all
the Hapsburg lands were again united.
Frederick V. was the father of Maximilian and the great-
grandfather of Charles V. and Ferdinand of Austria. It is well
108 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1440-1493
known to what a height of glory the house of Austria, ruler of
Europe and of the New World, attained under these princes. We
shall only notice here those facts in the reign of Frederick which
belong to the history of the hereditary states. He created Austria
an archduchy ; he obtained possession of the county of Cilly on the
death of its count, Ulric; and he gained the right of succession to
the territories of his house in Alsace and Suabia, as well as the
Tyrol, for his son, Maximilian, stipulating to pay in return an
annual sum to Sigismund, the son of Frederick of the Empty
Purse. Sigismund had assigned these lands to the house of Ba-
varia, but Frederick was able to interfere in time. Besides this,
he acquired the town of Fiume, which was one day to rival Triest
on the Adriatic. Himly says : " Possessed of no genius whatever,
but endowed with extraordinary tenacity of purpose, Frederick
knew how to wait, and also how to outlive all his neighbors and
all his enemies. It was thus he was able laboriously to unite the
whole of the territories of the house of Hapsburg, and to secure
to his own line the unbroken succession to the imperial crown."
In his reign we first meet with the famous monogram A. E. I. O. U.
It is to be found on his pottery, on the books of his library, and on
his tomb in the church of St. Stephen. It has been explained as
standing for the proud phrases, " Aquila Electa Juste Omnia Vin-
cit," and also, " Austriae Est Imperare Orhi Universo," " Allcs
Erdeich 1st Oesterreich Unterthan" (All the earth is subject to
Austria), and yet again, ''Alter EHren 1st Oesterreich Voll"
(Austria is full of all honor).
The reign of Frederick was, however, not free from trouble.
Sigismund of Tyrol and Albert VI. of Styria disputed with him
the possession of all or part of the Austrian domains. The citizens
of Vienna allied themselves with his enemies and besieged him in
his own castle, whence he was only freed by the help of the king of
Bohemia, and after he had undertaken to give up Austria to Albert
VI., in return for a yearly sum of four thousand ducats. He did
not keep his engagements, and the quarrel broke out again, where-
upon Frederick, as emperor, placed Vienna under the ban of the
empire, and the Pope issued an interdict against it. But notwith-
standing the aid of the Pontifical legate and of George Podiebrad.
this struggle went on till the death of Albert VI.. in 1463. The
insurrection in Vienna was led by a strange personage, the cattle-
merchant Holzer, who claimed to treat with the emperor as an
THE FIRST HAPSBURGS 109
1440-1493
equal power. Holzer was in the end betrayed, and died under
frightful tortures.
Later on Frederick saw his dominions ravaged by the Turks,
who invaded Carinthia and Camiola, and penetrated into southern
Styria, in 1472, 1473, ^^^ ^493- These new enemies proved, with-
out knowing it, the best allies possible for the house of Austria, as
it was mainly owing to the dread of their invasions that the Slavs
and Magyars eventually submitted to the common rule of an heredi-
tary monarchy.
PART II
BOHEMIA AND HUNGARY UNDER
ELECTIVE KINGS
1310-1526
Chapter X
BOHEMIA UNDER THE HOUSE OF LUXEMBURG
13101415.
THE dynasty of the Premyslides became extinct with the
assassination of Vacslav IH. at Olmiitz, and Bohemia has
never since been ruled by a really national dynasty. The
house of Austria at once took measures to profit by the situation.
Albert I., the emperor, treated Bohemia as a fief of the empire, or
even as a part of the family estates. He called upon the nobles
to elect his oldest son, Rudolf, and enforced his demands by arms,
so that the Bohemian nobility was compelled to elect Rudolf, in
1307, and even to guarantee the succession to his brothers in case
he died without issue. The emperor further conferred upon him
and his brothers an investiture which made an election useless and
set at naught the fundamental right of the nobles to dispose of the
crown. But a minority of them refused to recognize the new king.
He was obliged to employ force, and at the siege of Horazdovce
in 1307, he was killed. The estates refused to proclaim his brother
as his successor, but appealed to Henry, duke of Carinthia and
count of Tyrol, who had married Anna, the daughter of Vacslav
HI. The Emperor Albert again entered the kingdom, but he was
forced to withdraw after the unsuccessful siege of Kuttenberg.
Henry of Carinthia did not long remain in power. He proved
incapable, favored the Germans, and provoked revolts. The house
of Luxemburg had just attained to the imperial dignity in the per-
son of Henry of Luxemburg, and the nobles of Bohemia offered
the crown to his son, John, on condition that he would marry the
Princess Elizabeth, the last of King Vacslav's daughters. The
marriage was celebrated at Spire, in 13 10, and the emperor sent
the royal standard of Bohemia to John as a token of investiture.
The opposition of Henry of Carinthia was easily overcome, and
with the surrender of Prague the whole of the kingdom submitted
to John. The occupation of Bohemia by the house of Luxemburg
continued for 127 years, from 13 10 to 1437, and did much to bind
the country to Germany. During it the German element was al-
113
114
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1310-1348
ways favored and enabled to secure a dangerous preponderance in
the political life of the state.
King John remained all his life a stranger in the country of his
adoption. The national language he learned only against his will,
and looked upon Bohemia as a country to be exploited. With a
passion for gallantry and adventure, he was a knight-errant rather
than a king, and was attracted in turn by France and Germany,
according to his caprice. In spite of the fact that he was only four-
teen years old at his accession, he began his reign auspiciously. Mo-
ravia, which the house of Austria had detached from Bohemia,
and a part of Lusatia and the region about Gorlitz were annexed,
and the suzerainty of Bohemia over a large part of Silesia was
secured. Thus the kingdom was largely increased territorially, but
internally it was disturbed by the extravagance of the king, the dis-
putes in the royal household, and favoritism to the Germans.
Abroad John interfered in all that was going on ; it was regarded a
good thing to be counted one of his friends, for it was a common
saying of the time that nothing could succeed without the help of
God and the king of Bohemia.
The number of his expeditions is very great. He helped the
king of Bavaria in his struggle against the Hapsburgs, and took
Frederick, duke of Austria, prisoner at Miihldorf ; tried to secure
the Tyrol for his son; took up the cause of the Lombard cities
against Martin della Scala, entered Lombardy and subdued the
greater part of northern Italy. But this raised up enemies against
him on all sides. All the potentates of central Europe, the emperor,
Louis of Bavaria, the princes of Austria, and the kings of Hungary
and of Poland united against him.
Although often successful, all these wars and exploits were
worse than useless to Bohemia. The king wasted the revenues of
the crown, and mortgaged its estates : of all the royal castles that of
Prague alone was not mortgaged. The visits of the sovereign to
Bohemia were always attended by new taxes, new loans, and a
fresh debasement of the coinage. The royal authority fell into
discredit, and the authority of his lieutenants disappeared. They
were no longer obeyed, and the reign of force — faustrecht —
alone prevailed. The king, when not engaged in warfare, wasted
his time on tournaments, and most generally lived on his hereditary
domain of Luxemburg, or else at the court of Paris, where he
lavishly spent the money extorted from his subjects. During his
HOUSE OF LUXEMBURG 116
1310-1348
absence the country was administered by captains, who farmed the
crown revenues.
On the death, in 1330, of Queen Elizabeth, who never ac-
companied her husband, but hved in a solitude worse than widow-
hood, the hereditary prince, Charles, came to reside in Bohemia.
He had been raised at the court of France, where he had learned
economy and wise administrative methods. He did his utmost to
restore order in the finances, and succeeded so well that after 1333
his father appointed him as co-regent.
Soon after this war broke out over the succession in Carinthia,
in which King John opposed the emperor, and with Pope Clement
VI. was so far successful as to bring about the election by five of
the electors of his son Charles as emperor. But John did not long
survive this unexpected triumph. In an expedition against the
pagans of Lithuania, in 1337, he had lost one eye, and two years
later, through unskillful physicians, he lost the other also. But
his blindness in no way robbed him of his warlike ardor. On hear-
ing of the invasion of France by the English he hastened to offer
his sword to his relative, Philip of Valois, and was mortally
wounded at the battle of Crecy in 1346.
With the election of Charles IV., known in Bohemia as Charles
I., the center of gravity of the Holy Roman empire shifted to
central Europe, where it thenceforth remained, first in Bohemia and
later in Austria. German historians generally have been hostile in
their attitude toward Charles IV. ; those of Bohemia on the other
hand are enthusiastic in their praises of him and call him the father
of his country. His father had left behind him enormous tasks, and
to these he applied himself with great energy. He regulated the
revenues of the crown, freed the domains from mortgages, reor-
ganized justice, suppressed brigandage, divided the kingdom into
twelve circles, and revived industry and commerce. The opening
of his reign was marked by the founding of the University of
Prague, in 1348. According to the custom of the age it was di-
vided into four nations, Czechs, Poles, Bavarians, and Saxons.
Many Germans were through it attracted to Prague, where they
gradually secured a dominant influence, especially after the found-
ing of the University of Cracow, since the Polish nation was, from
that time on, represented at the University of Prague by the Ger-
mans of Silesia. Thus the Czechs were at a very early date out-
weighed by foreigners.
116 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1310-1348
Through its university Prague became the intellectual cen-
ter, not only of Bohemia, but also of Germany, Hungary, and
Poland. A patron of the liberal arts, Charles IV. embellished
Prague with monuments which are its pride even to-day. He
caused the cathedral of St. Vit to be rebuilt after the style of the
Gothic buildings in France, constructed the famous stone bridge at
Prague, perhaps the most beautiful in Europe, and built the royal
castle of Prague, with its gilded roofs, after the model of the old
Louvre, and the castle of Karlstein, near Beroun, to hold the
royal insignia and the crown of St. Vacslav. During his reign the
first school of painting known to the Middle Ages flourished in Bo-
hemia. A number of works of this school are still extant. Czech
literature flourished and produced many knightly romances, chron-
icles, satirical and elegiac poems, and even attempts at drama.
At the king's request the diet consented to the abolition of trial
by ordeal, the recognition of the right of the peasant to summon his
lord before a court of justice, and some other important reforms.
Important improvements were also made in the administration of
justice, the relations between vassals and their lords, the status
of the bourgeoisie of the towns. To these was often granted the
right of managing the internal affairs of the town independent of
the diet. The inhabitants of the Czech towns also were admitted
to privileges which had up to that time been granted only to
Germans.
He induced the diet to establish the principal of primogeniture,
which had been customary under the dynasty of the Premyslides, as
the law of succession in Bohemia, and thus fix the succession upon
the Luxemburg dynasty. Moravia, Silesia, Upper Lusatia, Bran-
denburg, acquired from Otto, and the county of Glatz were de-
clared, by the consent of their respective diets, integral and inalien-
able possessions of the crown of Bohemia. The see of Prague
was made an archbishopric, thus becoming independent of the for-
eign diocese of Mainz. At the same time a monastery was estab-
lished at Prague in which the Slavonic liturgy was regularly used.
It is well known how Charles IV. fixed the public law of
Germany by means of the Golden Bull in 1346. But even in that
famous act he did not neglect the interests of his kingdom of
Bohemia. The king of Bohemia figures as one of the seven elec-
tors, it is true, but the document states that Bohemia is in nowise
to be considered as a fief of the empire. Its king could be elected
HOUSE OF LUXEMBURG 117
1348-1378
only by the estates of the country, and not by the emperor. His
subjects are free from all foreign jurisdiction, and appeals to any
foreign authority are forbidden. Of interest is a special provision
ordering that the daughters and heirs of the king of Bohemia learn
Latin, Italian, and the Slav language along with German, their
mother tongue.
In 1366 Charles IV. concluded a treaty of inheritance with
the Hapsburgs, by which it was agreed that whichever house sur-
vived the other was to take possession of both Austria and Bo-
hemia. In order to secure Bohemia and the empire to his family,
he caused his oldest son, Vacslav, to be crowned king of Bohemia
as early as 1363, and in 1376 obtained his election as king of the
Romans. Before his death he divided his possessions among his
four sons, giving Bohemia, Silesia, the domains of Bavaria, Sax-
ony, and Germany to Vacslav, the eldest; and Brandenburg, Gor-
litz, and Moravia to the others. He died in 1378 on the eve of the
great religious movement which was destined to distract Bohemia
for many years.
The glory of the reign of Charles IV. shines the more brightly
because the reigns of his predecessor and his successor were unfor-
tunate. His father was a royal adventurer, and his son, Vacslav
IV., was a sluggard and a drunkard. The latter was not devoid of
all good qualities, however, and his accession gave rise to great
hopes in Bohemia. Unfortunately he was of too vacillating a char-
acter to rule well during a critical period, when the old institutions
were crumbling and the thoughts of men were in a state of fermen-
tation. His reign coincides with two great events of religious
history — the great schism in the church and the reform movement
of John Huss.
At the time of his accession Vacslav was only seventeen years
old, and very far from being the monster he is represented in
legend. His education had been sadly neglected, and besides his
love for strong drink he had a passion for the chase and for dogs.
He was tactless in his treatment of the nobles and clergy, and
often bestowed offices upon simple citizens, and even servants of
his household and stables. Abroad Bohemia might well have
played an important part during his reign because of her family
alliances. Vacslav's brother, Sigismund, was elected king of Hun-
gary in 1387; his sister Anne married Richard II. of England, and
he himself was in friendly alliance with the court of France. But
118 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1378-1400
the first years of the reign were unfortunate. Vacslav aroused the
clergy by his violence toward the foremost of the ecclesiastics, nota-
bly toward the archbishop of Prague, from whom he demanded
one of his castles. John of Pomuk, whose only crime was that he
had opposed the royal will in an ecclesiastical matter, he caused to
be tortured and thrown into the Moldau, an incident which gave
rise to a famous legend in the seventeenth century, when Bohemia
had been crushed and the Catholic faith restored. According to it
this John Pomuk — St. John Nepomucen — was martyred for re-
fusing to betray the secrets of the confessional, and an unsuccessful
attempt was made to substitute his name for that of John Huss
among the people.
Many of the nobles, angered by his violent conduct, and by
the great influence Vacslav allowed the foreign favorites, rose
against him. They claimed to unite for the purpose of restoring the
constitution of the land, which was being violated by the king and
his favorites, but in reality it was to secure the maintenance and
augmentation of the privileges of their order. They had secured
the alliance of the king of Hungary and of the Margrave Jost of
Moravia, and when Vacslav resisted their demands he was made
prisoner and forced to sign what amounted to an act of abdication.
But John of Gorlitz, the king's brother, supported by the lesser
nobles and the inhabitants of the towns, came to his aid. The con-
spirators were forced to fly into Austria with their royal captive,
where they kept him till the following year. In the interval Jost
was really regent, and the king of Hungary interfered constantly
in the affairs of the kingdom. Vacslav returned in 1396, drove
out Jost, and resumed the government. In 1398 he went to France,
where he had an interview at Rheims with Charles VI. in regard
to the great schism which then divided Rome and Avignon. On his
return to Germany he found that the electors had been aroused
against him by Pope Benedict IX. In 1400 Rupert, the elector-
palatine, was chosen emperor by the three ecclesiastical electors,
and he at once declared war on the king of Bohemia. German
troops penetrated Bohemia to the gates of Prague. But the -city
made a stout resistance and saved Bohemia for the king. As a
matter of fact he retained only the title of king. Incapable of gov-
erning, he was obliged to seek the aid of his brother, Sigismund,
king of Hungary. By him he was kept a prisoner in the palace at
Prague with the margrave of Moravia, Procopius. Later Sigis-
HOUSE OF LUXEMBURG 119
1400-1402
mund carried both to Vienna, where he confided them to the keep-
ing of the house of Austria. But Vacslav escaped and, through
the aid of that portion of the Bohemians who had refused to obey
a foreign king, again entered Prague in 1402.
These family feuds and the indignities suffered by the crowned
heads must have singularly diminished the respect for authority
among the people. At the same time the scandal to the whole of
Christendom over the existence of two Popes, one at Rome, the
other at Avignon, seriously undermined all religious authority.
Corruption had sprung up among sacerdotal orders. " Among the
priests," says Andrew de Cesky Brod, a contemporary, " there is
no discipline ; among the bishops, open simony ; among the monks,
countless disorders, and among laymen, there is no abuse which has
not been the habit of the clergy." Besides the Czech nation was
becoming indignant at the constantly increasing preponderance the
Germans were assuming in the kingdom. The peasants began to
find the yoke of serfdom too heavy, especially when imposed by
foreign masters. Respect for the crown was gone, and revolution
became inevitable. It came in the world of religious ideas and
teaching, and its exponent was John Huss.
The religious movement to which the name of Huss has be-
come attached had been prepared even during the reign of Charles
IV., by the eminent preachers, Conrad Waldhauser and Milic of
Moravia. Both had preached the reform of manners and of the
church, Conrad had attacked the monks and the practices of
the age. Among other things he said : " Give to the poor and not
to the monks. They are well off, big and fat, and have more than
they need." Milic attacked the Pope himself and his cardinals.
Both were accused of heresy. Milic had to go to Avignon to de-
fend himself, and died there in 1374. One of his pupils, Mathias
of Janov, the theologian, also endeavored to bring back the clergy
to a sense of their duty. He denied miracles and preached the cor-
ruption of the church. The Pope and bishops he accused of having
perverted the traditions of the early church in order to advance
their temporal interests. The austere morality of these preachers
is found even in the writings of laymen of the period. Numerous
fragments of the Bible had been translated into the Czech, and
people were beginning to question authority in religious matters.
On the other hand a development of the national literature
aroused in men's minds a desire to be free from the supremacy
120 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1402-1408
which the Germans had usurped throughout the country. The
towns had been invaded by them, and, both in the schools and in
the churches, their language prevailed over that of the native
population, even ecclesiastical positions being not infrequently in-
trusted to Germans who had no knowledge of the ^eech of their
flocks. The greatness of Huss lies in the fact that he embodied in
himself and in his teachings both the moral and national tendencies
of his time. As a priest he preached the reform of the church and
brought the Divine Word home to the people in their own language ;
as a patriot he strove to free the Bohemian nation from the intellec-
tual oppression of the German minority. Till the time of Luther no
other reformer exercised so powerful an influence over a nation.
John Huss was born in 1369 at Husinec, in the south of Bo-
hemia. He studied at the University of Prague, attained the de-
grees of Master of Arts and Bachelor of Theology, and held a pro-
fessorship at the university. As a student of theology he made a
deep study of the writings of Wiclif, which had found their way into
Bohemia through the intercourse with England brought about by
the marriage of the Bohemian princess with Richard H. That he
was greatly influenced by Wiclif is easily seen, and he was soon
to find himself in violent opposition to the upper clergy. In 1402
he was made dean, and preacher at the Bethlehem chapel, which had
been founded by patriotic gifts and where the sermons were in the
native language. Crowds flocked to hear him and his sermons
on the abuses of the church found a sympathetic echo in the hearts
of his hearers.
Unable to refute the charges made by Huss, his adversaries
accused him of the Wiclifite heresies. In 1403, at the request of
the chapter of Prague, forty-five propositions taken from the works
of Wiclif were condemned by the University of Prague. Huss
and his followers would not agree to the decision, maintaining that
the errors attributed to Wiclif did not exist in his writings, but
were falsely read into them. At their suggestion the Bohemian
nation of the University of Prague held a meeting in 1408, at
which they discussed the forty-five articles, and, notwithstanding
the previous decision of the four nations, declared that the con-
demned articles need not be interpreted in an heretical sense. This
declaration was considered by the Archbishop Zbynek as a formal
act of disobedience. He ordered a new examination of all known
copies of Wiclif's works, and a short time after he had a large
HOUSE OF LUXEMBURG 1«1
1408- M09
number burned. About the same time charges were brought before
the archbishop against Huss because of the violence of his
preaching.
In the meantime a general council assembled at Pisa to put an
end to the great schism in the Holy See. The cardinals most active
in bringing about the council planned not only to restore the unity
of the church, but also to introduce reforms " as to its head and
members." King Vacslav, in obedience to the decision of the coun-
cil, called upon the clergy of his kingdom to render obedience to
the Pope at Rome, Gregory XH. But the Archbishop Zbynek,
together with the higher clergy, refused to obey. Vacslav con-
sulted the university on this grave question. It divided, only the
Bohemian nation, in which Huss and his friends were in the major-
ity, declaring in favor of the king and the cardinals. Thus the
archheretic Huss took his stand on the side of the Roman church,
while its representative, the archbishop, declared against it. His
opposition to the higher clergy in this matter had the effect also of
strengthening his cause at court, for Vacslav had never been on
good terms with the higher clergy of his realm, and most of his
favorites, from motives of self-interest, looked with favor on the
proposed reforms. For the reformers declared that it would be
necessary to deprive the church of the greater part of its possessions
in order to bring the clergy back to the purity of primitive times.
But these possessions once secularized, the king could divide them
among his favorites.
Huss seized this favorable moment to procure for the Czech
nationality the place which belonged to it by right in the university.
He represented to the king the injustice of granting to foreigners
an overwhelming preponderance over the natives — a preponderance
that manifested itself, not only in decisions on matters of doctrine,
but also in the distribution of offices and appointments. " The
Czechs," said he, " ought to be first in the kingdom of Bohemia,
as Frenchmen are in France and Germans in Germany. The laws
of the land, the divine will, and natural instinct demand that they
should hold the first offices." In conformity with these ideas the
king decreed that henceforth, in all deliberations and elections in
the university, the Bohemian nation should have three votes and
the foreigners only one. As a result the German professors and
students left Prague in a body in 1409, and proceeded to found
the University of Leipsic.
list AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1409-1412
This energetic measure on the part of the king made obedience
to the decrees of the Council of Pisa easier, and the council, out of
gratitude, recognized Vacslav as king of the Romans. But this
proved an illusory compliment, for the electors paid no regard to
it, and, in 1410, elected Sigismund of Hungary. At the same time,
Archbishop Zbynek, by no means crushed by the triumph of Huss,
who was now rector of the university, placed the reformer and the
city of Prague under an interdict. Huss appealed to the Holy See,
and the Pope suspended the interdict in order to give him time
to vindicate himself. Zbynek, fearing the anger of Vacslav, fled
to Hungary and died on the way.
The Council of Pisa, in order to end the schism, had set aside
both the Pope at Rome and the Pope at Avignon, and chosen a new
Pontiff, Alexander V. Thus for a time there were three Popes.
Alexander V. was to be the restorer of the church, but he lived only
a short time, and his successor, John XXHL, possessed none of
the qualities and virtues of a reforming Pope. Huss, on the other
hand, continued preaching with more ardor than ever, and despair-
ing of reforming the whole church, he directed all his efforts toward
the church of Bohemia. Notwithstanding the prohibition, both by
the bishop and by the Pope, against preaching in the Bethlehem
chapel, Huss continued to do so, and developing the teachings of
Wiclif, he denied the authority commonly attributed to the Pope
as head of the visible church. The papacy, moreover, just at this
time, furnished him with weapons against itself. In 141 2 John
XXIIL, attacked by the king of Naples, who had espoused the
cause of his deposed predecessor, Gregory XII., ordered a crusade
to be preached for the defense of the Holy See. Full indulgence
was promised to all believers who aided with prayers or arms or
money. Huss and his followers denounced this as traffic in
spiritual favors, both in public disputations and in their preaching.
The excited populace gave itself over to excesses against the upper
clergy, and the preachers of indulgences were interrupted in the
churches by questions from their auditors. Three of the disturbers
were seized and beheaded by the councilors of the old town, but the
people, far from being intimidated by this severe measure, secured
the bodies and interred them, as those of martyrs, in the Bethlehem
chapel. The Pope then pronounced an anathema against Huss,
and placed every town in which he might live under the interdict.
The frightened king besought Huss to leave Prague. Welcomed
HOUSE OF LUXEMBURG 123
1412-1415
in the castles of the national nobility, the master found a docile
and enthusiastic audience among the country people. From his
seclusion he published controversial works, which were read with
all the more avidity, not merely because Huss was a true reformer
and a defender of the national cause, but also because in his native
tongue Huss was a writer of much clearness and force. King
Vacslav saw with dismay the spread of the new doctrines in his
kingdom, which the Holy See now designated as a hotbed of
heresy. He did his utmost to quiet Huss and to reconcile him with
Albic, the new archbishop of Prague.
But in the meantime the sale of indulgences had not procured
the wished-for assistance for the Pope. Driven from Rome by the
king of Naples, he was forced to fly to Bologna, and in this extrem-
ity he took refuge in the idea of a general council, which should
come to the aid of the ills of the church and the misfortunes of the
Holy See. In an interview at Lodi with the Emperor Sigismund
it was decided to call a general council to meet at Constance.
Vacslav believed that he saw in the council the only means of put-
ting an end to the religious disturbances of Bohemia, which so seri-
ously embarrassed his vacillating mind. The emperor asked Huss
to appear at Constance, under an imperial safe-conduct, in order to
defend his teaching. The master — so Huss was called by his coun-
trymen— was not the man to recoil before this injunction; he be-
lieved himself sufficiently sure of the truth to convince his adver-
saries, and his enthusiasm made him ready to defend it to the death.
He went to Constance accompanied by an escort of Bohemian
knights granted him by King Vacslav; he expected to enter the
lists with the chance to fight with equal weapons, and relied im-
plicitly on the emperor's promise of safe-conduct. But the council
paid no heed to it, regarding it rather as an illegal encroachment
of the temporal upon the spiritual power.
Shortly after his arrival Huss was thrown into prison to be
judged as a heretic and disturber of church discipline, and the
Emperor Sigismund made only a feeble protest. The trial was
at first conducted in secret, though later Huss was admitted to
defend himself before the council. Many of the accusations against
him were false. But in his defense Huss, while not breaking
openly with Catholicism, nevertheless defended doctrines which in-
volved the rejection of the Papal authority and placed that of the
Scriptures above that of the church. Beyond this the council re-
1«4 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1412-1415
fused to hear him, and called on him to make a full recantation.
This he would not do, and in the session of July 6, 141 5,
he was declared a heretic and delivered over to the secular author-
ity. By it he was condemned to be burned alive and his ashes to
be cast in the Rhine. He walked to the stake with heroic courage
and died the martyr's death. One year later the council also caused
Jerome of Prague, one of Huss's most faithful adherents, whose
fiery eloquence had spread the master's doctrines even in Poland
and Lithuania, to be burned.
Huss is frequently known to foreigners only as a famous
heretic, admired by some, hated by others, according to the particu-
lar religious opinions they hold. Slavic peoples, especially Bo-
hemians, honor him as a writer of genius, a purifier of their lan-
guage, and an intrepid champion of their nationality. Huss has
much in common with Luther ; what the latter did for the German
language the former did a century earlier for the Bohemian. Not
satisfied with making his works models of excellent style, he en-
deavored to fix the national orthography, took great pains to adapt
the Latin alphabet to the soft and sibilant sounds of the Slav
tongue, and banished Germanisms from the language as he had
banished Germans from the university. " For," he writes, " as
Nehemiah chastised the Jewish children for speaking the jargon
of Ashdod and being ignorant of Hebrew, so ought all men of
Prague be chastised, and all other Czechs whose language is half
German, half Czech. We hear them, but we verily do not under-
stand them." His religious and controversial works, as well as his
letters written from Constance, are considered models of style to
the present day. As a poet, he wrote a number of hymns and him-
self set them to music, introducing, so the critics say, some excel-
lent innovations in religious music.
But that which most impressed his compatriots was not the
genius of the master, but rather the purity of his life, the sweetness
of his character, and the heroism of his martyrdom. The council
desired to efface all trace of him from the earth. They burned his
clothing and scattered his ashes on the Rhine. They believed they
had driven out the spirit of reform and subdued Bohemia. But at
the fires of the stake at which Huss perished a conflagration was
lit which desolated both Bohemia and Germany and was only
extinguished in the blood of countless victims.
M OS S
- ^ ^
Chapter XI
BOHEMIA AND THE HUSSITE WARS
1415-1437
THE absence of John Huss did not calm the reHgious ex-
citement in Bohemia. His disciples pushed his doctrines
to extremes which their master had not foreseen. Huss
had refused obedience to the visible church and proclaimed the
right of appeal to the Holy Scriptures only when the church ap-
peared to him in contradiction with the Divine Word. He was not
one of those who sought to remake the dogmas and rites according
to their own fancy. But the religious imagination of the Middle
Ages when once thoroughly aroused would not stop halfway. Dog-
mas without practical consequences and without moral application,
born in the brain of some dreamer, would suffice to excite the
passion of the masses whose deepest interest in life was their re-
ligion. One of the disciples of John Huss, Jakoubek Steibrsky,
or De Stribro, began to teach that communion ought to be given to
the people as well as to the priest in both forms, and not in bread
only. This teaching was enthusiastically received in all the parishes
where Huss had adherents. The cup became the symbol of his
disciples, and was to be found on the church steeples and in all
public buildings. An epigram of the time says :
Tot pingit calices Boemorum turba per urhes,
Ut credos Bacchi numina sola coli.
The Council of Constance hastened to condemn the innova-
tions of the Utraquists, or Cahxtins, as they were called. But the
sentence against Huss by this same body was not likely to inspire
obedience to the decree against his disciples. The news of the mar-
tyrdom of the master, as told by his faithful friend, Peter of Mla-
denovic, aroused the most violent anger in Prague. The ex-
cited masses attacked the orthodox priests, whom they accused of
complicity in the judicial murder of Huss; some were robbed,
others driven from their homes, and a few murdered. An earth-
quake and an eclipse of the sun which occurred in 141 5 were
196
It6 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1415-1417
regarded by the people as a proof of the interest of Heaven in the
innocent martyr. In the rural districts the lords and knights who
were patrons of livings drove out the priests whom they disliked
and replaced them with others, regardless of the authority of
bishops or archbishops, though not always from religious zeal
alone; many lords despoiled the clergy simply in order to secure
the benefices for themselves.
In a large assembly held at Prague, at which 452 lords and
knights of Bohemia and Moravia were present, a letter, declaring
the execution of Huss to be an affront to the whole Bohemian
nobility, was drawn up and addressed to the Council of Constance.
They also organized a league which refused obedience to foreign
priests, and recognized only the bishops of the national church,
provided always that their doctrines conformed to the Scriptures.
They even made reservations concerning their obedience to the
Pope which the council was about to elect, announcing that they
would accept none but the council of professors of the university
as authority in matters of faith. A strong minority of the nation,
however, composed largely of Grermans, whether from conviction
or interest, remained faithful to the traditions of the Roman Cath-
olic Church. The rivalry between the two races was, therefore,
further intensified by religious differences.
The council took energetic measures. Stribro and the signers
of the protest were cited to appear before it, and the University
of Prague, the center of heresy, was ordered to be closed and de-
prived of all the privileges conferred upon it by the Pope. Vac-
slav. Queen Sophia, and the new archbishop of Prague, Conrad,
were warned of ecclesiastical penalties unless they openly dis-
avowed the new heresies. But slight attention was given to the
warnings. The report of the death of Jerome of Prague raised the
public excitement and anger to its height. The university, far from
submitting to the orders of the council, erected itself into a court
with jurisdiction in matters of doctrine. Communion in both kinds
was declared indispensable to salvation, and Huss was proclaimed
a saint and martyr.
But it was not long before dissension, that plague of all in-
dependent sects, made its appearance among the Hussites them-
selves. The masters at the university had declared that nothing
should be allowed that would be contrary to the Scriptures. But
the Scriptures are not always clear. Thus it came about that sec-
THE HUSSITE WARS 127
1417-1419
tarians arose who rejected all the sacraments except baptism and
the Lord's Supper, denying the authority for the mass, worship of
the saints, the doctrine of purgatory, fasts, and the ecclesiastical
hierarchy.
The new doctrines spread most widely in the rural districts.
The little town of Ousti, not far from the site of the later town of
Tabor, became the center for the new religionists. When the
University of Prague declared its independence of the council it
did not intend to separate from the church permanently. It now
assumed the role of an orthodox body toward the innovators of
Ousti, who had set up a new confession, and pronounced them
heretics. But these refused to obey its decisions. Hussism became
unfaithful to its principles, for instead of directing its efforts to
bringing about the reform of the church, its followers lost them-
selves in the boundless wastes of theories and dogma. Even in the
first period of its enthusiasm constant disputes and quarrels over
points of doctrine and dogma occurred among the Hussites them-
selves.
The Council of Constance broke up in 141 8 without having
succeeded in reestablishing the authority of the church in Bohemia.
Nor was Pope Martin V., who fell heir to this difficult task, more
successful. King Vacslav, at his request, tried to reinstate the
priests who had been driven from their parishes, but the people rose
against the restored pastors. Rather than enter the churches of the
intruders, the peasants, under the guidance of their pastor, would
assemble in the open country, usually in the mountains. To these
they gave Biblical names, as, for example, Mt. Tabor, near Ousti,
on the Elbe. This mountain became the home of the most ardent
preachers of the new sect. A new confession of faith was drawn
up which aimed at the restoration of primitive Christianity, and
maintained the principle of community of goods. Its adherents
called each other brother and sister, rejected priestly garb and
ritualistic forms of worship, and worshiped in the popular language.
These communities who thus separated themselves from the gen-
eral faith and from the ordinary habits of life awaited only daring
leaders to resist not only the church, but also the secular power
if it tried to disperse them. These soon appeared in the persons
of Nicholas Huss, at Tabor, and the old chevalier, John Zizka of
Trocnov, at Prague. The latter had acquired a knowledge of mili-
tary matters and a hatred of the Germans while fighting with the
128 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
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Poles against the Teutonic order. Intense religious zeal made of
them and their followers, though untrained, the most terrible war-
riors known to Europe in the Middle Ages.
The struggle began at Prague. In renewing the municipal
council of Prague, Vacslav appointed a number of knights hostile
to the Hussites. This aroused the people, and led by the priest,
John of Zeliv, and Zizka, they invaded the city hall, seized the
newly appointed councilors, and hurled them through the windows
upon the pikes and lances below. The king, amazed at this popular
violence, yielded and appointed magistrates favorable to the people.
But he died shortly afterward. King of Bohemia at the age of three,
king of the Romans at fifteen, and successor to his father at seven-
teen, Vacslav had, from the day of his majority, enjoyed all human
advantages. But he was not equal to the burdens. Kept a prisoner
by his nobles and his brother Sigismund, vacillating between the
Holy See and the Hussites, he continued throughout the plaything
of his passions, of men and of circumstances, without ever being
able to dominate them. His reign marks the beginning of the politi-
cal decadence of Bohemia. But the Czech nation had arrived at a
point in its history when peoples are of greater importance than
monarchsj and notwithstanding the excesses inseparable from an
age still half-barbarous, we shall see Bohemia accomplishing great
things and handing down to posterity a glorious heritage.
The death of Vacslav unchained all the passions which respect
for royalty had until then held in check. Churches and monasteries
were given over to pillage. Catholic priests driven out and replaced
by Hussites. The archbishop and the chapter of the cathedral fled,
and many of the rich middle class, especially the Germans, followed
their example. Because of the dispositions made by Charles IV.,
the successor of Vacslav was the Emperor Sigismund, who had
so perfidiously betrayed his promise of safe-conduct to Huss. The
estates of Bohemia sent ambassadors to him asking him to come
to Prague. They demanded the right to communion in both kinds,
which, if he acquiesced, meant that he would be obliged, at the
very outset of his reign, to place himself in opposition to the council
and the Pope. The king gave an evasive answer, and charged the
queen-dowager Sophia to carry on the government in Bohemia till
his arrival. The regent attempted to disperse a number of meet-
ings and received the support of the nobility, who were beginning
to take umbrage at these popular gatherings held under the pretext
THE HUSSITE WARS 129
1419-1420
of religion. But Zizka and Nicholas Huss stirred up the people of
Prague; they attempted to take the royal castle by assault, burned
a part of the city, and forced the regent to permit the popular gath-
erings, and communion in both kinds. At the news of these ex-
cesses Sigismund promptly decided to come to Prague himself.
After receiving the homage of the estates of Silesia and Moravia,
he called on the Pope to preach a crusade against Hussites, and
prepared to enter Bohemia.
These developments greatly encouraged the Catholics and
Germans in Bohemia. The Germans of Kuttenberg began to per-
secute all the heterodox of the place, seized four hundred and threw
them into the mines. A cry of horror arose throughout the entire
kingdom. Zizka hastened to Mt. Tabor, organized the brothers
gathered on that mountain for military purposes, and made out of
the place a fortified town which became the strongest citadel of the
Hussites. . The improvised army on Mt. Tabor needed special
tactics and new weapons; it could not drag about with it the
equipment of the knights of the Middle Ages. The flail weighted
with iron, the heavy hammer of the blacksmith, were their arms,
and clumsy wagons furnished a cover to the combatants and a
refuge for the wounded, while an inflexible discipline secured unity
of action. Even the Utraquists of Prague, when they saw the
emperor take the cross at Breslau, prepared to defend their faith.
Cenek of Wartenburg, the burggrave of Prague, issued a proclama-
tion to the Bohemian nation urging them to arm against the
common enemy.
In the spring of 1420 Sigismund, at the head of an army, in-
vaded Bohemia by way of Kralove-Hradec and Kuttenberg, and
pushed on to the outskirts of Prague itself, where he had himself
crowned. He then laid siege to the city, but John Zizka, at the
head of the Taborites, marched upon Prague to relieve the city.
He occupied Mt. Vitkov, near Prague, which has ever since borne
his name, Zizkaberg, repulsed all the assaults of the crusading
imperial army, numbering nearly one hundred thousand, and
ultimately forced it to raise the siege.
But the emperor's position in Bohemia was still very for-
midable. He held nearly all the royal cities and towns, and even
had possession of the royal castle of Vysehrad, which commands
Prague on the right bank of the Moldau. His army was made up
of Bohemian Catholics and even some of the Utraquist nobility.
180 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1420
But his treasure was exhausted, and in order to meet the expenses of
the war he was forced to pledge a part of the property of the
clergy. In the meantime the people of Prague in their turn as-
sumed the aggressive and besieged the castle of Vysehrad. Sigis-
mund tried in vain to relieve it. He was beaten back and forced
to abandon it. Shortly afterward conditions in Hungary de-
manded the emperor's presence, and he had to leave Bohemia, after
having organized a provisional government.
The withdrawal of the king greatly increased the courage of
the insurgents, who felt that they had the secret sympathy of the
majority of the nation. The commune of Prague issued a decree
of banishment and confiscation against all those who had joined the
king or who refused to recognize communion in both kinds. A
portion of the property of the Catholic clergy was also confiscated.
In this way the preponderance of the German element in Prague
was weakened, and those that remained were converted to the doc-
trines of the Hussites. The people of Prague, in league with Zizka
and the Taborites, now undertook to reconquer the country, and
after several months all of the cities except Pilsen and Budweis
were occupied, though some of them not till after an energetic re-
sistance. The castle of Prague itself finally succumbed. The Ger-
mans generally left the cities after they were reconquered by the
Czechs, and have never since regained the preponderance then lost.
Many churches, monasteries, and religious buildings were de-
stroyed or damaged during the struggle. The Taborites showed
no mercy, but radical measures were necessary. The Utraquist
nobility, astounded by these triumphs, ended by abandoning the
party of the king and ranging themselves on the side of the people.
The archbishop of Prague himself made terms with them, conse-
crated their priests, and placed a part of the ecclesiastical benefices
at their disposal.
The Hussites had triumphed. They met at Prague to adopt
their creed and settle upon a constitution for the kingdom. This
creed had been formulated by the masters of the University of
Prague, and had always appeared at the head of the proclamations
of Zizka. It contained four articles: demanding communion in
both kinds, free preaching of the Divine Word, the secularization
of church property, and the punishment by temporal penalties of
mortal sins and offenses against the church, whether committed by
laymen or ecclesiastics. A solemn embassy was sent to Vladislav
THE HUSSITE WARS ISl
1420-1421
of Poland to offer him the crown, and while waiting his acceptance
the country was to be governed by a committee of twenty persons,
consisting one-half of representatives from the estates, the other
of representatives of the cities and the Taborites. These measures
were completed by the acts of a synod which met at Prague under
the direction of the university, and which occupied itself particu-
larly with the reform of ecclesiastical discipline. It imposed four
councilors upon the Archbishop Conrad, who with him were in-
trusted to maintain this discipline.
But the Czechs were still far from being united. The Tabor-
ites expected to have their own church and had already chosen a
bishop (1420) to consecrate their priests, thus separating them-
selves from the Bohemian church. The Pope, moreover, had in-
terdicted the archbishop of Prague and declared his diocese vacant.
The Czech nobility counted on the support of Vladislav of Poland,
because a part of the Polish nobility also had adhered to the Hussite
doctrines, while an accession of territory to Poland at this time
would have been very advantageous because of the king's dispute
with Sigismund over Galicia. But the Polish clergy feared that the
personal union of Bohemia and Poland would hasten still more the
progress of Hussite heresies in the kingdom. The representations
of Martin V. led the king to decline the proffered crown. The
Czechs then offered it to Prince Vitold, grand duke of Lithuania.
They realized how disastrous to their interests the German dynas-
ties had been, and sought to bring about a closer union with their
Slav kinsmen.
The danger was great, for Sigismund, together with the Ger-
man princes, was preparing a new crusade against them. But the
Germans entered Bohemia before Sigismund was ready to co-
operate with them. Their army numbered 200,000 and counted
five electors among its leaders. They laid siege to the town of
Saatz, which made a vigorous defense. The crusaders revenged
themselves by ravaging the country and massacring the peasants;
all who could not speak German were put to death. Zizka hastened
to the relief at the head of his Taborites and the men of Prague.
The intrepid leader had been blind in one eye for many years, and
had lately lost the remaining eye at the siege of the Chateau of
Rabi. But his blindness did not lessen his military skill. His very
name carried terror with it. The Germans raised the siege and
retired. Sigismund, detained by the Turks on the Danube, finally
188 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1421-1422
arrived with an army of 80,000, under the command of the famous
condottiere, Pipa the Florentine. Against this force Moravia made
no resistance; less fortified by nature than Bohemia, it has also a
less warlike and stubborn race. The nobility swore obedience to
the king-, and renounced communion in both kinds. Their ex-
ample was followed by some of the Utraquist nobility in Bohemia,
and Sigismund pushed forward as far as Kuttenberg, which he
seized. But Zizka attacked him unexpectedly, and after driving
his army back to the Ford of the Germans, inflicted on him a crush-
ing defeat on the banks of the Sazava, in 1422.
This victory freed Bohemia from the German invasions, and
the Czechs were for a number of years comparative masters in their
own country. But unfortunately harmony was far removed from
their own ranks. Differences over questions of dogma divided the
men of Prague from the Taborites, while the Taborites themselves
split into various sects. The strangest theories arose among them.
Some preached community of goods and of marriage; others (the
Adamites) a return to nature, to primitive nudity and unbridled
bestiality. Zizka was obliged to denounce these refractory dis-
ciples and burned alive those who fell into his hands. At Prague
the Taborites had recruited numerous adherents and, under their
leader, the monk John of Zeliv, whose eloquence swayed the masses,
threatened to take possession of the city. For two years he was
the real sovereign in Prague, till some of the wealthy bourgeoisie
got him into their power by stratagem and brought about his
execution. But a riot broke out as a result, and the conservative
Utraquists were expelled from the council and replaced by the fol-
lowers of the new martyr. But in spite of all these disorders the
grand duke of Lithuania decided to accept the crown of Bohemia,
and chose for his provisional lieutenant the nephew of the king of
Poland, Prince Sigismund Korybutovicz. He assembled an army
at Cracow and entered Bohemia by way of Silesia and Moravia,
without meeting any resistance. With this people, so divided and
so jealous of their freedom, the authority of a freely elected king
still preserved all its prestige. The regent put an end to the dis-
orders in Prague and in other royal cities, and restored the ad-
ministration of these towns to the lords and knights. Unfortunately
for Bohemia he did not long fill the role of peacemaker. In con-
sequence of a treaty made between the kings of Hungary and of
Poland, Prince Vitold renounced the crown of Bohemia, in 1422,
THE HUSSITE WARS 183
1422-1425
and recalled his wise lieutenant. The Utraquist nobility united
with the Catholics to place Bohemia again under Sigismund. But
Zizka undertook a vigorous campaign, which, as always, ended in
the triumph of the Taborites. Sigismund Korybutovicz returned
to mediate between the two parties, this time on his own account,
and against the wishes of his uncle. His popularity was so great
that the two parties agreed to recognize him again as regent.
Soon after these events Zizka died. The few documents by
his hand which remain prove his sincere faith, deep religious feel-
ing, and ardent patriotism. In one of his manifestoes he declares
that he takes up arms for the defense of Czech and Slav nationality.
The death of Zizka was a serious loss to his party. His cour-
age had enabled the Taborites to resist their enemies within the
kingdom. His authority had kept them as far as possible in the
paths of reason and moderation. After his death his party divided,
the extremists keeping the name of Taborites, the moderates taking
that of Orphans. But these two factions, notwithstanding their
intestine struggles, were always ready to unite against the Cath-
olics, and by the Treaty of Voszice, in 1425, they obtained the
separation of most of the royal towns from Prague and formed
an independent confederation under the control of the Taborites
and Calixtins. The Catholics themselves consented to a truce,
and the lords agreed to tolerate communion in both kinds on their
estates. Pilsen was the only town that refused to enter into this
agreement.
Moravia had remained more faithful to Catholicism; ortho-
doxy reigned almost throughout the vast domains of the
bishop of Olmiitz, and in the royal towns where the Germans
were in the majority, and which for the most part Sigismund had
pledged to his son-in-law, the duke of Austria. It was only with
the help and through the proximity of Bohemia that the Moravian
Hussites could hold their own. In the other possessions of the
crown of St. Vacslav, in Silesia and Lusatia, the German majority,
later so sympathetic toward the doctrines of Luther, was, for
reasons more national than religious, hostile to the Hussite move-
ment, while Brandenburg had long ceased to belong to Bohemia.
The Emperor Sigismund, always in need of money, had mortgaged
it, and in 141 5 bestowed it on Frederick of Hohenzollern.
Sigismund still hoped to regain his authority in Bohemia.
After vainly seeking aid from the empire, he entered into an al-
184 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1425-1427
liance with his son-in-law, Albert V., duke of Austria, and the
margrave of Meissen, pledging several towns in the north of Bo-
hemia, notably Brux and Aussig, on the Elbe, to the latter. These
the prince at once occupied. But this time the Czechs did not wait
for the invasion of their country; they assumed the offensive, en-
tered Austria to the south, and sent an army to besiege Aussig in
the north. Their leader was again Sigismund Korybutovicz, who
was always faithful to the cause of Bohemia, and Procopius the
Holy, also called Procopius the Shaven, or the Great, a married
priest whom events had made a soldier, and who regarded himself
as heir to Zizka's genius. A bloody battle was fought under the
walls of Aussig, at which the Saxons and Misnians were completely
defeated and forced to retreat beyond the frontier. Albert of Aus-
tria fled into Moravia and thence into his own duchy. Thus it came
about that the Hussites became in their turn the aggressors, Sigis-
mund, engaged with the Turks in other parts of his dominions, be-
ing unable to check them.
But while victorious over their enemies in the field, the Huss-
ites continued to break up into numerous sects. The divisions
among the Taborites have been noted; these were followed by a
division among the Utraquists. Two parties arose. The one de-
sired a reconciliation with the church, stipulating the right of com-
munion in both kinds. The other adhered to the doctrines of Wic-
lif, and demanded the abolition of certain Catholic rites and the
use of the national language in the mass for the reading of the
Epistles and Gospels.
Prince Sigismund Korybutovicz sided with the former, because
it favored a reconciliation, and entered into secret negotiations with
the Pope. At this the opposite party rose against him, took him
prisoner, and drove him out of Bohemia, in 1427. The democratic
party triumphed ; the men of Prague drew still closer their alliance
with the Taborites, and Procopius the Great became undisputed
head of the Hussites, with even greater power than Zizka had had.
The Holy See, however, continued to preach the crusade
against Bohemia; in 1427 the German princes entered Bohemia
again, this time by way of Pilsen, which had remained faithful to
Catholicism. But at the approach of Procopius the Great their
army withdrew to Tachov, where the Czechs overtook and
defeated them. Procopius now in his turn took the offensive.
He invaded Hungary and ravaged the country as far as Pres-
THE HUSSITE WARS 135
1427-1431
burg, invaded Moravia, where the Hussites were beginning
to raise their heads again, and by the beginning of 1428 reached
Silesia. There the Czechs occupied and garrisoned numerous
towns, defeated the army of the bishop of Breslau, and
subjected a portion of Silesia, The Hussites likewise penetrated
into Bavaria and Austria, and everywhere put to rout the
troops sent against them. They were invincible, and Sigismund
was obliged to open negotiations. A meeting with Procopius
and his followers was arranged at Presburg. There Sigismund
proposed that all religious differences should be submitted to a
council which was to meet within two years at Basel, and that a
truce should be declared till that time. But the Bohemians had not
forgotten the fate of Huss; they had little confidence in a council.
The proposals were rejected and hostilities were resumed.
Procopius invaded Lusatia and conquered it. Next he led
a great expedition into Meissen and Saxony against Germany. The
army of the elector of Saxony broke in flight before the Hussites.
Meissen, Saxony, Thuringia, and Franconia were invaded, and, ac-
cording to some historians, seventy cities and several thousand vil-
lages were ravaged and burned. The Hussites became the terror
of Germany. The duke of Bavaria, the margrave oi Nuremberg,
and many cities purchased peace. The town of Homburg-on-the-
Saale sent a deputation of children to Procopius to beg for pity
from the fierce conqueror.
The exploits of the Czechs filled the mind of Europe with
admiration and terror. The Holy See was all the more alarmed
because the Hussite doctrines were beginning to spread beyond the
borders of Bohemia into Poland, Hungary, Germany, and even
France. From Dauphiny voluntary contributions were sent to the
Czechs, and the bishop of Arras wrote that he dared not leave his
diocese because " he had to watch over his flock in order to guard
them against the Bohemian heresy." Christendom believed the
only remedy for so many evils lay in the convocation of a council,
and the clergy of Germany and of France threatened to meet with-
out the sanction of the Pope. But the Pope had more faith in
arms than in the decisions of theological assemblies. The defeat
of the Bohemians would, he believed, bring the most rebellious
spirits under the authority of the church. Accordingly a new cru-
sade was decided upon at the diet of Nuremberg, in 1431, and
shortly after a new army entered Bohemia from the west. Pro-
186 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1431-14S2
copius awaited them at the town of Tans with a formidable force,
and once more administered a terrible defeat. Again the Hussites
invaded Austria and Hungary.
In the meantime the council of Basel had assembled. The
world longed for peace, especially Germany and Bohemia, ex-
hausted by the continual wars. The Bohemian army had largely
lost that religious gravity and incorruptible morality which had dis-
tinguished the comrades of Zizka, and now included all kinds of
needy adventurers. Besides no effective government existed since
the departure of Sigismund Korybutovicz. The committee of
twelve appointed in 1431 exercised only a very limited authority.
The council of Basel opened in 143 1. In October a concilia-
tory letter was sent to the Hussites asking them to send repre-
sentatives to Basel. Conrad, the Utraquist archbishop, had died in
December of 1430, and if the Bohemians wished to have a clergy
they were obliged either to break with apostolic traditions or to be-
come reconciled to the Catholic church. The message of conciliation
was received with joy by the estates and the peaceful inhabitants of
Bohemia. In a diet held at Prague, in January, 1432, it was de-
cided by the Utraquists and Orphans that negotiations should be
entered into to learn how the envoys from Bohemia would be re-
ceived. They had not forgotten John Huss and the safe-conduct
which had saved him neither from the prison nor the stake. The
Taborites agreed to negotiate only on the condition that war should
be continued till all was settled. Procopius continued to push on
his invasion of Germany and ravaged Brandenburg as far as Ber-
lin and Frankfort-on-the-Oder. He then forced Silesia to buy
peace from him on exceedingly hard terms. In the year 1432 the
Hussites sent an embassy to the court of King Vladislav, which
succeeded in arranging a treaty between Poland and the Czechs;
in exchange for the aid of the Poles the crown of Bohemia was
promised to the young Vladislav Jagellon. Nevertheless the coun-
cil, nowithstanding the opposition of Pope Eugenius IV., who
opposed every compromise with heretics, sent a deputation to the
Bohemians to arrange the manner in which their envoys should be
received. It was agreed that they should appear not as accused be-
fore a tribunal, but as free men with the right to defend their doc-
trines on the authority of Holy Scripture and the fathers. On this
the Hussites decided to send a large embassy to Basel, among
whom were many eminent persons.
THE HUSSITE WARS 137
1433-1434
Procopius, accompanied by one hundred of his co-religionists,
entered Basel January 6, 1433. An eye-witness, ^Eneas Sylvius,
afterward Pope Pius H., tells of the impression made on the people
by the sight of the Hussites, each of whom, according to their
enemies, was possessed by a hundred devils, and of the terror which
their chief inspired. " There is the man," the people said, " who
has so often put to flight the armies of the faithful, destroyed so
many cities, massacred so many thousands, and who is feared as
much by his own people as by his enemies." The discussions which
now took place, sometimes before the council, sometimes in private
conference, and which lasted three whole months, were chiefly upon
the four articles quoted above. The majority of the council was
favorable to the ideas of reform, and a compromise seemed likely,
even on the question of the cup. But the difficulty was to induce
the Taborites to accept the principle of authority in the church and
the usefulness of the hierarchy. The council, in the spirit of con-
ciliation, consented to send a deputation to Prague to treat with
the Hussite assembly of Bohemia and Moravia. A special diet
then met at Prague, in June, 1433. The church evidently could
not agree with all the sects separately, and it was manifestly neces-
sary that the Hussites should agree upon a sort of middle doctrine.
But the men of Prague and the Taborites could not come to an
agreement. The delegates of the council, however, offered to the
men of Prague provisional tolerance for communion in both kinds.
The other questions were to be settled by the council, in which Bo-
hemia would be represented. Above all, it was urged that a truce
be declared at once. The men of Prague, on their part, insisted
that in order to suppress the various religious sects in the country
the cup should be made obligatory in the communion for all Bo-
hemia and Moravia. To make this concession was beyond the
power of the embassy from the council, and a new Czech delegation
was sent to Basel to treat with the council itself. Meantime no
armistice was proclaimed; the Hussites continued to ravage Hun-
gary, and boldly besieged Pilsen, which had remained the chief
stronghold of Catholicism in Bohemia.
The siege of Pilsen dragged, and the besieging army, accus-
tomed to live in plenty on the lands of foreigners, dwindled away
on the impoverished soil of their native land. An insurrection
broke out among the soldiers of Procopius; wounded and made
prisoner by those whom he had so often led to victory, he gave up
138 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1433-1434
his command to his lieutenant, Czapek of San, who was no more
fortunate than he against the bulwark of Catholicism. Meanwhile
the Council of Basel had sent a new deputation into Bohemia, which
brought to the diet of Bohemia and Moravia proposals of agree-
ment known under the name of the Compactata. In these the
council offered to grant the cup to those who should ask for it, to
consecrate the Utraquist priests, and to admit in principle the other
three articles of Prague, reserving to itself only the right of regu-
lating questions of detail, together with the representatives of the
Czech church. The Czech clergy, on the question of the Compac-
tata, was divided into two parties, the one inclined to accept them,
the other holding to obligatory communion under both forms. The
latter prevailed and the Compactata were rejected. The delegates
of the council left Prague in the beginning of 1434, and the war
began again more fiercely than ever. Bohemia was now struggling
against all Christendom. The council laid a tax on all the Cath-
olic clergy to aid the Czech Catholics and especially the town of
Pilsen. This money served to buy off some of the besiegers, and
through this treachery the town was revictualed. The permanent
committee of the estates called a diet for April, 1434, for the pur-
pose of restoring peace. This diet decreed a general peace, and
decided that from this time forward only one army should be main-
tained at the expense of the nation, and the Taborites and Orphans
were called upon to disband their troops or else incorporate them
in the new army. This measure for obtaining the proposed end
gave the signal for a new civil war. In Prague the new town, in-
habited by Czechs and long held by the Taborites, refused to agree
to the general peace ; the old town, on the other hand, was inhabited
by Germans, and accepted the peace. The army which had been
raised by the estates entered Prague and forced the rebels to obedi-
ence. At this news the Taborites raised the siege of Pilsen and
marched on Prague with their old leader Procopius again at their
head. But the army of the Utraquists had been reinforced by all the
Catholic troops. The two forces met at Lipany in May, 1434.
The onslaught was terrible. By simulating flight the Utraquists
induced their adversaries to leave their chariots and fight in the open
plain. After performing prodigies of valor, Procopius was beaten,
tired of conquering rather than conquered, says yEneas Sylvius. He
was killed, and with him perished 16,000 of his soldiers, the flower
of his army. The Czechs could only be conquered by themselves.
THE HUSSITE WARS 139
1434-1435
A remnant of these troops, once so formidable, found a shelter be-
hind the walls of Tabor and other of the confederate towns. But
many left the side of the confederation and accepted the authority
of the estates.
After the victory the estates met in a new diet and entered
into communication with Sigismund. They could no longer count
upon Poland for support, for Vladislav Jagellon had died, and his
son, Vladislav III., found his inheritance contested by a party of
the Polish nobility. Sigismund went to Ratisbon to await the dele-
gates from Bohemia. There they also found a delegation from the
Council of Basel, but they were not empowered to deal with it.
They came to announce to the king that the estates were prepared
to be reconciled to him, if he would recognize the liberties of the
country and pledge himself to obtain the consent of the council to
communion in both kinds for Bohemia and Moravia. Over the first
point no difficulty arose, but on the second the king asked them to
treat directly with the council. In a diet held on this matter, at
Prague, the Utraquists modified their former claims and consented
to demand the use of the cup in the communion only in those
churches where it then actually existed. But they also demanded
that Bohemia and Moravia be given the right to choose bishops and
an archbishop.
In 1435 ^ ^^w interview took place at Briinn between Sigis-
mund, the delegates of the council, and representatives of Bohemia.
The council would not recognize the existence of an Utraquist
church, and conceded only that in each parish the sacrament might
be administered to the faithful with or without the cup, according
to the wishes of each. The archbishops and bishops were to pledge
themselves to administer the sacrament in either form, and to con-
secrate both the Catholic and Utraquist priests. The Bohemian
delegates, apparently supported by Sigismund, whose conduct was
strangely ambiguous, declined to accept these propositions and
threatened to quit Briinn. At the instance of Sigismund a new
meeting was arranged at Stuhlweissenburg, in Hungary. In the
meantime the estates of Bohemia drew up the list of Utraquist and
Catholic parishes, and proceeded, in accord with the Utraquist
clergy, to the election of an archbishop and two bishops. But the
council refused to recognize the election, and appointed one of the
delegates temporary administrator of the archbishopric Never-
theless it was at the council at Stuhlweissenburg that the religious
140 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1435-1436
peace was finally concluded. Sigismund gave the delegates of the
council to understand that the question of prime importance was
that he enter into his inheritance, and that later on he would know
well the measures to adopt to lead the kingdom back to the tnie
religion. Accordingly the Compactata of the Bohemian nation
were solemnly proclaimed at Iglau, in Moravia, in 1436. By it
the council tolerated for a time the use of the cup, and the existence
of the Utraquist clergy, and accepted the four articles of Prague.
The emperor-king pledged himself by a royal letter to enforce the
observance of the articles of Prague, to permit Hussite preachers at
his court, to grant a general amnesty, not to admit foreigners to
public office, to carry on the government with the assistance of a
committee appointed by the diet, and to take steps to promote the
prosperity of the University of Prague. Peace was concluded be-
tween Bohemia and Christendom, and Sigismund was at last able to
enter Prague, which had not known a king for so many years.
In this manner ended the great conflagration, the first flames
of which had arisen about the stake of John Huss. Bohemia had
revealed to Europe the astounding spectacle of a people that put
its religious faith and its nationality above every other interest, and
increased its strength tenfold by its enthusiasm. How did the re-
sults of the gigantic struggle compare with the sacrifices it had in-
volved? What had become of the reforms for which Zizka and
his followers had struggled so valiantly? The Catholic church in
Bohemia did lose a portion of its wealth, but it fell for the most part
into the hands of avaricious nobles, upon whom the clergy were
thenceforth dependent. The best minds had abandoned the practi-
cal ground of morality and discipline in order to engage in discus-
sions of the niceties of dogma. The controversy over the cup had
excited men's minds as long before the religious differences had
done at Byzantium. Furthermore, the reconciliation of Bohemia
with the universal church was far from being complete. The coun-
cil had by no means granted all the demands of the Utraquists,
while these, deceived by the promises of Sigismund, hoped to gain
still further concessions. Besides the Pope had not even ratified
the Compactata.
In the political world the Hussite movement, although secur-
ing to fhe Czech nation a well-founded preponderance, and rolling
back for many years the wave of Germanization, had not produced
the results one might have expected. It had begun by being popu-
THE HUSSITE WARS 141
1436-1437
lar and democratic. It ended in the triumph of the nobiHty, which
thenceforward became more powerful than ever. A great part of
the domains of the crown and much of the possessions of the church
had passed into their hands. The balance of power between the
crown and the nobility was destroyed. Among other peoples, espe-
cially among Catholics, the name of Bohemia became a name of re-
proach and contempt. What remained to Bohemia was a generous
enthusiasm for the Slav nationality, a deep religious fervor, and
an austere morality which was later reflected in the writings of its
moralists, teachers, and statesmen, and above all in the lofty ideals
of the sect of Bohemian Brothers, among whom is to be found
perhaps the finest heritage of the Hussite movement.
Sigismund lived only a short time after his restoration; he
died before the close of 1437. Even his few months as king of Bo-
hemia were full of bitterness. He found it impossible to reconcile
the promises he had made to the council and to the Utraquists. The
religious difficulties continued. The bishop of Olmiitz, in spite of
the Compactata, refused to consecrate priests who would not abjure
the cup. The archbishopric of Prague remained vacant, and the
Utraquist church was governed by an administrator and a con-
sistory of the priests of Prague ; factional strife continued and dis-
content prevailed. Nor were the material conditions in the country
such as to improve this. The Taborites had not all laid down their
arms. Some of their bands refused to accept the peace, and oc-
cupied the Chateau of Sion, near Kuttenberg. The king captured
the place and had the leader with fifty-six of his followers hanged.
This roused the Taborites, and Straznice, their leader, had just
renewed the war when Sigismund died. With him ended the male
line of the house of Luxemburg, from which had come three em-
perors, two kings of the Romans, numerous minor princes, and, as
we have just seen, four kings of Bohemia.
Chapter XII
BOHEMIA UNDER PODIEBRAD AND THE
JAGELLONS. 1437-1526
SIGISMUND left no male hei'r, and with his death, there-
fore, the possessions of the house of Luxemburg by virtue
of the treaties entered into between the Luxemburg and
Hapsburg dynasties, passed to Albert V., of Austria, son-in-law
of the emperor. But the agreement had been made in the reign of
Charles IV., a period in which the royal power was still at its
height. Since then Bohemia had learned not only to dictate to
her king, but even to do without a king altogether. Albert V. of
Austria had only Upper and Lower Austria, and was not strong
enough to seize Bohemia by force. Straznice and the Taborites
preferred the young Prince Kazimir, brother of the king of Poland.
And as it was to the interest of Poland to unite with Bohemia and
thus counterbalance the union of Austria and Hungary, Kazimir
was sent into Bohemia with an army, while the king of Poland
invaded Silesia and Moravia. Notwithstanding this, and the op-
position of a part of the nobility, Albert entered the kingdom, had
himself crowned at Prague, and then marched upon Tabor, the
center of the resistance. But the Pope, Eugenius IV., intervened
and brought about an armistice. A few weeks later, in 1439, Al-
bert died, and four months: after his death his widow gave birth to
a son, Vladislav, called the Posthumous. Him the Bohemians re-
fused at first to recognize. The diet offered the crown to the duke
of Bavaria, Prince Kazimir of Poland having some time previous
renounced all his claims. But the duke qf Bavaria declined the
offer, and the Bohemian nobility, tired of war, decided to come
to an understanding with the queen-dowager, Elizabeth, concern-
ing the regency. They asked that the king be brought to Bohemia,
as if the mere presence of the king, however young he might be,
would maintain order in a country still divided by factions. But
his mother refused to send him to Prague, and the country was
forced to govern itself; the captains of the circles administered
BOHEMIA UNDER PODIEBRAD 148
1439-1448
their provinces as best they could, but did not always do so success-
fully. The old excitement arose again. The Utraquists claimed
that the promises made by Sigismund were not being kept: com-
munion was not given in both kinds, and the bishop of Olmiitz still
refused to consecrate Utraquist priests. As a result the two rival
parties of the Utraquists united against the Catholic party, and they
even proposed to the Taborites to found a church which should em-
brace all parties. After many discussions the Taborite doctrines
were declared false by the majority of the Utraquists, a decision
which proved the deathblow of the sect ; a large number of parishes
withdrew from it, and before long the town of Tabor alone re-
mained loyal to its tenets.
All attempts at uniting the non-Catholic sects had apparently
failed when, in 1444, a new leader appeared in the person of George
of Podiebrad. He was still quite a young man, being only twenty-
four, but he possessed many rare and excellent qualities. Accord-
ing to tradition he had John Zizka as his godfather, and, like him,
he was a valiant soldier and an ardent patriot, full of the desire to
establish order and unity in his native land. " He was," says
^neas Sylvius, "a short, thick-set man, with eyes full of fire, of
quiet manners, infected, it is true, with the Hussite errors, but a
lover of law and of justice." He induced the heads of the Cath-
olic party to send an embassy to Rome, in 1447, in consequence of
which the Holy See sent the Cardinal Carvajal on a special mis-
sion to Bohemia. He arrived in 1448, but with no intention of
conciliation. To the requests that he induce the Pope to accept the
Compactata and confirm John of Rokycana as archbishop of
Prague, he replied by saying that the court of Rome was deter-
mined to reject communion in both kinds and to confer the arch-
bishopric upon a person of its own choice. The irritation among
the people burst out anew, so that the cardinal did not deem it safe
to remain longer in the city, and in the confusion which arose
George of Podiebrad marched on Prague and took it by surprise.
He was received in triumph and became the de facto governor of
Bohemia.
But his usurpation began another period of bloody conflicts
for his unfortunate country. Ulrich of Rosenberk, the leader of
the Catholic party, took up arms against Podiebrad, and besides his
foreign allies, the duke of Saxony and the margrave of Meissen,
he received the unexpected aid of the Taborites, who had been ex-
144 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1448-1457
pelled from the Utraquist communion. But Podiebrad was as able
a statesman as he was a soldier, and he incited Bavaria and Branden-
burg to attack Saxony, while he himself successfully invaded Meis-
sen and established his authority. A diet was agreed to by his
enemies, which was to name a regent. The exploits and power
of Podiebrad marked him as the natural choice of his countrymen,
and in 145 1 the emperor confirmed their election. He understood
how to make his authority respected by all, and even reduced the
town of Tabor, forced it to receive Utraquist priests, and cast the
leading members of the Taborite clergy into prison, thus practically
putting an end to the already enfeebled existence of the sect. The
Catholic leader, Rosenberk, was besieged in Budweiss and reduced
to submission.
But the outlying possessions of Bohemia — ^Lusatia, Silesia,
and Moravia — were almost lost by this time. It was evident that
since their union with Bohemia was so largely through the person
of the sovereign, the coronation of the young king alone could
draw the lines which held them to Bohemia together again. Podie-
brad persuaded Vladislav, then fourteen years of age, to come to
Prague and be crowned. The young king recognized him as his
lieutenant for six years, agreed to the Compactata, and promised
to keep the engagements entered into by Sigismund. Thenceforth,
with the authority of the king, which had been absent so long, the
regent was able to reorganize the country. He reestablished the
courts of justice, opened a rigorous inquiry into all the misappro-
priations of lands during the last thirty years, and recovered most
of the estates of the crown. The estates of Moravia, Silesia, and
Lusatia took the oath to Vladislav, excepting only the Catholic city
of Breslau, which was, however, severely punished for its opposition.
The young king had unbounded confidence in Podiebrad in all mat-
ters, and loved to call him father. Bohemia became once more
well ordered and prosperous. Vladislav could even offer the em-
peror an army of forty thousand men for the crusade against the
Turks after the fall of Constantinople. In 1457 the king died when
on the point of celebrating his marriage with Madeleine of France,
daughter of Charles VII.
According to previous treaties the crown of Bohemia should
have returned to the house of Hapsburg. But the people had freed
themselves and did not consider that they were bound by the agree-
ments of former sovereigns. Besides, what need had Bohemia to
BOHEMIA UNDER PODIEBRAD 145
1448-1457
seek a foreign ruler when she had the best possible one at home?
Podiebrad was the natural choice of his countrymen, and in spite
of a great many claimants was elected almost unanimously. Bo-
hemia was once more master of her own destinies. Freed from
the control of Austria and Hungary, for the first time since the
Premyslides she had a truly national king. Moravia, Silesia, and
Lusatia took the oath to the new sovereign. The emperor soon
became reconciled to Podiebrad and accorded him the investiture of
the kingdom.
As king, Podiebrad continued the work he had begun as
regent: the restoration of that peace and prosperity in which the
country had been left by Charles IV. The partition and diminu-
tion of the royal estates had greatly reduced the army, and the new
king did not hesitate to impose heavy taxes upon the estates in
order to pay a well-organized force. He acquired throughout
Europe the reputation of a wise and powerful sovereign. One of
his daughters he espoused to Mathias Corvin, king of Hungary.
The other married Albert, prince of Saxony, thus becoming the
ancestress of the present dynasty in Saxony.
But the religious troubles still disturbed the country. The
Taborites had been suppressed, but they continued their worship
in secret, and a new sect arose among them known as the brother-
hood of Kunwald, from the place where it had its origin. Later it
assumed the name of the Union of Bohemian Brothers, and became
known abroad as the Moravian Brothers. It was organized by
a poor nobleman. Brother Gregory, and separated entirely from
the Roman church, choosing its bishops and elders from the com-
munity. Their doctrines were similar to those of the Taborites,
but they had one advantage over their fierce predecessors, they
refused to defend their faith by force of arms. They preached
strict morality and imposed temporal punishments for transgres-
sions of duty. This stood in the way of that rapid growth of the
sect which might otherwise have been expected; but in spite of it
there were nearly two hundred congregations subject to its bishops
and elders in Bohemia and Moravia by the end of the fifteenth
century.
But notwithstanding the inoffensive character of the new sect,
the king, though himself an Utraquist, was anxious to carry out
to the letter the Compactata, and treated them with much severity.
He hoped to bring about a reconciliation with the Holy See, and to
146 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1457-1468
this end sought to crush out all religious innovations. In 1462 he
sent an embassy to Rome to beg the Pope to ratify the Compactata
secured from the Council of Basel. But the reigning Pontiff was
Pius II., formerly i^neas Sylvius, who had taken a prominent part
in the Council of Basel, and who was resolved to bring Bohemia
into complete union with the Western church. Hence, instead of
consenting to the demands of the king of Bohemia, he declared the
Compactata abolished, forbade communion in both kinds, and sent
a Papal legate to invite the king to renounce the Utraquist faith.
This neither personal inclinations nor political interest would allow
him to do, and he cast the legate into prison. Pius II. then de-
clared war against him, and threatened him with excommunication.
But the death of the zealous Pontiff in 1468 for a time sus-
pended the effect of the menace. His successor, Paul II., was
anxious to gain time and entered into negotiations with the em-
peror and the Catholic nobles of Bohemia. Finally he hurled his
anathemas against Podiebrad: declared him a heretic, backslider,
and despoiler of the church, forbade his subjects to obey him, and
ordered a new crusade against the Hussites. But he found few
of the princes of Germany, except the emperor, disposed to come
to his assistance. The sale of indulgences and the hope of plunder
did bring together a few armed bands, but they brought but little
assistance to the confederacy of Catholic nobles and the few royal
towns that joined the rebels.
The king, after trying in vain to come to terms with the Holy
See, determined to oppose force with force ; he organized a power-
ful army, threw himself upon his enemies, and captured their princi-
pal fortresses. His son Victorin he sent into Austria, in 1468, to
chastise the Emperor Frederick in his own possessions. But just
at this juncture the Pope raised up a new enemy against Podiebrad
in Mathias Corvinus, who was persuaded to take part in the
quarrel, less perhaps for the honor of defending the Catholic faith
than because of the desire to avenge his personal injuries, and by
the hope of uniting the two crowns of Bohemia and Hungary on
his head. He forced Victorin to withdraw from Austria, and then
suddenly attacked Moravia, where the Catholic towns opened their
gates to receive him. He next invaded Bohemia, but was met and
surrounded by the Czech forces under Podiebrad, and obliged to
sign a truce at Vilemov. Scarcely extricated from his difficulties,
he was released from his promises by the Pope and he resumed the
BOHEMIA UNDER PODIEBRAD 147
1468-1478
war with savage cruelty, cutting off the heads of his Czech pris-
oners and hurhng them back into the enemy's camp with catapults.
He even assembled his partisans at Olmiitz and had himself pro-
claimed king of Bohemia. But again a Czech army drove him out
and forced him to take refuge in Hungary, though the towns in
which he had placed garrisons still held out. Podiebrad, ill and
without allies, began to fear the dismemberment of his kingdom.
To get the assistance of Poland he entered into negotiations with
Kazimir, king of Poland; and persuaded Bohemia to accept him
as his successor, notwithstanding the fact that by so doing he was
sacrificing the interests of his own house, for he had two sons.
This act of disinterested patriotism was the last of his life. He
died in 1471 at the age of fifty-one years.
His early death did not permit Podiebrad to carry to comple-
tion the great projects he had meditated. He had dreamed of es-
tablishing a sort of international tribunal, composed of the sov-
ereign princes, which should act as a court between themselves, their
subjects, and the church. He had even sent an embassy to Louis
XL in regard to this project, in 1464, and a quaint account of it in
the Czech language has been preserved. He begs the most Chris-
tian king of France, as a prince devoted to the general welfare, to
convoke an assembly of the kings and princes, which was to work
together for the glory of God, the good of the universal church, and
the independence of nations — a chimerical dream which Henry IV.
was to attempt later on with no better success. Nevertheless,
George of Podiebrad, a true son of the Czech nation, by his
patriotism and his virtues far surpassed the most illustrious princes
of the foreign dynasties that have reigned over his country.
In accordance with the engagements entered into during the
lifetime of Podiebrad, the Utraquist estates elected Vladislav of
Poland, then aged sixteen, as their king, in 1471. He took pos-
session of the kingdom after swearing to observe the Compactata,
and brought an army of several thousand men to the aid of Bo-
hemia. Mathias at once invaded the country, but was unable to
get beyond Kuttenberg. It would have been wiser had he turned
his forces against the Turks, who had conquered the Balkan penin-
sula and now threatened to overrun the middle Danube valley.
Pope Sixtus IV. understood the real interests of Christendom bet-
ter, and imposed a peace. But Mathias did not long observe it and
in 1478 carried on the war until he secured the peace of Olmiitz, by
148 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1478-1485
which he was given Lusatia, Moravia, and Silesia for his lifetime,
and the crown of Bohemia at the death of Vladislav. In case Vlad-
islav survived Mathias he was to have the right to reclaim the lost
provinces for four hundred thousand ducats. Thus these wars
which had begun in the name of religion, ended in a mere bargain
for the possession of certain provinces.
In the meantime the young king of Bohemia had found his
kingdom weakened, his treasury exhausted, and a proud and arro-
gant nobility confronting him. Under George of Podiebrad they
had been held in check, that monarch having always looked for his
principal support to the lower classes, the zemane or squires. But
now the nobles got the upper hand, and from the reign of Vladislav
Jagellon dates the legalized oppression of the people. Taking ad-
vantage of the weakness of the king, the nobles introduced into the
law courts the principle that a peasant has no right to enter com-
plaint against his lord. To the already heavy burdens of the agri-
cultural classes they added that of serfdom, by taking from the
peasant the right to leave his land. They arrogated to themselves
the most extensive monopolies, as, for example, that of making
and selling beer to the peasantry, and they even encroached upon
the liberties of the towns. These things gave rise to internal strug-
gles in which the young king was often obliged to take part, and
which seriously damaged the prestige of the crown and disturbed
the peace of the kingdom.
In his dealings with the religious factions Vladislav was more
fortunate. In 1485 the Catholics and Utraquists came to an agree-
ment at Kuttenberg by which both parties promised to observe
the Compactata of Prague and the promises made by Sigismund.
These two agreements became from that time forward laws of the
state and were added to the coronation oath. But Vladislav's en-
deavors to secure their confirmation by Pope Alexander VI. proved
fruitless. Under the new conditions the Utraquists lost ground
rapidly. The bishops of Olmiitz had refused ever since the quarrel
with Podiebrad to consecrate any priest who would not promise to
give up the administration of wine, and Utraquist candidates were
obliged to seek consecration abroad or else by tortuous methods at
home. Only occasionally could a foreign bishop be persuaded to
come to Bohemia to officiate. But while it was thus extremely
difficult for the Utraquists to obtain priests, priests without char-
acter, sometimes mere adventurers, obtained admission into the
BOHEMIA UNDER PODIEBRAD 149
1485-1517
Catholic clergy. The result was a serious decline in the morals of
the people. Further, the Utraquist estates asserted the right to
nominate the members of the consistories and so reduced their
priests to complete dependence.
In the midst of this decay the sect of Bohemian Brothers
solved the difficulty about the hierarchical succession by suppress-
ing it altogether, and in the rigorous morality of their daily life
were a constant reproach to the official churches. They increased
daily in numbers, notwithstanding persecution, for both Catholics
and Utraquists denounced the Picards, as the Brothers were called,
to the king, and he forbade their worship.
In 1490 Vladislav was elected king of Hungary, and, tired
of Bohemia, he went to reside at Buda. He was the first Czech
king who did not reside at Prague, and from this time the ancient
capital began to lose some of its importance. No great advantage
came to either country from the union of the two crowns upon one
head. In 15 16 Vladislav died. Seven years before he had caused
his son Louis, aged three, to be crowned king of Bohemia.
The accession of the young Louis, in 15 16, again brought a
minor to the throne of Bohemia, and the fact that the succession
during this period so frequently fell upon a young prince greatly
favored the encroachments of the nobility upon the royal power.
On the death of Vladislav the grand burggrave of Prague, with
some of the highest dignitaries, assumed the government Among
the estates quarrels and disputes continued. But in 15 17 an agree-
ment was reached. The cities — that is, the bourgeoisie — ^were
granted the right to vote with the nobility in the diets of the king-
dom, and the representative system thus established continued
almost to the present. At this time also the two parts of the city
of Prague — the old and the new town — united in order to be the
better able to resist the claims of the nobles. This union, known
as the Convention of St. Vacslav, did not, however, put an end to
the feelings of hatred between the classes. The partisans of the
towns and of the nobles frequently came to blows, the castles of
the nobles were seized by the citizens, and nobles were beheaded
in Prague.
Other troubles also arose. The Turks on the Danube were be-
coming more aggressive, new imposts were levied, and from the
north a new force appeared which stirred up the religious diffi-
culties more than ever. In 15 17 Luther published his famous
150
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1517-1528
theses and inaugurated the Reformation movement in Germany.
By a strange inconsistency his doctrines were enthusiastically re-
ceived by those very cities of Germany which a short time before
had been the strongholds of Catholicism against the Hussites. The
Czechs, so long at variance with the Holy See, could not fail to
hail the new doctrines with sympathy. They had vainly hoped to
retain the use of the cup and still remain in union with the church,
for the Papacy had turned a deaf ear to their prayers. Protes-
tantism recalled the traditions of the Hussites; Luther was con-
tinuing the work of the martyr of Constance ; he did not insist on
the stern morality of the Bohemian Brothers, and he had openly
broken with the Papacy. His teachings were hailed with enthusi-
asm. Utraquist priests began to preach his doctrines, and as
early as 1523 a Utraquist synod added to their confession several
articles borrowed from the Lutheran formularies. A friend of
Luther's, the priest Cahera, was appointed administrator of the
church of Tyn, at Prague, and the breach with the Roman church
increased steadily. The city of Prague became the scene of con-
flicts and tumults and the new religious controversy in Bohemia
became marked by cruel excesses, in which the lawless character
of the Czech nobles found ample scope. Indeed, their factious
spirit was largely responsible for the death of Louis at the battle
of Mohacs in 1526, for they would not come to their sovereign's
assistance. But their narrow egotism and lack of patriotism were
soon to meet with cruel punishment.
Chapter XIII
HUNGARY UNDER THE HOUSE OF ANJOU, AND
THE ELECTIVE MONARCHY. 1308-1444
ON the death, in 1301, of Andrew III., the last of the Arpad
I dynasty in Hungary, three claimants to the throne pre-
sented themselves. The first was Charles Robert of
Anjou, closely related by marriage to the Arpads ; the others were
Vacslav of Bohemia and Otto of Bavaria. Pope Boniface VIII.
favored the French candidate, and since he claimed that St. Ste-
phen had done homage to the Holy See, he called on the Hungarian
prelates to recognize Charles Robert. Despite the Papal orders,
however, Vacslav insisted on his rights, entered Hungary and had
himself crowned by the archbishop of Kolsesa. But he was almost
immediately recalled to Bohemia by the death of his father, and
gave up all claim to Hungary. Otto of Bavaria next presented
himself, receiving aid from the German colonists (Saxons) in
Transylvania. But he was likewise unsuccessful, and by the year
1 3 10 Charles Robert, who had been crowned in 1308, was recog-
nized as the rightful king. But from the beginning he had to
carry on a struggle against one of his powerful vassals, Mathew
Csak, of Trencin, really a petty king in the country of the Slovaks.
Abroad the policy of Charles Robert was much more ambitious
than that of the Arpads. He could not forget Italy, where his
branch of the house of Anjou held sway in Naples, and dreamed of
uniting the crown of Naples and of St. Stephen. In this he
thought himself successful when he brought about the marriage of
his son Andrew with Joan, daughter of the duke of Calabria, who
afterward became the notorious Joan of Naples. With Venice he
maintained the most cordial relations, and, anxious above all to
secure friends in Italy, concluded a treaty of commerce with her in
which the towns on the Adriatic were guaranteed her. In the east
Poland was his especial concern. In 1320 he married the daughter
of Vladislav Lokietek and formed an intimate alliance with him.
He never lost hope in his ambition some day to annex Poland, and
151
15« AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1320-1375
in 1338 he induced King Kazimir III. to recognize his son, Louis
of Anjou, as his heir. Four years later he died.
The character of Louis the Great, the son of Charles Robert,
was such that it seemed as if he might realize the ambitious dreams
of his father. Shortly after his accession the news of the assassina-
tion of his brother, through the instigation of Joan, reached him,
and this furnished a good pretext for intervention in the affairs of
Italy. Although only temporarily successful, this first expedition
of the Hungarians into Italy served to open a new world of thought
and life, of culture and refinement, to them, and the influence upon
the literature, the arts, and the manners of the Magyars was great.
But although Louis was unable to establish himself permanently in
Italy, he was nevertheless successful in securing a firm foothold
on the Adriatic. He had married a Slav princess, sister of the
ban of Bosnia, a province over which the kings of Hungary
claimed a sovereignty they were unable to exercise. Because of his
new relations to the Slavs of the lower Danube, the Pope called
on him to check the spread of the Patarine heresy in those regions ;
he came to be regarded as the dread champion of the Roman church
in those parts, and the Wallachian adherents of the Eastern church
took refuge in Moldavia. In 1358, after a successful invasion of
Italy as far as Padua, he forced a treaty on Venice, by which he
secured the whole of Dalmatia — an important acquisition because
it gave Hungary access to the Adriatic and an opportunity to de-
velop into a maritime power.
In the meantime the Turks had established themselves in the
Balkan peninsula and were advancing on Hungary. According to
some obscure documents the first battle between the Osmanlis and
the Magfyars occurred in 1366, near the Iron Gates. In 1375 Sul-
tan Murad took Adrianople, whence he kept watch on Byzantium.
The Greek emperor, John Paleologus, visited the court of Louis
to implore his aid, promising even to become a convert to the
Roman faith. But the Pope, more concerned about matters of
dogma than about the dangers to Christianity, persuaded him to
put no faith in the promises of the emperor. Louis turned his
attention from the empire to Poland, whose crown had so long been
the aim of his ambition.
As we saw above he had been chosen heir to King Kazimir.
Since then he had lost no opportunity to make himself popular with
the Poles by helping them against the Tatars and against the
ELECTIVE MONARCHY 153
1375-1382
Lithuanians, who were still pagans. In 1354 he crossed the Car-
pathians with a considerable army to aid the Poles to hurl back
these two peoples, who had invaded Volhynia and Podolia. His
services secured him the gratitude of the Poles, and in 1370 he was
proclaimed king. But his rule in Poland was not as fortunate as
might have been expected; he intrusted the government to his
mother, and she was unable to win over this restless, lawless nation.
Revolts broke out, and it became evident that Louis would have
great difficulty in securing the crown for his successor. He had
no son, and after much hesitation married his eldest daughter,
Mary, to the young Prince Sigismund of Luxemburg, son of
Charles IV., who was sent at an early age to the court of Hun-
gary to study the language and laws of the country. The last
years of the reign of Louis the Great were occupied with a strug-
gle against Venice, which ended in the defeat of the Venetians and
secured for Hungary the peaceful possession of the Adriatic
shore. With the death of Louis the Great, in 1382, the house of
Anjou, which had given only two kings to Hungary, became
extinct.
It was only natural that these Angevin kings should introduce
Western ideas and habits into Hungary. Her institutions began
to take on feudal characteristics, though the country never fully
adopted the feudal system. " Two things stood in the way," says
M. Sayous : " first, the extraordinarily full power of the king over
the entire land, which made the growth of large fiefs impossible;
and second, the interest taken in politics by the large body of lesser
nobility, a class much more numerous in Hungary than in any
other country. In a word, the king was too powerful and the
people with political rights much too tenacious in maintaining
them, for Hungary, notwithstanding its knightly and aristocratic
tendencies, ever to become a completely feudal state."
The Angevin princes greatly increased the splendor and lux-
ury of the court, which was held sometimes at Buda, sometimes at
Visegrad. They gathered about them a complete hierarchy of
great lords, and richly endowed many noble fam.ilies. Tourna-
ments and the science of heraldry were encouraged; the military
forces were grouped in banderia about the lords. Those who
brought a certain number of soldiers had the right to lead them
into battle under their own standards. An hereditary nobility was
organized by the law of " atavicity," which forbade noble families
154 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1375-1382
selling their estates, which were to descend to the natural heirs, or,
in default of these, to revert to the king. Charles Robert and
Louis rarely convoked the diet, but as an offset to this they al-
lowed the fullest liberty to the comitats.
The burgher class of the principal cities consisted largely of
foreigners: the relations with Naples had attracted a large num-
ber of Italians, and the Germans flocked into Transylvania, while
trade with Germany increased. Certain cities, known as free
cities, enjoyed extensive privileges in return for revenues paid the
king. Many of the Jews, whom Louis the Great, in his role of
champion of Christianity, severely persecuted, emigrated into Aus-
tria and Poland. Those who remained constituted a population
by itself (Universitas Judccorum) entirely dependent on the king
and obliged to wear a particular dress. On the other hand, the
clergy was overwhelmed with rich donations, which did not in-
crease its morality. Learning increased; Louis the Great, with
the consent of Pope Urban V., founded a university at Fiinf-
kirchen, where all the sciences, except theology, were taught. The
literary productions of the period are, however, of little value.
The works of the Dalmatian historians of this time are the product
of the special culture which that country enjoyed because of its
more direct intercourse with Italy. Indeed, the literary life of
Slavo-Italian Dalmatia was quite distinct from' that of Hungary
proper, and although not a line has come down to us, we know that
there existed at this time a whole cycle of heroic poems.
Prince Sigismund of Luxemburg (1382-1437) was, as we
have seen, the heir to the crown of Hungary; but the diet would
not voluntarily accept a foreigner. Hungary had no Salic law, and
the diet crowned the Princess Mary. Coronata fuit in regem, says
the chronicler Lucius, and this expression of the fourteenth cen-
tury may perhaps explain the famous moriamur pro rege nostro
of the eighteenth. The young princess, with the help of the queen-
dowager, Elizabeth, assumed the government. The Poles also
refused to accept Sigismund, unless he promised to reside in
Poland.
In the meantime Sigismund was seeking a recogfnition of his
rights in Hungary. But it was some time before he was success-
ful. The queen-dowager tried to induce Charles of Orleans to
oppose him, and the king of Naples, Charles of Durazzo, actually
had himself crowned, but Sigismund succeeded finally, and the
ELECTIVE MONARCHY 155
1382-1401
diet proclaimed him king of Hungary in 1382. Soon after he
abandoned all claim to the crown of Poland, as also the claims of
Hungary to Galicia and Lodomeria, which were afterward revived
by Maria Theresa.
The beginning of his reign was disturbed by a rebellion in
Hungary and Croatia, which was suppressed with severity. On the
side of the Turks grave dangers threatened the kingdom, Servia
had succumbed at Kosova; the prince of Wallachia acknowledged
their suzerainty; Bulgaria had fallen into their hands, and Bosnia
had been invaded. Sigismund and the diet determined upon
prompt resistance and, as the forces of Hungary were insuf-
ficient, an alliance was sought with the Greek emperor, Manuel H,,
while embassies were sent to solicit aid from Germany, France,
and Burgundy. The disastrous result of this crusade at Nicopolis,
in 1396, is well known: the French and Hungarians were defeated
and the Ottoman Turks became masters of the lower Danube.
Sigismund escaped with great difficulty on the Venetian fleet, and
returned to his kingdom by the Adriatic with money furnished him
by the little republic of Ragusa.
Within Hungary the reign of Sigismund is marked by two
very important events. In 1397 and 1405 the diets of Temesvar
and Buda respectively laid the basis for the representative system
of government in Hungary. It was provided that each county as-
sembly, or comitat, should send four deputies to the lower chamber,
in which the royal cities were also to be represented. The upper
chamber was composed of hereditary magistrates and prelates. The
county assemblies thus became the real centers of political life,
and they very early adopted the plan of instructing their delegates.
About this time also the light troops of hussars, specially designed
for the warfare against the Turks, were organized, and the Order
of the Dragon, whose members were to fight infidels and heretics,
was founded.
But Sigismund cannot be regarded as a wise ruler. Mel-
ancholy, capricious, overcautious, and cruel, he mortgaged the reve-
nues of the crown, was an inveterate persecutor, and never became
popular in Hungary. In 1401 he was seized and imprisoned as a
result of a plot, but he was soon afterward released; his action
against his brother, Vacslav, king of Bohemia, has been noted ; by
his unpopularity an invasion by Ladislas of Naples was made pos-
sible, and his treaty of succession with his brother-in-law, Albert
156 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1401-1435
of Austria, prepared the way for the future rule of the Hapsburgs
in Hungary.
Sigismund is better known to history, however, as emperor
and king of Bohemia than as king of Hungary. In 141 1 he was
chosen emperor, and for the first time this dangerous honor was
conferred upon a king of Hungary. It proved a great misfortune
to her, because thenceforth she was looked upon as an appanage
of Germany. Nor did the new dignity make a better king of Sigis-
mund. In 141 2 he mortgaged a part of the district of Zips to
Poland, and in 14 19 he lost the Dalmatian coast, as a result of
a war he was waging as emperor against Venice. As a climax to
these misfortunes, Sigismund also became king of Bohemia,
which proved as fatal to Hungary as it did to Bohemia, for the
Hungarians, menaced by the Turks, ought from this time forward
to have directed all their energies against the common enemy of
Christianity, instead of wasting their strength in useless wars
against the Hussites, whose doctrines had, moreover, found
numerous adherents among the Magyars themselves.
Had Sigismund been less occupied with the religious war and
more attentive to the real interests of the Christian world, he
might readily have found a means of indemnifying himself for his
territorial losses in the south. Servia, only half subdued by the
Turks, had kept its native princes, who, together with the Servian
people, many of whom emigrated to Hungary, looked to Sigis-
mund for aid. One of these despots, Stephen Lazarevic, even
acknowledged himself as his vassal and did homage to the crown
of St. Stephen. He died childless, and according to the terms of
the act of homage Hungary got Belgrade and several other towns.
They were only given up, however, in exchange for Vilagos, Deb-
reczen, and certain other towns by the new despot, Brankovic.
Toward the end of his reign Sigismund found his kingdom
sorely threatened by the Turks on the one side and ravaged by the
Hussites on the other. In 1435 the diet of Presburg endeavored to
organize the national defense by completing the army: all those
who did not already serve in the banderia of the prelates or the
great lords were in the future to serve in the banderia of the county
assemblies. The country was divided into seven divisions to facili-
tate military administration. But this did not prevent internal dis-
orders; revolts of the peasantry broke out in Transylvania, and
Hussite doctrine spread among the people. Sigismund died in
ELECTIVE MONARCHY 167
1437-1443
1437, after a long reign, without having remedied any of the evils
of which he had been either the author or the impotent witness.
Taught by experience, the diet imposed more rigorous restric-
tions on the new king than those to which Sigismund had sub-
mitted. Elizabeth, the daughter of the late king, was declared his
heir, and her husband, Albert of Austria, associated with her in
the government. At last the house of Austria laid its hand on
the throne of Hungary, the long-coveted object of it desires.
But Hungary made conditions. The new king must reside in
Hungary; he was neither to sell nor give away the crown lands;
he was to consult the diet concerning the marriage of his daugh-
ters, and he could not nominate the palatine without the consent
of the assembly. But neither the monarch nor the assembly had
to put this wise agreement into practice. Albert died in 1439, leav-
ing a pregnant wife, and the Turks, masters of Semendria, at the
gates of the kingdom. Hungary needed a king, not the infant,
Vladislav the Posthumous, who was born shortly afterward. The
majority of the nation pronounced in favor of Vladislav Jagellon,
king of Poland. Among the supporters of the new monarch was
John Corvinus Hunyady, known to history as John Hunyady. He
belonged to a noble family in Transylvania, and had already dis-
tinguished himself for bravery in the struggles against the Turks.
He now supported the king of Poland against the Austrian party,
and endeavored to unite all the forces of the nation to fight the
infidel.
Sultan Murad had laid siege to Belgrade, which at this time
belonged to Hungary, but Hunyady succeeded in raising the siege.
Next, when the Turks entered Transylvania, he marched against
them and administered a crushing defeat near Hermannstadt, leav-
ing 20,000 on the field of battle. To Brankovic, the Servian
despot, he sent the bloody head of a Turkish general, Mesid Beg,
as a reward for his aid. Sultan Murad, exasperated by this de-
feat, sent Schehadeddin and the Janissaries against Hungary.
Hunyady attacked them with a vastly inferior force near the Iron
Gates, and with his Hungarian cavalry completely defeated them.
Murad, terrified, asked for peace, but it was refused. Hungary
believed the time had come when the Turks could be definitively
driven from her frontiers. In July of 1443 King Vladislav and
Hunyady crossed the Danube near Semendria and ascended the
valley of the Morava. Here the Turks were again severely beaten
158 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1443-1444
and forced to abandon Sophia. The Hungarians then crossed the
passes of the Balkans, notwithstanding the formidable defenses of
the Turks, and penetrated into the valley of the Maritsa, where
they were again victorious. The road to Constantinople lay open
to the Magyars. But the severe winter of those rough regions
overtook them, and in the midst of triumphs the king was obliged
to order the retreat.
For the second time Murad asked for peace, and the diet of
Szeged consented on the conditions that a truce be concluded for
ten years, that Wallachia pass under the suzerainty of Hungary,
that Servia and Herzogovina be restored to the despot Brankovic,
and that the Turkish prisoners be ransomed at a heavy price. The
conditions were accepted and solemnly sworn to on the Bible and
on the Koran. But many believed the peace unwise, especially the
surrender of the advantages of the recent victories. Cardinal
Cesarini showed that oaths taken to infidels were not binding,
and that in the name of the Holy See he might annul them.
Consequently Hunyady and the king decided to renew the war,
notwithstanding the treaty, and marched upon Bulgaria and the
Black Sea. Murad was in Asia, but the Genoese carried his troops
to Europe for seventy thousand ducats, and on November lo, 1444,
the Christian and Mussulman armies found themselves face to face
at Varna, near the Balkans. In order to recall their perfidy to the
Christians and to trouble their conscience, Murad had a copy of the
broken treaty and the Gospel they had dishonored nailed to a lance
and borne before his troops. The battle opened favorably to the
Hungarians ; their cavalry charged with their usual impetuosity, and
King Vladislav, carried away by his enthusiasm, rushed into the
midst of the fight, where he fell, and his head, raised on the end
of a lance, announced their defeat to the Magyars. The battle
ended in hopeless flight, and Hunyady brought back to Hungary
only a miserable remnant of his glorious army. The defeat at
Varna opened the gates of Constantinople to the Turks.
Chapter XIV
HUNYADY AND THE HUNGARIAN WARS WITH
THE TURKS. 1444-1526
THIS time Hungary did not hesitate in selecting a king.
The young Vladislav the Posthumous, who was being
reared by his uncle, Frederick of Austria, was five years
old, and the diet at once proclaimed him king. During his minority
the government was to be carried on by representatives of the aris-
tocracy, both lay and ecclesiastic, a veritable republic, and Hun-
gary would have spared herself many misfortunes had she learned
by this experience to do without a king altogether. The diet fur-
ther decided that the young king should be transferred to its au-
thority, in order to be raised in Hungary. But Frederick refused
to give up his pupil, and the diet met again on the famous plain
of Rakos, and proclaimed John Hunyady governor in the absence
of the king. Hunyady became a sort of lieutenant governor in
much the same capacity as George of Podiebrad a little later in
Bohemia. The first enemy against which he had to defend Hun-
gary was Austria, but the Holy See, recognizing the importance of
Hungary in the struggle against the Turks, brought about a recon-
ciliation, and Hunyady again turned his attention toward the
Turks. He assembled an army of 25,000, crossed the Danube and
penetrated Servia, despite the hostility of the treacherous Bran-
kovic, as far as the fatal plain of Kosovo. Here Murad was await-
ing him behind formidable entrenchments, and in 1448 the disaster
of Varna was repeated for Hungary. But the popularity of
Hunyady and the confidence he inspired continued unimpaired.
The house of Austria, however, suspicious of the watchful guar-
dian of the interests of Hungary, raised new difficulties for him.
It supported the Czech, Jiskra of Brandyse, hetman of Vladislav,
who settled to the north of Hungary, on the slopes of the Car-
pathians, and occupied those regions for the king of Bohemia.
Against this formidable condottiere, who is hated by the Magyars,
and regarded by the Czechs as a hero and defender of the doctrines
of the Hussites, Hunyady's troops failed. The emperor also con-
159
160 AUSTRIA- HUNGARY
1448-1456
tinued in his refusal to give up the young king, while the Magyars,
always superstitious in their attitude toward the crown and the per-
son of their king, persisted in claiming him. Their envoys even
followed him to Italy, where they tried to seize him by surprise.
Finally, in 1453, the emperor yielded. Vladislav came to Hungary
and Hunyady handed over his authority, receiving with the royal
thanks the title of count of Bistrice. But the king did not remain
long; after assisting at the deliberations of the diet at Presburg
he returned to Vienna.
About this time the Turks again became active on the lower
Danube. Constantinople had fallen in 1453, and Brankovic ap-
pealed to Hungary for aid. A diet assembled at Buda voted large
subsidies, and the general insurrection, or a levy of all able-
bodied men in case the kingdom should be invaded. Hunyady
again entered Servia, ascended the valley of the Morava, where he
defeated the Turks near Krushevats, close to the place where they
had formerly invaded Servia, and pushed on as far as Sophia. But
to expel the Turks from Constantinople would have required the
cooperation of all Europe, not Hungary fighting single-handed.
Besides, Hunyady had two jealous rivals, the Palatine Gara and
the count of Cilly, who did their utmost to turn the young king
against him. The brave soldier was obliged to retrace his steps.
But he determined at least to save Belgrade, which, from its
strength and its position, is the key both of the middle Danube and
of the Save. By the Turks it has been called, and with good rea-
son, the Town of the Holy War. Hunyady's brother-in-law was
in command of the place and Sultan Mohammed II. had brought
together for its capture the most formidable artillery that had ever
been seen. In this unequal struggle Hunyady had no ally except
the army of 60,000 volunteers which the eloquence of the Monk
Capistrano had gathered from all over Europe. A very small
force in view of the danger threatening Christendom, but the age
of crusades had gone by.
The first battle took place on the Danube, when the Magyar
fleet overthrew the galleys of the Turks, and Hunyady and Ca-
pistrano were enabled to enter Belgrade. On July 21, 1456, after
having destroyed the walls with his formidable artillery, Mo-
hammed ordered the attack by the Janissaries. They broke through
the outworks, but on finding themselves confronted by a second
line of fortifications their courage failed. Completely repulsed,
WARS WITH THE TURKS 161
1456-1458
the sultan fled to Sophia, leaving 24,000 dead and all his artillery
under the walls of the citadel. But Hunyady did not long survive
this triumph ; he died shortly after, whether from a wound or from
an epidemic which broke out in the army, is not known. His con-
temporaries paid the most striking homage to his memory. " With
him," said Pope ^neas Sylvius, " have died our hopes." " He was
a great man in all things," exclaimed Chalcondylas. And the Polish
chronicler, Dlugosz, who is not at all favorable to the Hungarians,
is forced to write, " He was celebrated in fight, and possessed of
great worth as a leader of armies. His death was a calamity not
only for Hungary, but for the whole Catholic world."
King Vladislav was not worthy of such a subject. Besides
his previous ingratitude, he now allowed himself to be prejudiced
against the noble warrior, even after his death, by the count of
Cilly. Hunyady's son, Vladislav, and his brother-in-law Szilagy
came into possession of a letter written by the favorite to the despot
of Servia, in which he proposed to him to exterminate " these
Wallachian dogs," as he called the Hunyadys. They resolved to
anticipate him, and when Cilly came to Belgrade with the king
they caused his assassination. This was but an act of justice ac-
cording to the customs of the time, but the king never forgave it,
and at the instigation of Gara had Vladislav Hunyady cast into
prison at Buda, and condemned to death in 1457. The headsman,
in his agitation, struck three times without reaching the neck of
the noble victim. " The laws forbid striking more than thrice,"
said the son of the man who had saved Belgrade. But the king,
inflexible in his vengeance, ordered the execution of the sentence.
And as if to complete his own dishonor, he issued an edict declaring
John Hunyady a traitor and a scoundrel. But Vladislav did not
long survive his shame. He died a few days after his victim, Vlad-
islav Hunyady. Magyar poetry has found a fertile field in these
tragic events and is full of the memory of these sad scenes.
The memory of John Hunyady received a glorious vindica-
tion. Vladislav Hunyady had perished at the hands of the hang-
man, but he left a younger brother named Mathias. Him the Hun-
garian diet, at Pesth, in January, 1458, elected by almost unani-
mous choice as king. Szilagy, his uncle, was chosen governor
for five years, and after pledging himself to respect the liberties
of the nation, raised an army of 40,000 in support of the young
king. But Podiebrad, the newly elected king of Bohemia, whither
162 AUSTRIA- HUNGARY
1458-1463
Mathias had been sent by Vladislav the Posthumous, refused to let
him return except for a heavy ransom, and on condition that he
marry his eldest daughter Catherine. For the first time in many
years Bohemia and Hungary each had a native king, and the Holy
See and the house of Austria were alike astonished and enraged at
this innovation, which paid so little regard to their rights, and
still less to their claims.
The young king was worthy of his lofty dignity; he had
received a remarkable education; he spoke Hungarian, German,
and Slav, and from his father he inherited warlike instincts and the
art of ruling. He began by putting the military forces of Hun-
gary on a good footing. Then he took up the task of reducing the
strength of the great nobles who disputed the royal authority, and
among whom were his uncle, Szilagy, Gara, Jiskra de Brandyse,
and Ujlaky. In this, too, he was successful, notwithstanding their
alliance with Frederick IV., who still had possession of the sacred
crown and who now took the title of king of Hungary. The
emperor finally yielded, recognized Mathias as his adopted son,
and returned the sacred crown. In return he obtained his own
recognition as heir to the throne, in case Mathias died childless.
This left Mathias free to pursue the traditional policy of the
Magyars against the Turks, who had been gaining ground stead-
ily. In 1463 Bosnia was completely conquered by them; its king
and the greater number of the nobles beheaded, 30,000 young Bos-
nians enrolled in the Janissaries, and 200,000 carried into captivity.
In Wallachia, too, they had completely established their rule.
Mathias sent ambassadors to Vienna, Venice, and to the Pope, and
with the aid received from them was able to recover a part of Bos-
nia and drive the Mussulmans back from Belgrade. Once again
the frontier of Hungary on the Save was safe. But much more
remained to be done ; it was necessary to drive the Turks from the
Slavo-Hellenic peninsula, and in this work Hungary would natu-
rally be the sword of Europe. Still a proposal for a general coun-
cil and a grand league of Christendom against the infidel made by
France and Bohemia was rejected by Mathias, who suspected both
the motives and the plan. He had always retained a certain
animosity against Podiebrad, and he had little faith in a council,
remembering, perhaps, the sad consequences of the Council of
Constance. Besides, he regarded Podiebrad as a Hussite, and, en-
couraged by Pope Pius II., he now turned his arms against Bo-
WARS WITH THE TURKS 163
1463-1475
hernia, thus beginning- an anti-Christian crusade against the very
king who cherished the grandiose designs of a European coalition
against the infidel.
For a time the war was delayed, first by the intervention of
the emperor, always eager to interfere in the internal affairs of
Hungary, later by the revolt of Transylvania. But in 1468
Mathias assembled the estates of Hungary at Eger to prepare for
the fratricidal struggle against Bohemia — " A war," says the Hun-
garian historian, Boldenyi, " the most unjust and fruitless that
Mathias could have undertaken from the standpoint of Hungarian
interests. What glory, what triumphs would not have been as-
sured to Christendom in an intimate alliance of Hungary with
Bohemia against the Mussulman. The face of eastern Europe
might perhaps have been changed ! " Nothing could have been more
favorable to the interests of the Turks and the Austrians than this
conflict. The Hungarian diet hesitated at first, but the Papal
legate, the bishop of Breslau, and the envoy of the emperor urged
them on. War was determined upon, and the Pope's legate wrote,
" The church owes eternal praise to the king of Hungary."
The details of the war belong to the history of Bohemia.
After a struggle frequently interrupted by negotiations and a par-
tial reconciliation with Podiebrad, Mathias had himself crowned
king of Bohemia at Olmiitz, in 1469. The death of Podiebrad,
however, changed the situation. The Czechs elected Vladislav
Jagellon, the king of Poland, and against this rival, who com-
manded the forces of two kingdoms, Mathias had little chance of
holding the crown he had usurped in Moravia. Besides, he found
himself threatened by an invasion of the Turks in southern Hungary.
A treaty was soon (1475) concluded, by which Mathias was granted
Moravia and a part of Silesia. But these gains brought but little
advantage to Hungary. Indeed, the first part of the reign of Ma-
thias is wretched enough; the second part is greater and nobler.
The king, inspired by a wiser policy, directed his attacks against the
two real enemies of his kingdom — the Turks and the emperor. And
it was high time that attention should be given the Mussulman
advance. While Mathias was warring in Bohemia, Mohammed
II. had built the fortress of Shabats on the Save, which commands
that river above Belgrade. Against this fortress the king led his
forces and captured it, while his lieutenant, Batory, aiding Prince
Stephen of Moldavia, drove the Turks from that province.
164 AUSTRIA- HUN GARY
1475-1485
Against the emperor he was equally successful. The house
of Hapsburg, always jealous of Hungary, could not leave Mathias
in the peaceful enjoyment of the spoils of the struggle with Bo-
hemia, and a war broke out. It was, however, of short duration :
the Hungarian cavalry invaded Austria, carrying all before it, and
the emperor having fled to Linz, recognized the right of Mathias
to the free possession of Moravia and Silesia in 1485.
But notwithstanding these successes, Mathias, constantly
pressed by the Turks, was beginning to reap the fruits of his mis-
taken policy. At the very moment when he was most in need of
allies he found himself isolated. In 1479 a formidable Turkish
army invaded Transylvania. The king sent Batory against them,
and on the plain of Kenyer-Meso — the field of com — this gen-
eral, despite his smaller forces, scored a brilliant victory. He him-
self was wounded six times during the battle and finally saved only
by the heroism of Kiniszy, the intrepid commander of the hussars.
The tents and baggage of the enemy fell into the hands of the
Hungarians, who celebrated their victory with extravagant re-
joicings. Kiniszy himself, according to the chroniclers, " throwing
aside his usual gravity, executed the Hungarian dance, holding a
dead Turk in his teeth and one in each arm." The death of Mo-
hammed II. increased the hopes of the Christians still further. The
conqueror of Constantinople was succeeded by Bajazet II., and he
offered a truce for five years. This Mathias accepted, and at once
turned to take up the struggle with the Emperor Frederick again.
Frederick was forced to fly to Nuremberg. But the Germans of
Vienna were not inclined to submit to the Magyars, and a long
siege was necessary to reduce the city in 1485. Already in posses-
sion of Silesia and Moravia, the mastery over the archduchy of
Austria gave Mathias a state almost as large as Austria of to-day,
if we except Bohemia and Galicia. But his dominions were far
from being consolidated, and while the house of Austria extended
its influence by marriages, Mathias had no legitimate heir. And
in 1490 a sudden death carried him off before he had made final
arrangements for the disposition of his possessions. He wrote
his own proud epitaph: "Austria conquered bears witness to my
power. I was the terror of the world. The emperor of the Ger-
mans and the sultan of the Turks trembled before me. Death alone
could conquer me."
Hungary mourned her hero, and Mathias Corvinus remains
WARS WITH THE TURKS 165
1475-1485
to-day one of her most honored and best remembered kings. He
did not belong to a foreign house, but was one of her own sons.
He accomplished great things, but he was not a great man, and
the meanness of his ambitions has done more harm to Hungary
than the courage and variety of his enterprises profited her. As a
law-giver and a patron of art and letters his greatness is less ques-
tionable. Few sovereigns have had more respect for the constitu-
tion. Every year he convoked the diet, including not only the
prelates and barons, but also the representatives of the comitats;
or, as a contemporary expressed it, the " commonalty of the
kingdom."
" The political life of the comitats was very active during
his reign: these county assemblies met frequently, and Mathias
looked to them for support against the great nobles, who strove
to make themselves independent of the crown. The king had the
right to name the chief count of the comitat, but his deputy had
always to be chosen from among the nobles of the comitat. The
functions of the palatine were lessened and he was deprived of
those judicial powers which made of him the chief justice of the
kingdom. Although very religious and devoted to the Holy See
in a somewhat capricious rhanner, Mathias restrained the clergy
and prohibited appeals to Rome. But above all he tried to restrain
the privileges of the upper nobility. " Mathias is dead and justice
is fled " is a Magyar proverb that has come down to our times.
The king also took great pains to encourage and protect commerce,
and invited foreigners to his kingdom, especially the Servians, who
came in great numbers, after the death of Brankovic and the final
ruin of the old Servian empire.
Mathias had a well-cultivated mind, and possessed that ready
wit which makes a king popular. " He is a wise and learned king,
and of great dignity of speech. He says only what is necessary
and in reason and eloquence he surpasses all the princes I have
known," wrote the Papal legate. His second wife, Beatrix, brought
from Italy the traditions and influence of the Renaissance; many
Italians lived at the court of Buda and embellished the kingdom
with beautiful buildings. The royal palace was magnificent and
filled with precious objects. Mathias founded at Buda the first
royal library, the famous Corvina, which is said to have possessed
fifty thousand manuscripts, an enormous number for that time.
Agents were sent everywhere to buy manuscripts or make copies, and
166 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1475-1485
thirty copyists were constantly at work in Buda itself. He gathered
about him poets and writers, but unfortunately their works, which
were in Magyar, have perished; the only manuscripts of the time
that have been preserved deal with theology. The national lan-
guage had not yet attained its true place in literature.
The treasures of the Corvina library were unfortunately scat-
tered and lost during the succeeding centuries; the kings of the
Jagellon dynasty sold some and the Turks carried off others. Some
found their way to Paris, notably a Ptolemy and a St. Jerome;
others to Vienna and Pesth, while recently some volumes were re-
stored by the Turks on the occasion of the expressions of sympathy
between the two countries during the Russian war of 1877. But
the era of manuscripts was about to end : printing was introduced
from Germany in 1473, and by the end of the century Buda had as
many as thirteen bookstores. To this time also belong the be-
ginnings of a learned society called " Sodalitas litteraria Hun-
garorum." Most of the writers of the time are Italians and
Greeks, though some are natives, notably John Thuroczy, the
author of the " Chronicles of Hungary." Mathias contemplated
founding a large university at Buda, but death prevented the
realization of the project, though an Academia Corviniana, com-
prising the two faculties of theology and philosophy, existed down
to the time of the battle of Mohacs.
The reign of Mathias Corvinus is the highwater mark in the
history of Hungary : from this time forward we shall see her hope-
less decay. After the death of Mathias the diet, unable to find a
native king, and divided between rival factions, turned to a for-
eigner. Vladislav II., king of Bohemia, and the old rival of
Mathias, was elected, thus uniting the two crowns of St. Vacslav
and St. Stephen, a union which Mathias had so ardently hoped to
bring about by his deplorable war.
It was by no means the common interests of the two kingdoms
that had prompted the choice of the diet, for Vladislav was feeble
and insignificant. He was called the " King Dobre," which ex-
presses inertia, a characteristic which recommended itself strongly
to the violent nobility, anxious for a brief respite from the harsh
rule of Corvinus. " He neither liked nor knew how to command,
and, if he had, the country would have refused to obey. His head
was empty, and his purse was even more so. He must fumble at
the very bottom to find a solitary coin. Insects and the weather
WARS WITH THE TURKS 167
1485-1505
had eaten the fur from his garments, and his clothes were so worn
that they had lost their color."
The beginning of his reign was not fortunate; Maximilian
recovered the Austrian provinces, and John of Poland declared war
on his brother and obliged him to surrender a part of Silesia.
Maximilian also invaded Hungary, consenting to withdraw only
after a treaty had been signed which assured the succession in
Hungary to the house of Austria in case Vladislav died without
children. This treaty, in which the king disposed of the kingdom
without consulting it, raised a storm of indignation.
Meanwhile the Turks were crowding in upon the southern fron-
tier. Failing in his attempts to capture Belgrade, in 1492, Bajazet
II. had entered the valley of the Save and defeated the disorgan-
ized Hungarian forces. The diet of 1493 complains bitterly of
the cowardice and inertia of a king who preferred " the repose
and pleasures of the chase to the stem duties of war." The
finances of the kingdom were in the greatest disorder; the great
lords quarreled over the possession of power. In 1505 the diet
came to a remarkable decision. " This kingdom," declared the
manifesto, " has often been governed by foreign kings and never
has it suffered so much as under their rule. . . . Concerned
only with the interests of their families instead of studying the
manners and customs of this Scythian people, who have made
themselves masters of the soil they occupy at the price of their
blood, these foreigners have given themselves up to idleness rather
than the toils of war. Thus we have lost Servia, Galicia, Lodo-
meria, Bulgaria, and Dalmatia. . . . This dismemberment of
our frontiers may well cause us fear lest the enemy will ultimately
invade our land itself, if the nation, out of love for its native soil,
does not choose from among its own a capable king." It was
somewhat late for this expression of patriotism. The nobles had
only themselves to blame if Hungary had so often been ruled by
foreigners. The manifesto was sent to all the comitats. It was
mainly the work of the prothonotary, Stephen Verboczy, an ardent
patriot, who devoted his life to the study of the public law of
Hungary. But unfortunately legal formulas, however eloquently
expressed, avail nothing against brute force.
Vladislav had one son, Prince Louis. Entangled in the net-
work of Austrian diplomacy, he had affianced him in his cradle to
Mary of Austria, the sister of the future Charles V., agreeing fur-
168 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
150S-1521
ther that if his son should die first to bequeath the kingdom to his
daughter Anne, who was betrothed to Ferdinand of Austria. And
he cared so Httle for the interest of Hungary that he did not even
take advantage of the League of Cambray to regain Dalmatia
from Venice. An insurrection among the peasantry, accompanied
by appalling Jacqueries, added still further to the sadness of this
miserable reign. Hungary was essentially an aristocratic country.
The great barons did their utmost to crush the lesser nobility,
and these in their turn exploited the peasants. Deep-seated hatred
was nourished by the rural classes, and awaited only a suitable op-
portunity to burst forth. In 15 13 Cardinal Bakracz came from
Rome with a bull for a crusade against the infidel. The peasants
armed as if against the Turk, and then turned upon their lords.
The leader of the movement, Dosza, was a peasant from Transyl-
vania and a Szekler. Armed with a scythe, he led the peasants in
what he proclaimed a holy crusade, or kurucs, against their infidel
lords. In the first encounter he was successful, but the nobles chose
John Szapolyai, the voievode of Transylvania, as their leader, and
defeated Dosza near Temesvar. Their revenge upon the captured
leader was terrible. The king of the peasants was seated on a
throne of fire and a red-hot crown was placed on his head.
His wonderful fortitude under torture has made his name a popu-
lar one in Hungary, and tradition tells how Szapolyai was smitten
with blindness for two years as a punishment for his cruelty.
In the celebrated work presented to the diet in 15 14 by Ver-
boczy, entitled " Decretum bipartitum juris consuetudinorii" the
public law of Hungary is compiled. This work, so to speak the last
will and testament of independent Hungary, furnishes ample evi-
dence of the wretched social conditions which underlay the kurucs
and the numerous revolts that convulsed Hungary at this time. It
recognizes one legal class only, the nobles, descended from the an-
cient conquerors of the soil. As for the Jobbagyones, the serfs,
Verboczy declares that the revolt under Dosza " marks them forever
as infidels and condemns them to perpetual servitude."
The impotent Vladislav died in 1515. The reign of his infant
son, Louis II., is marked by two great catastrophes, the loss of
Belgrade, in 15 16, and the defeat at Mohacs, in 1521. The young
king was corrupt and dissolute and quite incapable of governing,
while his guardians were not men to rise to the occasion. The
finances were disorganized and the nobles quarreled over the
WARS WITH THE TURKS 169
1521-152S
shreds of sovereignty still left. These disorders were of great
service to the Turks. While Hungary was giving herself up to
anarchy, Turkey was ruled by her great sovereign, Suleiman the
Magnificent. A pretext to declare war was afforded him by the
arrest of a Turkish subject accused of being a spy. He assembled
his troops at Sophia, captured Shabats, and laid siege to Belgrade.
The place surrendered in 1521, and the key to the Danube became
thenceforward a Turkish fortress. Even in the presence of this
danger Hungary remained disunited and divided.
Meanwhile King Louis sought help on all sides. To the king
of England he wrote, " If help from your Majesty does not arrive
promptly, our kingdom is lost," and he even tried to induce a
Persian prince to make a timely diversion in the extreme East. The
Austrian princes offered their assistance, but they were too feeble,
even when combined with Hungary, to undertake the struggle with
Suleiman the Magnificent. On April 25, 1526, Suleiman had started
from Constantinople with 100,000 men and 300 cannon. He
marched not only against Hungary, but also against the empire,
one of the pretexts of the expedition being the captivity of Francis
I., for he came, he said, to rescue " the beg of France " from the
hands of his enemies. He crossed the Save near Essek, captured
Peterwardein and came up with the Hungarians at Mohacs, on the
right bank of the Danube. The Hungarians were commanded by
the king in person, assisted by Paul Tomory, archbishop of Ka-
losca, one of the warlike bishops of whom Hungary affords many
examples; George Szapolyai, and by Peter Pereny, bishop of
Great Varadin. Pereny wished to temporize in order to wait the
help from Croatia and Transylvania, but the impetuous Tomory
led to a decision in favor of immediate action, on August 26, 1526.
The opening of the battle seemed favorable to the Hungarians,
but Suleiman had ordered his first ranks to fall back before the
Hungarian cavalry that the main body might then close in on them.
Thus deceived, the Magyars were overwhelmed at close range by
the Ottoman artillery; forced to retreat, they rushed into the
marshy lands, where many were engulfed. The king was lost,
Tomory was slain, 7 prelates, 22 magnates, and 22,000 men re-
mained dead on the field. The road to Buda was now open to the
invaders, and laying waste the country on their way, they pushed
on to the Magyar capital. There they pillaged and destroyed the
rich treasures collected by Mathias Corvinus, sending much down
170
AUSTRIA- HUNGARY
1521-1526
the Danube to enrich and adorn Constantinople. Little by little
the tide of invasion ebbed, leaving behind it a land of devastation
and ruin.
With the death of Louis IL the independent existence of
Hungary came to an end. Henceforward it was to oscillate be-
tween Austria and Turkey for a century and a half, and then be
entirely under Austrian suzerainty till the time when the feeling of
nationality had become sufficiently strong to enable it to be once
more a self-governing nation.
PART III
THE ACQUISITION OF BOHEMIA AND HUN-
GARY, AND THE UNIFICATION OF THE
MONARCHY UNDER THE EMPERORS.
1493-1740
hi
V
It. :
Chapter XV
THE AUSTRIAN EMPERORS. 1493-1740
THE real greatness of the house of Austria dates from the
reign of Maximilian from 1493 to 15 19. At his acces-
sion he united under his rule all the domains of his fam-
ily: Austria, properly so-called, Styria, Carinthia, Camiola, and
the Tyrol, and his territories reached to the sea at Triest and Fiume.
In 1500 he inherited Gorica, Gradiska, Mitterburg, and the Puster-
thal, and although he lost the seaports on the Adriatic in his war
with Venice in 1509, they were soon recovered. The war with
the Swiss ended less fortunately for Austria. After a severe strug-
gle, during which the Confederates, with their long pikes and hal-
berds, had invaded Austrian Suabia and the Tyrol, destroyed
over two hundred villages and towns, and slain more than twenty
thousand men, Maximilian agreed to the peace of Basel in 1499,
by which the Swiss were finally released from all obligations to the
house of Hapsburg and the emperor. But this loss was really a
gain. By concentrating her power, Austria strengthened herself.
In 1505 Maximilian, by his successful intervention in the disputes
over the Bavarian succession, secured a number of towns from that
state, notably Kufstein, and the lordships of Rottenberg and Kitz-
biihl, giving him a foothold on the sources of the Drave and the
Isonzo. Thus at this time the Austrian dominions formed a sort
of half-circle, touching the southern frontier of Germany from
Silesia to Switzerland, while she also had scattered possessions in
Suabia, Alsace, and the Black Forest. Among her subjects were
Germans, Slavs, and Italians; but then, as now, the Germans,
thanks to the proximity of Germany, to the innate tenacity of their
race, and to the prestige of the imperial crown, were the dominant
element.
The most important event in these hereditary provinces dur-
ing Maximilian's reign, apart from the invasions of the Venetians,
the Swiss, and the Turks, was the peasants' war which broke out
in Camiola in 15 15 and rapidly spread throughout the neighbor-
ing provinces. Contemporaneous with the revolt of Dosza, in
173
174 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1493-1506
Hungary, this insurrection also was caused by famine and the
exactions of a selfish nobility. The Slovene peasants of Carniola
adopted as their watchword sfara pravda — our old rights — and,
like the Magyar kurucs, declared that they revolted not against the
sovereign, but against the nobles. The insurrection spread rapidly,
and, if contemporary accounts are to be believed, they set on foot
an army of 80,000 men, spreading terror everywhere, taking cas-
tles, and hanging nobles. But like the peasants' revolt in connec-
tion with the Lutheran Reformation a little later, the movement was
suppressed with ruthless cruelty.
Maximilian was always in need of money, and frequently
summoned the diets of the hereditary provinces to ask for sub-
sidies, which were often refused. The provinces were poor, but
the monarch was still more so, and out of his necessity he was
obliged to promise not to make war without the consent of the
estates. Under his reign, also, the provinces were drawn more
closely together by the organization of general diets, to which they
sent their representatives, as, for example, the diet of Wiener-
Neustadt, in 1502, in which Upper and Lower Austria, Styria, Ca-
rinthia, and Carniola were all represented.
Many of the affairs of Austria, however, during the reign of
Maximilian, as indeed during that of many of his successors, are
intimately wrapped up with those of the empire. In 1493, on the
death of his father, Frederick IV., Maximilian was chosen em-
peror. He hoped to make the imperial dignity hereditary in his
family, and to use it to further Hapsburg interests. These he be-
lieved to lie in the acquisition of the Netherlands, regaining Hun-
gary and Bohemia, the defeat of the French king in the dispute
over the rich inheritance of the dukes of Burgundy, the reassertion
of his claims in Italy, and the admission of Austria into the elec-
toral college. The electors, who were deeply impressed at this time
with the need of reforms within the empire, gave him but a luke-
warm support, and, on the matter of admitting a new member into
their college, refused flatly to comply with his wishes. Thus the
Hapsburgs, although for centuries the wearers of the imperial
crown, were excluded from the body which conferred it, though
they later entered the electoral college as kings of Bohemia. Nev-
ertheless, Maximilian continued his other projects, and lost no op-
portunity of identifying the interests of his family with those of
Germany. Before a diet held in 1506 he declared that he hoped
(^ !-"
< ^
'Z -o
THE AUSTRIAN EMPERORS 175
1506-1519
some day to add the crowns of Bohemia and Hungary to the
empire, if he were properly aided.
It is chiefly through his wise family alliances that he con-
tributed so much toward the increase in prestige and power of the
house of Austria. By his own marriage with Mary of Burgundy,
in 1477, he had prepared the way for the extensive dominions of
Charles V. and the acquisition of possessions and influence in the
Netherlands, Burgundy, and Italy. By the marriage alliances en-
tered into with the reigning houses in Bohemia and Hungary he
laid the basis for the Austrian state as it exists to-day, and to no
Hapsburg ruler is the well-known distich more applicable than to
Maximilian :
Bella gerant fortes: tu felix Austria nube;
Nam quce Mars aliis, dat tibi regna Venus.
In 15 1 5 the marriage of his grandchildren, Ferdinand and
Mary, with Louis and Anne, the children of Vladislav, king of Bo-
hemia and Hungary, was arranged, and at this time Vladislav and
his brother, Sigismund, king of Poland, paid a visit to Vienna,
during which the ancient treaties of inheritance between Austria,
Hungary, and Bohemia were renewed. Thanks in a large meas-
ure to these treaties, Austria was to become the dominant power
in the middle Danube, and the house of Hapsburg unite under its
scepter Bohemia and Hungary as well as Austria. Unfortunately
the role she thus came to play in European matters from the six-
teenth century onward has too often led historians to forget the
internal history of the peoples with whom her destinies have since
been so closely associated.
Maximilian died in 15 19, and was buried at Innsbruck, his
favorite residence, for he was a great hunter and passionately
fond of the mountains of the Tyrol. Of all the Austrian sov-
ereigns none since Rudolf has lived so long in the popular
memory. He himself contributed to perpetuate his name with pos-
terity through the two poems, " Theiierdank " and " Weiss Konig/'
which he inspired and perhaps wrote in part. He was fond of
artists and learned men, and became the patron of the SodalitaS
Danuhiana, a kind of academy founded at Vienna by the human-
ist Konrad Celtes. Indeed, Vienna and Austria enjoyed a
renaissance of learning and culture during his reign. It is the
age of the German renaissance of Erasmus and Hutten of the ac-
170 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1519-1558
tivity of the newly discovered art of printing, and of all that great
social and economic unrest that preceded the Reformation.
Maximilian was twice married, but had only one legitimate
son, Philip the Handsome, born to him by Mary of Burgundy.
Philip married Joanna the Insane, daughter of Ferdinand and
Isabella of Spain. He died in 1500, leaving two sons, Charles and
Ferdinand, to divide the empire of Europe, and carry the name of
Austria to the savannahs of the New World.
On the death of Maximilian I. his two grandsons, who had
been reared and educated away from Austria, Charles in the Low
Countries, Ferdinand in Spain, fell heir to his possessions.
Charles was elected emperor in 1519, and two years later, in 1521,
he came to an agreement with his brother concerning a division of
their lands. By this settlement Charles V. conferred on his brother
all the Austrian possessions with the title of lieutenant of the em-
pire, reserving to himself that of duke of Austria. This prince,
one-half Spaniard, was not received with confidence in a country
where he was so little known, and the foreign advisers whom he
brought with him were extremely unpopular. Disturbances arose
in Vienna, but were suppressed and the two ringleaders executed.
On May 27, 1521, at Linz, Ferdinand celebrated his marriage with
the Princess Anne, sister of Louis, king of Bohemia and Hungary,
and at the same time Louis, then aged fifteen, married Mary, the
sister of Ferdinand, thus carrying into execution the wise matri-
monial plans of Maximilian.
The name of Ferdinand I. is completely obscured by that of
Charles V., but in reality Ferdinand's reign marks the beginning
of a state which plays an important part in the destinies of Europe
even to-day, while only the memory of the wide dominions of
Charles V. remains. The Spanish branch of the house of Haps-
burg attained its highest power at the Treaty of Chateau-Cambresis
in 1559, while the Treaty of Vervins, in 1598, already marks its
decline. The power of the Austrian branch, on the other hand,
owing to its possession of the hereditary states, Bohemia, Hun-
gary, and after 1558 the imperial crown, increased steadily.
In 1526, at the death of Louis at Mohacs, Ferdinand became
king of Bohemia and Hungary. At his coronation at Prague and
at Buda he swore to maintain the rights and privileges of the two
kingdoms. Five years later he was elected king of the Romans,
in spite of the opposition of the Protestants, and in 1558 emperor.
THE AUSTRIAN EMPERORS
177
1519-1558
From this time the imperial crown, with one unimportant excep-
tion, remained in the house of Austria. A staunch CathoHc, Ferdi-
nand opposed the Reformation, and did all in his power to prevent
the movement from entering his dominions. As was the case in
Germany, it coincided with a formidable peasants' war; Salzburg",
Styria, and the Tyrol rose in insurrection, and a popular assembly
which met at Meran drew up a manifesto the boldness and audacity
of which astonish us even to-day. " In the Tyrol," says this docu-
ment, " there will be henceforth but one law, and that the law of
the land; there shall be no Roman law, foreign and unintelligible
to the poor people. The government sitting at Innsbruck shall be
composed only of natives. There shall be no distinction of per-
son before the tribunals. Bishops, monasteries, and begging friars
shall be suppressed ; priests shall not be allowed to hold more than
one living. The surplus of the revenues of the church shall be
178 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1519-1564
devoted to the needs of the poor. The estates of the clergy shall
be secularized and the revenues of the monasteries shall be collected
by the servants of the king and employed for the public good. The
king may choose only his financial agents, all officers of justice shall
be appointed and dismissed by the people. Fishing and hunting
shall be free to everyone, the great trading companies shall be
dissolved in order that the prices of commodities may be decreased.
All custom houses except those belonging to the crown shall be
suppressed; likewise the seigneurial dues and forced labor. Uni-
formity of weights and coinage shall be decreed." The peasants
also took great pains to declare that they fought against the priv-
ileged orders and not against the king. Ferdinand was obliged to
yield. He granted pardon to the insurgents and the execution of
those clauses of the articles of Meran which did not affect the
property of the church.
The Reformation made rapid progress in other hereditary
provinces. In Austria proper there were ardent disciples as early
as 1520, and thirty years later the procession of Corpus Christi
could not be held at Vienna. Two hundred parishes had no priests,
and 268 had become Protestant. The same progress was made
in Styria; in 1552 the procession of Corpus Christi was suppressed
at Gratz. In Carniola, among the Slovenes, one result of the Ref-
ormation was the emancipation of the national language; several
theological works were printed in Slavic at Tubingen under the
direction of Primus Truber, who also undertook the translation of
the Bible into the native tongue. The new doctrines penetrated
as far as Triest and Gorica, and in the Tyrol the Anabaptists
almost succeeded in causing another uprising among the peasants.
On several occasions the diets themselves gave expression to the
need for liberty of conscience, and Ferdinand, who had begun by
forbidding the use of Luther's Bible, was obliged finally to allow
communion in both kinds.
But the spread of the Reformation was not to continue long
without more serious and better organized opposition. At the
famous Council of Trent, which met in the Tyrol from 1545 to
1563, under the protection of Ferdinand, the doctrines of the Cath-
olics were clearly formulated, and in 1547 Ferdinand set up a cen-
sorship of the press in his dominions. About the same time the
Society of Jesus was founded for the special object of combating
the Reformation, and it was not slow in entering the Austrian lands.
THE AUSTRIAN EMPERORS 179
1519-1564
for in 1552 the Jesuits established themselves in Vienna, in 1560
in the Tyrol, and in 1564 in Styria.
But the religious difficulties were not the only troubles Ferdi-
nand experienced. He had to witness the ravaging of his territories
by the Turks; Vienna was besieged in 1529, and thirty years later
Camiola was devastated by them. Amid all these difficulties
Ferdinand had the satisfaction of seeing his son Maximilian
chosen king of the Romans and to have him crowned king of Bo-
hemia and Hungary. The principle of primogeniture had not been
fully established in the house of Austria, and Ferdinand divided
the hereditary states among his three sons, Maximilian getting
Austria, Ferdinand the Tyrol, and Charles Styria, Carinthia, and
Carniola.
Ferdinand died in 1564. He has been praised by many. He
had received an excellent education; he knew Spanish, French, and
German, and he was fond of men of letters and science. Although
a devout Catholic, he was not a fanatic, and might in other times
have made a good ruler for the hereditary provinces. But imbued
with the idea of absolutism, he could not understand the constitu-
tions of Bohemia and of Hungary. In Bohemia especially his
memory is detested. From his reign dates the High Council of
.War, the first institution common to the whole group of states.
Maximilian H. was a tolerant and liberal-minded prince for
his time. His preceptors had been the learned Wolfgan Schiefer
(Severus) and Collatin, who were secretly attached to Protestant-
ism. It was in order to correct their influence that Ferdinand
sent the young prince to Spain and he even talked of excluding
him from the succession.
When Maximilian assumed the reins of government in 1564
he had already shown his goodwill toward the Reformation, and
this policy he continued during his reign. He corresponded with
Melanchthon, and even maintained a Lutheran preacher at his
court, greatly arousing the suspicion and anxiety of the court at
Rome. When the news of the massacre of St. Bartholomew
reached him he denounced the perpetrators in no unmeasured terms.
Nevertheless, he declined to yield to the request of the estates of
Austria to expel the Jesuits, and would allow the nobles only to
practice the Reformed religion, refusing to grant liberty of con-
science to the towns. He had married his cousin, Mary, the daugh-
ter of Charles V., who, faithful to her Spanish blood, brought up
180 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1564-1591
their children with a horror of heresy. Two of his sons, Rudolf
and Mathias, reigned after him. The former he had caused to
be crowned king of Hungary in 1572 and of Bohemia in 1575.
Rudolf n. was more mindful of the zealous devotion of his
mother than of the tolerance of his father. In more than one
respect he resembled Philip II., for he had the fierce fanaticism and
the morose disposition of that prince, though he lacked his strength
of will. He has become notorious for his love for the occult sci-
ences, and for his obstinate indolence. Prague, which owes to him
much of its splendor, he chose as his place of residence, and there
he lived in retirement in his castle of Hradcany, surrounded by
astronomers and astrologers, among whom were Tycho-Brahe.
But the dangerous fancies of this weak emperor ended by disturb-
ing his reason, and his brothers decided to proclaim Mathias head
of the family. In 1608 he was given the title of governor of
Austria, Moravia, and Hungary.
In the hereditary provinces the reign of Rudolf was marked
by a peasant war, caused by the agrarian difficulties and the de-
mand for liberty of conscience, the two causes of discontent which
are intimately associated with each other during this period. But
the Jesuits and the upper clergy worked hard to suppress the de-
mand for reform, and the spirit of their methods is well illustrated
by the following couplet addressed to the emperor in 1581 :
Utere jure tuo, Casar, servosgue Lutheri
Ense, rota, ponto, funibus, igne neca!
In Styria the Archduke Charles was no less zealous to restore
Catholicism. He established the Jesuits at Gratz, and by 1572 the
religious processions, suppressed twenty years before, were resumed.
The protests of the Lutheran nobility were ignored, and the
counter-reformation progressed rapidly. A Catholic printing-press
was set up at Gratz, and a Jesuit university, which exists still, was
founded there in 1586. The nobles were compelled to send their
children there for instruction under pain of disgrace and punish-
ment, while they were, at the same time, forbidden to allow their
children to attend the heretical schools of Germany. But the
burghers, peasants, and diets harassed the archduke incessantly
with their petitions, and he died in 1591 of weariness and chagrin.
His work was continued by his successor, Ferdinand, afterward em-
THE AUSTRIAN EMPERORS 181
1591-1612
peror and king of Bohemia and Hungary. On a pilgrimage to
Loretto this prince had taken a vow to exterminate heresy, and he
remained true to his word. He began by driving the Protestant
preachers from Gratz and other towns, then he seized their schools,
burned their books, and compelled all members of the Reformed
religion to sell their property and emigrate. The Capuchins were
sent for to help the Jesuits to lead the people back to the faith.
Later on Ferdinand had an opportunity to apply these methods of
conversion on a larger scale in Bohemia.
In Austria the Archduke Mathias was obliged to treat with
the estates and to renew the agreements of Maximilian, which
granted liberty of conscience on the seigneurial estates, but not in
the towns. In the Tyrol the Archduke Ferdinand, who must not
be confused with Emperor Ferdinand II., labored with equal
energy for the restoration of Catholicism. But his administration
was good. The province owed to him the Landesordnung, a code
of laws which remained in force for more than two centuries, an
improved system of coinage, and wise measures for the development
of commerce and industry.
Rudolf, whose weak mind had, as we have seen, led his broth-
ers to assume the administration of his affairs, never married, and
he was succeeded in 1612, in Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary, by
Mathias. The latter's thirst for power and constant activity stand
in striking contrast with the indolence of his brother, but he was
devoid of greatness. The chief interest of the reign of Mathias
centers in the beginning of the Thirty Years' War. Without direct
heirs, his principal concern was to secure his inheritance to his
family. He chose his cousin, Ferdinand, of the Styrian branch,
as his heir, and obtained an act of renunciation from his brothers,
Albert and Maximilian, and from the king of Spain, The Bo-
hemian and Hungarian estates ratified this agreement and Ferdi-
nand was crowned in the two kingdoms.
It may seem somewhat surprising that this transaction
should have been so readily accepted in Bohemia and Hungary,
but it should be remembered that in all essentially aristocratic
countries the nobles prefer to obey a stranger to one of themselves,
even if the latter were a Mathias Corvinus or a Podiebrad. Be-
sides, there was the constant menace of a Mussulman invasion, and
both countries instinctively felt that it was to their interest to se-
cure the support of the princes of a house already powerful by
18a AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1612-1637
itself, and who could, in case of necessity, bring to their assistance
the forces of all of Germany. Unfortunately, the Hapsburgs were
overzealous as protectors of Catholicism, neglected the interests
of Bohemia and Hungary, and associated themselves completely
with Catholic intolerance. Adherents of the reform doctrines,
whether of Huss, Luther, or Calvin, were as hateful to them as the
Turks. Besides, they identified all spirit of independence with
heresy, and ruthlessly crushed out liberty, making absolutism the
basis of their policy.
Ferdinand II. (1618-1637), a fervent Catholic and a despot,
was the first and one of the best examples of this class of Austrian
rulers. He had been educated at Ingolstadt under the direction of
the Jesuits and his pious uncle, William of Bavaria, and had at
different times expressed his desire to become a Jesuit himself.
His policy in Styria, noted above, shows how he carried the pre-
cepts of his instruction into practice. Bohemia and Hungary
afforded a much larger field for his religious ardor. His reign was
a golden age for the Catholic church in Austria. He founded six-
teen Jesuit colleges, besides numerous convents for the Barnabites,
Capuchins, Carmelites, Augustines, and Benedictines, at the same
time greatly increasing the estates of the clergy. Outwardly a
strict observer of the Christian virtues, Ferdinand was always prac-
ticing ostentatious acts of charity in matters not touching the
treatment of heretics. His second son, Leopold William, was
destined for the church, and at the age of eleven was already
possessed of two bishoprics and four abbeys. Under Ferdinand all
the hereditary provinces had again been united, but in 1623 he
ceded the Tyrol to his brother Leopold, who married the beautiful
and talented Claudia de* Medici.
Ferdinand II. naturally assumed the leadership of the Cath-
olic party in the Thirty Years' War, and at his death, in 1637,
bequeathed this enormous struggle to his successor, Ferdinand III.
(1637-1657). This war was to strike a rude blow at the prestige
of the house of Austria in Germany. It was during its progress
that the remarkable pamphlet on the Holy Roman Empire, by
Hippolytus a Lapide (Philip Chemnitz), appeared. According to
this famous pamphlet the only way of saving the empire from
certain ruin was to exclude Austria from Germany. She had never
exercised any but a disastrous influence there; she had become
powerful at the expense of the empire, and she ought now to allow
THE AUSTRIAN EMPERORS 188
1637-1659
Germany to form a federation without her, under the tutelage of
France or Sweden. The Peace of Westphalia, in 1648, in assuring
liberty of conscience to Gemiany, made no stipulations for the sub-
jects of Austria, excepting the Silesians, among whom the exten-
sive spread of Protestantism was to be an important factor in the
later separation of that province from Austria and its assimilation
by Prussia. In the hereditary provinces the counter-reformation
was continued with greater energy than ever. But in spite of its
efforts, sympathy for the Reformation continued, particularly in
Upper Austria, and a number of families of the noble class emi-
grated to secure liberty of conscience. Uprisings by the peasants
were ruthlessly suppressed. Yet Ferdinand III. was not cruel or
wanting in intelligence. The Venetian ambassador in his corre-
spondence represents him as an enlightened, gentle, and moderate
sovereign. He simply carried out the ideas of his age and the tra-
ditions of his family. The early death of his oldest son, Ferdi-
nand, left the succession to his second son, Leopold, whose long
reign, from 1657 to 1705, occupies the second half of the seventeenth
century.
At the accession of Leopold I. the Austrian state was much
smaller than at present. Galicia still belonged to Poland and the
Dalmatian shore to the republic of Venice; the Tyrol to a cadet
branch of the house of Austria, and scarcely a third of dismem-
bered Hungary yielded obedience to the king. On the other hand,
Bohemia still included most of Silesia. But Leopold soon acquired
the Tyrol, while the victories of Eugene secured for him nearly all
of Hungary, Croatia, Slavonia, and Transylvania. Altogether the
Austrian dominions, which numbered only 6800 square miles at
Leopold's accession, had been increased to 9100 at his death.
And yet this prince, who thus increased his inheritance by a
third, was not of a warlike temperament, and never commanded
an army. He had been educated by the Jesuits Miiller and Neid-
hard, and was to have entered the church. He brought to the
throne the merits and defects of his early training, great purity
of life, extreme humility, and a spirit of inexorable intolerance.
He had absolutely no decision of character and followed the ad-
vice of the most divergent councilors, especially of his Jesuit con-
fessor, Miiller, whom Puffendorf calls " a pedant of the schools
who understood nothing of practical affairs." He led a melan-
choly, monotonous life in his castle at Vienna, only partially re-
184 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1659-1683
lieved by the study of music, painting, literature, and some of the
mechanical arts. More than once placards were found on the doors
of the palace which implored him to be a Caesar, not a musician or a
Jesuit. " In Leopold," says Sayous, " were united and intensified
all the faults of his ancestors, without any of their greatness. The
haughty Austrian lip had become a real deformity in him and
made him look like a veritable caricature of Charles V. Leopold
founded two universities, one at Breslau, the other at Innsbruck.
He reformed the courts of justice, substituted the German for the
Latin language, and organized a regular police in Vienna.
Leaving aside the part played by Leopold as emperor in the
affairs of Europe, his reign in Austria presents but one event of
importance, the siege of Vienna by the Turks. In 1683 the grand
vizier, Kara Mustapha, supported by the Hungarians, marched
upon Vienna. The emperor, with his family and the court, and
the larger part of the nobility, hastily withdrew to Linz, leaving
the capital with a feeble garrison and dismantled fortifications.
Under such circumstances it seemed as if it could not hold out long,
but Duke Charles of Lorraine and Count Stahrenberg exerted
every effort to put it in a state of defense, and the inhabitants dis-
played a courage bordering on the heroic. Students, merchants,
and citizens turned soldiers and themselves burned the outskirts of
the city lest they should be used as shelter by the enemy.
The Turks were soon masters of the outer works, and after
establishing a magnificent camp, settled down to a regfular siege.
At least eighteen attempts were made to take the city by storm.
The situation became rapidly desperate ; added to the danger from
without was the steadily approaching famine within. Fortunately
the great Polish king and hero, John Sobieski, whose very name
was already a terror to the Turks, appeared in time to save the
city from its terrible fate. Supported by the Pope, Innocent XI.,
Sobieski succeeded in persuading the Polish diet to send its army
against the Turks. Sobieski, knowing the peril of Vienna, at once
pushed forward by forced marches to its relief. On the Danube
he was joined by the army of the duke of Lorraine and the contin-
gents from Saxony and Bavaria, and when he reached Vienna he
had about 80,000 men under his command. On September 12 he
appeared on the heights of the Kahlenberg. The attack was at
once made; the shock was terrible. The infidel gave way, Kara
Mustapha fled, and more than 20,000 Turks perished.
THE AUSTRIAN EMPERORS 186
1659-1683
The next day the conqueror entered Vienna, enthusiastically
greeted by the populace, which had witnessed the departure of the
emperor with much indignation. On September 15 Leopold in his
turn came back to the capital, and soon the meanness of his char-
acter manifested itself. More jealous of Sobieski than grateful
for his help, he at first avoided an interview, and then ended by
contriving means of humiliating his benefactor. He wasted much
time trying to determine how an emperor ought to receive the elected
king of the Polish republic. " With open arms," the duke of
Lorraine had replied; but to Leopold the great question was
whether he should stand to the right or to the left. The interview
at length took place in the open field, and it was decided that the
two sovereigns should stand facing each other. After the ex-
change of a few commonplaces, Sobieski rode off, saying he would
direct his generals to show the emperor his army if it would
please him.
In his letters to Maria Kazimira, his wife, he tells with elo-
quence and much bitterness the painful impression made upon him
by Austrian ingratitude. " The palatine of Red Russia," he wrote,
" displayed cur army , to the emperor, but our people are much
annoyed and complain loudly because the emperor did not deign
to thank them even by a bow for all the pains and privations they
have undergone. They give us neither forage nor provisions ; our
sick are lying on dunghills, and our many wounded cannot obtain
boats to carry them down to Presburg, where I could more easily
provide for them at my own cost. They will not bury our dead in
their cemeteries, not even the superior officers. . . . They
steal our baggage and carry off those of our horses which are in the
rear. Except for the oats found in the camp of the Turks, all our
horses must have perished. We should be less miserable if they
constructed a bridge across the Danube and allowed us to go and live
among our enemies. There we would at least find provisions : but
here these Viennese gentlemen put off everything from one day to
another, and now that they are saved give themselves up to the ex-
cesses for which God had rightly punished them. Because many
of our men, on account of the lack of provisions in the country,
hurried to the city to find food, the commandant has given orders
to exclude them and to fire upon them. After so great a battle,
in which we have lost so many people of our most illustrious fam-
ilies, we are treated like plague-stricken men whom everyone
186 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1659-1683
avoids. Nothing remains but to see our army waste away, not
under the blows of the enemy, but by the fault of those who owe
us all. So I shall march away to-day, perhaps to find a greater
famine, but I wish to get away from Vienna, where they fire upon
my men. We are here upon the banks of the Danube, like the
Israelites formerly on the shores of the Euphrates. We weep for
the loss of our horses, for the ingratitude of those whom we have
saved, and for so many chances of victory lost. Finally, everybody
is discouraged and some even go so far as to regret that we brought
aid to the emperor at all."
After leaving the emperor at Vienna Sobieski pursued the
Turks into Hungary and captured Gran, and in December he re-
entered Cracow.
Before taking up the reign of Joseph L, it is important to
study briefly the general organization of Austria under Leopold.
All political and judicial matters were at this time intrusted to a
Council of State or Secret Conference, matters of finance and com-
merce to the Court Chamber (Hofkammer), and war to the Coun-
cil of War. But the powers of the different councils were not very
clearly defined. The Secret Conference never numbered more than
twelve members. It assisted the emperor in all important matters.
The practice of intrusting ministers with special departments did
not yet exist. There was no minister of foreign affairs and all nego-
tiations were conducted with a slowness that had become proberbial.
" Vienna vult expectari " was a widespread proverb in the diplo-
matic world. Nor could any member of the council ever boast of
having as much influence with the emperor as any one of his
numerous confessors.
The High Council of War had been established in 1556, and
under Leopold it was composed of about a dozen members, pre-
sided over by a president. At the head of the army was a lieuten-
ant general dependent upon the council. At the beginning of the
reign Austria did not yet possess a standing army. The celebrated
General Montecuculli was the first to demand that one should be
organized, and although his wishes were not conceded, he never-
theless induced the emperor not to disband all the troops after a
war, and to make some effort to retain veterans in the service.
The army, not counting the garrisons or the Hungarian and
Croatian troops, numbered on an average about 30,000 men. In the
Turkish wars from 50,000 to 90,000 were put in the field, but of
THE AUSTRIAN EMPERORS 187
1683-1698
these the German princes furnished from 20,000 to 30,000. After
1680 the continuance of war had for its immediate result the
permanence of the army, and its organization along definite lines.
The first infantry regiment dates from 1680, and by 1705 there were
twenty regiments of cuirassiers, eleven of dragoons, and thirty-six
of infantry, besides the irregular troops. An infantry regiment
numbered from 2000 to 2500 men, those of the cavalry from 500 to
1000. Recruiting was done, as elsewhere throughout Europe at
this time, by recruiting officers and sergeants who allured men to
becoming soldiers by the promise of money and booty. In case of
extraordinary need the provincial diets voted special levies, and
vagabonds and prisoners of war were forcibly enrolled. Old sol-
diers married and brought up their children in the profession of
arms, so that oftentimes three generations might be found in
the ranks, while the armies were always followed by an immense
number of women and children.
Toward the end of the seventeenth century a small fleet was
established on the Danube, commanded by an admiral and manned
by sailors from Holland and the Baltic. In time of peace the garri-
sons were always weak ; Vienna never had more than 2000 soldiers.
In Hungary the government maintained 10,000 men aside from the
national militia, but they were poorly fed and badly paid, and
often obliged to pillage the enemy's country to obtain food. In-
deed, pillaging of this kind had become a regular custom, even the
Turks agreeing that if the frontier was not crossed by more than
500 men and so long as they were without artillery, peace was
not violated. War was, moreover, still very poorly organized;
supplies were never ready, and the expeditions against the Turks
always set out too late. Regiments were often farmed out or
rented by the colonels or other officers for their own profit; the
treasury paid poorly and pay was at times half a year in arrears,
which accounts for the frequent insubordination of the troops. In
1698 a commission was appointed to remedy these evils; its de-
liberations were numerous, but it accomplished nothing. There
were also other deplorable influences at work in the army. Not
infrequently the appointment of officers depended upon the king's
confessor; there was no guarantee for their obtaining a technical
education, and it became necessary to have recourse to Prussian,
French, and English officers for this purpose. No military school
existed. The care of the sick and wounded was neglected. In
188 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1683-1698
1696 a lottery was established as a means of founding a military
hospital, and the lottery has since remained a recognized financial
institution in Austria.
The greater part of these miseries was due to the bad state
of the finances. The whole of the ordinary revenues by direct
taxation was made up of more or less equal subsidies, voted each
year (in Hungary every three or four years) by the different diets.
Thus, Lower Austria paid on an average two hundred thousand
florins, Upper Austria one hundred, Bohemia, Silesia, and Moravia
twelve hundred thousand. Extraordinary subsidies took the form
of voluntary gifts. The indirect taxes were often burdened with
debts contracted toward the various provinces of the empire. But
the treasury was very clever at finding sources of revenue. As
early as 1676 it laid a tax on billiards, playing-cards, and hair-
powder; later on the monopoly on tobacco and stamped paper was
introduced; in 1691 a capitation tax was laid, from which neither
nobles nor ecclesiastics were exempt, and then finally, under pre-
texts of philanthropy, the lottery was established. Toward the end
of the reign the total revenues from the three groups, Austria, Bo-
hemia, and Hungary, approximated the sum of twelve million
florins.
For purposes of administration the country was divided into
different groups: Lower Austria, comprising the Austrian lands
on both sides of the Enns ; Middle Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Car-
niola, Gorica, and Istria ; Upper Austria, the Tyrol, Outer Austria,
and the possessions of Austria in Germany; Bohemia, which in-
cluded Silesia and Moravia; and Hungary and Croatia, which
formed one group. Three chief chanceries were maintained at
the court, one for Bohemia, one for Hungary, and the third for the
hereditary states. But these did not prevent the continuance of the
local institutions autonomous to each. For example, Hungary had
its chancery at Vienna, while the emperor was represented in Hun-
gary by the palatine, and in Croatia by the ban; but every effort
was made to bring the financial and military administration under
the control of Vienna. Bohemia, crushed in 1620, retained only its
chancery.
The Hapsburgs have always had absolutist tendencies, and
the prestige of their imperial title made them more readily forget
their duties as kings, counts, or archdukes. Nevertheless, their
rule was based on the principle of representation. Each province
THE AUSTRIAN EMPERORS 189
1698-1704
had its estates, in which sat the deputies of the nobility, the clergy,
and the towns. It is true the government did not always consult
them in matters of civil and criminal legislation or on questions of
commerce; it looked to them to levy the taxes, and left them the
direction of internal affairs, the lower courts and the appoint-
ment of the provincial officers. Customs barriers existed between
all the provinces, imposing burdensome shackles on commerce.
Legislation busied itself with absurd details. A police ordinance of
1 67 1 divided lay society into five classes and defined minutely
what each should wear and eat. Another ordinance in 1688 re-
duced the number of classes to three, and tailors and cooks were
called upon to denounce all those who infringed upon the provi-
sions laid down by the authorities with respect to the garments and
food of the three classes. Very suspicious in certain matters, the
police was lax and utterly negligent in most things. Vienna was
dirty and badly kept; the plague which broke out in 1679 was as
terrible as the great epidemics of the Middle Ages. The Emperor
Leopold fled before it, as four years later he fled before the Turks.
More than fifty thousand persons are said to have perished.
This paternal absolutism, added to a series of perpetual wars,
for the most part foreign to the interests of the different parts of
the country, to the wretched state of the finances, and to the
great influence of the Jesuits, readily explains the backwardness
of Austria at this time from the literary and artistic standpoint.
The teaching of the Jesuits and of the Piaristes, who settled in the
country after 1656, was confined to the formulas of the schoolmen,
and the importation of books in which foreign ideas were found was
strictly prohibited. The Latin, in which instruction was given,
was execrable, and the German was no better. Nor were the sorry
conditions in Bohemia and Hungary more favorable for the
development of a national literature.
And yet Leopold meant to encourage letters : he set aside con-
siderable sums for the court library, and after the annexation of the
Tyrol brought a part of the collections of the castle of Ambras to
Vienna. He also collected what remained of the scattered library
of Mathias Corvinus and caused a catalogue of the manuscripts
in the imperial library and the works of the physicist. Father
Kirschner, to be published at his private expense. He founded the
University of Innsbruck, and of Breslau, and began the collection
of the paintings which now form the Vienna gallery. But de-
190
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1704-1714
Spite these praiseworthy efforts, men of genius are entirely want-
ing in his reign.
The short reign of Joseph I., from 1705 to 171 1, was entirely
occupied on the one hand with the struggle against France over
the Spanish Succession, and on the other with the conflict with the
Transylvanian, Rakoczy. He has been praised for his tolerance
toward the Reformed faith. He even forbade Catholic priests
from attacking the Protestants in their sermons. Toward the
Jesuits he showed himself much less favorably disposed than his
predecessors, and if the doubtful testimony of Joseph II. can be
accepted, entertained the idea of expelling them from the empire.
Nor was he afraid to oppose the Pope in the matter of benefices.
Clement XI. issued a bull against him, in which he reproached the
emperor " for having forgotten the hereditary piety of the house of
Austria."
At the death of Joseph I. his brother, Charles, was in Spain,
where he had been engaged for several years in an unsuccessful
conflict with Philip of Anjou over the possession of that kingdom.
Charles now left Spain and returned to Austria. The final settle-
ment of the War of the Spanish Succession, in the treaties of
Utredit and Rastadt, in 171 3 and 1714, is well known. The house
THE AUSTRIAN EMPERORS 191
1704-1714
of Austria renounced its claim to Spain, but obtained by way of com-
pensation the Low Countries, Naples, Milan, and the presidios of
Tuscany and Sardinia. The history of these ephemeral possessions,
which contributed less to strengthen than to weaken Austria, is
designedly not treated in this volume. It would have been a much
wiser policy for Austria had she sacrificed them and pushed on
without relaxation the extension of her dominions at the expense
of the Turks.
Charles VI. (1711-1740) succeeded to the empire and to the
kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary without dispute. His brother,
Joseph I., had left two daughters, but the will of Leopold I. excluded
women from the throne, and provided that in default of male heirs
the younger brother should succeed the elder. It declared further
that in default of male heirs by Charles VI., the daughters of
Joseph I., that is, daughters of the older son, should take prece-
dence over daughters of the house of the younger. Charles VI.
had only one daughter, Maria Theresa. Immediately after his ac-
cession he began a series of negotiations with the object of revers-
ing the order of succession established by Leopold I., and of secur-
ing to his daughter the succession of the Austrian dominions in
their entirety. These negotiations extended over the greater part
of his reign, and resulted in the celebrated act known as the Prag-
matic Sanction. Its principal features are found in the following
three articles forming a summary of a solemn declaration read by
the emperor to the Secret Council at Vienna on April 13, 1713:
1. All the Austrian dominions form an indivisible whole.
2. Male heirs in the house of Austria succeed each other ac-
cording to the law of primogeniture.
3. In default of male heirs, daughters are to succeed accord-
ing to the following order: first, those of Charles VL; second,
those of Joseph I. ; and then those of Leopold I.
The council had only to record the will of the sovereign with-
out discussing it. But Charles wanted further guarantees and he
next obtained the renunciation of their rights by the princesses in-
terested; then he set himself to secure the ratification of the
agreement by the different states over which he ruled, beginning
with the more docile. These, one by one, gave their adhesion,
Hungary alone offering any serious obstacles. For at his corona-
tion Charles VI. had subscribed to a number of agreements, one
of which was that in default of male heirs the Hungarians would
IM AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1714-1740
have the right to choose their own king. But the Hungarian diet
finally g^ve its consent in 1722, and Charies VI. then proclaimed
the Pragmatic Sanction in the Low Countries and Milan. It still
remained to secure the acceptance of the plan by the European
powers, and in this he was likewise successful. Prussia and Russia
recognized the Pragmatic Sanction in 1726; England and Holland
in 1731 ; Germany in 1732; Poland in the year following; while
France, Spain, and Sardinia gave their adhesion in 1735, after
the Treaty of Vienna. But as Prince Eugene wisely said, a
well-filled treasury and a good army is better than all these guaran-
tees on paper, for the latter in nowise prevented the powers from
attacking Maria Theresa as soon as she mounted the throne.
The chief significance of the Pragmatic Sanction, however, lies
in the more or less voluntary consent given to it by the different
parts of the Austrian state, some out of a sentiment of loyalty
to the reigning house, others because they were tired of con-
tinually struggling and felt themselves incapable of sustaining
an existence outside of Austria. Thus this pact, which is looked
upon as a mere bit of historic parchment abroad, remains to-day
the basis of the public law in Austria. In his anxiety to establish
the principles of the Pragmatic Sanction Charles VI. often sacri-
ficed more vital interests. The War of the Polish Succession
ended in the Treaty of Vienna in 1735, by which Austria lost
Lombardy and ceded the Two Sicilies to Don Carlos in exchange for
Parma and Piacenza. More serious losses were sustained in the
war against the Turks. By the Treaty of Belgrade, in 1739, Charles
was obliged to restore to the Porte nearly all that Hungary had
gained by the Treaty of Passarovitz. He did not long survive, and
died in 1740 at the age of fifty-six.
Charles VI. is celebrated for his love of the fine arts, par-
ticularly music. He induced the foremost Italian musicians, Scar-
lati and Caldara, to come to Vienna. He embellished the city,
founded academies for painting and sculpture, and enlarged the
collection of medals. An enthusiastic admirer of Italian, he ap-
pointed Muratori as his historian and Metastasio as his poet
laureate. He adopted effective plans to develop commerce; he
built many roads, some of which bear his name to-day ; he founded
an Eastern Trading Company at Vienna in 17 19, a Company
of the Levant at Triest, and an East India Company at Ostend,
which latter, however, he soon sacrificed to the jealousy of the
THE AUSTRIAN EMPERORS 193
1714-1740
maritime powers of the north in order to secure their adhesion to
the Pragmatic Sanction. Triest and Fiume were made free ports,
and a small fleet was created on the Danube to protect river navi-
gation. Mention should also be made of Charles VI.'s efforts to
improve the administration of justice. His clemency secured for
him the name of Titus among the courtiers, but it did not extend
to matters of religion, for during his reign many Protestants
were forced to emigrate to Germany and Transylvania.
Chapter XVI
BOHEMIA: HER FIRST HAPSBURG KINGS
1526-1619
THE death of Louis at the battle of Mohacs in 1526 had
left the elective throne of Bohemia vacant. Ferdinand
of Austria laid claim to it on the basis of the treaties
concluded between Vladislav and the Emperor Maximilian ; but the
estates of the realm stubbornly refused to recognize their validity,
and insisted that the throne could be ascended by none but a
freely elected sovereign. Rivals of Ferdinand appeared in Sigis-
mund of Poland and William and Louis of Bavaria, but by adroit
methods of bestowing gifts and promises upon the influential per-
sons in Bohemia, Ferdinand was finally chosen, being unanimously
elected by the twenty-four electors to whom the estates had in-
trusted the decision. He immediately confirmed the privileges of
the estates, and the Compactata of Sigismund, and signed a revers,
in which he acknowledged that he owed his election to the free
choice of the estates; at the same time he agreed to make his
residence at Prague. The diet held immediately after the acces-
sion of the new king decided upon some of his prerogatives. It
authorized him to crown his successor during his lifetime, pro-
vided he was the legal heir to his kingdom; it recognized the ex-
clusive right of the king to convoke the diet or the assemblies of
the circles, and it voted subsidies to aid him in his war against
John Szapolyai and his allies, the Turks. By his tolerance and
firmness Ferdinand at first won the good-will of his new subjects;
he endeavored to put an end to the quarrels between the religious
factions, and reduced the nobles, who had maintained a veritable
tyranny on their estates, to obedience. He solemnly pledged him-
self to protect the Utraquists and to afford them equal rights with
the Catholics. But this tolerance did not apply to the Bohemian
Brothers, who were always proscribed, nor to the adherents of
the new Lutheran doctrines, whom the Utraquists tried in every
way to win for their cause. He restricted the privileges of the royal
IM
HAPSBURG KINGS 195
1526-1547
cities by forbidding meetings of the municipal assemblies except by
the permission of the king. He restored regularity into the admin-
istration of justice, and put an end to the private wars which had for
years been wasting the country.
A sincere Catholic, Ferdinand was naturally strongly opposed
to the Lutheran innovations, but circumstances would not allow
him to proceed against them in Bohemia with the rigor he might
have wished. He forbade them the use of the churches, but he
could not prevent the spread of their worship and doctrines on
the estates of the lords and the knights. In order to combat the
new heresy more effectively, he endeavored to bring about a union
between the Utraquists and the Catholics, in which he was naturally
unsuccessful. The Lutherans on their part tried to profit by the
difficulties Ferdinand encountered in Hungary, by working for a
more definite organization among themselves, but the king made
no concessions. On the contrary, expeditions against the Turks or
the Hungarians afforded him a pretext to procure numerous ad-
ditional grants of money over and above the annual subsidies.
Charles V. called on his brother Ferdinand for assistance in
his struggle against the Protestant league of Smalkalde. But the
king of Bohemia could not raise troops without the consent of the
estates, and the Utraquist members did not judge it expedient to
furnish soldiers to fight against their coreligionists. The king
was obdurate and ordered the members of the estates to assemble
with their troops at Leitmeritz in January, 1547. Many refused
to cross the frontier except in defense of the country, and only a
docile minority accompanied Ferdinand against Saxony.
The moment the king had left the kingdom the dissatisfac-
tion broke out. Notwithstanding the royal prohibition, the con-
suls of the city of Prague were obliged to call the citizens together.
A league for the defense of the liberties of the country was formed,
and the Utraquist barons and knights espoused its cause, some of
the Bohemian Brothers becoming its chief orators. Under their
direction were drawn up the articles to be presented to the king, in
which he was called upon to divest himself of all the prerogatives
he had acquired from the crown to the detriment of the kingdom
during the twenty years of his reign. According to these articles
the Utraquists were to have the right to organize their church as
they wished and to form alliances for the defense of their interests.
The diet of the kingdom and the assemblies of the circles had
196 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1826-1547
the right to meet, if they saw fit. The king was to surrender the
concessions made him in 1545 with regard to the succession, and
agree to appoint only such officials as the diet would approve.
Messengers were dispatched to Ferdinand to ask for the convoca-
tion of a diet to deliberate upon these measures, while the estates
of Moravia, Silesia, and Lusatia were invited to adopt similar
programmes. Overtures were received from the elector of Saxony
and a victory of his forces over the imperialists encouraged the
estates in their demands. They placed an army in the field to
cooperate with him if he continued successful, but his defeat at
Miihlberg in 1547 destroyed their hopes. Ferdinand reentered at
the head of an imperial army and the estates had not the courage
to resist him. By a promise of amnesty to all barons and knights
who gave in their submission he still further wrought their dis-
solution. They hastened to Leitmeritz to pay their homage to
their sovereign, and then marched with him upon Prague. The
terrified capital surrendered at discretion, and other towns fol-
lowed the example. The king took special vengeance on the
towns, confiscating their property and curtailing their independ-
ence by the appointment of royal judges and captains. The estates
of only a few of the nobles were confiscated. Two knights and
two burghers were executed, and the king announced that the cities
had forfeited the right of representation in the diet, but that not-
withstanding he would in his clemency only restrict or suppress
their privileges. Thenceforward no communal meeting could be
held except in the presence of a royal judge. Thus this attempt
at revolution, badly planned and badly carried out, resulted solely
to the profit of the dynasty. It increased the royal domain, which
had been much reduced during the last reigns, and it weakened
the power of the diets, in which the bourgeoisie could appear only
by the royal favor, and, so to speak, under the supervision of royal
officers.
These energetic measures made it possible for Ferdinand to
go to Augsburg, at which place Oiarles V. had just convoked the
German diet. He left his second son, the Archduke Ferdinand,
as regent. At Augsburg the German princes demanded that the
crown of Bohemia be subjected to the same charges as the rest of
the empire, but Ferdinand maintained the rights of his kingdom
and its independence against Germany. A short time afterward
he established a royal court of appeal for all the possessions of
HAPSBURG KINGS 197
1547-1564
the Bohemian crown; repressed the jurisdiction of the municipal
courts at Prague and Leitmeritz ; prohibited the further use of the
code of Magdeburg-, and brought about the unification of the law
throughout the whole kingdom. In the same year he renewed
the persecution of the Picards and the Bohemian Brothers. He
broke up their community and forced the Brothers to join either
the Catholics or the Utraquists. Those who refused were forced
into exile, and more than eight hundred emigrated to Prussia and
Poland.
At the diet of 1549 Ferdinand proposed fresh measures against
the Lutherans, but he met with a strong resistance from the estates
of Bohemia and Moravia, and the energy displayed by the Ger-
man Protestants obliged him to renounce his plans. The Peace of
Augsburg in 1555, which secured the triumph of the Reformation
in Germany, gave fresh courage to the Evangelicals of Bohemia.
To resist them Ferdinand threw himself passionately on the side
of the Catholics; he called the Jesuit society to Prague, founded
an archbishopric for the Catholics, and negotiated with the Council
of Trent for the admission of the Utraquists into the Catholic
church. In 1564 he obtained from Pope Pius IV., and from the
Council of Trent, the sanction for the use of the cup throughout
the kingdom of Bohemia, and thereafter the Jesuits, and the arch-
bishop himself, might be seen administering the sacrament in both
kinds.
Maximilian II., Ferdinand's successor, was, as we have seen,
favorable to the Reformation, and ascended the throne in 1564 with
ideas of toleration which he applied as much as the spirit of the
century would permit. On the request of the Utraquists he per-
mitted them to govern themselves, not according to the Compactata,
but according to " the word of God." The Evangelicals, how-
ever, were not able to obtain his recognition of the Confession of
Augsburg, and consequently united with the Bohemian Brothers,
who still existed in secret, to elaborate a kind of national confes-
sion of faith. But this also failed to obtain the recognition of the
sovereign, and the Lutheran church remained without clergy and
without organization. This led to a condition of disorder and
moral anarchy which wasted the energy of the best minds, and
the wearisome quarrels which resulted fill most of the reign of
Maximilian.
Externally Bohemia was at peace during the reign of this
196 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1564-1602
prince and his predecessor. Some levies were furnished against
the Turks and Hungarians, but no foreign enemy was seen on the
native soil. This long period of peace, constantly troubled by
theological discussions and religious quarrels, seems to have ener-
vated the Czech nation, for it lost many of those warlike qualities
which had been its glory in the previous century. The national
literature became verbose and pedantic, and more remarkable for
the quantity than the quality of its productions. A large number
of foreigners, especially Germans, again settled in the capital, and
the policy of the sovereign was always prompted by the interests
either of his own country or of Germany, never by those of the
kingdom itself.
Rudolf n. (1576-1612) had more taste for the arts and
sciences than for theology, and, like Charles IV., he made Prague
one of the most learned cities of Europe. Czech literature attained
a remarkable development. The Bohemian Brothers published a
translation of the Bible, which was for Bohemia what Luther's
was for Germany. Nevertheless foreigners increased in number in
the kingdom. Educated in Spain, Rudolf gathered about him
Spaniards and Germans and never learned the Czech language.
But although very favorable to Catholicism, he was so much of a
dreamer and so indolent that he remained for a long time either
ignorant of the religious quarrels of his subjects or else indifferent
to them. The Jesuits made great progress in the schools, and ac-
quired considerable influence with the Catholic nobility, till finally
they succeeded in obtaining an overpowering influence over the
enfeebled mind of Rudolf himself. In 1602 he renewed the per-
secutions against the Bohemian Brothers, whom the Utraquists tried
in vain to defend. The Jesuits and Catholic fanatics became mas-
ters of the kingdom. All state officials were obliged on pain
of dismissal and exile to sign a confession of the Catholic faith,
and it is even told of a certain lord that he hunted his peasants to
church with his dogs and forced them to receive the sacraments.
The archbishop of Prague assembled a provincial synod for the
avowed purpose of bringing back all of Bohemia to the Catholic
union. Religious dissensions broke out worse than ever when
the feeble Rudolf had to defend his power against his brother
Mathias, who was impatient to rule over the whole of the Aus-
trian states, and who had found allies in the Bohemian Brothers
in Moravia. The leader of the latter was Charles of Zerotin, an
HAPSBURG KINGS 199
1602-1609
important personage in Moravian history, who had previously
served with Henry IV. of France. He convoked the estates of
the kingdom at Caslav and entered Bohemia, but the Bohemian
estates remained true to their lawful king and flocked round him
at Prague. The incident, however, gave the Utraquists the oppor-
tunity successfully to demand the redress of their religious griev-
ances and the adoption of sweeping reforms. Rudolf promised all
they asked and purchased peace from Mathias by the Treaty of
Libno, 1608, by which he ceded Moravia to him. At the diet held
in 1609 the Evangelicals and the Bohemian Brothers renewed their
demands, calling upon the emperor to recognize the Bohemian
confession; to admit them into the consistory of the Utraquists
and to intrust to them the management of the University of Prague.
The emperor refused these demands, whereupon they constituted
themselves into an independent diet in the town-hall of the new
town of Prague and formed an armed league for the protection of
their religion. At the head of their forces they placed Count
Mathias of Thurn, a German who had shortly before settled in
Bohemia, appointing with him a committee of seventy-five directors
who were charged with the defense of their interests. The league
was joined by the estates of Silesia.
The emperor-king, alarmed, begged the elector of Saxony for
his mediation, and offered to allow the formation of a special
consistory for the Bohemian Brothers. They refused his offer
and drew up their demands in the form of a letter of majesty, or
fundamental law, which Rudolf signed in July, 1609. This cele-
brated document secured the recognition of the Bohemian con-
fession, the admission of the Evangelicals and the Bohemian
Brothers to the Utraquist consistory, and their right to govern the
university. They were empowered, moreover, to choose a certain
number of defenders of the faith from among the lords, knights,
and citizens to watch over the maintenance of their privileges.
About the same time a treaty was concluded between the Catholics
and the Utraquists, which declared that henceforth religious parties
were mutually to give due respect to each other's confessions. Thus
there was brought about a definite recognition of the rights of liberty
of conscience, so far as it was understood in that epoch — a kind of
Edict of Nantes, which secured the religious peace of Bohemia for
the future. Rudolf, however, had been an unwilling party to the
agreements, and neglected no opportunity to revenge himself. At
200 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1609-1614
his instigation the Archduke Leopold, the younger brother of
Ferdinand of Styria, threw an army of 12,000 into Bohemia, captur-
ing Tabor and several other towns of the Evangelicals. But the
diet soon assembled an army and dispersed the invaders, after which
they besieged Rudolf, whom they suspected of complicity in the
affair, in his royal castle and forced him to abdicate. Mathias
was then elected in his stead, Rudolf dying the following year.
The Protestants and the Utraquists did not know how to
make use of the liberties which they had forced from Rudolf. By
an agreement between the Evangelicals and the Brothers the con-
sistory was renewed and the dignitaries chosen from among mem-
bers of both confessions. But no serious measure was decreed to
increase the number of the clergy or to improve church discipline,
while the differences between the teachings of Luther and Calvin
divided the Reformers into the two rival camps. They took pos-
session of the University of Prague, but in this case, too, it was
shown how much easier it is to destroy institutions than to build
them up. They shrank from the necessary sacrifices, and the
school of John Huss no longer enjoyed the renown of former times.
The efforts of the estates aimed less at religious improvement of
the nation than at the increase of political liberties. At his cor-
onation they presented the following conditions to Mathias: they
claimed the right to hold diets without the consent of the king ; to
summon the army when they deemed it advisable; to maintain the
union entered into with the estates of Silesia in 1600 for the defense
of the common faith ; to conclude similar treaties with neighboring
countries, and, finally, to renew the treaties concluded formerly by
Podiebrad with the Protestant electors of Saxony, the Palati-
nate, and Brandenburg, so that the estates might invoke the
assistance of these princes in their conflicts with the king. Of
these demands Mathias ratified only the third and postponed the
discussion of the others, hoping that he might win over the
leaders of the opposition by favors and dignities. But in this
he was unsuccessful, and the Reformers sought for allies among
the Hungarians and the Protestant princes who were interested
in the humiliation of the house of Austria. The emperor-king
tried to avert the crisis which threatened him by bringing forward
the proposal of a war against the Turks, and invited delegates from
the different diets of the Austrian dominions to assemble at Linz
in 1 614- But they refused the men and subsidies for which he
HAPSBURG KINGS 201
1609-1614
asked. Uiider the same pretext he convoked the general diet of
the Bohemian provinces at Prague, which contented itself by adopt-
ing rigorous measures to maintain the Czech language as the official
language of the kingdom, and in order to avert the threatened dan-
ger from German immigration, decided that in the future no
foreigner should be admitted into Bohemia unless he spoke Czech.
Mathias, having no heir, proposed to the estates that they
recognize his cousin, Ferdinand of Styria, as his successor to the
throne of Bohemia. After some opposition, due to the fact that
it was well known that Ferdinand was the enemy of the new
religion and a determined defender of Catholicism, they agreed.
An incident of minor importance which occurred about this
time again aroused the slumbering religious passions. The Utra-
quists, on the strength of the letter of majesty, had built several
churches on the domains of the abbey of Brevno and of the arch-
bishopric of Prague. The letter of majesty had, however, only pro-
claimed tolerance within the royal cities, and the abbot and the
archbishop ordered the closing of these churches and appealed to
the king, who supported them. The Defenders of the Faith, on
learning this, convoked the Protestant estates, who declared that
the government had violated the letter of majesty, and dispatched
messengers to Vienna to demand the restoration of the churches.
Mathias refused and ordered the assembly to be dissolved. This
reply raised the anger of the estates to a high pitch, and after some
hesitation they decided to declare their independence and to break
with the sovereign in a most startling manner. On leaving the
country Mathias had appointed ten lieutenants to govern it in his
absence. It was now resolved to hurl these from the windows of
the castle of Hradcany at Prague. May 23 was the day fixed for
the revolt. The leaders of the conspiracy were the counts of
Thurn, Schlick, and William of Lobkovitz. Fully armed, they
entered the castle and found four of the royal lieutenants, the
grand burggrave Adam of Sternberg, with his son-in-law, Jaroslav
of Martinitz, burggrave of Karlstein, the chief justice William of
Slavata, and the grand prior of the Knights of Malta, Diepold of
Lobkovitz. With them was Fabricius, the secretary, an obscure
person whom this day was to make famous. The room, which
is still shown in the castle of Prague, was small and admitted
only a limited number of the conspirators. They angrily ques-
tioned the lieutenants, asking them to state whether they had in-
20d
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1609-1614
Spired the threatening letter which Mathias had written to the diet,
and when the heutenants refused to reply, they declared that they
would not withdraw without having obtained an explanation,
saying, " You are to know, Jesuit dogs, that you have not to deal
with women now." All the conspirators agreed that Martinitz
and Slavata had inspired the imperial letter, and in spite of their
protestations they were declared enemies of the country and with-
out the pale of the law. After this summary judgment Stem-
berg and Diepold of Lobkovitz were thrown out of the door, while
the two other lieutenants were seized and hurled from the windows
of the castle. The secretary, Fabricius, who was hiding among
the attendants, shared the same fate. But by a peculiar chance
the three men escaped death, although they fell from a height of
more than forty yards. The rubbish in the ditch of the castle
broke their fall; Slavata alone was slightly injured, and all escaped.
The secretary, Fabricius, hastened to carry the news of the catas-
trophe to Vienna, where he was raised to the nobility as a reward
of his fidelity and received the appropriate title of Hohenfall (Lord
of the High Fall).
The defenestration of Prague was the signal for a terrible
war. On the very day of this act of rebellion the estates organized
a provisional government of thirty directors and assembled an
army, the supreme command of which they intrusted to Count
Thurn. They sent to ask Grerman princes for their alliance, exiled
the Jesuits, and banished the archbishop and abbot of Brevno.
The emperor, surprised by this unexpected revolt, at first hesi-
tated. His favorite. Cardinal Khlesl, counseled moderation, and
the weakly Mathias dreaded the war which his future successor, the
proud Ferdinand, urged upon him. He sent a commission to Prague
in the hope of coming to an understanding with the rebels, but the
mission failed. The royal lieutenants of Prague were kept under
strict surveillance. Besides, it was by no means an easy task to
bring together sufficient forces against Bohemia. The diet of
Hungary, in which the recognition of Ferdinand was just being
discussed, was far from tractable, while the estates of Upper Aus-
tria and of Moravia refused to furnish troops against the Czechs.
The Bohemians on the other hand did not wait to be attacked.
They marched against the Catholics, who remained faithful to the
dynasty, and besieged the city of Budweis. Finally, in order to
compel Mathias to act, his two brothers, Ferdinand and Maximilian,
HAPSBURG KINGS 203
1614-1619
seized Cardinal Khlesl and shut him up in the castle of Ambras.
Deprived of his habitual counselor, Mathias left the conduct of affairs
to Ferdinand. An army of 10,000 men commanded by Henry of
Dampierre entered Bohemia, and Thum was obliged to raise the
siege of Budweis. Nevertheless he repulsed Dampierre in two
engagements, and obliged him to retire into Austria. The im-
perial army was soon reinforced, however, by Spaniards brought
up by General Buquoi. But the Czechs on their part also received
assistance. All the Protestants of Germany were the enemies of
Austria, and the Bohemian revolt was the signal of a European
reaction against the excessive powers of this house, which held
Europe and the Reformation in check. Charles Emmanuel of
Savoy and the princes of the Evangelical union sent an auxiliary
army, led by Ernest of Mansfeld, to aid the estates. He entered
Bohemia and captured the city of Pilsen, which had refused, as in
the time of the Hussites, to recognize the authority of the estates.
He then defeated Buquoi and compelled him to shut himself up
in Budweis.
At the beginning of the winter the elector of Saxony tried
to mediate: a congress was assembled at Eger, but it ended in
failure. The plenipotentiaries of the estates demanded that
Mathias definitely accept the four articles concerning which nego-
tiations had been carried on ever since his accession. On March 20,
1 619, he died.
Chapter XVII
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR AND THE OVER-
THROW OF BOHEMIA. 1618-1648
FERDINAND II. (1619-1637) at once took up the struggle
with the estates and displayed much more energy than his
predecessor. He began his reign by a letter addressed,
not to the estates, but to the old royal lieutenants, announcing to
them that he would respect the letter of majesty and those privi-
leges to which he had sworn at his coronation, and promising
further to establish peace and order in the kingdom. At the same
time he caused an offer of truce to be made to the rebels, but the
estates refused it. In the spring of 161 9 Thurn invaded Moravia,
but found the estates of this province very reluctant to support
the Bohemian revolt. At the head of the party of moderation
was the leader of the Bohemian Brothers, Charles of Zerotin, who
exercised an indisputable influence. He had been on more than
one occasion the subject of national intrigues and the victim of
base persecution, but, notwithstanding, he went to Prague the day
after the defenestration to counsel moderation and obedience. And
though his brother-in-law, Wallenstein, and one of his sons-in-
law were among the revolutionists, he continued loyal to his sov-
ereign. The arrival of Thurn in Moravia, however, gave a head
to the malcontents of that province, and the estates joined the con-
federation concluded between Bohemia, Silesia, and Lusatia.
Thereupon Thurn marched upon Vienna, where the Protesants
had risen in their turn and demanded the free exercise of their
religion. But a defeat of Mansfeld by Buquoi recalled him to
Bohemia.
In the meantime, however, Bohemia could not remain with-
out a sovereign. It was contrary to the ideas of the time that a
nation could be capable of governing itself, and the patriotism of
the Bohemian nobility was not sufficiently enlightened to choose a
national sovereign. Three foreign candidates became rivals for
the throne, the young Elector-palatine Frederick, who was the
S04
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR
205
1619-1620
chief of the Protestant German Union, John George, elector of
Saxony, and Charles Emmanuel, duke of Savoy. On September
26, 1 619, Frederick was elected by a general diet of all the coun-
tries of the Bohemian crown. This so enraged the elector of
Saxony that he became reconciled to Ferdinand, who had just been
elected emperor. Frederick arrived in Prague and was crowned
by the Utraquist administrator in the Church of St. Vit. He
promised to agree to the four points formerly proposed to Mathias,
and by which the sovereign was completely subjected to the estates.
All the Catholics had opposed the election, but the invasion of
X-"^tI^
liffiv.r"-'.-
T U RK t
THE
AUSTRIAN STATE
AT THE BCCMNING OF THE
ly^x-CEHTURY
Hungary by Bethlen materially aided the new king. Buquoi was
compelled to leave Bohemia and to march against the Transyl-
vanian troops, Thum following him as far as the Danube. At
Presburg a treaty was concluded between the Czechs, Hungarians,
and Transylvanians against the house of Austria. The contract-
ing parties even sent an embassy to Constantinople to come to an
understanding with the Turk, but Bethlen soon made peace with
Ferdinand and the emperor employed the winter of the year 1620
in collecting his forces. The king of Spain, the Pope, the elector of
Bavaria, who was the head of the Catholic League, and the elector
of Saxony all furnished soldiers. Even Sigismund of Poland
206 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1619-1620
promised to send assistance. The Protestant princes of Germany,
on the other hand, were deterred from coming to the aid of Bohemia
by the presence of the Spaniards in the Low Countries, so that
Bohemia found herself without allies. Frederick was not the man
to rise to the situation. A fanatical Calvinist, he favored the sect
of the Bohemian Brothers to the prejudice of the Lutherans, whose
anger he excited. He transformed the national cathedral of St. Vit
into a cold, barren Protestant sanctuary, and by the preference
which he constantly showed for his foreign advisers he estranged
his best generals, Thurn and Mansfeld.
In the spring of 1620 the Bohemian army invaded Lower Aus-
tria, but it was unable to score a decisive victory, while Ferdinand
and his allies began to act with an energy which soon dashed all
its hopes. Maximilian of Bavaria and Tilly entered Upper Aus-
tria, the elector of Saxony, Lusatia, and the Cossacks of the king
of Poland pushed forward as far as Lower Austria. Very soon
Maximilian and Buquoi entered Bohemia by the south with a
force of about 50,000 men, while the Bohemians had only 25,000.
One city after another fell into the hands of the imperialists, and
the Bohemian army after retreating first to one point, then to
another, finally awaited a decisive engagement upon the plateau
of the White Mountain to the west of Prague, where they entrenched
themselves. Here the two armies of the enemy attacked it with
terrible fury, and put it to flight, despite the heroism of the Hun-
garians and Moravians, who fought to the very last. Ten thou-
sand dead were left on the field of battle, and the camp of the
Czechs fell entirely into the hands of the enemy. When the battle
began Frederick was quietly feasting in his palace, and on being
notified that the engagement was on, started for the scene of
action only to meet the ruins of his army precipitously rushing into
the city, November 8, 1620.
But all hope was not yet lost. Prague might defend itself.
Eight thousand Magyars sent by Bethlen had just reached the
frontier. Moravia and Silesia were in arms; and Mansfeld still
held several strongly fortified cities; only Lusatia, occupied by the
Saxon troops, had succumbed. But Frederick looked upon the
contest as hopeless, and retired to Breslau. The estates, forsaken
by the sovereign whom they had chosen, opened the gates of
the city and gave themselves up to the mercy of the conqueror.
Ferdinand intrusted the administration of Bohemia to Charles of
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR ^07
1620-1621
Lichtenstein, while Buquoi pushed on to Moravia to complete the
submission of that province. In the meantime the elector of
Saxony reduced Silesia, and Frederick was obliged to leave Bres-
lau. His able general Mansfeld, who had continued his resist-
ance for some time in the west, was forced to quit Bohemia.
So long as Ferdinand was not absolutely sure of victory he
observed a prudent reserve and gave no inkling of his intentions
with regard to his revolted subjects. As soon, however, as he
felt himself master of the situation his vengeance burst forth. He
gave orders for the arrest of all the old offenders, the directors,
and all those who in any way had taken part in the revolt. He
threw into prison all those who, trusting in the royal clemency, had
remained in the capital, and the most terrible reprisals began. All
the Calvinist preachers and the Bohemian Brothers were banished;
an extraordinary tribunal was established in Prague under the
presidency of Lichtenstein, and after summary judgments the
executions commenced.
On June 21, 1621, before the city hall of the old town, twenty-
seven of the principal leaders were put to death. Among them
was the rector of the University of Prague, Jensenius, who had
been condemned to be quartered, but whose sentence was com-
muted to having his tongue cut out. Some were beheaded, others
were hanged ; all died heroically confessing their faith. The heads
of the victims were exposed on the tower of the bridge of Prague.
This day was for Bohemia what later on the bloody day of Eperies
was for Hungary. On the following day the punishments decreed
for those who had not been condemned to death and torture
were pronounced; they were flogging, banishing and imprison-
ment. The property of the victims was confiscated to the king,
his generals, and courtiers — Spaniards, Italians, Walloons, and
Germans. Indeed, it is at this time that there were established
in Bohemia a crowd of foreign families such as the Colloredos, the
Piccolomini, the Wallis, the Gallas, the Lichtensteins, etc., whose
descendants may still be found in Austria or Bohemia. One can
readily understand how these intruders, enriched by the royal munifi-
cence at the expense of the Czechs, should be little disposed to cham-
pion the rights of the kingdom. Another portion of the confiscated
property was devoted to pious foundations, especially in favor of
the archbishopric of Prague and the Jesuits, for whom the emperor
had a particular fondness. One of their number. Father Carafa,
f06 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1621-1624
who was intrusted with the organization of the counter-reformation
in Bohemia, has himself characterized the system which he adopted
by the following naive avowal : " We have long ago recognized
that there is only one method of enlightening the Bohemians and
leading them back into the good way, namely, by persecution."
To these persecutions Ferdinand put an end in 1622 by a man-
date under the name of a general pardon, a document which affords
us a measure of his clemency. All those who had taken part in
the revolt, the pardon says, deserve to be punished both as to
their lives and their goods; but the emperor in his mercy pardons
them as to their lives, contenting himself with the confiscation of
their property if they consent to recognize their faults. Seven
hundred and twenty-three lords and knights accepted this mockery
of an amnesty which left them either partially or completely
ruined.
But the great concern of Ferdinand II. was the reestablish-
ment of the Catholic religion throughout the entire kingdom. The
University of Prague was taken away from the Utraquist professors
and handed over to the Jesuits, who now took over the direction
of instruction throughout practically all of the kingdom. The
elector of Saxony made a vain attempt to intervene in favor of
the Lutherans, his coreligionists. In 1624 an imperial mandate
definitely proscribed all the Bohemian Brothers and organized the
Catholic restoration. The churches were handed over to priests,
many of whom had to be brought in from foreign lands, espe-
cially from Poland. Those who would not profess the Catholic
religion could enjoy no civil rights or exercise any occupation:
and the rights of marriage and of burial were withheld from them.
Neglect of fast days, holidays, and the mass was punished by fines.
The new lords installed by the imperial favor on the confiscated prop-
erties persecuted their peasantry in order to bring them into the true
faith. But with it all these measures were insufficient. At Prague
it became necessary to exile the greater portion of the influential
citizens, and in other of the royal towns recourse was had to quar-
tering of troops upon the inhabitants. The indomitable tenacity of
the Czechs was increased rather than diminished by persecution.
The Lysa inhabitants burned their town and emigrated in a body
rather than yield. In other sections incipient revolts broke out.
but were easily suppressed, and order was reestablished by means of
executions and tortures. The horrors and crimes committed dur-
THE THIRTY YEARS* WAR 209
1624-1627
ing this epoch form one of the saddest episodes in the history of
religion.
After the religious reaction came a reaction in politics. Im-
mediately following his victory Ferdinand brought to Vienna the
original drafts of the royal charters of Rudolf and the letter of
majesty, and had them torn to pieces and thrown in the fire. He
was determined that Bohemia, being now exhausted, should be
reduced once for all to servitude. In 1627 he published a new
constitution. It begins by declaring the throne of Bohemia
hereditary in the house of Hapsburg in the male and female lines.
To the representatives of the three estates of the Bohemian diet
(lords, knights, and burghers) a fourth was added, namely, the
clergy, which ranked them all. It comprised, besides the archbishop
of Prague, the primate of the kingdom, all those ecclesiastics who
held royal benefices. The diet was deprived of all legislative func-
tions, which were henceforth reserved to the emperor. It retained
only the right of giving its consent to the taxes, but without the
power of imposing any condition whatsoever upon the sovereign.
It could deliberate only upon questions submitted to it by the king.
The supreme tribunal was deprived of all legislative power and
was to comply with the decisions of the executive; trials were to
be held in secret, and the German language was to be used equally
with the Czech in the law courts and in all public acts. A few
weeks after the publication of this decree a new order crowned the
work of unification. It granted a period of six months to all those
who had not yet been converted, to accept the state religion.
The emperor himself came to Prague to supervise the execu-
tion of his orders, to hold a diet according to the new constitution,
and to have his son, Ferdinand III., crowned. A certain number of
conversions took place, but many were insincere. The pretended
Catholics continued to practice the religion dear to their consciences
in the secrecy of their own firesides or in the shades of the forest.
Great numbers of Czechs left their country and sought in Protes-
tant lands the liberty of conscience denied them at home. It is
estimated that no less than thirty-six thousand families emigrated,
founding colonies at Dresden, Pima, and Meissen in Saxony and
at Leszno in Poland.
Moravia was treated with no less harshness than Bohemia.
Dietrichtstein, who had been appointed commissary-general of this
province, began by recalling the Jesuits, casting the leaders of the
210 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1624-1627
revolt into prison, and confiscating their estates. Non-Catholics
were forbidden to hold landed property, and emigrations were
proportionately as numerous as in Bohemia. Among the volun-
tary exiles ought to be mentioned the celebrated teacher, John
Komenski (Comenius), who took refuge first in Poland, finally in
Holland. His works have had a considerable influence on education
and are still regarded as classics. His countryman, Charles of Zero-
tin, took refuge in Silesia. Czech literature was regarded as hereti-
cal and mercilessly persecuted, Czech books and manuscripts being
sought out even in private houses, and burned by the zealous
proselyters. Thus the Thirty Years* War, the signal for which
had been given by Bohemia, was to secure liberty of conscience for
the rest of Europe, but to Bohemia herself it brought nothing but
ruin.
Exhausted as she was by the harsh measures of Ferdinand H.,
Bohemia was nevertheless called upon to furnish soldiers for the
armies which Wallenstein was leading into Germany. This famous
soldier of fortune was born in the north of the kingdom, of a
family which belonged to the Bohemian Brothers. Left an orphan
at an early age, he was educated by the Jesuits and became a
Catholic while still a boy. His brother-in-law, Charles of Zerotin,
had recommended him to the Emperor Mathias, and his first ex-
perience in warfare was received against the Turks and against
Venice. During the rebellion against the emperor he remained
faithful and took part in the Battle of the White Mountain. No
one profited more than he by the ruin of Bohemia. By way of
payment for certain debts which he had contracted in the service
of the emperor, he received the principality of Friedland, which
contained no less than nine towns and fifty-seven villages. To
these he added a large number of confiscated estates bought in at a
low price, and in this manner constituted, with the emperor's
sanction, what virtually amounted to a petty sovereignty, with the
right even of administering justice and of coining money. When
in 1626 the king of Denmark came to the help of the Protestants
in Germany, Wallenstein offered to raise and maintain an army
at his own expense for the service of the emperor, an offer that
was accepted. He collected 30,000 mercenaries and entered Ger-
many, ravaging the whole country through which he passed, and
securing from the emperor in return for his services first the
duchy of Sagan in Silesia, next that of Mecklenburg, together with
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 211
1627-1634
the title of Admiral of the Baltic. Wallenstein inspired the Germans
of the seventeenth century with the same terror that they had felt
for Zizka and Procopius in the fifteenth. Even the emperor's allies
were terrified by his success and asked for his recall. He re-
turned to Prague, where he built himself a magnificent palace. At
Jiciu he entertained a court as brilliant as a king's, being waited
upon by sixty pages and constantly attended by a bodyguard. Men
of family even quitted the service of the emperor to enter his.
When the king of Sweden took up the cause of Protestantism,
and it was found that Germany had no general able to resist this
formidable adversary, the emperor was advised to send for Wallen-
stein. He agreed to take up arms only on condition that he was
to have the supreme command, both military and political. The
Saxons, the allies of Gustavus Adolphus, had already penetrated
into Bohemia as far as Prague, and with them had returned a large
number of Bohemian emigrants, who drove out the Jesuits and
prepared to show the last honors to the Protestant martyrs whose
heads still remained exposed on the tower of the bridge at Prague.
But Wallenstein, who had assembled his army at Znaim in Moravia,
also entered Bohemia, drove out the Saxons, and followed the
Swedes through Bavaria and Saxony. A battle was fought at the
tragic field of Liitzen, where Gustavus Adolphus fell, November i6,
1362, but the Swedes stood their ground and Wallenstein with-
drew to winter in Bohemia. But during all this time, while fight-
ing the enemies of the emperor, Wallenstein was negotiating with
them in the hopes of realizing his boundless ambition of securing
territorial sovereignty in Germany and perhaps the crown of Bo-
hemia. These negotiations excited the suspicions and the fears
of the court, and he was assassinateed on February 25, 1634.
It is difficult to determine how far he was guilty or who gave
the order for his assassination. What is certain is that Ferdi-
nand, while ordering three thousand masses to be said for the
repose of his soul, divided the greater part of his estates among
the men who had taken part in the plot against him. Wallenstein,
whose tragic end has inspired one of Schiller's great plays, has left
behind him a name which inspires astonishment and contempt, and
his countrymen curse his memory. The year of Wallenstein's death
saw the Swedes again before the walls of Prague, but they were
unable to enter the city, and were soon obliged to leave Bohemia.
The elector of Saxony, Frederick, concluded a peace with the
812 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1634-1648
emperor, and received from him the province of Lusatia, which he
held as a fief from the crown of Bohemia, and which has remained
ever since a part of Saxony. Indeed, the province was already
largely Germanized in the sixteenth century, and to-day there are
but few remains of the old Slav population to be found. Under
Ferdinand III. (1637-1657) the Swedes again returned to Bohemia
under their leader. Banner. The land was left to its fate by the
emperor, and suffered terribly from those who twenty years before
had been its allies and who now remained for a whole year as
its conquerors. Region after region was ravaged and the enemy
carried off everything they could lay their hands on. But in 1640
the imperial army returned and the Swedes were forced to retire.
Ferdinand himself came to reside in Prague in order to organize
the defense of the kingdom in person. But in 1645- 1647 the Swedes
under Torstenson again invaded the country and crushed the im-
perial forces, following the retreating Austrians into upper Aus-
tria. In 1648 the new Swedish general, Konigsmarck, got into
Prague itself by stratagem, but was forced to withdraw because of
the desperate resistance of the inhabitants. He then besieged the
city, but the siege was interrupted by the Peace of Westphalia,
and Prague was saved.
No country had suffered more cruelly during the Thirty Years*
War than Bohemia. Towns and villages were destroyed or de-
populated, the people starving and wretched, the land untilled and
trade ruined. A kingdom which — without including Lusatia,
Moravia, and Silesia — counted three million inhabitants before the
war was reduced to seven or eight hundred thousand. Deprived of
its independence by the new constitution and exploited by a rapa-
cious foreign aristocracy, Bohemia seemed to have received its
death-blow. The sovereign resided at Vienna, and the government
was carried on by high civil and judicial functionaries, who formed
a sort of regency. The high chancellor lived at Vienna, and the
chancery of the kingdom of St. Vacslav sank into a subordinate
position. The principal dignitaries were the president of the court of
appeal and the chancellor. The other functionaries had merely honor-
ary titles, with offices filled only on the occasion of a coronation.
Finances were in the hands of the royal chamber in Vienna, and
the army was made a part of the imperial forces. The royal cities,
it is true, retained their civic guard, but these were not a military
body. The country was still divided into circles, each governed by
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 213
1634-1648
two captains, one selected from the lords, the other from the knights.
Towns had their burgomasters and their consuls, but they were
under the strict surveillance of the captains and the royal judges,
while the peasants were serfs and absolutely under the rule of their
lords. Indeed, this was the only one of their ancient privileges
which the nobles had been able to keep, though it must not be for-
gotten that these nobles were for the most part not the old Czech
nobility, but foreign adventurers hostile to the Czechs and devoted
to the sovereign whose creatures they were, so that servitude
under them was far harsher than it had ever been under the native
aristocracy. Religious unity had been established by means of
persecution, as we have seen, but in spite of it some followers of
the old sect remained long afterward, and down to the very end
of the eighteenth century the proscribed rites were secretly cele-
brated in rural districts. " I remember," says the refuge Holyck,
" when I was about seven years old, going with my parents to a
vast and gloomy forest. We were sitting upon a cart under the
snow-covered trees while several hundred of the faithful rapidly
gathered and began to build themselves huts of branches. Not
far off a bell, hung between two trees, was rung for divine service,
and I still remember as in a dream hearing the preachers preach
and seeing the communion administered to the crowd.
Watchful sentinels were placed at the corners of the woods, and then
all sang joyfully the praises of the Lord. The communion took
place after the sermon round the stump of a rudely fashioned tree.
How sweet and sublime sounded those holy hymns in the depths of
the forest ! "
Two bishoprics, those of Leitmeritz and Hradic, were added
to that of Prague in order to watch over the maintenance of the
Catholic faith. But the most active agents of the Catholic res-
toration were, of course, the religious orders, especially the
Jesuits, Bohemia became the special province of this celebrated
order. Indefatigable missionaries and professors, they possessed
themselves of all public education and conducted a bitter warfare
against heretical books and traditions. Veneration and pilgrim-
ages were encouraged, and new orders of monks settled in Bo-
hemia, no less than 179 new convents being built. So great was
the growth of the Jesuits that the court of Vienna became alarmed at
their influence, and made them surrender to the government the
control of the faculties of law and medicine.
214 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1648-1680
Czech nationality suffered cruelly from all these trials. Many
of the domains of the lords were abandoned by the old in-
habitants, who were replaced by German colonists. These brought
with them their language, which from that time on became the
dominant tongue in the frontier lands to the north and west. In-
deed, it is from this period that the real German invasion of Bo-
hemia dates. Germans then occupied and have held down to our
own times almost a third of the soil of the kingdom, and their lan-
guage, favored by the government at Vienna, became more and
more that of the upper classes. The national literature fell into
neglect. Indeed, the greater part of the productions of Bohemian
literature had already been destroyed, either by the Jesuits or the
Swedes, while the new Catholic literature which took its place had
neither the vigor nor the originality of the old. It was, however,
tolerably prolific, and proves the vitality of the national language,
which in spite of its harsh experiences is more flourishing to-day
than ever. The religious works of this period fill in the gap be-
tween the brilliant period of the Hussite movement and the literary
renaissance of the eighteenth century.
Between this renaissance and the period of decadence which
began under the reign of Ferdinand II., the history of Bohemia
presents few points of interest. She has not, like Hungary, tu-
multuous diets at Presburg or revolts in Transylvania. One or
two events only need be mentioned. In 1680 an agrarian revolt
broke out in the circle of Caslav. The peasants took up arms and
sent delegates to Prague to complain of the tyranny of the lords.
They declared that they were treated more harshly than if ruled by
Turks or Tatars, and demanded alleviation of their misery. The
delegates were thrown into prison and two regiments were sent
against the revolted peasants. Upon this the revolt broke out
worse than ever in the circles of Leitmeritz and of Pilsen, and it was
only with great difficulty that the movement was suppressed. In
the War of the Spanish Succession Joseph I., as king of Bohemia,
concluded a treaty with the German princes by which he undertook
to contribute for Bohemia to the common expenses of the empire,
and in return the princes guaranteed the integrity of his kingdom.
But the crown of Bohemia remained independent of the empire.
This treaty is sometimes regarded as the prologue to the one which
later included Bohemia in the Germanic Confederation. It was con-
cluded without any reference to the opinion of the diet of the
THE THIRTY YEARS' WAR 215
1680-1720
kingdom. Charles VI. paid more attention to the estates, for he
wished to secure the crown for his daughter, and laid before them
the famous Pragmatic Sanction for their approval, which they
adopted on October i6, 1720. The same monarch appointed a
permanent committee of the diet in Bohemia to administer those
current affairs which properly fell within the jurisdiction of that
assembly.
Chapter XVIII
HUNGARY DIVIDED. 1526-1564
IN Hungary, as in Bohemia, the defeat of Mohacs left the field
free to Austrian ambition. A great number of patriots,
Verboeczy at their head, thought that a national king should
be chosen. Meeting in a diet near Tokay, they proclaimed John
Szapolyai, under the name of John I. The Szapolyais had already
played a great part in the history of Hungary. Stephen Szapolyai
had taken Vienna in 1425, and had been lieutenant of Mathias
Corvinus in Austria. His son John was voievode of Transylvania,
and in crushing the jacquerie of the kurucs had rendered to the
Magyar aristocracy signal services. Under the reign of Louis
he had, together with Verboeczy, and the Archbishop Bakracz,
exercised a veritable regency. It has been asserted that he was even
then aspiring to the throne, and that if he did not go to the aid
of King Louis it was because he desired a disaster that would give
free scope to his own ambitions. Be that as it may, he was
crowned, in 1526, by the bishop of Nitra; but another diet had
assembled at Presburg which proclaimed Ferdinand of Austria.
Ferdinand had the advantage of having been crowned with the
true crown of St. Stephen, for which the patriotic Magyars
have always had a superstitious veneration. The troops of Ferdi-
nand drove back those of Szapolyai and compelled him to take
refuge in Poland ; a united diet met at Buda and declared Szapolyai
and Verboeczy enemies to the fatherland. Szapolyai then turned
to the side from which it would seem that Hungary might least
dream of hoping for aid : he sent his agent to the Sultan Suleiman.
Suleiman promised his cooperation in exchange for the hom-
age of Hungary; he deigned, according to his own words, "to
cede to Szapolyai a kingdom which belonged to the conqueror of
Mohacs by the rights of war and of the saber." On the other
hand. King Francis I. agreed to a treaty that gave to the young
duke of Orleans the succession of Szapolyai, in case the latter left
no male child. He accorded to the king of Hungary an annual
916
HUNGARY DIVIDED 217
1526-1538
subsidy of twenty thousand crowns. At the same time Friar
Martinuzzi, of the Croatian family of Utiesenovic, prior of the
famous PoHsh sanctuary of Czenstochowa, traveled through Hun-
gary striving to make enemies for Austria and adherents for
Szapolyai.
In the spring of the year 1529 Suleiman entered Hungary, this
time not as a conqueror, but as a suzerain. Not far from Mohacs
Szapolyai appeared before him and kissed the hand that had in-
flicted such terrible disasters on his country. He allowed the holy
crown, that palladium of Hungarian independence, to be carried
away by the Ottomans, and accepted the Turkish garrisons which
established themselves at Buda and at Gran. But the troops which
Suleiman led to the aid of Hungary made almost as many ravages
in this vassal country as in that of an enemy. " The Magyars,"
says one of their historians, " scarcely knew which they should
hate the more, the Austrians who came to attack them or the
Osmanlis who came to defend them." Suleiman failed at the siege
of Vienna, and in 1531 a truce was concluded between the two
kings of Hungary. After long conflicts an agreement was reached
between the two pretenders. By the Treaty of Varad (1538) Fer-
dinand and the Emperor Charles V. recognized Szapolyai as king
of Hungary. In return he guaranteed to Ferdinand the succession,
even in case he should have a son.
Two years later Szapolyai died, leaving a young son. Ver-
boeczy and the queen-dowager, a daughter of Sigismund, refused
to disinherit him, and appealed for aid to the sultan. The Ottoman
sovereign welcomed this opportunity for intervening in the affairs
of Hungary. He recognized the son of Szapolyai as king, and
himself marched to his assistance. Ferdinand, reduced to conquer-
ing his kingdom, was besieging Buda and had invested it rigor-
ously. The city was on the point of surrendering when Suleiman
arrived; the Austrians, taken between two fires, were crushed;
their general, Roggendorf, died of his wounds. But the grand
seigneur was resolved to be paid dearly for his succor; he had the
little king of Hungary brought to him, covered him with caresses,
and recommended his sons to love him as their own brother.
Meanwhile his troops occupied Buda. Once master of the place.
Suleiman declared that he would continue to occupy it, since John
Sigismund was not of an age to defend it. He assigned him
Transylvania as a residence, of which he named him voievode.
218 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1538-1541
The queen-dowager protested in vain against this humiHation, It
was necessary to set out for this exile, whither the Monk Mar-
tinuzzi accompanied them. The court of the young prince was
estabHshed at the chateau of Lippa. " From this time," says
Sayous, " there were three Hungarys : western Hungary, the king-
dom of Ferdinand ; central Hungary, occupied by the Turks and
governed by the pasha of Buda ; and eastern Hungary, which formed
the independent principality of Transylvania."
The principal church of Buda was transformed into a mosque,
and Verboeczy had the humiliating honor of being appointed the
supreme judge of the Christians of Buda, subjects of the grand
seigneur. He died a short time afterward.
The success of Suleiman was not only a defiance to the ambi-
tion of the Austrian claimant, but also to the peace and security
of the whole Christian world. The German princes offered their
aid to Ferdinand ; the noblemen of the greatest families put them-
selves at his service; Martinuzzi, always much occupied in holding
the balance between the German and the Turk, the interests of
Hungary, and his own personal ambition, renewed the Treaty of
Varad, in 1541, joining to it one stipulation, however, that Ferdi-
nand should expel the Ottomans. But the expedition of the Ger-
mans did not succeed ; in vain the Hungarian diet asked for further
assistance from them, Suleiman made himself master of Gran
and of Stuhlweissenburg. To the misfortune of Hungary, the
struggles of Protestants and Catholics then divided Germany. The
greater part of the Hungarians, treated with relative mildness by
their Mussulman conquerors, accustomed themselves to their domi-
nation. Martinuzzi, " that monk of wicked and unfortunate
caprices," as Ferdinand wrote, negotiated anew with Suleiman.
In the midst of this agitated period Martinuzzi was the true
master of the country. He continued between the three sovereigns,
Ferdinand, Szapolyai, and Suleiman, that see-saw policy which be-
trayed his double education, Slav and Italian. He offered Transyl-
vania to Ferdinand, and drew upon that unfortunate country a
Turkish invasion; then he turned anew against the Austrians, and
persuaded the dowager-queen to renounce the crown to Ferdinand.
She gave up the royal insignia at the diet of Klausenburg. But
the Austrian king had little confidence in this equivocal personage,
who knew how to play so many parts at once. He sent the con-
dottiere Castaldo, assisted by unscrupulous Italians, who could be
HUNGARY DIVIDED 219
1541-1566
depended upon for a hazardous stroke, into Transylvania to watch
him. And notwithstanding the fact that he had recently been
made a cardinal, he was soon assassinated, struck down by sixty-
six blows delivered by these hired assassins. So ended this curious
personage, who has been compared, not without reason, to Wallen-
stein. The court of Rome launched her thunderbolts against the
assassins guilty of having laid violent hands on a prince of the
church; but Ferdinand, who did not dissimulate the part he had
taken to " despatch Friar Georges," succeeded in obtaining from
Pope Julius III. absolution for the murder.
The death of Martinuzzi did not deliver Hungary from the
scourge of war, Temesvar succumbed, in spite of an admirable
defense. Eger defended itself with no less heroism. Summoned
to surrender, the besieged, as their only response, planted on the
rampart four pikes surmounted by a coffin draped in black. The
Turks made an assault four times on the intrepid city, where the
women rivaled the men in valor ; more than 8,000 of the defenders
perished under the walls, in 1552. Isabelle Szapolyai, in the midst
of these miseries, in despair of reconquering the whole of Hungary
for her son, after having sought and obtained the promise of aid
from France to secure Transylvania for him, died in 1559.
The situation of Hungary proper was in all respects deplor-
able. Ferdinand left vacant those offices, like that of palatine,
which had to be filled by natives, put the administration in the
hands of Germans, and gave the military command to foreigners.
He had to conclude, in 1562, a treaty with the Turks, which recog-
nized the possession of their conquests and promised them an an-
nual present. It was, in effect, only a disguised tribute. Ferdinand
had at least the consolation of seeing his son Maximilian crowned,
in 1563, at Presburg.
This prince (1564-1576) continued his father's policy. The
peace concluded by Suleiman and Ferdinand had but a short dura-
tion. In 1566 Suleiman attacked the town of Szigeth, west of
Mohacs, north of the Drave. It was commanded by the Croat
Zrinyi or Zrinski, the old ban of Croatia. The waters of the river
Almas surrounded like a lake this little city, of which the garrison
numbered no more than 2,500 men. The suburbs burned, Zrinyi
took refuge in the castle ; there the Turks endeavored to force him
to surrender, sometimes by terror, threatening to cut the throat
of his son George, whom they held prisoner, sometimes by the most
220 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1566-1575
seductive promises. Suleiman, in an access of fury, died before the
impregnable city. The Vizier Sokoli, however, concealed his death
from the besieged. Meanwhile the castle fell to pieces under the
artillery; Zrinyi clothed himself in his most magnificent garments,
put gold in his pockets, " so that something might be found on his
corpse," and at the head of his remaining soldiers threw himself
into the midst of the Turks. There he found the death which he
sought. That of Suleiman was only revealed to the troops after
the reduction of the town. Szigeth, of which both Slav and Hun-
garian poetry have chanted the tragic fate, remained in the hands
of the Turks till 1689. Maximilian also allowed the town of
Gyula to be taken, and in 1568 signed two treaties with the new
Sultan Selim, which sanctioned once more the dismemberment
of Hungary.
The condition of those parts of Hungary that were under
Turkish domination became almost as miserable as that of the
Servian and Bulgarian provinces; the orders of the pashas often
began with this formula : " In the name of the all-powerful em-
peror, know that if you disobey, the punishment is ready and the
funeral pyre awaits you." The towns occupied by the Turks were
covered with ruins ; the Janissaries kidnaped the young Hungarians
in order to make them enter the army of the grand seigneur; the
imposts were heavy, sometimes crushing, and collected by chance.
From the administrative point of view the country was divided into
twenty-five sandjaks, redivided later into four eyalets (those of
Buda, Eger, Kanisza, and Temesvar). The autonomy of the
comitats, however, was respected, and they had, in certain respects,
especially from the religious point of view, more liberty than those
in the Austrian parts of the kingdom.
Maximilian also recognized the sovereignty of John Sigis-
mund Szapolyai in Transylvania. The young prince renounced
the title of king and contented himself with that of Most Serene
Prince. He died in 1571, and with him ended the dynasty of
Szapolyai. The Transylvanian diet elected as his successor the
wise Stephen Batory, who was called to high destinies; Poland
had given kings to Hungary: Transylvania, in 1575, gave to Po-
land one of her most remarkable sovereigns.
The throne of Poland had become vacant by the departure of
the French king, Henry of Valois. Maximilian H. and Batory
announced their candidature ; Batory was elected. The Poles con-
HUNGARY DIVIDED 221
1566-1575
sider his reign one of the most glorious of their history. He took
with him to his new kingdom some Hungarians, who improved
the military service, especially the artillery. Maximilian did not
long survive this blow. He took care before his death to have his
son Rudolf crowned at Presburg. Maximilian, whose tolerant
and liberal spirit was not popular in the kingdom which he showed
himself so incapable of defending, was, nevertheless, when comi-
pared with his immediate successors, one of the best sovereigns of
mutilated Hungary.
The condition of Austrian Hungary during this period was
but little better than that of Ottoman Hungary ; continual warfare
prevailed. The national militia being naturally insufficient, the
Austrian prince covered the country with foreign troops, who were
often as oppressive as the Mussulmans. Each comitat recruited
soldiers for the national defense, and we have seen how these native
troops, the honveds, distinguished themselves at the defense of Eger
and Szigeth.
Another important fact ot this period was the spread of the
Reformation among the Magyars. In spite of the political an-
tagonism between Hungary and Bohemia, the doctrines of Huss
had filtered into the kingdom of St. Stephen and prepared men's
minds for religious changes. The causes which predisposed the
Catholics of Hungary to this change were the same as in the
neighboring countries. Abuses had grown up within the church.
Hungarian genius, less original and cultivated than that of Bo-
hemia and Germany, had not in itself energy enough to bring
about the Reformation; yet it was supple and docile enough to
accept it. The German colonies of Transylvania formed, be-
sides, a sort of transition between Germany and Hungary. As
early as the reign of Louis II., one year before the battle of
Mohacs, the diet, at the instance of the terrified clergy, decreed
the punishment of heretics by fire. The dismemberment of Hun-
gary favored the extension of the new doctrines; the diverse
masters who divided the kingdom among themselves were not
able to give the persecution that unity necessary for a successful
struggle against heresy. In Transylvania Pastor Honter early
multiplied books and schools; in Hungary the first Reformer was
Devay, who had known Luther personally at Wittenberg. He
translated the epistles of St. Paul into Magyar. Some of the
nobles became adherents of the new doctrines, and after 1548
f2t AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1575-1576
the diets ceased to pass laws of persecution. The Evangelical
church freely organized itself on the basis of the Confession of
Augsburg. But it was Calvinism that especially established itself
in the center of Hungary, in the valley of the Theiss. Calvinista
hit, Magyar hit: the Calvinistic faith is the true Magyar faith, says a
proverb. Lutheranism was of German origin, and as such sus-
pected by patriots. It was at Debreczen that the new sect estab-
lished itself; ii had as a leader Pastor Juhasz, who, following
the fashion of the time, Grecianized his name into that of Melius.
He translated the Scriptures, composed songs, and entered into re-
lations with Theodore de Beza. In 1567 the Synod of Debreczen
formulated in seventy-four articles the creed of the Magyar Cal-
vinistic church. John Huss had renewed Czech prose, and Luther
German prose; the Hungarian Reformers, Devay, Erdoesi (Jo-
hannes Sylvester Pannonicus), Caspar Heltai, and Karoly, ren-
dered the same service to their country. In spite of the Catholic
and Ultramontane dynasty, Protestanism became for Hungary a
new force.
The reign of Rudolf (i 576-1612) did not tend to make the
house of Austria any more popular. At the beginning of his reign
the diet made known the grievances of the country. It demanded
guarantees from the sovereign and wished that the relations with
Turkey might be regulated by national ambassadors, and not by
Germans or Italians, strangers to the interests of the kingdom.
Rudolf was so wounded by this language that he left Hungary
and never returned. For four years he did not convoke the diet,
and did not have a palatine appointed. A friend of the arts and
occult sciences, imbued with absolutist doctrines, he did not love
the barbarous, independent spirit of Hungary ; he consulted it only
when in need of subsidies. A Venetian ambassador sums it up
thus : " The Hungarians detest the house of Austria ; they con-
sider themselves not only as conquered, but as scorned by her, since
they have imposed upon them the government of the Germans,
their natural enemies."
Meanwhile the war continued with the Turks. In order to
hold in check the Mussulman invaders, the emperor accorded to
Servian colonists certain districts between the Unna and the Kulpa,
charging them with the defense of the frontier. Those abandoned
districts, called by contemporaries desertum primum, desertum
secundum, were thus repeopled by a population at the same time
HUNGARY DIVIDED 223
1576-1601
agricultural and warlike, and we have here the beginning of the
military frontier which has lasted to our own time. In 1577 the
fortress of Karlstadt was constructed in order to defend Croatia
against Mussulman invasions. In 1592, Hasan, pasha of Bosnia,
was defeated under the walls of Sisek. In 1595 the town of Gran
was captured by the combined troops of the empire and Hungary.
This advantage was unfortunately neutralized for by the loss of
Eger. Defended by natives, this town had been impregnable;
confided this time to a garrison composed in great part of Walloon
mercenaries, it capitulated. Other engagements mark the war, but
the ardor of the Turks was diminishing, and in 1601, after their
victory before Kanisza, they agreed to a peace by which they kept
their possessions. During this war, in which the Austrians had
introduced Walloons, Spaniards, and Italians into the country, and
the Turks the Tatars, the Magyars suffered as much from their allies
as from their enemies.
It is in Transylvania, that trilingual Hungary, with its Mag-
yars, Germans, and Wallachians, that the conflict for control dur-
ing the next few years takes place. Stephen Batory governed the
principality ably from 1571 to 1575, but in introducing the Jesuits
he prepared for grave religious conflicts. One of his successors,
Sigismund Batory, feeble-spirited and dominated by the Jesuits,
themselves entirely devoted to the emperor, consented in 1597 to
cede Transylvania to Rudolf, in exchange for the principalities
of Oppela and of Ratibor, in Silesia. But upon the advice of his
uncle. Cardinal Andrew Batory, he revoked this decision. A con-
flict with Austria ensued, and at the same time Michael, voievode
of Wallachia, attacked the principality in the hope of being granted
it by the Ottomans. Weary of war, Sigismund abdicated and
retired to Prague, where he died in 161 3. Transylvania was
then invaded by the imperialists and governed by General Basta,
whose occupation has left most execrable memories. The ex-
actions of the Austrians made Mussulman domination almost
desired; the Protestants, whom the Turks had left in peace,
were systematically persecuted. Such violence could scarcely fail
to excite a bloody reaction. The Transylvanians arose, in concert
with the Magyars of Upper Hungary, exasperated by the brutali-
ties of the imperial lieutenant, Belgiojoso. All these foreign ad-
venturers treated the kingdom as a conquered country, and made
the Austrian dynasty detested. The Transylvanians had at their
224 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1601-1608
head a great lord, full of audacity and of military talent, Stephen
Bocskai ; he was seconded by the young Gabriel Bethlen. The im-
perialists were defeated before Kaschau (or Kassa), which opened
its gates, and the diet proclaimed Bocskai voievode of Transyl-
vania. The new voievode showed himself to be as skillful a diplo-
matist as he was a valiant general; he negotiated with the Turks
and assured himself of the support of the sultan, Achmet II., who
even offered to recognize him as king of all Hungary. Bocskai
was prudent enough to decline that dignity. By the Peace of
Vienna, in 1606, his rule was recognized not only over Transyl-
vania, but also over a part of northern Hungary; should he die
without heirs these provinces were to return to the house of Aus-
tria. The Peace of Vienna stipulated, besides, liberty of conscience
for Protestants, the obligation for an archduke to reside in the
kingdom in the absence of the king, and the engagement to reserve
to natives alone military command and the public offices.
The kingdom of St. Stephen, with Transylvania, Croatia,
Slavonia, and Dalmatia, included at this time 5163 square miles.
The house of Austria held 1222, the Porte 1859, and Bocskai 2082.
The Treaty of Vienna was brought about by the efforts of the
Archduke Mathias, who strove to make up by force of energy for
the indolence of his brother, Rudolf. Once governor of Austrian
Hungary, he attempted to claim the discontent of the nation. He
did not succeed, however, in annexing Transylvania after the sud-
den death of Bocskai in 1606. The diet of that province, meeting
at Klausenburg, elected Sigismund Rakoczy, and then Gabriel
Batory, after Rakoczy had voluntarily renounced the princely
title, in 1608.
That same year Mathias, it will be remembered, compelled his
brother to cede Austria and Hungary to him. His reign did not
carry out all the hopes to which his efforts as archduke had given
rise. But he restored to the kingdom its national dignitary, the
palatine, and engaged himself never to leave that important office
vacant ; he restored the holy crown, withdrew the foreign garrisons,
and recognized liberty of conscience. In his absence the palatine,
the royal council and a treasurer exercised sovereign authority.
These concessions appeased the sorrows of Hungary, without caus-
ing them to be completely forgotten. Henry IV. of France was
not ignorant of them, and, in the political plan which he meditated,
and which death prevented him from putting into execution, he
HUNGARY DIVIDED 225
1606-1613
intended to enter Hungary. He wished, to use the words of Sully,
" that the Hungarians might be put in possession of their ancient
freedom, of the right that they had of themselves electing their
prince or of changing the form of the state and manner of govern-
ment as they might think proper."
After the coronation of Mathias the Protestant Thurzo was
elected palatine; this choice was a strong guarantee for religious
toleration ; but the traditions and the usual counselors of the house
of Austria rendered its maintenance difficult. Besides, among the
Hungarians themselves the Reformation had decided adversaries.
At their head was Cardinal Pazmany, a pupil of the Jesuits, a fiery
prelate, ingenious and eloquent, who brought back to Catholicism
the representatives of some of the greatest families of the kingdom.
For an instant, after the tragic death of the voievode Batory, the
violence of which had provoked Austrian intervention, Mathias
conceived the hope of reconquering Transylvania. But the Tran-
sylvanians held even more to their liberty of conscience than to
their political independence; they elected the Protestant Gabriel
Bethlen (1613-1629). This enlightened prince made tolerance
flourish in religion, discipline in the army, and good order in the
administration of the country. Not without reason has he been
compared to Mathias Corvinus. Like that great king, he had a
taste for the arts and possessed a fine education. He held the bal-
ance equal between Protestants and Catholics, as between Aus-
trians and Ottomans. But when Ferdinand II. (1619-1637) had
mounted the throne and the Thirty Years' War broke out, Bethlen
understood that the interests of Protestantism were gravely men-
aced, and that Magyar nationality would perhaps be struck the
same blow that menaced Bohemian nationality.
The emperor attempted at first to assure the neutrality of the
voievode by sending to him Nicholas Esterhazy, one of the most
skillful diplomats and best patriots of Austrian Hungary. Ester-
hazy was one of those who, like Francis Deak later, accepted freely
the Hapsburg dynasty and demanded only, in exchange for loyal
submission, respect for the wishes of the nation. A sincere but
liberal Catholic, he held, so to speak, a middle course between Car-
dinal Pazmany and the Protestant Bethlen. That great prince,
after having hesitated some time, took the part of Bohemia. He
circulated everywhere a manifesto entitled " The Complaints of
Hungary," and convoked all the comitats in a general diet. This
226 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1813-1629
assembly met at Kassa, named him governor, and put George
Rakoczy, as captain general, at the head of the comitats of the
north. Bethlen sent to Count Thum a body of 10,000 auxiliaries,
assured the independence of the diet, which met at Presburg, and
decided to carry aid to Bohemia, in 1620. The diet proclaimed
Bethlen king of Hungary, at about the same time that Bohemia
chose the elector-palatine; unfortunately the Protestant cause,
which the new sovereign represented, found then no support either
in France or Poland; even the Turks themselves seemed disin-
terested in the affairs of Hungary. The defeat of the Czechs at
the White Mountain ruined the hopes of Transylvania. Bethlen
treated with Ferdinand, and by the Peace of Nicolsburg renounced
the crown of Hungary. But he kept Transylvania and the admin-
istration of the seven comitats of the north. He received, besides,
the title of prince of the empire, and an annual subsidy of fifty
thousand florins.
But this treaty was only provisional; Bethlen had the highest
ambitions. He hoped to find allies, and negotiated with the
governments of Holland, England, and Venice through their am-
bassadors at Constantinople. He established close relations with
northern Germany and married the Princess Catherine of Branden-
burg. He had under his orders an entire diplomatic staff. From
1623 till 1629 he negotiated with the French ambassador at Con-
stantinople, De Cesy, who encouraged him to march against
Austria. Yet all these efforts, and even an attempted campaign
against Wallenstein, had no positive result; Bethlen died in 1629,
without in any way having modified the situation which had brought
about the Peace of Nicolsburg.
Chapter XIX
HUNGARY FREED FROM THE TURKS AND
RECONCILED TO AUSTRIA. 1629-1746
GEORGE RAKOCZY was chosen to succeed Bethlen in
• spite of the pretensions of the Princess-dowager Cath-
erine of Brandenburg, sustained by the courts of France,
Holland, Sweden, and Brandenburg. During the Swedish period
of the Thirty Years' War Transylvania was tranquil. In Hungary
the palatine, Esterhazy, strove to maintain public liberty against the
encroachments of the sovereign, but he was not able to prevent
Cardinal Pazmany from establishing the order of Jesuits. They
founded a university and took in hand the education of the Cath-
olic youth. Under Ferdinand HI., who succeeded in 1637, the dis-
content of the Protestants of Hungary was increased by a series
of incessant violations of the Treaty of Vienna. Rakoczy believed
the occasion favorable for declaring war on Austria ; in spite of the
supplications of Esterhazy, who begged him not to weaken Hungary
before the Turks, he treated with France and Sweden. They
promised him as a reward for his cooperation a yearly subsidy of
twelve hundred thousand crowns, and the religious liberty and
political independence of Hungary and Transylvania. In 1644 he
commenced hostilities. Making himself master of Kassa, he ad-
vanced to Eperies, where he issued a proclamation inviting the
Hungarians to revolt. But checked by the imperial troops, he
had to return to his own states. He did not wait for the conclu-
sion of the negotiations which led to the Treaty of Westphalia,
but treated for himself. The emperor, in the Peace of Linz, 1645,
ceded to him the possession of the comitats of the north, which
Gabriel Bethlen had already possessed, and two fortresses.
Transylvania prospered greatly under the reign of this prince,
who introduced at his court and into his army the principles of the
Reformed religion. He had for successor his son, George Rakoczy
II. (1648-1660), whose ambition nearly compromised the destinies
227
ftStS AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1648-1664
of the principality. He hoped, with the aid of Sweden, to reach the
throne of Poland, like Batory, his predecessor. But the Porte
would not allow so powerful a state to be established on its frontiers.
Hence followed a series of wars and invasions, during which
Transylvania was cruelly ravaged, and Greorge was killed in the
struggle. John Kemenyi, one of his principal lieutenants, and one
of the best writers of the time, succeeded him and attempted to
repulse the Turks, this time with the aid of the emperor. He per-
ished in his turn, and the Transylvanians, as much afraid of the
imperial alliance as of the ravages of the Ottomans, accepted the
voievode, Michael Apafy, whom the Porte imposed upon them.
The reign of Leopold I. (1657-1705) left the saddest mem-
ories in Hungary. At the coronation of this prince the diet had
exacted that the dignity of palatine should be reestablished and for-
eign troops removed from the country; the Protestant party fur-
thermore pleaded in favor of liberty of conscience, so often violated.
The invasion of the Turks in 1664, under the Grand Vizier
Kiuprili, united for a moment all the forces of Hungary and the
empire; the imperialists were commanded by the celebrated Monte-
cuculli, the worthy adversary of Turenne, and the Hungarians by
Zrinyi, a descendant of the famous hero of Szigeth. Zrinyi accom-
plished prodigies of chivalrous valor, while Montecuculli repre-
sented the severe school of the great tacticians of the Thirty Years'
War. The battle of St. Gothard, called the battle of Kormend by
the Magyars, was fought on Hungarian soil, August i, 1664, and
was for the Turks a formidable defeat that rejoiced all Christen-
dom. Hungary, however, profited nothing by this triumph. The
peace which was soon concluded at Vasvar, without the par-
ticipation of the diet, did not free a foot of Hungarian soil; a
truce of twenty years was concluded. Indeed the Turks received
several other fortresses, notably Great Varadin.
It seemed as though the treaty had been concluded in the in-
terest of Turkey and Austria against Hungary. The Emperor
Leopold, led by the Jesuits, and inspired by the double fanaticism
of intolerance and monarchical absolutism, proposed to destroy at
the same time the Reformed religion and the liberties of the king-
dom. " I will make Hungary a captive, then a beggar, and after
that a Catholic," has long been attributed to him, though history
finds no evidence to support the accusation. He attempted at
first to suppress the diet and replace it by an assembly of nobles and
HUNGARY FREED FROM TURKS 229
1664-1665
of prelates meeting at Vienna ; but that body resisted and thwarted
his projects.
But the danger to Hungarian liberty continued, and she could
hope to find succor only in the help of the foreigner. In 1665
Frankopan, a Croatian magnate, allied to the illustrious family of
Zrinyi, addressed to the elector of Mainz a memorial in which he
said : " The kingdom of Hungary has arrived at such a state of ruin
and of misery that, if God does not inspire the Christian princes to
defend it, all is at an end with this bulwark of Christendom and of
all the nations. . . . The upper comitats of Hungary have
reached such a degree of despair that they see no other safety
except to put themselves under the protection of the Turks. . . .
The Hungarians, by a national antipathy, have always had a hor-
ror of the domination of the Turks. . . . However, to-day
extreme necessity reduces them to such thoughts." Apafy remained
indifferent; Zrinyi and Frankopan attempted, however, to incite
Hungary to insurrection ; they collected some troops, and soon laid
down their arms upon the promise of a complete amnesty. Arrested,
as was also their accomplice Nadasdy, they were imprisoned, and,
contrary to the laws, judged without the territory of the kingdom,
Nadasdy at Vienna, Zrinyi and Frankopan at Wiener-Neustadt,
and were condemned to death, the emperor, " by his pure grace
imperial and royal " sparing them from having the right hand
cut off.
The execution of the three counts was, moreover, the signal
for atrocious persecutions directed in turn against the patriots and
against the Protestants. Many were exiled, put to forced labor,
or sold to the viceroy of Naples to row upon his galleys. But these
severities did not stifle the Magyar spirit of independence, the name
of the kurucz reappeared; and Louis XIV., who was at war with
Austria, ended by giving aid to the malcontents. The French am-
bassador in Poland passed over to them both men and money. The
insurrection had found a formidable chief in the person of Emerich
Toekoeli, who had married the widow of George Rakoczy II.,
the valiant Helen Zrinyi, Toekoeli, whose flag bore the device,
" Pro aris et focis" succeeded in raising an army, which pushed
its way vigorously into Moravia. He coined money bearing his
own effigy, and exercised a real sovereignty. He wished to be
king of Hungary and counted on finding allies in the Turks,
who were then marching on Vienna. He went to meet Kara
280 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1665-1687
Mustapha, and invested Presburg while the Ottomans were
besieging the Austrian capital. The defeat of the Turks by
Sobieski was also a defeat for him, who was called the king of the
kurucs, and he was reduced to carrying on a guerrilla warfare.
Meanwhile the imperial army, victorious over the Ottomans, pene-
trated into Hungary and seized some of the principal places, and
finally Buda itself, which was recovered after so long an occupa-
tion. The Turks were pursued as far as Mohacs, where they ex-
piated by the loss of 20,000 men their former victory on these
plains. Kara Mustapha, attributing his reverses to Toekoeli, had
his old ally arrested and imprisoned in Belgrade; his captivity put
an end to the movement, and the partisans of the king of the
kurucs dispersed, surrendering the places they occupied. The
fortress of Munkacs alone held out, defended by the wife of
Toekoeli, the intrepid Helen Zrinyi, whose heroism has often been
stmg in Hungarian poetry.
The insurrection at an end, and Hungary partially regained,
it would seem that mercy should have been the first duty of the
conqueror. But Leopold and his lieutenants were not of this opin-
ion; an amnesty was proclaimed and violated immediately, the
Italian general Caraffa becoming the unpitying executioner of im-
perial vengeance. Established at Eperies, he instituted in that city
a tribunal whose horrors recall the most bloody exploits of Spain
in the Low Countries. During thirty consecutive days thirty hang-
men submitted the victims, innocent or guilty, to the most refined
tortures and the most horrible deaths. The " Butchery of Eperies,"
as it is called, is the most tragic memory in Hungarian history. The
Emperor Leopold pretended, it is true, to justify himself by saying
that these horrors had taken place without his knowledge.
After having thus terrorized Hungary, he had the right to
hope for every concession. Till this time, in spite of persecutions,
the crown had remained elective ; now he decided to make it heredi-
tary. The diet of 1687, in conformity with the wish of the sov-
ereign, proclaimed the crown hereditary in the male line of the
house of Hapsburg. The proceedings in Hungary had been the
same as in Bohemia ; at first executions, and then changes more or
less freely consented to by the people. The king had to take oath
to the fundamental laws of the country; but article 31 of the Golden
Bull, or the constitution of Andrew II., was abolished. It was
the one which proclaimed the right of insurrection. The diet, in
5^ O)
m
HUNGARY FREED FROM TURKS 231
1687-1699
granting all these concessions, stipulated that executions should
cease and the prisoners be set at liberty, so a general amnesty was
proclaimed. Toekoeli had already retired to Nicomedia, in Asia,
and Helen Zrinyi surrendered the fortress of Munkacs.
Now that all Hungary was regained the Austrians were In
a position to free the country from the Turks. In 1688 they
crossed the Danube and captured Belgrade and Nisch. But the
Turks under their new leader, Mustapha Kiuprili, had awakened
from their lassitude, pushed up the Danube and regained both places.
Mustapha next invaded Hungary, but there he was defeated and
slain by the Austrians under Louis of Baden in 1691. But the
war continued, and with the aid of Toekoeli, who had returned, the
Turks entered Transylvania, where they held their own till Prince
Eugene of Savoy assumed command of the imperialists. This
young prince, who became so formidable an antagonist of the Turks,
was in upper Hungary in 1697, when he heard of the approach
of the Turks by way of the valley of the Theiss. He immediately
threw a bridge over the river at Zenta, and was preparing to attack
the enemy, when he received orders from the emperor, by courier,
forbidding him to fight. He found the position of his troops, how-
ever, such as to justify disobedience, and the brilliant victory of
Zenta justified his audacity. More than 10,000 Turks perished, a
great number being thrown into the Theiss ; the sultan fled to Tem-
esvar, and thence to Constantinople. Winter prevented Prince Eu-
gene from following up his advantages, and the emperor, preoccu-
pied with the succession to the throne of Spain, granted peace to the
Ottomans in 1699. A treaty was concluded at Carlo witz, by which
the sultan agreed not to help the Hungarian malcontents, and to
abandon all claim to Transylvania. Of all her old possessions in
Hungary, Turkey was allowed to keep only the small territory of
Temesvar, the emperor getting the rest — Hungary, the larger part
of Croatia, Slavonia, and the suzerainty over Transylvania. A spe-
cial clause in this Treaty of Carlowitz stipulated for the main-
tenance at Buda of the tomb of a Mussulman monk, Gul Baba,
" the Father of Roses " ; this tomb exists in our day, and is still
the object of pious pilgrimages among Mohammedans. Latterly
the Hungarians have kept it in repair at their own expense in order
to show their sympathy for Turkey.
In the month of April, 1690, Leopold laid claim to Bosnia and
Bulgaria on behalf of Hungary, and called upon the Slavs in Tur-
j»S AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1699-1706
key to take up arms. A little later he invited the Servian patriarch
of Ypek to settle in his dominions, promising the Servians the free
exercise of their religion and a separate government. In 1691 the
patriarch accepted this offer, and from thirty-five to forty thousand
families were settled on the banks of the Maros, in Sirmia, in
Slavonia, in the district of Backa, and even in the outskirts of Buda ;
and these colonists, owing to their special privileges, formed a dis-
tinct nation. The soldiers which they furnished the Austrians,
like those Servians who had settled in Hungary before, rendered
great services to the Hapsburgs in the wars against the Turks. The
descendants of these Servian colonists are still to be found in the
south of Hungary, where their influence is considerable.
After the departure of Toekoeli Transylvania had become an
Austrian province, and during the campaigns against the Turks
the Austrian generals had garrisoned most of its towns. The
young Prince Michael Apafy had been taken to Vienna to be
educated, and the principality was governed by imperial lieuten-
ants. The Treaty of Carlowitz obtained recognition for this new
state of things from the whole of Europe, and the same year, by
a special charter, Leopold recognized the rights and privileges of
the principality and granted the free exercise of the Protestant and
Orthodox religions. But the Transylvanian nobility did not accept
at once this annexation, which, while uniting the province to the
mother country, also subjected it to a brutal soldiery and an op-
pressive government.
The malcontents found a leader in the person of Francis
Rakoczy (1706-1711), who brought to their cause an inheritance
of heroic traditions and hereditary hatreds. His mother was the
daughter of that Count Zrinyi who had perished on the scaffold,
and the widow of George Rakoczy and of Toekoeli; his father,
George Rakoczy, had taken part in the conspiracy of the three
counts, but, more fortunate than they, had escaped the scaffold.
At the age of twelve Francis Rakoczy himself had been taken to
Vienna and educated in the Catholic faith. It had been intended
that he should become a priest, but obtaining permission to return
to Hungary and to travel, he married, while still quite young, a
princess of Hesse-Rheinsfeld, whose heroic courage harmonized
well with his adventurous temperament. To great bodily vigor
Rakoczy joined rare moral energy and an extraordinary ambition.
His first conspiracy did not succeed, and he was seized and thrown
m
m
*.
HUNGARY FREED FROM TURKS ^33
1708-1708
into the prison of Neustadt, whence he found means to escape, and
took refuge in Poland. There, although the emperor had con-
fiscated his property and put a price on his head, he entered into
relations with the French embassy, which allowed him a subsidy.
In 1703 he returned to Hungary.
A peasant revolt had just broken out in the neighborhood of
Munkacs, and the irritation was great throughout the kingdom, for
the attempts of the court of Vienna to destroy Hungarian liberty
had been increasing. Only recently the emperor had called before
him the great nobles and prelates, to whom he proposed the suppres-
sion of a part of the Hungarian nobility, that petite noblesse which
played so active a part in the public life through the comitats. On
the other hand a great number of families were indignant at the
clauses of the Treaty of Carlowitz forbidding the return to the
kingdom of those Hungarians who had emigrated into Turkey
during the recent revolts. The insurrection of 1703 was there-
fore more than a simple movement of the kurucz; some of the
representatives of the greatest families and even Catholics joined
the revolted peasants. By the beginning of 1704 the insurrection
had spread over Transylvania, crossed the Vah, and even made some
progress in the neighborhood of Vienna. At this moment began
the War of the Spanish Succession ; the Bavarians, allies of France,
invaded Austria, while Prince Eugene was busy fighting the armies
of Louis XIV. The king of France corresponded with Rakoczy,
calling him " my cousin," and sent him French officers.
In spite of some military reverses, Rakoczy organized a gov-
ernment, and a diet named him chief of the Hungarian nation.
A second diet proclaimed him voievode of Transylvania, and the
greater part of the kingdom of St. Stephen soon came under his
command, though he would gladly have come to terms with the
emperor on condition of being allowed to keep only Transylvania.
But the exasperation of the Hungarians was so great that they
had resolved to break once for all with the Hapsburgs. At the
diet of Onod thirty-one confederated comitats — the kingdom then
contained fifty-two — proclaimed Joseph I. no longer king of Hun-
gary. They dared not go on and offer the crown to Rakoczy, but
at the suggestion of Louis XIV. offered it to the elector of Bavaria,
who refused it, and precious time was lost in negotiations. In the
meantime Heister, the imperial general, defeated the insurgents
at Trencsin, in 1708, and retook a part of Hungary. These sue-
2S4 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1708-1711
cesses were followed up by Stahrenberg and Sickingen. Louis
XIV., exhausted by defeats, suspended his subsidies ; Rakoczy, find-
ing himself unable to continue the struggle, left the country and
took refuge in Poland. The diet accepted the Treaty of Szathmar,
which stipulated for a general amnesty and the reestablishment of
Hungarian liberties. Later Rakoczy went to Paris and visited the
court of France, which had formerly treated him as a sovereign.
This circumstance has done much to popularize his name, which
one sees constantly in the contemporary documents and memoirs,
especially those of St. Simon. As the Austrian government finally
became disquieted over his sojourn in Paris, Rakoczy went to
Turkey. There, in conformity with the Treaty of Passarowitz,
the Porte assigned him as a residence the chateau of Rodosto, near
the Sea of Marmora. Even in this retreat he did not entirely re-
nounce his ambitions, and made several unsuccessful attempts to
interest France and Turkey in his cause. To while away his time
he wrote his " Memoirs on the Hungarian Revolutions," which
were published at The Hague in 1732. The name of Rakoczy has
remained attached to a celebrated march, the author of which is
unknown. It is certain, however, that it was often played in his
armies, and that it has become for the Magyars a national hymn,
the Marseillaise of their revolutions. Whenever Hungarian lib-
erty has been stifled its use has been rigorously forbidden by the
Austrian Government. In our time it has been adapted to the
orchestra by Berlioz.
Hungary, defeated, was definitely reconciled with Austria by
the Peace of Szathmar, and it is Joseph I. who had the honor of
accomplishing this great work. After having been proclaimed in
1707 unworthy of reigning over Hungary, he had permanently
established his dynasty on the throne by his death in 171 1. This
prince, who died at the age of thirty-three, was of so gentle and
tolerant a character that he would doubtless have won the lasting
affections of his reconciled subjects had he lived longer. His suc-
cessor, Charles VI., who was Charles III. of Hungary, bound the
Magyar nation still more closely to the dynasty. After his corona-
tion he recognized by a special law the right of the Hungarians to
elect their own king in case the male line of the house of Austria
should become extinct. The Pragmatic Sanction proves, however,
how little he held himself bound by this concession to Magyar
pride. The first years of his reign were devoted to establishing
HUNGARY FREED FROM TURKS 235
1711-1739
order in the country, but evil traditions were not abandoned; the
amnesty was limited in its application, and religious intolerance
continued, with less brutality in its forms, it is true, but with
quite as much obstinacy. It attacked equally the Hungarian Prot-
estants and the new Servian colonists of the Orthodox faith. But
the court of Vienna was not alone to blame for these persecutions ;
the greater part of the Magyar Catholics joined in them.
The reign of Charles VI. saw the final expulsion of the Otto-
mans. In 1716 the grand vizier of Sultan Achmet III. crossed the
Save and marched on the town of Peterwardein. There Prince
Eugene awaited him and won the victory of Peterwardein, which
resounded throughout Christendom. The Hungarians fought
gloriously in this battle, which cost the grand vizier his life and
restored to the conquerors the town of Temesvar and the last pos-
sessions of the Turks in Hungary. The next year, 171 7, the re-
doubtable fortress of Belgrade was also taken, and with its fall all
danger from the Turks in the middle Danube came to an end.
The loss of the fortress was a fatal blow to their power, and the
sultan consented to sign the Treaty of Passarowitz, abandoning
entirely the right bank of the Danube, Belgrade, and a part of
Servia and Wallachia. These conquests delivered into the hands
of Austria the keys of the Ottoman empire. She might then, by
following up her successes in this direction, have given liberty and
civilization to the Servian and Rumanian populations, and grad-
ually annexed them. But to accomplish this the Hapsburgs
would have had to direct their undivided energies to the lower
Danube. They chose instead to make acquisitions on the more dis-
tant Rhine in Germany, and even in Italy. Against the Turks a
weak defensive policy was followed, which had most unfortunate
results in the next war.
When in 1737 war with Turkey again broke out, the husband
of the then archduchess, Maria Theresa, Prince Francis of Lorraine,
was put in command of the imperial army. He was severely beaten
in an attempt to invade Bosnia and Wallachia, and forced to retire
into Transylvania. In May, 1738, the Turks captured Oesova,
and Belgrade, the only place left the Austrians on the right bank of
the Save, was in imminent danger of being captured. Under
these circumstances Charles VI., though in alliance with Russia,
agreed to the Peace of Belgrade, 1739, in which Belgrade and the
whole of Servia was again restored to the Turks. Austria's unique
2S6
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1739-1740
Opportunity in the Balkan peninsula was lost. In the negotiations
for peace the presence of France as a factor in the international
relations of Turkey was conspicuously felt. Thenceforward France,
Russia, and later England were all too deeply interested at Con-
stantinople ever again to allow Austria a free hand in the Balkan.
The internal history of the territory reclaimed for Austria
under Charles VI.'s reign was far from happy. Hungary had lost
her political vitality, and the diet was very compliant. It voted the
Pragmatic Sanction on the promise of the king to convoke the diet
at least once in three years, to reside in Hungary whenever circum-
stances permitted, to arrange the business of the country in person
with the help of the Council of Regency presided over by the pala-
tine, and to make Fiume a free port. The Servian colonists, who
had entered Hungary, were reduced to the condition of serfs, and
persecuted for their Orthodoxy. In 1734 the Servian and Hun-
garian peasants, victims of persecution and oppression, rose in
rebellion. They were joined by some Hungarian Protestants who
were likewise suffering, but the movement was suppressed by the
army and cruelly punished.
PART IV
THE STRUGGLE FOR THE UNITY OF
THE MONARCHY. 1740-1792
I^i
Chapter XX
MARIA THERESA. 1 740-1 780
THE Archduchess Maria Theresa, heiress of Charles VI.,
had married Francis Stephen, duke of Lorraine, whose
family had been allied to that of Austria by marriage since
the preceding century. At the close of the War of the Polish Succes-
sion, in 1735, he had been obliged to give up Lorraine to Stanislas
Leszczynski, and had obtained in exchange the grand duchy of
Tuscany, left vacant by the death of the last of the Medici. Tus-
cany was not annexed to the dominions of the reigning house of
Austria, but became an inheritance for younger sons, and at the
death of Francis passed, not to his oldest son, Joseph 11. , but to
the younger, Leopold.
Maria Theresa was the first woman who had ruled over all
the Austrian states, and she could not, like her predecessors, succeed
to the imperial crown, which seemed by this time to have become
hereditary in the house of Austria. As queen of Bohemia, how-
ever, she had a vote in the electoral college. She made her hus-
band co-regent, but gave him only a slight share in the govern-
ment; the active and imperious spirit of the young princess would
not permit a partition of her authority, and at the beginning of
her reign Francis Stephen was no more than the husband of the
queen. Her accession seemed a favorable opportunity for the
enemies of Austria ; no one believed in the permanence of the Aus-
trian state, as it had been created by Charles VI. with the help
of the Pragmatic Sanction, and nothing seemed easier than to dis-
member it. The French Marshal de Belle-Isle even arranged a
plan which gave the Low Countries to France, Bohemia and the
imperial crown to Bavaria, Silesia to Prussia, and Tuscany, Parma,
and the Lombard possessions to Spain and Sardinia. Only one
thing embarrassed the marshal, and that was what to do with
Moravia. Maria Theresa was to think herself lucky to keep Hun-
gary and the Austrian provinces.
It seemed as if no state could be more easily broken up than
240 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1740-1741
this polyglot empire, which had no other tie than the person of
the sovereign and the more or less faithful adhesion of the diets
to the Pragmatic Sanction. Besides, a new power had arisen in
north Gennany, full of vigor and ambition, which now for the
first time assumed its place as the rival of Austria among the
German states. Prussia, erected into a monarchy early in the cen-
tury, now had for its sovereign a prince as enterprising as he was
unscrupulous, Frederick IL, known to history as Frederick the
Great. For his invasion of Silesia he claimed rights no better
founded than were those upon which the dismemberment of Poland
was afterward based. Austria protested in vain: Frederick had
on his side the final argument of kings, and the occupation of
Breslau and victory of Molvitz decided the cause in his favor in
1 741. He had at his command an army in admirable condition,
and the money that had been carefully hoarded by his predecessor,
while the Austrian treasury was empty and the army in a wretched
state.
The success of the Prussian king seemed a proof of the weak-
ness of the edifice which had been so laboriously raised by Charles
VI. The young queen found herself surrounded by enemies on
every side — Bavaria, France, Spain, the elector palatine, and the
elector of Cologne. Charles Albert, duke of Bavaria, married to
a cousin of Maria Theresa, now laid claim to a part of the Austrian
dominions as the descendant of Anna, daughter of Ferdinand I.,
who had married one of his predecessors, Albert V. The will of
Ferdinand I. ran thus : " In case our sons should die without heirs
male, our daughters shall have a right to a part of the inheritance."
According to Charles Albert, as soon as females were allowed to
succeed the oldest daughter of Ferdinand I. and her descendants
ought to take precedence of all later heiresses. He also claimed
Austria by virtue of certain rights of the house of Bavaria ante-
dating the year 11 56. Augustus III., elector of Saxony, who had
married the oldest daughter of Joseph I., based his claim partly
on that of his wife and partly on a distant relationship to the house
of Babenberg. The other powers, without alleging any other right
than that of the strongest, wished simply to dismember Austria in
order to aggrandize themselves. At first Maria Theresa tried to
negotiate; she offered Louis XV. the duchy of Luxemburg if he
would persuade Spain to content herself with the Low Countries,
and the elector of Bavaria with a part of Upper Austria ; but these
MARIA THERESA 241
1741-1744
attempts at negotiation failed, and it was necessary to have re-
course to arms.
An alliance was concluded between France, Spain, Bavaria,
and later Saxony and Prussia. It has been recently shown that the
Treaty of Nymphenburg under the form in which it has come down
to us, is apocryphal. But it is an incontestable fact that France put
her troops at the disposal of the elector of Bavaria. Charles Albert,
with the help of the French army, took Linz and pushed into Bo-
hemia, while Frederick occupied Silesia and the Spaniards attacked
Italy. The support of the Hungarians and the subsidies of Eng-
land were all that saved Maria Theresa in this crisis. After an
interregnum of two years the elector of Bavaria was chosen emperor
of Germany, and it seemed that the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine
had lost the imperial crown. England paralyzed the efforts of
Spain in Italy, and forced Frederick II. to sign the preliminaries
of Breslau and the Peace of Berlin. Maria Theresa ceded to her
fortunate rival upper and lower Silesia, the Bohemian county of
Glatz, the lordship of Kostcher in Moravia — in all more than 650
square miles. She kept of Silesia only the principality of Teschen
and some parts of those of Troppau Jagerndorf, and Neisse. This
was a considerable loss; Silesia, conquered by Frederick 11. , not
only brought Prussia to the frontiers of Bohemia, but deprived
Austria of a million of her German population, thus still further
increasing the proportion of the Slav and Magyar elements. Be-
sides being German, the population was almost entirely Protestant,
and therefore but little regretted the Austrian rule.
Saxony, which had hoped to annex Silesia and a part of Mo-
ravia, now left the league and concluded a treaty of alliance with
Maria Theresa, in 1743. For a moment the fortune of war seemed
to turn to the side of Austria. The French were obliged to evac-
uate Bohemia and the Austrian troops entered and occupied
Bavaria, forcing the new emperor to retire. He had had himself
crowned at Prague. In her turn the queen of Bohemia and Hun-
gary now received the homage of Bavaria, and established a royal
lieutenancy at Munich. France and Bavaria proposed peace,
but it was refused. France therefore attacked Austria in the Low
Countries, while Frederick II. took up arms again in July, 1744,
entered Bohemia, and defeated the Austrians and Saxons in several
engagements.
In the meantime Charles VII. returned to Bavaria, though
242 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1744-1758
only to die. His son signed the Treaty of Fiissen and recognized
the Pragmatic Sanction. Francis of Lorraine, husband of Maria
Theresa, was then chosen emperor, and the imperial dignity re-
turned to the house of Austria. Finally the mediation of England
brought about the peace of Dresden between Prussia, Austria,
and Saxony, in which Prussia recognized the imperial dignity of
Francis I., and the states of Prussia and Austria mutually guar-
anteed one another's possessions. We shall not follow here the
events of this war in the Low Countries and in Italy. Notwith-
standing the support of England, and even of Russia, which sent
some troops as far as the Rhine, the armies of Maria Theresa were
generally defeated. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748, ter-
minated this series of campaigns more advantageously than the
empress-queen had had a right to hope. She ceded to Sardinia
upper Novara and Vigevano, and to Don Philip of Spain, Parma,
Piacenza, and Guastalla. Except for the loss of Silesia, however,
the Austrian states remained intact.
The acquisition of Silesia had given Frederick II. a strong
position on the very frontier of Bohemia. Russia had begun to
take a share in the affairs of Europe, and her alliance was in future
to have great weight in the disputes that occurred between Vienna
and Berlin. From the year 1746 a treaty of defensive alliance had
existed between Austria and Russia, by which each power under-
took to famish an army of 60,000 men in case Frederick should
attack Poland, Austria, or Russia.
But Austria could not be sure of keeping her Spanish or Italian
possessions so long as France was her enemy. In 1753 Maria
Theresa summoned to her counsels a remarkable man, the Count
Kaunitz, who succeeded in putting an end to the long-standing
rivalry between the houses of Bourbon and Hapsburg, and brought
about a definite understanding between the courts of Vienna and
Versailles. Kaunitz, a member of an old family of Bohemia, was
bom at Vienna in 171 1. He had at first been destined for the
church, but the death of his older brother had thrown him back
into the world. He had studied at the universities of Vienna, Leip-
zig, and Leyden, and had traveled in Holland, England, France,
and Italy. He had married a Stahrenberg, a descendant of the
leader who had defended Vienna, and had entered the public serv-
ice while still very young. Under Charles VI. he had been a
member of the imperial council; and on her accession Maria
MARIA THERESA 243
1753-1757
Theresa had intrusted to him several diplomatic missions, sending
him first to Italy, then to Brussels, and at last to England, where
he showed himself possessed of rare qualities. He represented
Austria at Aix-la-Chapelle, and was, from 1751 to 1753, Austrian
ambassador in Paris. Upon his return to Vienna he pointed out
very forcibly to his sovereign the necessity of a French alliance.
France, who could throw her troops at once upon Belgium, the
Rhine, and Italy, was, he argued, far the most dangerous enemy
of Austria, and her alliance should be secured, if possible. In spite
of the opposition of the emperor and the majority of the council,
an alliance with France was determined upon. Kaunitz was
appointed chancellor and placed at the head of foreign affairs, and
from this time all his efforts were directed toward a reconciliation
between the two countries whose rivalries had for centuries domi-
nated the alliances of Europe. Unfortunately England and France
were at this time in the midst of a colonial dispute, and Austria
could scarcely expect to retain the support of England and be at
the same time in alliance with France. Kaunitz at first tried to
remain neutral, but he soon decided that an alliance with France
would be far more useful against Frederick II. Besides, fearful
of the security of Hanover, England had made overtures to him.
After much diplomatic maneuvering, Kaunitz finally succeeded in
procuring the French alliance, the conditions of which were ex-
pressed in two treaties at Versailles. The second of these, known
as the Second Treaty of Versailles, was signed in May, 1757. It
constitutes one of the most remarkable agreements ever made be-
tween two great powers, and is in every way a signal triumph to
the Austrian queen and her able minister. France pledged herself
to support Austria with a large army of 105,000 men, and an an-
nual subsidy of twelve millions of florins so long as the war should
last, and all she stipulated to receive in return was a portion of
the Netherlands. The war was to continue till Prussia was dis-
membered, and Austria had reconquered Silesia and her former
Italian possessions. Russia had already entered the alliance, and the
Treaty of Versailles therefore marks the complete abandonment of
the traditional grouping of the powers, so that it has quite appro-
priately been called the Diplomatic Revolution.
It has been said that Maria Theresa, in her anxiety to gain
the friendship of Louis XV., entered into direct relations with
Madame de Pompadour^ and wrote her a letter styling her " dear
244 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1757-1768
friend and fair cousin." The proud princess never used such lan-
guage. "You are mistaken," she wrote, October lo, 1763, to the
electress of Saxony, " if you beheve that we have ever had any-
thing to do with the Pompadour. Not a letter has been written,
not an interview has been granted our minister through means of
her ; they have paid court to her, like all the rest, but there has been
no intimacy. Such a go-between would not suit me." On the
other hand, she was intensely eager for the success of the
negotiations.
Frederick II., apprised of the coalition against him, without
delay invaded Saxony, seized Dresden, and then pushed into
Bohemia, advancing as far as Prague, May, 1757. But there the
defeat of Kolin compelled him to withdraw from this kingdom.
He had at last found in Marshal Daun a worthy adversary.
Pressed on the west by the French, on the east by the Russians,
who had just occupied eastern Prussia, and on the south by the
Austrians, who had reentered Silesia, Frederick's affairs seemed
desperate. But the brilliant victory over the French and imperial-
ists at Rossbach relieved him from the most imminent danger,
and rushing from Rossbach back to Silesia he inflicted a terrible
defeat on the Austrians at Leuthen, in December, 1757. The de-
tails of the war furnish a series of victories and defeats for Fred-
erick in which, like a lion at bay, he rushes from one antagonist to
another, though gradually weakening under the strain of contend-
ing against such overwhelming odds. In 1760 he was still holding
his enemies at bay. In 1762 Peter III. withdrew from the Austrian
alliance, France entered into negotiations with England, and Maria
Theresa, fearful of being left alone to fight her formidable antag-
onist, agreed to the Peace of Hubertsburg, in 1763. Austria
acquiesced in the retention of Silesia by Frederick II., and he in
turn promised his electoral vote in the approaching imperial election
to the Archduke Joseph.
The Seven Years' War was an excellent school for the Aus-
trian army, which improved greatly during its progress. Among
the generals whose bravery and talent appeared most conspicuously
were Joseph Daun, who organized the School of Cadets at Vienna
and who recalled the severe methods of Montecuculli ; the Livonian
Loudon, who after having offered his sword in vain to the king
of Prussia, won in the Austrian service a glorious name that is
not yet forgotten ; and the two Irishmen, Brown and Lacy. The
H —
< *^
= E
MARIATHERESA 245
1763-1765
victories of Kolin and of Hochkirch, of Kunersdorf and of Maxen,
showed that Austria was to be counted from that time among the
military states of Europe. Thereafter the great powers were anx-
ious for her alliance.
A short time before the Treaty of Hubertsburg the Emperor
Francis I. had died. By his marriage with Maria Theresa he had
no less than sixteen children, and through their marriages the
house of Austria became allied with many of the reigning families
of Europe. The Princess Maria Christina married Albert of Sax-
ony; Marie Amelia, Duke Ferdinand of Parma; Maria Caroline,
Ferdinand, king of the Two Sicilies ; and the Archduke Ferdinand,
the hereditary princess of Modena. These unions still further in-
creased the interest that the house of Austria had always had in
the affairs of Italy. Then the marriage of Maria Antonia (Marie
Antoinette) with the dauphin of France in 1770 seemed as if it
would make permanent the alliance which Kaunitz had succeeded
in bringing about between the houses of Bourbon and Hapsburg-
Lorraine. The correspondence of Maria Theresa with the dauph-
iness and with De Mercy, Austrian ambassador at the court
of France, has been preserved. It shows what an interest the
empress attached to the maintenance of the most cordial relations
between the two countries, and reflects great honor to the char-
acter of Maria Theresa, whether considered as a sovereign or as
the mother of a family.
After the death of Francis L, his son, Joseph II., was elected
emperor, in 1765. His mother associated him with her in the
government and confided the direction of the army to him, but
he played no more active a role in the actual government of the
country than did his father.
The empress-queen, in spite of the reverses that Frederick
II. had inflicted on her, had reason to be proud of the prosperity
of her states and the splendor of her house. An opportunity which
the government at Vienna did not allow to escape soon presented
itself for repairing, by a new acquisition, the loss of Silesia.
Poland had for many years been falling more and more into a
state of anarchy. The deplorable system of electing sovereigns,
practiced by a tumultuous and anarchical nobility, could not but
bring the country under foreign domination. The liberum veto,
or the right of the individual noble to veto laws, made legislation
impossible and practically legalized anarchy. For years, therefore.
246 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1765-1772
Strong government was entirely wanting in Poland. Society con-
sisted of the nobles, most of whom were sadly impoverished, and
their serfs; there was no middle class. To ambitious neighbors
pretexts for intervening were not wanting. Undoubtedly Maria
Theresa would not of herself have planned the dismemberment
of Poland, but when Russia and Prussia were preparing to claim
or conquer at least part of the kingdom by virtue of real or imag-
inary rights, the empress was easily persuaded to yield to reasons
of state.
The first idea of the partition should certainly be attributed
to Frederick II. In 1772, on the occasion of the success of the
Russians over the Turks, a success which had called for the media-
tion of Austria, he proposed to offer Russia compensation in Po-
land. Catherine II. was easily won over to this plan, and Joseph
II., after two interviews with the king of Prussia, in which it was
agreed that Austria should share in the partition, was also won
over. But Maria Theresa was at first troubled by these proposi-
tions, so repugnant to her devout and loyal spirit. To her min-
ister at Berlin she wrote : " I admit that it is hard for me to decide
upon a thing of which I am reassured neither as to its justice nor its
utility, and which I do not even find useful. What right has
one to despoil an innocent nation that has always before been so
gladly defended and helped? Why are there so many great and
costly preparations and so many noisy threats regarding the equi-
librium of the north? The most plausible reason, that of not re-
maining alone among the other powers, and so deriving no advan-
tage from the situation, does not seem to me to suffice, nor even
to be an honorable pretext, for joining two unjust usurpers in
order to ruin, without just cause, a third. I do not understand
the politics that permit, in case two make use of their superiority
to oppress an innocent one, that a third may and should, simply as
a precaution for the future and a convenience for the present, imi-
tate them and commit the same injustice, one that seems to me
insufferable. What will France, Spain, and England say if we
suddenly ally ourselves with those whom we have so much wished
to restrain, and whose proceedings we have declared unjust? That
would be giving the lie to all that has been done during thirty
years of my reign. Let us endeavor rather to diminish their pre-
tensions than to think of sharing with them under conditions so un-
equal. Let us pass for feeble rather than dishonest."
MARIA THERESA 247
1765-1772
Again Maria Theresa seeks to explain the reasons that have
forced her to agree to the partition : " The interest of our own
safety and that of all Europe," she writes, " demand that we take,
though to my regret, the part of seeking to counterbalance the in-
crease of power that Russia and Prussia are obtaining, by reserv-
ing for ourselves that part of the land in dispute to which we have
incontestable rights." By these last words it can be seen that state
policies have crowded out the Christian scruples of the queen.
The treaty of partition was signed July 25, 1772. It has
been said that Maria Theresa wrote with her own hands the
following words below the report deciding on the adoption of the
treaty : " Placet, since so many clever and learned men wish it so,
but long after my death will be seen the results of having so de-
spised all that which hitherto has been counted holy and just."
These words, of which the original has not been found, appear
to be apocryphal. The real sentiments of the empress after the
partition are found in the texts quoted above and in a letter to
Mercy, the Austrian ambassador at the court of France. Maria
Theresa regrets at the same time being associated in the affair and
having profited too little. " They have indeed led us by the nose,"
she writes regarding her accomplices, " and I am inconsolable. If
I could indeed console myself it would be with the fact that I was
always opposed to this iniquitous partition, so unequal, and to an
alliance with these two monsters. ... I have yielded, not
wishing to make war, but quite contrary to my convictions. I
hope that the monarchy may not feel the effects of this after my
death."
On the other hand she wrote to Kaunitz : " When all my
possessions were menaced I had confidence in my right and in the
assistance of God. But in this affair, where not only the right
cries to Heaven against us, but where all equity and good sense are
also against us, I realize that nothing else in all my life has caused
me so much anguish. What an example we are giving the world
in prostituting our honor and our reputation for a piece of Poland
or of Moldavia and Wallachia. I see well that I am alone
and no longer vigorous; that is why I allow things to go their
way, but not without the greatest chagrin." Frederick IL, with
his habitual cynicism, spoke of the pangs of Maria Theresa
in quite a different tone. " She is always weeping and always
taking." She herself has characterized the situation by these
248 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1772-1775
words, which have at least the merit of sincerity : " We wish to
share with Prussia and we wish at the same time to appear honest."
The presentiments of Maria Theresa have been in part real-
ized. The possession of Galicia has caused many embarrassments
to the Austrian Government; and yet through an unlooked-for
change, the Poles have become to-day the most loyal subjects of the
Emperor Francis Joseph.
The partition once resolved upon, it was necessary to find a
plausible pretext for carrying it out. The queen of Hungary and
Bohemia invoked certain rights, fictitious or real, that the two king-
doms might have over the territory of Poland. At first, in 1770,
claim was made to the thirteen towns of the county of Zips, which
had been pledged in 14 12 to Vladislav, king of Poland, and which
had rem.ained in pledge 359 years. Definite possession of these was
taken November 5, 1772, in the name of the queen of Hungary, to
whom the annexed villages owed homage.
In September, 1772, Austria presented new claims. " Russia
and Prussia having resolved to make good their ancient pretensions
to certain districts of the kingdom of Poland," the empress-queen
had new territories occupied. A special manifesto explained the
rights of Hungary to Little Russia and Podolia, and those of
Bohemia to the duchies of Ausschwitz and Zator. So Austria ac-
quired Red Russia, a part of Podolia, and the palatinates of
Sandomir and Cracow, with the rich salt mines of Wieliczka and
Bochnia, the whole comprising an extent of 1500 square miles and
2,5oo,0(X> inhabitants.
The new possessions received the official title of the kingdom
of Galicia and Lodomeria. The title of king of Galicia and Lodo-
meria had already been borne by the kings of Hungary. Mean-
while Maria Theresa, in spite of her honest intentions, was careful
not to attach these reannexed countries to Hungary or to Bohemia,
whose independent spirit she feared, but made of them an imme-
diate possession of the crown. The capital of the new kingdom
was established at the town of Lemberg. In the course of the
year 1773 a royal rescript organized the administration of the
country, and in December the estates, the clergy, the nobility, and
the bourgeoisie took the oath to the Austrian dynasty. The ad-
ministration was confided to German officials. In 1775 the coun-
try was divided into eighteen circles; in each of the chief places
of these was established a normal school for the propagation of the
MARIA THERESA j849
1772-1779
German language, which was that of the administration, though
Latin remained everywhere that of the courts. The organization
of the estates was based on that of the kingdoms of Bohemia and
Hungary. Joseph H., who had taken much more interest in the
dismemberment of Poland than had his mother, and who certainly
had not had the same scruples, visited the new provinces in 1778,
without doubt in order to study the results of the Germanizing
system which he was intending to apply to his other states.
Another acquisition, less important than that of Galicia, was
that of Bukovina, as a result of the war between Russia and Tur-
key. Austria and Turkey had been at peace since the Treaty of
Belgrade, but when Russia seized the Crimea and was approaching
the Danube, Maria Theresa became disquieted, assembled an army
in Hungary, and insisted as early as 1772 on imposing her media-
tion. In 1774 the Porte made peace with Russia in the important
treaty of Kutchuk Kainardji. Austria took advantage of these
circumstances to occupy certain parts of Moldavia. The reasons
given to the Porte to justify this sudden occupation were no better
than those by which the partition of Poland was authorized; the
invaded territories were necessary to Austria for communication
between Galicia and Transylvania in order to prevent the deser-
tions of soldiers, and, after all, a part of Moldavia had once be-
longed to Podolia, now an Austrian possession. Turkey protested,
while Russia and Prussia demanded explanations. But Turkey,
without allies, had to yield, and in 1775 the treaty of cession was
concluded. The ceded territory comprised about 189 square miles,
4 market towns, and about 60 villages; but it was very important
from the strategic point of view. The hospodar of Moldavia,
Ghika, whose principality was dismembered by this cession, at-
tempted to prevent the inhabitants from swearing fealty, and was
seized and beheaded by order of the sultan. The Rumanians, how-
ever, still venerate his name as that of a martyr to independence.
The population of Bukovina is composed for the most part of
Little Russians and Rumanians. In 1875 the Austrian Govern-
ment celebrated the centennial of the annexation by founding a
German university at Czernowitz, by which it was expected to
hasten the Germanizing of the country.
Thus Maria Theresa and her son practiced in their turn the
rounding out of territories that Frederick II. had set the fashion
for by the conquest of Silesia. Joseph II. had in these matters
250
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1779-1780
the same principles as the king of Prussia. In 1779 the elector of
Bavaria, Maximilian Joseph, the last of the Wittelsbachs, died.
Joseph II. put forward a claim to the electorate and determined to
sustain it, if need be, by force of arms. The legitimate heir, the
elector palatine, Charles Theodore, was so frightened by the threats
of Austria that he consented to a treaty which left him scarcely
half of Bavaria.
But Frederick II., who dreaded any aggrandizement of Aus-
tria, took up arms and entered Bohemia. This war, feebly carried
on, had no especial military importance. The Austrians called it
" the skirmish of plums " ; the Germans, " the war of potatoes " ;
while old Loudon, accustomed to heroic struggles, growled about
this "beast of a political war." The mediation of France and
Russia led to the Peace of Teschen, in 1779, by which Maria
Theresa kept only a small part of Bavaria, the district of the Inn.
The Treaty of Teschen was the last diplomatic act of the reign of
Maria Theresa. She died a short time afterward, in 1780, leaving
the Austrian state larger and stronger than at her accession.
Chapter XXI
THE INTERNAL HISTORY OF AUSTRIA UNDER
MARIA THERESA. 1 740-1 780
IN the reign of Maria Theresa Bohemia, already so cruelly
tried, became once more the battlefield of the jealous leagues
against the house of Hapsburg. In 1741 the elector of Ba-
varia pushed forward as far as Prague and summoned the estates.
About four hundred nobles and knights whose lands were occupied
by his troops appeared and took the oath of allegiance to him in the
cathedral of St. Vit. The Czechs had little reason to be attached
to the Hapsburg dynasty, and the change of masters was a matter
of small consequence to them. Only the great functionaries quitted
the capital and remained loyal to the queen. Charles of Bavaria
instituted a provisional government, established a chancery for Bo-
hemia at Munich, and convoked a diet in order to obtain supplies
for the prosecution of the war. After this he returned to Germany
and ceded the county of Glatz to Frederick, a cession which Maria
Theresa was obliged to ratify. Later Bohemia was invaded by the
French under Marshal Belle-Isle, and Prague occupied by them.
Not till April, 1743, did Maria Theresa enter Prague and receive
the crown from the archbishop of Olmiitz. In order to prevent the
crown of Bohemia from resting in the future on the head of a
stranger, and in order to efface its historic traditions as much as
possible, it was carried to Vienna.
In the cession of Silesia the kingdom of St. Vacslav lost one-
third of its territory. But Bohemia still had other sacrifices to
make. The diet gave up all control exercised by it over the ad-
ministration and the maintenance of the army ; agreed that appeals
could be carried to Vienna ; that the chancery of Bohemia should be
absorbed in the high chancery of the court, and that the criminal law
of Bohemia should be made uniform with that of the rest of the
Austrian dominions. An archbishopric of Olmiitz was created,
and Moravia was by this means removed from the spiritual jurisdic-
tion of Prague. The German language was introduced into all
261
262 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1740-1780
schools and offices as the sole official language of administration
and instruction. These were hard blows to the Czech nationality.
On the other hand, Maria Theresa gained some popularity in Bo-
hemia by her edict of 1773 concerning forced labor. The peasants
did not at first understand it ; they imagined that the queen had freed
them from all dues, and that her agents hid the truth from them.
They marched in bands upon Prague to see the royal documents, and
burned and pillaged the castles as they went. It took a large army
to reduce them, and General Wallis had great difficulty in protect-
ing the capital. After the loss of Silesia, Maria Theresa had two
fortresses built — that of Theresienstadt and that of Josephstadt —
to protect the country from invasions. A census taken in the reign
of Maria Theresa gave the number of males in the kingdom as
i,2oo,cxx), implying a population of about 2,5oo,ocx), while imme-
diately after the Thirty Years' War it had been only 800,000.
" It has been seen how the house of Austria never ceased to
oppress the Hungarian nobles. They knew not how valuable they
would one day be to it. It sought among that people money which
it had not, and did not see the men which it had. When a throng
of princes divided its territories among themselves, when the va-
rious parts of the monarchy became motionless and inert, so to
speak, the only life left was among that nobility, which, becoming
indigfnant, forgot all in order to fight, and believed that it found
its greatest glory in pardoning and dying for those who had in-
jured it." These words of Montesquieu express with that author's
habitual brevity the feeling of admiration aroused throughout
Eui'ope by the devotion of the Hungarians to Maria Theresa.
Those who do not know the Magyar temperament can see in this
devotion only the expression of chivalrous feeling, but the Mag-
yars are legists as well as knights. Nevertheless the legendary and
picturesque episode with which are associated the famous words
" Moriamur pro rege nostra Maria Theresa " require explanation
in some detail.
Charles VI. had not contented himself with the recognition
of his daughter as his heir by the kingdom of Hungary ; he had also
wished that his son-in-law, Francis of Lorraine, should enter into
closer relations with the Magyar nation, and for this reason he
had, in 1732, bestowed the title of royal lieutenant upon him.
Now the Hungarians were exceedingly jealous lest they should be
confounded with the hereditary states. On the death of Charles
MARIA THERKSA, EMPKES.S OF AISTRIA
(Born 1717. Died 1780)
Painting by Wm, von Camphausen
I
1
MARIA THERESA «6S
1740-1780
VI. his successor had not yet been crowned. If Francis of Lor-
raine ascended the throne of Hungary with his wife, and if he,
as was already evident that he would be, were elected emperor,
Hungary would run great risk of becoming a mere appanage to
Germany. If, on the contrary, the crown of St. Stephen were
placed on the head of Maria Theresa alone, the historic individual-
ity of Hungary would have much greater chance of being pre-
served. On the death of her father, Maria Theresa had intrusted
the lieutenancy to John Palffy, an old companion in arms of Prince
Eugene. She gave him full power, promised to respect the lib-
erties of the kingdom, and shortly to convoke the diet. This diet
was actually opened on May i8, 1741. The debates were very
animated, ther majority being strongly opposed to the idea that the
husband of the new queen should be associated with her on the
throne of Hungary. Some days later at Vienna the queen re-
ceived a deputation bringing her the congratulations of the diet,
not only on her accession, but also on the birth of her first son, the
future Joseph II. This deputation received renewed assurances
that the privileges of the kingdom would be respected, and that the
queen would very shortly come to Presbufg. On July 19 she
embarked on the Danube in a boat decorated with the national
colors of Hungary — red, white, and green — and as she passed the
frontier she was saluted with a cry " Vivat domina et rex
nostra!" The title rex had been given by the Hungarians to the
only woman who had reigned before her in Hungary. On the 21st
she received the homage of the diet in the castle of Presburg, and
in a Latin speech renewed the promises which she had made to
Palffy. She promised to maintain all the rights and privileges of
the kingdom, with the single exception of the thirty-first article of
the Golden Bull, which proclaimed the right of insurrection, to
leave the sacred crown in Hungary, and to renew all the clauses
of the Pragmatic Sanction.
The diet was quite sympathetic toward the young queen, whose
graceful manners conciliated even the fiercest; but it was careful
not to sacrifice any of the privileges of the kingdom. It demanded
that the nobles should be free from taxation ; that the peasants and
not the land should be taxed; that Transylvania should be indis-
solubly united to Hungary, and that Hungarians alone should hold
office. The deliberations were turbulent, but by good fortune the
diet elected as its palatine Palffy, who was chivalrously devoted to
254 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1740-1780
the queen. He won over the most troublesome members and per-
suaded the diet that the questions still pending- should be decided
after the coronation. This ceremony, which had always excited
the enthusiasm of the Hungarians, so jealous of their autonomy
and so impassioned for the sacred crown, took place now under
circumstances of unusual interest. It was a young and beautiful
princess whose bro'w the hereditary diadem now encircled, and
who, mounted on a fiery charger, brandished the sword of St.
Stephen to the four quarters of the globe from the top of the
King's Hill.
" She was one of the most beautiful women in Europe." writes
an English eye-witness. " Her figure was elegant and her bear-
ing majestic, and her eyes were expressive and full of gentleness.
It was only a short time before that she had given birth to a son, and
a look of delicacy, which still remained, lent a new charm to her
features. Everything about her was charming. This portrait,
which is not in the least flattered, should always be kept in mind
when one recalls the enthusiasm which the princess inspired in the
Hungarians."
Nevertheless, after the coronation the disputes recommenced.
Even the hundred thousand florins which were to be a gift on
her " joyful accession " were made the subject of bargaining, and
the Magyar spirit for legal form expressed itself in numberless
quibbles which drew tears from the young queen. It was on Sep-
tember 13, 1 74 1, that the first scene of the theatrical episode which
contemporaries have exaggerated took place. The queen had sum-
moned the two Tables to the castle of Presburg, and there she
appeared before them, dressed in mourning, the crown upon her
head and the sword of St. Stephen by her side. The dangers
threatening the queen and Hungary were set forth by the chan-
cellor, Louis Batthyany, after which the queen, in a short Latin
speech, called upon the assembly to provide for the safety of her-
self, her children, and her crown. Her words, mingled with tears,
excited considerable but suppressed emotion. This was greatly
increased during the reply of the primate, who was frequently
interrupted by cries of " vitam et sanguincm"; and a levy of
100,000 men was at once decided on. The prince-consort was
accepted as co- regent of the kingdom, and he took the oath Septem-
ber 21, promising to devote his blood and his life to the queen and to
Hungary, It was on this occasion that Maria Theresa showed her
MARIA THERESA «66
1740-1780
young son to the estates, and that the celebrated cry broke forth —
" Moriamur pro rege nostra Maria Theresa! " It was by no means
a sudden outburst of chivalrous sentiment, but the result of negotia-
tions long-continued and of emotions skillfully called forth. Con-
temporaries themselves were deceived, and saw in this a single
episode of a moment, ignorant of the details that had preceded.
As a matter of fact this diet, which ended on October 29, had
devoted itself almost entirely to the preservation of Hungarian
interests. The queen had agreed to all its demands, which were,
moreover, quite legitimate; she had consented to the suppression
of some military frontiers, and had obtained in exchange for these
concessions the help she needed to continue the war. On the other
hand the enthusiasm of the Hungarians did not pass away with the
circumstances which had given it birth. Maria Theresa owed to
them some of her best troops : the Servians and Croats who, com-
manded by Baron Trenck, gained an almost legendary reputation
for their valor and cruelty. These fierce pandours, accustomed to
war with the Turks, and now suddenly thrown into the midst of
civilized Europe, brought with them the semi-barbarous habits de-
rived from their frequent contact with Asiatic hordes. The devo-
tion of the Magyars to Maria Theresa was shown upon many fields
of battle; their horsemen penetrated as far as Berlin, and even to
Alsace. Frederick the Great, with the adroitness common to Prus-
sian ambition, tried to destroy the fidelity of the Hungarians to
their queen by recalling to them their past insurrections, and the
services which Brandenburg had then rendered them ; but his efforts
failed.
This exchange of services between the Magyar nobles and the
court of Vienna formed a tie between them such as had never
previously existed. The great nobles were assiduous in their at-
tendance at the palaces of Vienna, Schonbrunn, and Laxenburg,
where contact with the Bohemian and Austrian nobility and the
gentle influence of the empress-queen led them to renounce their
national costume so dear to their traditions, to acquire the habit of
speaking German, and to seek the foreign titles of prince, count,
or baron. It was at this time that the bodyguard of Hungarians
was formed at Vienna, and that the Order of St. Stephen was
founded. By means of ingeniously arranged marriages and a
system of cleverly devised temptations, the greater nobility was
by degrees Germanized. But the lesser nobility — the landed
256 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1740-1780
gentry — remained incorruptible, and in the discussions of the Lower
Table, and in the meetings of the comitats, they continued to defend
with indomitable obstinacy the privileges of the kingdom. The
disputes between the queen and the chambers turned upon two
essential questions: the condition of the peasants and the consti-
tution of the military frontiers. The peasants were serfs of the
soil in Hungary, but in the eighteenth century ideas of philan-
thropy, and more particularly the financial condition of the king-
dom, required the abolition of serfdom. The queen asked for a
reform of the old system, but the nobles replied by a series of com-
plaints against the encroachments of the German administration,
against the council of regency, against the powers of military com-
manders, and against the title of landtag (local diet), which had
perhaps been designedly given to the Hungarian diet instead of
that of reichstag, or diet of the kingdom. But in spite of opposi-
tion the queen issued an edict, which she was able to enforce by
dint of perseverance, regulating the life of the peasants. This law
remained a fundamental law of the land down to 1832. According
to it the peasants were henceforth free to move from place to place
and to bring up their children as they pleased, while all legal cases
in which they were concerned were in the future to be tried before
the courts of the comitats. These liberal measures were accepted
by the nobles only with great reluctance. They were afforded,
however, some compensation in the matter of the military frontiers.
The old system of the court at Vienna had aimed at the com-
plete separation of the frontier lands from Hungary. They had
been freed from the rule of the Turks by the imperial arms, it was
urged, and therefore they belonged to the emperor. Besides the
Slavs of these regions, strangers to the Hungarian nation, were in
no wise anxious to be reunited to the Magyars. They preferred
their obligations of military service to the condition of Servian serfs
oppressed by the comitat. They had, besides, certain privileges, such
as the holding of an assembly of their own, and of choosing their
bishop. But in spite of all this Maria Theresa was obliged to yield
to the demands of the Hungarians, and to consent, in 1750, to the
suppression of the frontiers of the Theiss and the Maros. As a
result of this one hundred thousand Servians left the country and
settled in Russia. The Austro-Hungarian army lost some of its
best soldiers by the exodus, and the grdnszer (soldiers of the fron-
tier), who did remain, rose in rebellion in 1755. A further con-
MARIA THERESA 267
1740-1780
cession was made to the Hungarians when, in 1776, the Servians
were forbidden longer to maintain an agent at Vienna to look
after their interests; and finally, in 1779, all the territory between
the Maros, the Theiss, the Danube, and the Carpathians was in-
corporated in the kingdom and formed into three comitats. In
this manner Hungary gradually recovered the territory Vienna had
taken from her.
In 1765 Maria Theresa associated her son Joseph with her
in the government, with the title of co-regent. The philosophic
mind of this prince would seem to have inspired some of the meas-
ures decided upon soon after, as, for example, the suppression of
the right of sanctuary and of the mendicant orders, and the assist-
ance given to public instruction and the establishment of numerous
village schools. The Hungarians are grateful to him to this day
for having given them the port of Fiume, which had formerly been
dependent on Triest, although it is still a question in dispute
whether the city of Fiume was united to Croatia or to Hungary
proper. The possession of the town has been claimed most ener-
getically by the Croats, but the government of Vienna has finally
decided that it belongs to Hungary.
On the whole the kingdom was in a flourishing condition at
the death of Maria Theresa. From the national point of view,
however, it was enfeebled, and had lost the greater part of those
ancient rights the maintenance of which was so dear to patriots.
The diet of the kingdom, which according to the terms of the
Golden Bull should have met every year, was convoked only three
times during the entire reign.
In the hereditary provinces of the Austrian group, as well as
in the kingdoms of Bohemia and Bavaria, Maria Theresa zeal-
ously sought to develop the authority of the prince and to diminish
that of the estates. Almost all the executive power had hitherto
been in the hands of the prelates, lords, knights, and a number of
privileged towns; justice was administered by the towns or the
lords ; the roads were bad, and the militia not based on any regular
system. Under Maria Theresa the government began to interfere
with the churches and schools, and tried to secure to the citizens of
the towns the position which had hitherto been denied them. On her
accession the queen retained the principal advisers of her father,
but after the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle she made Haugwitz, who
rendered her most important services, chancellor. Chotek was
S58 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1740-1780
intrusted with the reform of the finances, while Kaunitz was given
charge of foreign affairs. The following are some of the princi-
pal measures adopted to increase the power of the central govern-
ment: The right of voting certain of the indirect taxes, such
as the tax on salt, on tobacco and on stamped paper, were taken from
the diets; the estates were required to present their budgets to
the court of accounts at Vienna ; they were deprived of all political
power, which was vested in the royal lieutenant; the corvees
and the seigneurial dues of the peasants were diminished. The
division of administration among chanceries of Austria, Bo-
hemia, and Hungary and Transylvania was abolished; the patent
of May 14, 1749, separated the administration of justice from the
legislative and executive functions of government, and decreed
the union of the two chanceries of Austria and Bohemia in one
supreme power called, at first, the directory of the interior, after-
ward, the united chancery of the imperial and royal court. Thus
did absolutism take the first step to bring about the arrange-
ment now in force under the parliamentary system of Cis-
leithenia. Maria Theresa also instituted, in 1760, a council of
state, whose business it was to watch over the whole administra-
tion. By degrees administrative power was withdrawn from the
permanent committees of the provincial diets and vested in the
representatives of the sovereign, and the estates were only allowed
to meet for the purpose of voting upon the measures proposed by
the crown. Royal officials were appointed in the circles, from which
they had hitherto been excluded. Here they were the representa-
tives of the central authority and required to protect the peasants
against their lords.
The peasants, without being serfs — except in Hungary — were
almost entirely dependent upon their territorial lords. They were
not the proprietors of the soil, but had merely the usufruct of their
holdings; they could neither quit the estate, marry, nor bring up
their children to any other business than that of laborer without
the consent of their lord, and they were bound to numberless serv-
ices comprised under the name of robot-corvee. Maria Theresa
undertook to ameliorate their condition. In order to regelate the
territorial taxes she caused a new land survey to be made and sup-
pressed the exemption from taxation which the land of the lords
had hitherto enjoyed. These measures suited not only the needs
of the treasury, but also the humanitarian ideas coming into favor
MARIA THERESA 269
1740-1780
at the time. They were appHed to all the Cis-leithenian states
except the Tyrol, Gorica, Gradisca, and Triest, where feudal
institutions had never taken deep root. It was the policy of Maria
Theresa to improve the conditions of the peasants in order to
weaken the nobles; to attract the great lords to Vienna in order
to diminish their influence; and to unify the aristocracy of the
different portions of the empire in order to unify the monarchy.
The reform of the communal system presented considerable
difficulty, Down to the middle of the eighteenth century there
were the most radical differences in the constitutions of the various
communes. Some depended upon a lay, others upon an ecclesiastical
lord, while others, especially cities and towns, were under the im-
mediate authority of the sovereign. Some enjoyed almost com-
plete freedom, while others were constantly tyrannized over by the
lords or by the agents of the monarch. Some of the towns even pos-
sessed the right of representation in the diet. Their constitutions
differed as much as those of the Italian republics. Here the
municipal government was aristocratic, there a pure democracy;
here municipal offices were hereditary, there elective. The insti-
tutions of the Middle Ages, as, for example, the guilds, were still
vigorous ; there were burgesses of the towns, and " burgesses of
the suburbs," " great burgesses," and " small burgesses " ; while
in those towns which were under Italian influence, such as Triest
and Gorica, there existed a patriciate, or hereditary aristocracy.
But these patriarchal institutions began to disappear after 1748.
A law passed in 1776 proclaiming freedom of trade attacked the
principles upon which the corporations and guilds were based. The
administration of justice was also intrusted to a body of magis-
trates, who replaced the old local courts.
In the middle of the eighteenth century the law of the land
consisted solely of prescriptive rights and local customs, the de-
ficiencies of which were supplied from civil or Roman law, from
canon law, and in some provinces from imperial decrees. The
basic principle in all was that every citizen should be judged by his
peers. Clergy, universities, nobles, public officials, citizens, peas-
ants, and Jews, all had their special tribunals. There was no appeal
from the lords or the magistrates in the towns. Punishments were
still barbarous, those most in vogue being branding, mutilation, the
wheel, and the stake, and these terrible penalties were usually im-
posed by ignorant and superstitious judges. Civil suits dragged
260 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1740-1780
on indefinitely, and often no final decision was rendered at all. In
1753 Maria Theresa resolved to bring about uniformity of the law
in all parts of the monarchy. The work of compilation took many
years. The commission appointed by her produced eight folio vol-
umes in 1767. These were afterward abridged, and the first
volume of the new edition appeared in 1776. In 1768 the " Con-
stitutio criminalis Theresina " had been published. It retained the
barbarous penalties of the Middle Ages, admitted torture, and pun-
ished blasphemy. But in 1777 torture was finally abolished and
trials for witchcraft, although not entirely suppressed, were at least
considerably checked. By a patent of 1749 the administration of
justice had been separated from purely provincial business and a
minister of justice appointed for all the non-Hungarian states. Some
of these praiseworthy reforms, it must be admitted, had the Utopian
features characteristic of the eighteenth century, as, for example,
the so-called commission of chastity, whose office it was to prevent
unlawful amours.
Though a sincere Catholic, Maria Theresa never sacrificed
the interests of the state to the church. She suppressed the ecclesi-
astical penalties which the priests had been in the habit of impos-
ing; forbade the various religious orders from sending money out
of the country; the Papal nuncio to travel in her dominions, and
the bishops to correspond directly with Rome. She also prohibited
priests from assisting in the making of wills, and in 1773 the Order
of Jesuits was suppressed in Austria, as it was about this time in
many other countries. Down to 1740 public instruction was en-
tirely under the control of the clergy; scarcely any elementary
schools existed, and teaching in the higher schools was extremely
poor. Austria was in a pitiable condition of inferiority as regards
education when compared with France, or even northern Germany.
A foreigner was intrusted with its improvement — Gerhard van
Swieten, a Dutch professor of medicine at the University of Vienna
— who was physician to Maria Theresa, and also the reactionary
president of the commission for the censorship of the press. The
schools were placed under the control of the state, and a law was
passed in 1749 reserving the sole right of choosing the professors
of the University of Vienna to the government, while a little later
the schools belonging to the Jesuits and the Piarists were placed
under the state. An imperial resolution of September 24, 1740,
contained the following words : " The organization of schools is
MARIA THERESA «61
1740-1780
and must always remain an affair of the state " (Das Schulwesen
ist und bleiht allseit ein Politicum). This principle, pushed to its
extremes, had some singular consequences. The universities were
not open to everyone, and no one could study abroad without the
sanction of the state. Even theological works were submitted to the
government censorship, a censorship that was very rigorous and
often quite as intolerant as that of the ecclesiastics. It prohibited
even such classical works as those of Machiavelli. A great number
of schools for the young nobility were founded during the reign of
Maria Theresa, among them the Theresianum, which exist at the
j)resent time.
In 1766 the commission of instruction and of the censorship of
the press was founded. The suppression of the Jesuits had consid-
erable influence on education, but at first the majority of the pro-
fessors had to be chosen from among ex- Jesuits, as the number of
other teachers was not sufficient. A new code of education, pub-
lished in 1775, continued in force down to 1850.
The most meritorious act of Maria Theresa was the founda-
tion of elementary schools. Before 1770 primary education,
properly so-called, did not exist, all education being dependent
upon the church. In May, 1 770, the first normal school was opened
at Vienna, and a royal edict of the same year established school-
masters independent of the priests. The suppression of the
Jesuit order and the sequestration of their property had placed
ample funds in the hands of the government and enabled it to
convert many of the classical into elementary schools. In 1774 the
celebrated Silesian teacher, Felbinger, was summoned to Vienna
to introduce good methods of teaching. At the same time higher
education, especially at the University of Vienna, rose rapidly, the
faculties of medicine and of law taking rank among the first in
Europe. In literature not much was done : poetry was still halting
and clumsy. The rococo style dominated in architecture and
sculpture, and was represented at Vienna by the Italian Canova.
The only great art in which Austria excelled was music, and under
Gliick, Haydn, and Mozart it attained a development previously
unknown. Their works, moreover, reveal clearly the influences
of the races among whom they were composed; they combine
the melodious brightness of the Italian, the depth of harmony of
the German, and the melancholy of the Slav.
Francis I., the husband of Maria Theresa, devoted himself
262 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1740-1780
especially to the finances, a work in which he was assisted by
Chotek, a Czech noble. He was well acquainted with financial
questions, and his first care was to reduce the expenses of the court.
On the accession of Maria Theresa the treasury was exhausted;
it is stated that the young queen found only eighty-seven thousand
thalers. One of Chotek's first measures was to levy a tax on prop-
erty, then one on persons, which affected everybody from the prince
who paid six hundred florins to the maid who paid four kreutzers.
All exemption from taxation was abolished.
Chotek was also the first to show the use that could be made
of Triest as a seaport for Austrian commerce, for under his direc-
tion the town grew rapidly. Dutch, Neapolitan, and Greek mer-
chants established trading houses there, and commerce was carried
on with both hemispheres. By 1763 Austria had twelve large ships
trading with India, one of which took possession of the Nicobar
Islands in 1776. Triest itself was frequented by six thousand ves-
sels annually. Twenty-five consulates were established in the
Atlantic and Mediterranean, seven in Italy, thirteen in European
and Asiatic Turkey, one at Ragusa, one at Alexandria, one at
Tripoli, and one at Lisbon. The Oriental Academy, founded at
Vienna in 1754, furnished capable and well-educated men as con-
suls. The board of trade established in 1766 did much to develop
commerce, the cloth of Moravia especially being widely in demand.
Roads and canals were improved, and the customs of the in-
terior reduced or abolished. Postal arrangements were also per-
fected. Chotek created a reserve fund for unexpected circum-
stances, and raised the credit of Austria by his punctuality in paying
the interest on the public debt. Under Charles VI. the public rev-
enue had scarcely reached the sum of thirty million florins; by 1773
it amounted to almost fifty-six millions, and by the death of Maria
Theresa it exceeded eighty millions. A patent bearing date of
1 75 1 reorganized the lottery, which was bringing in not less than
eight hundred thousand florins by the end of the reign.
The system of centralization was also applied to the depart-
ments of war and foreign affairs. Each state, however, retained
the right of voting its contingent for the army. The total num-
ber of troops rose to ii3,ocx) men, not counting the irregulars
furnished by Hungary. Military schools were established, and
Maria Theresa took special pains to watch over the welfare of
the soldiers. During the War of the Austrian Succession a special
MARIA THERESA «6S
1740-1780
medal was struck in her honor, bearing the well-deserved inscrip-
tion "Mater castrorum." Some reforms were borrowed from
the Prussian system, as for example, marching in time; and the
corps of sappers and miners was introduced. The artillery,
directed by Prince Lichtenstein, was considered the best in Europe.
In 1772 conscription was introduced in Bohemia, Austria, Mo-
ravia, Camiola, Carinthia, and Galicia. During the Seven Years'
War there were no less than 200,000 men under arms. " A
woman," said Frederick the Great, " has carried out measures
worthy of a man." The navy of Austria at this time was composed
of nine ships of war, carrying no guns, and six galleys of 36
guns each. " On the accession of Maria Theresa," wrote Son-
nenfels, " the monarchy had neither external influence nor internal
vigor. There was no emulation or encouragement for ability;
the condition of agriculture was wretched, trade small, the finances
badly managed, and no credit. At her death she left to her succes-
sor a state improved by her many reforms, and raised to that rank
which its size, fertility, and the intelligence of its inhabitants ought
always to insure." Certainly Maria Theresa has greater claims to
the title of Great than Catherine of Russia.
Chapter XXII
JOSEPH II. 1 780-1 790
JOSEPH II. was forty years old on his accession to the throne.
He had been emperor of Germany for fifteen years, and in
a certain measure his mother had associated him with her
in the government of the Austrian states. He had visited the
courts of Russia, France, and Italy, and was enthusiastically de-
voted to the philosophical ideas of the century, awaiting with con-
siderable impatience the time when he could apply its formulas in
his own dominions. Among the contemporary sovereigns he seems
to have sought an ideal in Frederick the Great. During the lifetime
of Maria Theresa, however, he was forced to conceal his aspirations.
There existed an avowed antagonism between the old court of the
empress and the young court of the emperor, while the young
prince, so long confined to the domain of pure theory, little realized
the difficulties that would arise with the practical application of his
ideas. The Prince de Lig^e said of him some months before his
accession, " He will be a man of weak desires, which he will never
satisfy; his whole reign will be a constant desire to sneeze." It
has been well said of the greater portion of the innovations or re-
forms of the French Constituent Assembly that they had first
been tried by Joseph II, But the violent reforms of the Revolution
were applied to a homogeneous people much more enlightened than
were the Austrian peoples, and even in France many of them would
probably never have been accepted if they had not been enforced by
the terrorism of the convention and the despotism of Napoleon. The
philosopher king Joseph II. looked upon men as so many pawns,
ready to be moved about at will, so much inert matter to be experi-
mented upon and molded by the royal pleasure. Of the many re-
forms he tried during his reign some came too soon, others too
late. Too soon, because the majority of the people were not yet
ripe for the ideas of liberalism and religious tolerance which the
sovereign desired to grant them ; too late, because the consciousness
964
JOSEPH II «6B
1780
of their separate nationality was beginning to awake among the
different peoples of the monarchy, whom the sovereign desired to
civilize by Germanizing. Restricted by his mother to the direction
of military affairs, Joseph II. believed that he could govern his
states as he would a regiment. The work of the encylopedists and
of the French economists, especially the physiocrats, were his fa-
vorite studies, and he aimed at making philosophy the lawmaker of
his empire. But he could find in Austria no such men to aid him
in carrying out his plans. Those whom he did have belonged
mainly to the secret societies of the Freemasons or the Illuminati,
organizations which had been obliged to conceal their existence
under Maria Theresa. Under Joseph, however, they were tol-
erated, and by 1785 Freemasonry was officially recognized.
The programme of Joseph II. was very simple. It may be
summed up in this formula : to destroy everything not in harmony
with his philosophical doctrines, without regard either to historical
or religious traditions. His most ardent desire was to bring about
a complete similarity of language among the various peoples over
whom fate had placed him to rule. To a Hungarian noble who
protested against the introduction of the German language in that
country he wrote, " Every proposal should be based upon the • ir-
refutable arguments of reason. . . . The German language
is the universal language of my empire. I am emperor of Germany.
The states which I possess are provinces which form one whole
with the state of which I am the head. If Hungary had been the
most important of my possessions I should not have hesitated to
make all the others speak Hungarian."
In his warfare with the past Joseph II. found religious tradi-
tion and faith on the one hand and historical tradition and a sense
of nationality on the other, the greatest obstacles. We shall see
how he provoked a patriotic reaction in Bohemia and Hungary,
the results of which are felt to-day, while even in his struggle
against ultramontanism he did not always have right on his side.
From the very beginning of his reign Joseph declared war on
the Holy See and the religious orders. " We must lessen the
influence of the Ulemas," he wrote in a letter addressed to Cardinal
Herzan, his minister in Rome. " I despise superstitions and Sad-
ducees; I must free my people from them. The principles of
monasticism are in flat contradiction to human reason." On an-
other occasion he wrote to the archbishop of Salzburg, " The monks
266 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1780-1781
are the most dangerous and the most useless subjects of a state."
In accordance with these ideas he transferred the right of granting
marriage dispensations, previously reserved to the Holy See, to
the Austrian bishops; forbade religious orders to recognize as their
head any person residing in a foreign land ; the publishing of Papal
bulls without the imperial sanction; the teaching of the two Papal
bulls, " Coena Domini " and " Unigcnitus," which defined the pre-
rogatives of the Pope; the use of titles conferred by the Roman
chancery ; that young men go to Rome to study at the German col-
lege ; and the sending of money to Rome.
All these measures were enacted in the first year of his reign.
The year following Joseph attacked the convents. At a single
blow he suppressed more than six hundred monasteries of those
orders which made religious contemplation their sole object, and
decreed that their property should be applied to charitable works.
He had them sold at a low price, not excepting even the* works
of art or the sacred utensils; the number of monks, which had
been about sixty-three thousand, was reduced to twenty thousand,
and these were strictly forbidden to retain any relations with
foreign countries. The monarch even intervened in the details
of public worship, forbidding the placing of the votive offerings
in the churches, the reading of more than one mass at a time,
and the setting apart of altars with special privileges in the mat-
ter of indulgences or the organization of pilgrimages. He also
forbade the use of metal candlesticks and wooden coffins, a simple
sheet being declared sufficient for burial. These two prohibitions
were the result of an idea of economy, the king maintaining that it
was useless to waste so much silver, copper, and wood.
The Edict of Toleration, also published in 1781, granted the
exercise of their religion to Lutherans, Calvinists, and non-Uniate
Greeks. They were granted the right to have schools and churches,
but without towers or bells and without doors open to the public
road, excepting in Hungary and in Transylvania, where liberty of
conscience was always more or less in vogue. Members of the
different sects were granted the right to acquire property and
to hold public office. The condition of the Jews was ameliorated;
they were allowed to attend the university and to practice medicine.
For more than a century and a half toleration had been entirely
unknown in Austria, and now when it was proclaimed Hussites.
Utraquists, and Bohemian Brothers immediately reappeared in
JOSEPHII «67
1780-1783
Bohemia. But Joseph II. had a fashion of himself determining
what was meant by rehgious tolerance, and kept it within official
bounds. A sect of Deists having been organized in Bohemia, he
issued a decree of which one of the articles reads as follows : " If
a man or a woman inscribes himself in the lists at the chancery of
the circle as a deist, the person must immediately receive twenty-
four blows from the stick, not because he is a deist, but because he
pretends to be something about which he knows nothing." This
conception of liberalism closely approaches that entertained by Peter
the Great, and yet these incomplete and absurd measures dealt
terrible blows at Catholicism. The Archbishop of Vienna and
Pesth protested vigorously, as did the clergy in general, and Pope
Pius VI., believing that he would be able to avert the dangers
which threatened the Austrian church, took the unheard-of step
of making a journey to Vienna. On his arrival he was lodged
in the imperial castle and treated less as a guest than as a prisoner,
not being allowed to communicate even with the Austrian bishops,
and although received with the most enthusiastic veneration by the
Viennese, he failed utterly to move the skepticism of the prince.
After the departure of the Pope, Joseph II. renewed his cam-
paign against religious institutions with redoubled energy. He
suppressed all the convents of the mendicant orders, even those
of the Trinitarians, whose mission it was to ransom captives from
barbarous peoples. He would no longer permit, said he, the send-
ing of money abroad — he had provided for the interests of his
subjects by treaties and the establishment of consuls. A still se-
verer blow to the church was struck in the decree concerning
marriage, published in January, 1783, It made marriage a purely
civil contract, and allowed divorce. The emperor also deprived all
foreign bishops of their property in Austria and annexed them to
his dominions ; at the same time he compelled the Austrian bishops
to surrender all possessions which involved dealings with a foreign
power. As an offset to all this he greatly increased the number
of country curates and primary schools. Finally, however, the
continual protests of the Holy See bore some fruit. The em-
peror journeyed to Rome, and in an interview with the Sovereign
Pontiff conceded some relaxation in his attitude toward the church,
Josephinism, as this policy has been called, preceded by nearly
a century the Kulturkampf of modern Germany. The universities
were as harshly treated as the church upon which they had so long
268 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1780-1783
depended. They were deprived of their property and made state
establisliments. But Joseph II. was essentially utilitarian, and ex-
pressed little serious interest in education except for primary in-
struction. On the other hand, Austria owes to him many philan-
thropic establishments, such as hospitals and schools of med-
cine and surgery. In 1783 a German university was founded
at Lemberg for the purpose of Germanizing Galicia. Everything
that recalled a past hateful to the emperor was treated with merci-
less brutality. Thus the palace of Hradcany, at Prague, was
turned into cavalry barracks, the objects of art which adorned
it being abandoned to downright pillage. A list of the latter drawn
up by his agents describes Titian's " Leda " thus, " Item, a naked
woman bitten by a wild goose." Most of the legal measures of the
emperor recall the excesses of the Reformation or those of the
French Revolution.
An enemy of feudal rights, and an enthusiastic philanthropist,
Joseph II. abolished serfdom in Moravia, Galicia, and Hungary,
and granted to the emancipated serfs the complete ownership of the
lands they cultivated. The powers of the kreisdtnter (officials of
the circles) were augmented so as to completely destroy those of
the lords. Everything was done to Germanize Bohemia and Hun-
gary and to reduce them to the position of simple provinces. The
whole of the Austrian possessions were divided into thirteen gov-
ernments, and subdivided into circles with a captain (kreishaupt-
rtiann) at the head of each. They were Galicia; Bohemia; Mo-
ravia and Silesia; Lower Austria; Inner Austria (Styria, Carinthia,
and Camiola), the Tyrol; Outer Austria (possessions in south-
western Germany) ; Transylvania ; Hungary ; Croatia ; Lombardy ;
Gorica, Gradiska, and Triest; and the Low Countries.
Diets were no longer convoked, and the privileges of the royal
towns were entirely suppressed. Each town had a burgomaster,
aided by two or three councilors, who were really state officials.
Imbued with the theories of the physiocrats, Joseph II. undertook
a thorough reorganization of the system of taxation. His ideal was
to be able ultimately to obtain an average of forty per cent, upon
all articles for the use of the treasury; until this could be accom-
plished he contented himself with establishing an impost levied on
the income from land calculated upon the average yield of the last
ten years. He decreed that thirty per cent, of the net produce of
the land should be set aside for the use of the state, and neither
JOSEPH II 269
1783-1784
nobles nor priests were to be exempt from payment. Two commis-
sions of taxation were created, one for Hungary, the other for the
rest of the monarchy, and a government survey at an enormous
expense was undertaken.
The efforts of Joseph to enrich his people through commerce
were especially airected to the Low Countries, which possessed ex-
cellent harbors for merchant vessels. His attempt to establish the
free navigation of the Scheldt, in which he failed because of the
combined resistance of the Dutch and the French, is worthy of
note. He was more successful on the Danube, and the natural
riches of Hungary — wheat, wine, and cattle — were sold with much
greater profit than formerly. A road, called after him the Via
Josephina, was constructed to unite the town of Karlstadt with the
ports of Zeng and Bag, and the ports on the Adriatic, especially
Fiume, were improved. Owing to the friendly terms with the
Porte the emperor saved Austrian ships from the attacks of the Bar-
bary corsairs, and reciprocal treaties of commerce were concluded
with the emperor of Morocco, with Turkey, and with Russia. In
these commercial enterprises Joseph was aided by the director of
commerce, Count Zinzendorf, who had been governor of Triest.
Trade with the Levant acquired a degree of prosperity previously
unknown. Factories were even established in China and the Indies,
and Joseph secured from Hyder AH the possession of the Nicobar
Islands. The time had passed when it could be said that the
Viennese did not even know how to weave a pair of silk stockings.
Numerous manufactories arose, and the emperor did his utmost to
develop home industries and to restrict the importation of foreign
commodities. He was anxious that the merchants of his dominions
should no longer be merely " the agents of the English, French, and
Dutch." A law of 1784 established a thorough-going protective
system, by which the importation of foreign products was entirely
forbidden. Private persons only could bring in articles of food on
payment of heavy duties, in many cases amounting to sixty per
cent. Even the importation of salted fish was forbidden, and in
order to set a good example the emperor had all the foreign wine
of his cellars distributed among the hospitals. This system natu-
rally developed smuggling and informers, but it was rigorously
enforced. It should be noted also that the greater part of the manu-
factories thus established were erected by foreigners — Swiss,
French, and English — who carried off a large portion of the mil-
270 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1784-1789
lions which the emperor was thus trying by force to keep in his
dominions.
The legislative work which was done by Maria Theresa was
continued by Joseph. He published a civil code, which formed
the basis of that of Francis H., the code still in use in the Austrian
dominions. His penal code bears the stamp of his own philo-
sophical ideas. The cruel punishments retained by Maria Theresa
for blasphemy and sorcery were abolished and the criminal courts
were reorganized. The punishment of death was reserved for re-
bellion alone, and trials for witchcraft were abolished. But this
code, so humane in some respects, still allowed imprisonment in irons
for thirty years, the condemned being chained to the wall of the
prison. Some penalties were absurd, others of Draconian severity.
Criminals were condemned to be chained in pairs, whatever their
rank, and forced to sweep the streets of Vienna or to drag the
boats which came up the Danube.
In foreign affairs Joseph II. adhered faithfully to the policy
of rounding out his territories, after the example of Frederick the
Great. Hence, while seriously interesting himself in the Low
Countries, he understood perfectly that they were a source of
weakness rather than of strength for Austria. In 1785 he tried
to exchange them for Bavaria, but Frederick the Great spoiled the
plan, and the project had to be abandoned, the Prussian king
uniting the leading German princes in an alliance known as the
Fiirstenbund against the ambitions of Austria in Germany. Four
years later, in 1789, trouble broke out in Belgium. These prov-
inces, wearied by the imperial despotism which attacked both
the national liberties and the religious institutions dear to a popula-
tion strongly Catholic, rose and proclaimed their independence.
This movement was not suppressed till after the death of Joseph II.
Against Turkey he took up again the traditional policy of Leo-
pold I. and Charles VI., which involved a close alliance with
Russia. In an interview with Catherine II., in 1786, he had
formed a plan with the empress which involved the total expul-
sion of the Turks from Europe, and the partition of their
lands between France, England, Austria, Spain, and Russia.
When the war broke out between Turkey and Russia he took part
without hesitation. He sent his troops against the Turks " in
order to recover those lands which unfortunate circumstances had
separated from his empire," and because he was determined not to
JOSEPHII «71
1784-1789
allow the Russians to be the sole heirs of the ruins of Turkey. In
a letter addressed to the king of Prussia he announced his inten-
tion of Germanizing his conquests.
About this time the people of the Balkan peninsula began to
bestir themselves and to dream of their former independence.
Signs of the coming Servian revolution appeared, and the
first Servian national poet, Dositei Obradovic, greeted the Aus-
trian army enthusiastically. His poem of " Servia Delivered "
had a frontispiece representing Joseph II. breaking the chains
of the southern Slavs. " Noble sovereign, Joseph the Great ! "
cried the poet, " extend thy protection to the Servian race.
Turn thy beneficent face toward the people dear to thy an-
cestors, to wretched Servia and Bosnia, who suffer miseries
without number. Glory of the world, illustrious monarch ! restore
to Bulgaria her boyars, to Servia her heroes of old time, and to
Greece her Pindars ! " But the hour for the emancipation of the
Christians of the Danube had not yet sounded, and the Austria
of Joseph II. was hardly the instrument fit for this purpose. It
would have brought them only the doubtful benefit of German-
ization. Nevertheless, extensive preparations for war were made
— 245,000 infantry and 36,000 cavalry were set on foot. But this
vast army was not concentrated, but scattered from the Dniester to
the Adriatic. Joseph II. himself took command, but becoming ill
returned to Vienna, after having lost 45,000 men from disease and
fighting. Loudon was left in command and carried on the war
with vigor, capturing Belgrade September 29, 1789, and then
pushing on into Bosnia.
But the emperor did not long survive these triumphs. The
revolt in the Low Countries and the concessions which he was
obliged to make to Hungary affected his generous but poorly bal-
anced mind. He had been forced to humiliate himself before Pius
VI., whom he had formerly defied, in order to induce him to exhort
the Belgians to return to their obedience. To the Hungarians he
restored their confiscated privileges, and sent the crown of St.
Stephen to Pesth. On February 20, 1790, he died at the com-
paratively early age of forty-nine, and it is said he composed the
following epitaph for his tomb : " Here lies a prince whose inten-
tions were pure, but who was unfortunate in all his undertakings."
The word Josephinism has remained in the language of Aus-
tria to express those ideas which he endeavored to introduce, and
fTt AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1784-1789
which failed because of the tenacity of historical and religious preju-
dices. Nevertheless, his philanthropy and his love for his people,
manifested in so many instances, have assured his name a memory
of considerable popularity. In a Moravian village a monument is
still standing on the spot where the emperor with his own hands
gfuided the plow, to show his interest in agriculture. The peasants
celebrate his good deeds even in our time, and for many years
they refused to believe in his death.
Historians both of Hungary and Bohemia regard the reign of
Joseph II. as a disastrous period for their respective countries.
From the very outset he adopted a series of measures which deeply
irritated the Magyars. With his philosophical ideas he looked
upon the crown of St. Stephen as a bauble and the liberties of Hun-
gary as the mythical relics of barbarism. The political customs of
the country pleased him no more than its manners, and he took
great delight in ridiculing the long beards and soft boots of the
magnates. He never would be crowned nor would he appoint a
palatine. He irritated the prelates by his measures against the
convents, without satisfying the Protestants by his tolerance, be-
cause it was always tyrannical. He refused to unite Galicia to
Hungary despite the fact that that province had been regained on
the plea of the rights of the crown of St. Stephen. He began
by concentrating all the business of the country in the Hungarian
chancery and the council of lieutenancy established at Buda. In
1784 he ordered that the holy crown should be brought to him at
Vienna to be kept in the imperial treasury. To confiscate this
symbol of Hungarian independence was to the Magyars the same
as an attempt to suppress the nation itself, and the affront was
deeply resented. Up to that time the official language of the king-
dom had been Latin, a neutral language between the various idioms
used in Hungary. Joseph believed he was proving his liberal princi-
ples by substituting German, and the diet, which was no longer
convoked, was unable to complain against this arbitrary and im-
politic act. But the comitats gave utterance to bitter complaints.
Joseph II. soon learned that it was not wise to attack the dearest
prejudices of the nation, and the edict which proscribed the Hun-
garian language was the very act which gave the signal for its
revival.
Magyar literature had existed for some time. Among the
young Hungarians who composed the Hungarian guard of Maria
JOSEPHII «78
1784-1790
Theresa were several, notably the poet Bessenyi, who had culti-
vated the national poetry with much enthusiasm. Historical col-
lections in the Hungarian language had been begun, and now the
attacks of Joseph II. gave fresh vigor to the new movement. Other
measures helped to excite the nation, and the spirit of patriotism
increased. Joseph decreed a general census, which was to serve
as a basis for recruiting the army. In this no distinction was made
between classes, and the comitats were entirely disregarded. The
dissatisfaction became serious, and troops had to be sent to protect
the officers in charge of the work. It was still worse when Joseph
proceeded to meddle with the comitats themselves. He suppressed
their meetings and placed at their head an officer named by him-
self. The country was divided into ten circles, each governed by a
captain (kreishauptmann) , a name which is still hated in Hun-
gary. These imprudent measures were to some extent atoned for
by the liberal reforms which accompanied them, as, for example,
the suppression of the feudal courts; but the Hungarians were too
irritated to appreciate them. Moreover, the nobility was not suf-
ficiently enlightened to share the ideas of the sovereign concerning
taxes which made the land and not the peasant the basis of taxa-
tion, and the efforts of Joseph to obtain an accurate survey of the
land met with much resistance. At the time of the Turkish cam-
paign the comitats refused to supply men and provisions, and the
issue of the campaign was not sufficiently brilliant to appeal to
them on the basis of military prestige and glory. On all sides
the convocation of the diet was demanded. Some of the comitats
declared the demands of the king illegal; others suppressed the
royal order, while the general discontent was so great that several
opened negotiations with the king of Prussia. Joseph, ill and
wearied of the ten years' struggle, yielded and in an ordinance of
January, 1790, recalled all his reforms, and restored everything to
the conditions of 1780, with the exception of his measures for re-
ligious tolerance and the improvement of the condition of the
peasants.
In Bohemia likewise he refused to be crowned, and he in-
sulted the Bohemians in their most cherished national feelings by
turning the palace of his predecessors into a barracks. The re-
ligious tolerance which he granted was undoubtedly a blessing to
the kingdom, but those of his subjects who would not join the
official sects were severely persecuted. Deists were flogged and ex-
874 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1784-1790
iled into Hungary, and their children torn from them in order to
be educated in the state rehgion, while the number of those who
declared their adhesion- to the Augsburg Confession did not exceed
forty-five thousand. Entrance to the gymnasium was denied all
those who did not possess a knowledge of German, and this lan-
guage was substituted for Latin in the teaching of the faculty of
philosophy at tlfe University of Prague. The functions of the
court of appeal at Prague were restricted to Bohemia, and no longer
allowed to extend to Moravia, while Prague was deprived of its
title of residenzstadt, which was henceforth reserved to Vienna.
The functions of the diet were considerably diminished, the em-
peror forbidding the estates to dispose of their own fund or special
budget without the sanction of the court chamber (hofkammer)
of Vienna. In 1783 he suppressed the standing committee of the
diet and transferred its authority to the central government. In-
deed, the only one of their ancient rights the estates retained was
that of voting taxes, although the manner in which they were to
be raised was taken from their control. Finally, in 1788, Joseph
announced to the diet that it was to limit its deliberations to mat-
ters submitted to it by the sovereign, and that it would be convoked
only at his pleasure. The estates protested, and when the new
patent concerning taxes was published, in February, 1789, the high
chancellor of Bohemia and Austria, Count Rudolf Chotek, refused
to sign it and sent in his resignation.
After so many attacks on its independence and its nationality,
it might seem that Bohemia would have been entirely crushed as
a separate nation, and that she was ready to become a German
province of the Austrian state. But the moment of her deepest
humiliation was precisely the moment of her regeneration. This
revival was closely linked in certain of its phases to the general
reaction which followed the death of Joseph II. Its first symp-
toms appeared almost directly after the coronation of his successor.
" The oppression of Joseph II.," says Count Caspar Sternberg in his
memoirs, " has awakened the spirit of nationalism which had slept
for a long time. The emperor, who wished to centralize every-
thing, desired also to suppress the Bohemian language, but no
people would allow the palladium of its national existence to be
snatched from it. At the coronation all those who speak Czech
might be heard using that language in the very corridors of the
palace." The Czechs themselves date the new birth of their na-
JOSEPH II JW»
1790-1792
tionality from the reign of Joseph II. Bohemia owes to this prince
only one benefit — the foundation of the Royal Society of Sciences,
which flourishes to-day, and which from its very beginning became
the center of those historical researches which contributed so
powerfully to the revival of Slavism in Bohemia.
The new sovereign, Leopold II., who reigned only two years,
from 1790 to 1792, had been serving in Tuscany an apprenticeship
in the art of governing since 1765, and the wisdom of his ad-
ministration, which was both intelligent and paternal, had rightly
called forth the praises of economists and philosophers. On his
accession he yielded gracefully to the violent reaction already set-
ting in against the policy of his brother. He began by declaring
that he considered the estates of the provinces as the pillars of
the monarchy, that he would restore their privileges, and that he
would labor hard with them to bring the interests of the people
into harmony with those of the sovereign. He suppressed those
measures of Joseph II, which had caused most irritation, suspended
the system of taxation which held the commune responsible for the
taxes of all the inhabitants, opened the frontiers to foreign prod-
ucts, and redressed many of the real grievances of the Bohemians
and Hungarians. He restored many of their most important rights
to the clergy, especially those of regulating the liturgy, holding
synods with the sanction of the government, and organizing the
administration of the parishes. On the other hand he retained the
measures which prohibited the publication of bulls without the
royal sanction, which deprived the bishops of the administration
of the funds of the dioceses, and which subjected ecclesiastics to
the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts. This policy satisfied and
disarmed the clergy.
But Leopold II. was less fortunate in his dealings with the
revolted Netherlands. He made the most liberal promises, offering
them complete amnesty, and promising no longer to intrust public
office to strangers, to give the control of the army to the estates,
and to make no law without their consent. They refused to yield,
and he was obliged to have recourse to arms. An army of 30,000
men was brought together in Luxemburg and sent into the Neth-
erlands. Namur and Brussels were soon taken, and Belgium was
reconquered, only to become in a few years the battlefield for the
struggle against the French Revolution.
In the meantime the war against Turkey continued. The sue-
«76 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1790-1792
cess of the Austrian arms made England, and especially Prussia,
uneasy. The latter mobilized an army on the borders of Silesia
and encouraged the malcontents of the Low Countries. But in
spite of this Leopold entered into negotiations with the king of
Prussia concerning the testoration of conquests on the Danube by
Austria and Russia, for compensation to be found at the expense
of Poland, Prussia to get Thorn and Danzig. Old Kaunitz in-
dignantly rejecting these insolent proposals, a congress met at
Reichenbach, in 1790, in which Prussia, Austria, England, and
Holland were represented. The congress ended in the Treaty of
Sistova, by which Austria surrendered her conquests, retaining only
Orsova, and the Unna district on the borders of Croatia, and agreed
not to support Russia in any war which might arise between her and
the Porte. Thus Austria once more gave up the substance for the
shadow ; she sacrificed by this agreement the territory which would
have consolidated her real frontiers, in order to preserve the Bel-
gian provinces which were not only distant and imruly, but a
constant temptation to the greed of France.
It would have been impossible for Austria to remain indifferent
to the progress of the French Revolution. As emperor, Leopold was
under obligation to defend the feudal rights of the German princes
in Alsace, Franche-Comte, and Lorraine, which were suppressed
by the National Assembly, and as the brother-in-law of Louis
XVI., he witnessed with anxiety the progress of democracy and the
decline of the royal authority. In July, 1791, he published a cir-
cular, dated from Padua, calHng upon all the sovereigns of Europe
to intervene in favor of the king of France against his revolted
subjects. A little later he issued, with Frederick William II. of
Prussia, the celebrated Declaration of Pilnitz, in which the two
sovereigns agree to employ the most effectual means " to place the
king of France in a position to establish with absolute freedom
the basis of a monarchical form of government, which shall at once
maintain the rights of sovereigns and promote the welfare of the
French nation." In February, 1792, Leopold concluded a definite
alliance with Prussia in regard to their relations with France. On
March i he died unexpectedly, leaving to his son, Francis II., the
inheritance of the most formidable struggle which the Austrian
state had ever had to maintain. On April 20, 1792, France de-
clared war on " the king of Bohemia and Hungary."
PART V ]
AUSTRIA DURING THE REVOLUTIONARY
AND NAPOLEONIC ERAS. 1792-1815 i
\
I
Chapter XXIII
FRANCIS II AND THE WARS AGAINST THE
REVOLUTION. 1 792.1 804
A BRIEF survey of the Austrian monarchy at the opening
of the great European war in which she played so con-
spicuous a part is essential. " If we omit Tuscany and
Modena," says M. Himly, " territories over which the younger
branches of the house of Hapsburg were already reigning, or ex-
pecting to reign, the empire covered an area of 11,600 square
leagues (German) and numbered about 24,000,000 inhabitants.
Geographically they fell naturally into two parts of about equal
extent; that portion which belonged more or less completely to the
empire had a population of over 10,500,000, and occupied about
86,000 square miles; the provinces outside of the empire had a
little less than 14,000,000, spread out over nearly 164,000 square
miles. Each of these two great divisions consisted of three groups
of countries which were themselves historically and politically dis-
tinct. On the one side were the two circles of Austria and of Bur-
gundy, and the territories of the crown of Bohemia; on the other
the Polish, Hungarian, and Italian possessions.
The kingdom of St. Stephen, that is to say, of Hungary, with
the kingdoms of Croatia, Slavonia, Hungarian Dalmatia, and
Transylvania, was estimated at about 125,800 square miles and at
9,100,000 souls; the kingdom of Bohemia, with Moravia and Si-
lesia, had 4,300,000 inhabitants spread over 31,000 square miles,
while Galicia and Bukovina had about 3,300^000 on about 33,200
square miles.
Milan and Mantua, with the imperial fiefs of Liguria, were
reckoned at about 4700 square miles and 1,350,000 inhabitants, and
the Austrian Low Countries at 2,000,000 on 10,100 square miles.
A sixth group comprised the imperial domains, properly so-called
— that is, the circle of Austria and a number of minor possessions
in Suabia and the Lower Rhine; together these measured about
979
S80 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1792-1804
45,000 square miles and comprised in the neighborhood of 4,300,000
inhabitants.
In actual size the Austrian monarchy came next to Russia
and France in 1792. It was somewhat larger than the present
Austrian empire, but it was so scattered as to be an easy prey to an
enemy. Bohemia, Galicia, Hungary, and the hereditary states
formed a compact group, but the Milanese and the Mantuan dis-
tricts were separated from it by Venetia. The Breisgau and Aus-
trian Suabia were practically surrounded by the innumerable states
of Suabia, while Belgium was entirely isolated from the other
provinces, and her people were eager to throw off the foreign yoke.
It was upon these outlying positions that the effect of the war was
sure to be felt first.
The Austrian army at this time consisted of 270,000 men;
there were yj regiments of infantry, 39 of which were furnished by
the German possessions and by those Slav lands not included in Hun-
gary, II by Hungary and Transylvania, 5 by the Low Countries,
2 by Italy, and 17 by the rnilitary frontiers. Garrisons were sup-
plied by two regiments set apart for that purpose, and there were
two regiments of artillery. The army was recruited by a system
of conscription established by Joseph II. in all his states except
in the Tyrol, the Low Countries, and Hungaiy. In the latter
country the emperor was offered in case of need the insurrection
and special levies.
The prince who had to take so prominent a part in the long
struggle of this period had reached the age of twenty-four at his
accession. He had been brought up in Tuscany with Leopold,
and had later lived at the court of Joseph II., who did his utmost
to inculcate his own ideas of reform into him. During the short
reig^ of Leopold II. he had seen how good sense and patriotic
feeling had reacted against the excesses of Josephinism, and a
peaceful reign would perhaps have given him the opportunity
of displaying those worthy bourgeois characteristics with which
nature had endowed him. But in the prolonged struggle against
the Revolution he became gradually gloomy and despotic.
When the war broke out Francis II. had been crowned at
Buda and at Prague, but he had not yet been elected emperor.
Accordingly the French declared war against the king of Bohemia
and Hungary. They first invaded Belgium, and after the battle of
Jemmappes on November 6, 1792, the Austrian Low Countries as
1792-1804
FRANCIS II
9S1
far as Luxemberg- fell into their hands. In the following spring
the Austrian victory at Neerwinden opened France to the im-
perialists for a short time. But Austria's ally, Prussia, gave but
a lukewarm support, for she was more interested in the second
partition of Poland in 1793, and in which Austria failed to share
because of the war with the French republic. Finally, in June of
1794, as a result of the battle of Fleurus the Netherlands were
definitely lost to Austria.
The execution of Louis XVI. was an act of defiance to the
kings of Europe, and the execution of Marie Antoinette a challenge
I rortioa acquired bg RusstS
■Dd - • • Prussia
■a " • • Austria
"PARTITIONS OF POLAND
to the house of Austria in particular. But Francis II. was neither
able to rescue nor avenge the unfortunate sister of his father. For
in 1795 his ally, the king of Prussia, signed the Treaty of Paris
with the French, and withdrew from the war, and he was reduced
to seek compensation for the loss of the Low Countries in what
remained of unhappy Poland. With Prussia and Russia the third
partition was agreed upon, and Austria secured the palatinates of
Sandomir and Lublin, together with some portions of Cracow,
Masovia, Podlachia, and Brest, as far as the junction of the
Bug with the Vistula. This territory was given the official name
of Western Galicia. The reasons given for this new desmem-
f8f AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1792-1804
berment of Poland were poor enough, Poland, it was urged,
had become the seat of anarchical and revolutionary ideas which
threatened to become dangerous to the adjacent countries, and
since Austria could not prevent the seizure of Polish territory by
the other two great neighboring powers, it became her duty to
look after her own interests. No pretended historical right was
invoked, as in the first partition, and expediency alone was urged
in extenuation of this inglorious conquest. By this partition Aus-
tria acquired about 1,100,000 inhabitants and 1800 square miles
of territory.
In the south Francis II. was no more fortunate than in Bel-
gium. The victories of Bonaparte at Montenotte and Millesimo, in
April, 1796, resulted in the conquest of Lombardy and its prompt
reorganization into the Cisalpine republic, Bonaparte proclaiming
to the Italians that he was waging war only against " the tyrant
who tried to enslave them." Who would have said then that the
greatest tyrant of them all was the future father-in-law of
Napoleon himself? The troops of Francis made heroic efforts
to resist the victorious march of the armies of France, but without
avail. His commander, Wurmser, was defeated and forced to shut
himself up in Mantua, and after the defeat of the Hungarian
Alvinzy at Areola and Rivoli, he was forced to capitulate, in Feb-
ruary, 1797. The road to Vienna lay open. Just at this moment
the aristocratic republic of Venice, believing that it could save its
independence and guarantee itself against the invasion of revolu-
tionary ideas, signed a treaty with Austria, and attacked the
French. This imprudence cost her not only her liberty, but reduced
her to a servitude which formed one of the saddest episodes of the
history of the next century.
After the capitulation of Mantua, Francis, realizing that his
southern territories were in danger of being overrun by the French,
suddenly recalled from the army of the Rhine the ablest of his
generals, the Archduke Charles, to oppose the victorious French.
In the Tyrol and in Bohemia levies en masse were ordered, and the
insurrection was voted by Hungary. The archduke did all in his
power to reorganize the Austrian army, and took up a position
behind the Tagliamento in order to defend Triest, but Massena had
obtained possession of the Col de Tarvis, over which the main
road from Verona to Venice passes. This gave him the key to
the passage of the Alps, and Vienna was in great danger. But
FRANCIS II «8S
1792-1804
the patriotism of the luxurious city rose to the occasion. The
entire population took up arms, the fortifications were repaired, and
the war, which had at first been only one of cabinets and of princi-
pals, became, with the approach of the enemy, a national struggle.
Evidently it would be dangerous for Napoleon to venture into a
country so deeply aroused, without having effected a junction with
the armies on the Rhine. He opened negotiations, and an armis-
tice was agreed upon, followed by preliminaries of peace, in which
Austria ceded to France Belgium and her Italian possessions on
the right bank of the Oglio, and received in exchange a part of
the Venetian possessions situated on the Adriatic. Venice obtained
Romagna, Bologna, and 'Ferrara as compensation.
It was while these negotiations were being conducted that the
anti-French feeling broke out in the republic of Venice. At the
news of Ics Paqiies Veronaises the French troops again invaded
Venetia and besieged the city of the doges, which dared not, or
knew not how, to defend itself, even though protected by the sea,
against generals who had not a single vessel at their disposal. In
May Venice was occupied by the French, and a tree of liberty was
planted. A few months later, in November, 1797, definitive peace
was signed at Campo Formio. Austria renewed her concessions
and recognized the Cisalpine republic. France retained the Ionian
Islands and the Venetian possessions in Albania, Austria receiving
as compensation the territories of Venice and her territory as
far as the Adige. The duke of Modena, who had been dispossessed,
was to be indemnified for the loss of his duchy by the cession of the
Breisgau, which Francis II. gave up to him. In the secret articles
of this treaty the emperor engaged himself to help France in the
acquisition of the left bank of the Rhine, demanding in exchange
the latter's good offices in the acquisition of Salzburg and that
part of Bavaria situated between the Inn and the Salza, which
intercepted the communication with Tyrol. One of the con-
sequences of this treaty was the setting at liberty of Lafayette, who
had been a prisoner at Olmiitz since 1792.
On the whole Austria came out of this war very fortunately,
considering her defeats. She had held her own against France
even after Prussia had withdrawn from the struggle; she was less
weakened by the loss of the Low Countries than strengthened by
the acquisition of Venice and Dalmatia. Her new territories con-
tained 16,625 square miles and about 3,000,000 inhabitants, and
fM AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1792-1804
although the French, before evacuating Venice, had destroyed the
fleet of the republic, the maritime importance of the new acquisition
was very great. The Adriatic became almost wholly an Austrian
sea, and the Dalmatians were skilled mariners and brave soldiers.
This province, which had formerly been so much coveted by the
kings of Hungary, now fell to the Hapsburgs without their having
struck a blow for its conquest. From this time forward it
shared the fate of Austria. It had been a Roman province, colon-
ized by the Slavs, and formed a part of the kingdom of Croatia.
In the tenth century the Venetians began its conquest, which was not
completed until the end of the fifteenth, and even then the interior
of Dalmatia continued a part of Croatia *till it fell into the hands
of the Turks, Thanks to Venetian colonization, the Slav towns
took on a distinctly Italian character, which they retain even to-day.
The government was exclusively in the hands of the Venetians and
the native population was: both pillaged and persecuted. A decree
of the republic forbade the marriage of Venetians with Slav women.
The administration of the province had been intrusted to a
proveditore, who was always a Venetian senator, and who held
office for three years. The civil, judicial, and military power was
exercised by him, and he resided at Zara. The country was di-
vided into twenty-two circles, all governed by Venetian nobles,
whose administration was both servile and corrupt. The army
was composed of natives, but all the officers were Venetians. Lit-
tle was done for public instruction; Venice was not anxious to
develop an independent civilization, and directed her efforts rather
toward Italianizing her Slav subjects. Nevertheless, in spite of this
Italian influence, a national literature struggled into existence,
though it found a real home only in Ragusa, which continued
throughout to maintain a position of independence owing to the
protection of the Porte.
The Treaty of Campo Formio did not end the work of Aus-
trian diplomacy. She sent three representatives to the congress of
Rastadt, where the affairs of Germany were still to be arranged.
After the congress, which closed in April, 1799, two of the French
representatives were murdered by Austrian hussars, and this
made war almost inevitable. Another circumstance which compli-
cated the situation and estranged the two countries was the
fact that Bemadotte, the French ambassador in Vienna, as-
sumed an attitude altogether unlikely to conciliate a popula-
FRANCISII 285
1792-1804
tion irritated by recent defeats. He even presumed to attempt to
prevent the celebration of a military fete in the capital, and caused
the tricolor flag to be displayed from the balcony of his hotel, the
flag of that revolution which had beheaded Marie Antoinette. It
was torn down by an enraged populace, and Bernadotte demanded
his passports. The French asked for an apology, which Austria
refused, and it became apparent that a new conflict was imminent.
In March, 1799, the Directory declared war. Cobenzl, who had
just succeeded Thugut as minister of foreign affairs, bent every
energy to obtain allies. The second coalition was formed with
Russia, England, Portugal, Naples, Turkey, and Austria all in
league against France. The struggle began simultaneously in
southern Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. The coalition had
brought together a large force of men. The victories of Archduke
Charles and Melas, which continued after the assumption of the
supreme command by the Russian general, Suvarov, need not be
related. The return of Napoleon to Italy brought victory again to
the standard of France. Marengo stopped the onward march of
Melas, in June, 1800, and after the capitulation of Alessandria he
was forced to fall back upon the Mincio. In western Germany
Moreau was also successful against his adversary Kray, and Aus-
tria, worn out by the useless struggle, consented to peace. But
her allies urged her to continue the struggle. The defeated gen-
erals were relieved of their command and others appointed, but
the victories of the French continued. At Hohenlinden, in Decem-
ber, 1800, they were entirely victorious, and another cruel blow
was struck to the Austrian arms. The Archduke Charles, who
had been in retirement since his victories of the previous year, again
assumed command to save the Austrian cause. But he found only
the ruins of the army which he had recently led to victory. The
French were marching on Vienna, and it was necessary to yield.
On December 25 an armistice was concluded, tracing a line of de-
markation. Cobenzl went to Luneville, where he negotiated the
terms of peace with Joseph Bonaparte.
The terms of the Peace of Luneville were very like those of
the Treaty of Campo Formio. Francis II. consented to recognize
the Batavian, Helvetian, Cisalpine and Ligurian republics, and the
surrender to France of the ancient Hapsburg possessions on the left
bank of the Rhine, along with other minor territories. The Arch-
duke Ferdinand II. exchanged Tuscany for the new electorate of
«86 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1792-1804
Salzburg, the formation of which cost the dynasty of Hapsburg
nearly a million people.
Nor had Francis II. succeeded in guaranteeing the integrity
of Germany. France held the left bank of the Rhine, and the dis-
possessed princes turned toward Paris to urge their claims for
indemnity. By the secularization of ecclesiastical states the clerical
princes who had been the most faithful supporters of the Haps-
burg dynasty had disappeared.
Perhaps the most important result of this extended struggle
is the fact that it gave rise among the peoples of Austria, and
especially in her army, to a real feeling for the unity of the mon-
archy. Her soldiers, drawn from so many different nations, had
fought side by side for ten years, and a feeling of brotherhood was
naturally engendered. Corps of officers grew up embodying in their
organization the idea of one fatherland. In 1848 a Viennese poet
wrote to Radetzky, " It is in the camps of your army that Austria
is to be found." Even in 1800 this was practically true. As a
matter of fact the Austrian monarchy was essentially a military one.
It was the army which held the various parts of this bizarre state
together.
In the struggle against the French Revolution the nobility of
the different provinces vied with each other in their enthusiasm;
Hungary twice voted the insurrection. In 1796 and 1797 the
Tyrolese and the inhabitants of Lower Austria took up arms en
masse. In Bohemia the militia of the country was organized in
1796, and Moravia and Silesia raised a corps of chasseurs in 1800.
During a visit of the Archduke Charles in Bohemia a special
legion was raised as a consequence of the enthusiasm he inspired.
The direction of military affairs continued in the hands of the
Council of War (hofkriegsrath). It consisted partly of officers
and partly of civilians, and sat at Vienna, but despite the zeal of its
members it rendered very mediocre services. It wished to conduct
military operations from a government office. In the campaign of
1799 Suvarov declined to communicate his plans to it. In 1801
the emperor made the Archduke Charles its president, and the
year following the unlimited military service was reduced to four-
teen years.
The direction of foreign affairs during almost all of this
stormy period was in the hands of the famous Thugut. Kaunitz,
who had conducted the affairs of the foreign chancery for three
FRANCIS II 287
1792-1804
reigns, and who had the satisfaction of effecting a reconciliation
between the two hostile courts of Versailles and Vienna, had retired
in 1796. Thugut, who had had an extended career in the foreign
service, especially in connection with the early years of the French
Revolution, was throughout a bitter opponent of the French re-
public, and his dismissal was one of the conditions insisted upon
by France in the secret clauses of the Treaty of Campo Formio.
In 1800 he, too, retired to private life. He was succeeded by
Joseph Cobenzl, who had filled the post of Austrian ambassador at
Berlin and St. Petersburg, and by his clever diplomacy had suc-
ceeded in keeping up the most cordial relations between Austria
and Russia for sixteen years. After bringing about the Peace of
Luneville he continued at the head of foreign affairs till 1805,
conducting the affairs of his office like a clever courtier rather
than a great statesman.
At home the struggle between the partisans and opponents of
Josephinism still continued, but the foreign wars diverted atten-
tion from the ideas of reform. A special ministry for finance for
Galicia and a new commission of public instruction had been ap-
pointed, but no general plan of reform was adopted. We may
judge of the general confusion existing at this time from an extract
from a memorandum addressed to the emperor by Count Chotek:
" The reign of your majesty," he says, " is marked by a series of
mutations; a special department (hofstelle) has been made of the
police; the chamber of accounts established in 1761 has been dis-
solved ; the old distinction between the different nationalities has
again been recognized, and expediency has been allowed, first to
direct politics, then to control the state. A new commission of in-
struction has been created, and the two legislative commissions
which formerly existed have been made into one, besides many
other changes which have been made since the Treaty of Campo
Formio. The management of the finances has been taken from
the control of the united Hofstelle, and Count Saurau has been
appointed president of the court chamber and minister of
finance. The supreme control of justice has been vested in the
Austro-Bohemian chancery, and a special department created for
Galicia, which controls both judicial and political matters. These
two changes evidently defeat their object; on the one hand two
new departments are created for provinces whose constitution is
the same, on the other a minister is overburdened with duties
^8S AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1792-1804
absolutely heterogeneous. In 1801, after Count Saurau was ap-
pointed to a new office, a ministry or board of control for the
bank and a secret board of credit were created, and the finances
once more joined to the department of political affairs. There
was only one minister for the two departments of justice and
political matters. As head of the ministry he had control of justice,
and in his capacity as minister controlled the finances, an amount
of work beyond the capacity of any man. And this system of ad-
ministering the finances was adopted at the very moment when their
precarious condition demanded central and united control.
" As soon as peace was restored," continues Chotek, " the
emperor tried to establish a more permanent organization. He
instituted a central bureau {Conferenzministerium), in which all
the branches of the administration should meet, and from that time
onward the home, foreign, and military affairs of the monarchy
have been under a common direction. ... In civil matters
it was necessary to make the entire country immediately dependent
upon one minister. It was necessary to determine the power of
each official, from the village magistrate to the minister, in such
a way that it would be impossible for any one of them to go
beyond the limits of his authority, and that each should know
precisely over what matters he had jurisdiction, and what must
be referred to the higher officials, so that in the end the emperor
should always be in a position to obtain complete knowledge on
important matters without being troubled with useless details.
But this result has not been attained. The internal adminis-
tration has been badly organized. Matters of small importance
are continually brought to the attention of the emperor and the
conference. The proposals that have been made have gone no fur-
ther than fragmentary attempts at legislature and temporary meas-
ures concerning the finances and other matters. No attempt has
been made to organize the departments; to study the wants of the
estates as a whole, or the means of satisfying those wants; to
improve the condition of the country by trade and commerce, or
to found really useful schools. In these matters there has been
none of that unity of action for which the Conferenzministerium
was created." What Count Chotek asked for, since popular par-
liamentary government was not to be had, was a council of min-
isters similar to that now existing in all European countries. But
the times were too troublesome for these reforms.
FRANCISII «89
1792-1804
Eight years of war could not fail to exhaust the finances of the
empire, considering the poverty of Austria-Hungary at that time.
The emperor mortgaged his private estates in order to obtain
money; provinces and corporations, and even private persons, vied
with each other in their zeal and their sacrifices. All sorts of ex-
pedients were resorted to; the amount of paper money was in-
creased, forced loans were raised^ the duties on merchandise were
maintained at a percentage which was absolutely intolerable to
trade, and the protective system continued in full force with all its
abuses. Internal freedom of trade, which Joseph II. had intro-
duced, was destroyed, and a line of custom-houses was once more
established between Hungary and the rest of the Austrian
dominions.
The construction of roads was pushed on with great activity,
especially in Carniola, Croatia, Bohemia, and Moravia, and a canal
was made between the Danube and the Theiss. The emperor was
proud of his fondness for agriculture, and founded several special
schools for its study. He took great pains to develop the rural
economy of Galicia, where, it must be owned, Polish neglect had
left much to be done. In 1799 serfdom was abolished, and grad-
ually some degree of order was introduced into that province.
Many charitable institutions were founded in this reign.
The work of codification, which had been begun in the reign
of Maria Theresa, was continued and additional volumes of the
code were published. Unfortunately, Francis 11. did nothing for
public instruction ; he had neither the time nor the wish to do so.
The dread lest the ideas of the French Revolution should make
their way into Austria led him to apply to freedom of thought a
prohibitive system even more strict than that which weighed so
heavily on trade. The censorship of the press was taken out of the
hands of the professors to be placed in those of the police, and a
tax on printed matter was introduced. In many ways the reign of
Francis II. was the opposite of that of Joseph II. In his horror
of liberal ideas, Francis believed that he could not combat them
better than by strengthening religious institutions and by increas-
ing the influence of the clergy. Nevertheless he maintained the
laws providing for religious toleration. A commission was ap-
pointed in 1795 to inquire into the condition of education, but the
alterations proposed by it were not very liberal in spirit and based
solely on the principle of expediency.
Chapter XXIV
FRANCIS II AND THE WARS AGAINST
NAPOLEON. 1804-1815
AFTER the Peace of Luneville the house of Hapsburg-
Lorraine was bereft of all its German possessions except
L the archduchy of Austria, and the authority of the emperor
in the German states existed only in theory. It possessed no other
power save that derived from its own dominions. These were hence-
forth divided into five groups, the hereditary provinces, the king-
dom of Bohemia, the kingdom of Hungary, Galicia, and Venetia.
The first three belonged to the emperor by hereditary right or by
contract mutually agreed to; the last two had been recently con-
quered, and were retained by force. It was therefore only natural
that the old titles of archduke of Austria, of king of Bohemia and
of Hungary, should be insufficient for the owner of so many pos-
sessions, and Francis II. desired to adopt a title that would both
impress Europe and be at the same time more in accord with the
actual facts. The Hapsburgs had long been known as the house
of Austria, and their territory, although far from being homo-
geneous, had been definitely grouped around the dynasty by the
Pragmatic Sanction. The Magyars had accepted the principle of
hereditary succession and Bohemia, exhausted by long struggle,
seemed pacified.
Accordingly after the establishment of the imperial dignity in
France by Napoleon, Francis II. decided to adopt the title of Em-
peror of Austria. A letter to the people announced his decision
in the following paragraph :
" Although we have been by the grace of God and the choice
of the electors of the Romano-German empire raised to such a de-
gree of splendor as leaves us no title to desire, nevertheless our
solicitude as ruler of the house of Austria induces us to strive for
the maintenance of complete equality between our imperial title
and hereditary dignity and those of the other sovereigns and
most illustrious powers of Europe, in a manner befitting the ancient
MO
FRANCIS II «91
1801
splendor of our house and the greatness and independence of our
dominions. Therefore we claim for the house of Austria, after
the example of the imperial court of Russia in the last century,
and of the new sovereign of France, an hereditary imperial title
for its own states. And we have determined, after mature de-
liberation, to take solemnly for ourselves and our successors for all
our kingdoms and lands the hereditary title of emperor of Austria,
after the name of our house. At the same time we declare that
each of our kingdoms, principalities, and provinces shall neverthe-
less preserve its title, constitution, and privileges."
This measure was the reward of long, patient work on the
part of the house of Austria, but in reality it made no change in
the condition of any of the provinces. Even Francis II., and his
successor, Ferdinand IV., were still crowned kings of Bohemia and
Hungary, and renewed the engagements to these countries, while
no Austrian sovereign has ever been crowned emperor of Austria.
By the foreign courts the new title was recognized without
demur. Francis II. made no attempt to break the ties which bound
some of his states to Germany ; indeed, he solemnly declared to the
German diet that he would not do so. Nor did the assumption of
the new imperial title make any great impression on the people,
who had been accustomed to seeing the title of emperor joined to
that of king on all public documents. Nevertheless, by thus de-
claring the historical unity of the Austrian realms, Francis added
to the Pragmatic Sanction a corollary that Charles VI. would not
have ventured to add in the eighteenth century.
At the time of his assumption of the imperial title Francis II.
was thirty-six years old, but events had aged him before his time;
he had become timid and suspicious. Among the sciences he un-
derstood only natural science, and of the arts only music, the one
great art that has really flourished in Austria. The philosophical
ideas of the eighteenth century were unknown to him. His main
strength lay in that persistent patience which is regarded as the
chief characteristic of the Hapsburgs. He affected that patriar-
chal mode of life and popularity not infrequently combined with
ideas of absolutism and love of tyrannical power. He wished to
be the father of his people, but a father who would not willingly
allow his children to reason for themselves. He meant to exercise
unlimited power, and the great trials he met with only served to
confirm him in his ideas of absolutism. He took for his motto
SM AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1801-1805
the words " fustitia rcgnorum fundamentum," but he explained its
meaning after his own fashion. The only power in the state out-
side of the emperor was that bureaucracy which had been made
the motive power of all government by Joseph II. The Hun-
garians retained their independence, but Bohemia had not yet
awakened, and the Austrians prided themselves on seeing abso-
lutism incarnate in their emperor. " Es giebt nur ein Kaiserstadt,
es giebt nur ein Wien" " There is only one imperial city, there is
only one Vienna." This popular saying flattered the self-love of
the Viennese just as their music lulled their indolent minds to sleep.
From 1 80 1 to 1805 foreign affairs were conducted by the
vice chancellor, Louis Cobenzl. He was, as we have seen, a poli-
tician of the old school, tricky and courteous, but by no means so
able as the young ambassadors Stahrenberg, Mettemich, and
Stadion, who served under him. After 1803 he secured the serv-
ices of Frederick Gentz, the ablest political writer of Germany, and
one of the most formidable antagonists of German unity. Gentz
was a Silesian, bom after the conquest of that province by Prussia,
and had studied at the University of Konigsberg. Owing to the
miserable state of public education and the antagonism of her
various nationalities, Austria could rarely find the men she needed
among her own subjects, and was forced to seek them abroad — a
curious phenomenon, seen even in our own day, when Count Beust
was called from Dresden to reconstruct the empire after Sadowa.
The ministry of Cobenzl contained no men of mark, save perhaps
the Archduke Charles. After 1 801 he was field marshal and presi-
dent of the council of war. He had introduced many reforms and
enjoyed a widespread popularity throughout Austria, being the
only general who could oppose Napoleon with any chance of
success.
The relations between Austria and France since 1801, in ap-
pearance at least, had become quite cordial. The Austrian am-
bassador at Paris showed marked attentions to the new emperor,
and at Vienna a saying of Cobenzl's was frequently heard, " The
monarchs of Europe have a colleague in Napoleon for whom they
need not blush." In reality, however, the heir of the revolution
could not be other than the enemy of Austria, and Bonaparte in-
spired in the court and the nobility a hatred which could only
result in renewed hostilities. Hence England and Russia had no
difficulty in drawing Austria into a new alliance for the purpose of
FRANCIS II «9S
1804-1805
curbing the aggression of France. In case of success she was to
receive an extension of frontier to the Po and the Adda, Salzburg,
and the reestabhshment of the secundo genitur in Tuscany, while
England promised to pay one million, two hundred and fifty thou-
sand pounds sterling for every hundred thousand men Austria would
place under arms. On these conditions Austria furnished three
hundred and thirty-five thousand men. The Archduke Charles
opposed the idea of fighting Napoleon, intoxicated by his recent
successes, and resigned his presidency of the council of war.
The plan of campaign involved the simultaneous attack of the
French by three armies, one in Italy, one in the Tyrol, and one in
Bavaria. The war was popular in Vienna. " It is touching,"
writes Gentz, " to see the good feeling which animates the
entire country; this time our cause is so just, so holy, that no one
dares murmur; all feel that the present situation cannot last." The
Archduke Charles took command of the army of Italy, the Arch-
duke John that of the Tyrol, while the emperor in person con>
manded the army of Grermany, leaving its direction to General Mack.
The latter's disastrous capitulation to Napoleon at Ulm on October
17, 1805, with his entire army, is well known. It was a terrible
blow for Austria. Summoned before a council of war, Mack was
relieved of his command and condemned to ten years' imprison-
ment. " The blow which has overwhelmed us," writes Gentz, " is
one of those which crushes heart and mind." The emperor tried
hard to keep up courage. In a manifesto of October 28 he said:
" The Austrian monarchy has always risen triumphant from every
misfortune that has befallen it in times past. Its strength is still
unconquered, and in the hearts of the brave men for whom I fight
the old spirit of patriotism still lives." Negotiations were entered
into with Prussia in the hope of gaining her mediation, and perhaps
her assistance, but other reverses still awaited Austria. In Italy the
Archduke Charles had accepted the command of the troops who
were to oppose the army of Massena, and, although successful, the
capitulation of Mack necessitated his recall to help the threatened
German provinces. With 24,000 troops he pushed northward into
Hungary by way of Styria, abandoning the Tyrol to Ney.
In the meantime the French had occupied Vienna, having
entered it on November 13. Napoleon took up his headquarters at
Schonbrunn, where he received the deputation from the capital,
which begged him to spare their city and presented him with a serv-
294 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1805-1806
ice of plate, an act of servility that did not save them from a heavy
fine and the usual requisitions of war. It was the first time since
the days of Mathias Corvinus that a conqueror had entered Vienna.
Meanwhile the emperor of Austria had joined the Russian forces
under Alexander in Moravia. The united armies numbered nearly
90,000. Napoleon had about 65,000 men to meet this force, and on
December 2, 1805, administered a crushing defeat at Austerlitz.
This battle decided the fate of the campaign.
Hostilities ceased and a definite peace was signed at Pres-
burg on December 26, 1805. Austria recognized all the changes
made by France in the Italian peninsula, and ceded to the kingdom
of Italy, Venetia, Istria, and Dalmatia. The new kingdoms of
Bavaria and Wiirtemberg were increased at the expense of Austria.
Only the duchy of Salzburg fell to Austria as a compensation for her
many losses, and most of this she has retained ever since. The
monarchy lost the Tyrol, with its brave and loyal inhabitants, and
the forelands of the Alps, which had assured Austrian influence in
Germany, all her possessions on the Rhine, in the Black Forest, and
on the upper Danube, altogether nearly three million people. She
no longer touched Switzerland or Italy, ceased to be a maritime
power, and was obliged to pay an indemnity of forty millions, at a
time when her treasury was already exhausted.
In January, 1806. the Emperor Francis returned to the capital,
where he was enthusiastically received, and the Viennese returned
to their luxurious and easy life, for to console them in their mis-
fortunes had they not the greatest musicians in the world in their
Haydn, Beethoven, Salieri, and dementi?
Following closely on the defeat of the allies, Napoleon organ-
ized Bavaria, Wiirtemberg, Baden, and eleven other states into the
Confederation of the Rhine, and on August i, 1806, these states
notified the diet at Ratisbon that they regarded the empire as dis-
solved. The role of Austria in Germany seemed to have come to
an end, and, in recognition of the fact, Francis, on August 6, 1806,
publicly declared that he resigned the imperial throne and absolved
all the officials of the empire from their allegiance. Thus the
scepter of Charlemagne fell from the hands of the dynasty which
had held it with but one slight interruption since 1438. It was
naturally not surrendered without regret. For even though
Francis ruled over more than fifteen millions of non-German sub-
jects, his education had been purely German, and to maintain the
FRANCIS II 296
1806-1808
domination of the Hapsburg house in Suabia and on the banks of
the Rhine, the Scheldt, and the Po was a cherished ideal. To their
German ambitions and sympathies they had on more than one
occasion sacrificed their duties and obligations to the crowns of St.
Vacslav and St. Stephen.
Hence, notwithstanding the end of the Holy Roman Empire,
all the aspirations of the Austrian government continued to turn
toward Germany and Italy. It was, moreover, very difficult for
Austria to remain neutral and disinterested in the face of the in-
cessant attempts of Napoleon to control Europe. Most of the court
nobility held estates in Germany, and thought only of retaining
them. Under these circumstances the relations between Napoleon
and Metternich at Paris became very much strained. Still Austria
dared not venture to support Prussia and Russia in the war which
broke out in 1806. But Napoleon did not feel any gratitude to her
for that. He properly divined the hostile intentions of Francis II.
"What would your sovereign have?" he brusquely demanded of
Metternich at a reception in August, 1808. " He would have his
envoy respected," dryly replied the diplomat. When the Austrian
General Vincent brought a letter of congratulation to the emperor
at Erfurt from Francis, the latter roughly reminded him that he
had been in a position to destroy Austria entirely, and that she
owed her continued existence to his indulgence. The basis for this
irritation of Napoleon lay in the Austrian armaments.
The Archduke Charles had set himself vigorously to increase
the efficiency and morale of the troops, and to fortify the frontier
on the German side. He abolished corporal punishment in the
army, and organized a provincial militia as a reserve for the regu-
lar army. This Landwehr drilled on holidays and assembled in
corps once a month. The diet of Bohemia voted a million and a
half florins for the support of this militia, while the diet of Hun-
gary made like sacrifices. At the same times measures were taken
to provoke a national uprising. Indeed in all the provinces of
the monarchy the national enthusiasm was marked. One warlike
meeting succeeded another; Arndt and Korner as well as other
poets of less note wrote patriotic hymns, which became immediately
popular, as, for example, the poem by Collin, which is a sort of
Marseillaise for the Austrian monarchy : " The throne of the Haps-
burg will remain unshaken, Austria will not perish! Arise, O ye
people ! form your battalions, to arms, to the frontier ! "
296 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1808-1809
Napoleon's costly expedition into Spain was well calculated
to arouse the boldest hopes. In March, 1809, war was again de-
clared against France. The Archduke Charles was appointed gen-
eralissimo, with powers such as no head of the army had had since
the days of Wallenstein and Prince Eugene. The available troops
numbered 283,000 men, while the Landwehr and the insurrection
in Hungary, according to the most trustworthy calculation, could
furnish 310,000 more, a grand total of over 500,000. But the
actual strength of the field army at the beginning of the war was
no more than 265,000.
Three armies were to attack Napoleon simultaneously, the first
in Bavaria, under the Archduke Charles, the second in Italy, under
the command of the Archduke John, and the third, of 35,000 men,
under the Archduke Ferdinand, was to invade Poland. Minor
bodies of troops were to drive the French out of Dalmatia and
Triest. Never in all her history had Austria placed on foot such
an army. She posed as the champion of the independence
of peoples, and of the liberty of Europe, which the Archduke
Charles declared in his proclamation h^d taken refuge under Aus-
trian banners. " Soldiers, your victories will break its fetters.
Your German brethren to-day in the ranks of the enemy await only
their deliverance." There is no proof that the Czechs, Slovenes,
Hungarians, Croats, Rumanians, and Poles were fired with this
interest in the deliverance of their German brethren. But the
archduke was only repeating the traditional phrases of the mon-
archy. It was a question, above all, of impressing Europe, and
especially Germany, with the idea that the destiny of the Ger-
manic race was bound up with that of the house of Austria. " We
fight to maintain the independence of the Austrian nation," said a
manifesto addressed to the German people, " to secure that inde-
pendence and that national honor which belong to her. Our re-
sistance is her last hope, our cause is hers. With Austria Germany
has been independent and happy. She can become so again only
through her."
The first episode in the war was the insurrection in the Tyrol
against Bavaria. These rude mountaineers were devoted in their
fidelity to the house of Austria. Through a long series of reigns
they had maintained their privileges and their patriarchal cus-
toms. At the time of their annexation to Bavaria Maximilan
Joseph had promised them not to change one iota in these privi-
I *
-J.
I (
FRANCISII 297
1808-1809
leges, but scarcely a year had passed when the Bavarian minister
undertook to reorganize the new province. The estates of the
Tyrol were dissolved; the religious administration overturned; the
pastors displaced without cause, and festivals and pilgrimages sup-
pressed. Under different circumstances and if carried out in a
different manner, some of these reforms would have been most
excellent; but being thus brutally imposed by foreign rule they
drove these simple people to the verge of desperation. They had
never severed their relations with Vienna, where the Tyrolese
Hormayr valiantly represented their interests. Early in 1809
three patriots, Hofer, Huber, and Nessing, went to Vienna to ar-
range a plan of insurrection with the Archduke John. On their
return they organized the revolt. Innkeepers, peddlers, and labor-
ers were the principal agents, but the secret was admirably
kept.
Among the heroes of the struggle three are worthy of the spe-
cial attention of the historian, Andrew Hofer, the innkeeper of Pas-
seyer, Speckbacher, and the Capuchin, Haspinger. The innkeeper
and horsedealer, Hofer, was known throughout all the Tyrol. He
had been a member of the diet, and in 1796 he had led the Tyrolese
in Italy against the French. Although the father of seven children,
he never hesitated to leave them for the service of his country.
Speckbacher had taken part in the previous campaigns, and devel-
oped a real military talent. The Capuchin Haspinger, better known
as Father Joachim of the Red Beard, had accompanied the Tyrolese
in all their expeditions as chaplain. He never shed blood himself,
but no one knew better than he how to incite the soldiers to battle
and heighten their patriotism by their religious faith.
On April 9, 1809, the Austrian general crossed the Tyrolese
frontier. He was triumphantly received everywhere, and Hofer
called his compatriots to arms. When the Austrians reached the
Pusterthal they did not find a single Bavarian. Hofer and his
peasants had already driven the foreigners out. Some days later
Innsbruck was captured, but the captors sullied their victory by
pillaging the houses of the Jews and Bavarian officials. On the
following day 3500 Frenchmen laid down their arms in the pres-
ence of these rude mountaineers. Hormayer, who had arrived with
the Austrian army, reestablished the old administrative system.
But in the south the struggle was more severe. There the French
general with 8000 men for some time held their own against the
298 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1808-1809
army of Hofer and his Austrian allies. Then he slowly withdrew
into Italy, and by the end of April all of the Tyrol except the
citadel of Kuftein was in the hands of the Austrians. But these
unexpected successes filled the Austrians with confidence which
after events by no means justified.
Napoleon had left Paris on April 13, and hastened to meet
the Archduke Charles, who had entered Bavaria. The Austrian
lines extended from Munich to Ratisbon. By the victory of
Afensberg Napoleon cut them in two, seized Landshut, and crushed
the main body at Ekmiihl and Ratisbon, on April 22 and 23. The
stand of the Austrian army had been heroic, and it lost nearly
40,000 men in killed, wounded, and prisoners. These heavy
losses were by no means compensated for by the successes of
the Austrians in Italy, where they occupied Friuli, and in Poland,
where Warsaw capitulated to the Archduke Ferdinand. The
Archduke Charles had been forced to fall back on Bohemia in
order to reorganize his army, leaving the way to Vienna open,
and on May 13, after a brief bombardment, the French entered
the Austrian capital for the second time.
But the campaign was by no means ended. After the occu-
pation of Vienna the right bank of the Danube from Linz to the
Hungarian frontier was in the hands of the French, while the left
bank was held by the Austrians. Napoleon caused bridges to be
thrown across the river beyond Lobau in order to dislodge the
enemy. The troops of Massena and Lannes seized the villages of
Aspern and Esslingen, behind which the Archduke Charles, com-
manding 95,000 troops, awaited them. On learning of the passage
of the French he issued an order to his troops, which recalls the
famous words of Nelson at Trafalgar : " To-morrow is the day
of battle ; the destiny of the monarchy depends upon you ; I will do
my duty and I expect the same from the army." For two days
he made an attempt to drive the French into the Danube. The bat-
tle was not decisive and the French troops were obliged to entrench
themselves in the island of Lobau. The two days had cost the
two armies more than 40,000 men in dead and wounded, and
Marshal Lannes had been killed. Victory seemed to hesitate be-
tween the two forces and Napoleon was forced to recognize that
he had at last found a foeman worthy of his steel. By the Aus-
trians Aspern is regarded as the most glorious victory since
Zenta and Kolin. The Emperor Francis sent his special congratu-
FRANCISII 299
1808-1809
lations to the archduke, and Napoleon said later, " Those who did
not see the Austrians at Aspern have seen nothing."
After the battles of Aspern and Esslingen Napoleon fortified
the island of Lobau, transforming it into an entrenched camp
whence he could easily pass to either shore. His most serious dan-
ger lay in the arrival of the Archduke John from Italy. The
latter had been gradually driven in by Eugene Beauharnais, but had
turned aside into Hungary to aid the insurrection. Beauharnais
did not follow him thither, but joined his forces to Napoleon at
Vienna, and thus reinforced Napoleon crossed to the left bank of
the Danube with 150,000 men and 550 cannon. The Archduke
Charles, whose forces had been raised to only 135,000 men, consid-
ered it inadvisable to dispute the passage. He awaited the French
upon the heights of Wagram. The results of that bloody day
are well known, and again 40,000 men were left upon the field of
battle. After most brilliant fighting the Archduke Charles was
forced to abandon his position and retreat into Moravia. From
there he asked for an armistice, which was granted. The execution
of the armistice was instructed to the Archduke John, to whom was
given the command of the army, a slight to the Archduke Charles
which led him to resign. He thenceforth lived in retirement except
for a brief period in 181 5. Since the days of Wallenstein and
Prince Eugene no Austrian general had so great an influence over
his soldiers.
The final treaty of peace was signed at Schonbrunn on
October 14. On the day following Napoleon ordered the demoli-
tion of the fortress of Vienna, the Viennese having in vain prayed
for the preservation of their old walls, which had formerly pro-
tected them against the Turks. The territories of Salzburg, the
section of the Inn, and some other districts were ceded to Bavaria.
To Napoleon Francis surrendered what had been left of Gorica,
with the county of Montefalcone, Triest, and Carniola, the upper
part of Carinthia, and all of the right bank of the Save, from its
source to the Turkish frontier — that is, Croatia, Fiume, and Aus-
trian Istria. Lusatia was given to Saxony, and western Galicia
rounded out the territory of the duchy of Warsaw, while the circle
of Tarnopol went to Russia.
The Austrian monarchy sustained a loss of over 3,500,000
of its subjects, her population being reduced to less than 21,000,000.
The secret articles of the treaty limited the army to 150,000 men,
300 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1809-1810
and provided for an indemnity of 85,(XX),ooo francs. But of all
these sacrifices, the abandonment of the Tyrol was the most
painful. Despite all his promises to these brave mountaineers,
Francis was obliged to surrender them to Bavaria. Hofer and
his companions had never despaired of victory. They had suc-
cessfully opposed both Bavarians and French, alone, unaided,
sometimes without any news whatever from the capital; they had
placed their country in a state of defense, manufactured arms, am-
munition, and cannon, and forced the French to evacuate Inns-
bruck. They now decided to continue the struggle on their own
account. The 30,000 Frenchmen, Bavarians, and Wurtemburgers
were repulsed and crushed by rocks hurled down upon them in the
narrow mountain passes. The resistance was heroic and more stub-
bom even than that of Spain. General Lefebvre was obliged to
retire into Carinthia in August, 1809, leaving Hofer master of the
country. The latter established himself in the imperial palace as
commander-in-chief, and never did a leader receive more implicit
obedience. But the arrival of fresh troops from Italy and Baravia
made further resistance useless, though the struggle was prolonged
till December, and the Tyrolese leaders, were forced to fly or go into
hiding. Spechbacher and Haspinger succeeded in crossing the
frontier, but Hofer, upon whose head an award of 100,000 florins
had been placed, was betrayed in 1810, and taken to Mantua. The
commander of the fortress was that same Bisson who had had
occasion to appreciate the military talent of this intrepid soldier,
and who had endeavored to secure his services for Napoleon, only
to be rebuked by the answer of the simple mountaineer : " I remain
faithful to my Emperor Francis." A council of war condemned
him to death, and on February 21 he was shot. In 1823 a number
of Tyrolese officers disinterred his bones and brought them back to
Innsbruck. The tragic death of Hofer contributed in a remarkable
degree to the awakening of national sentiment in Germany. The
revenge of the conqueror was not turned aside by the death of the
hero. In order to crush all resistance the Tyrol was dismembered,
a part being given to Italy, a part to Illyria, and the remainder to
Bavaria. The University of Innsbruck was closed and its young
men enrolled under foreign banners.
Napoleon's relations with the Illyrian provinces were more
fortunate. He revived the classic name of Illyria for all the coun-
tries bordering on the Adriatic — Carinthia, Camiola, Gorica, Istria,
PRANCiSIl SOI
1809-1810
and part of Croatia and Dalmatia — and divided them into prov-
inces. The name of Illyria excited most Hvely enthusiasm among
the Slav peoples, only recently oppressed by Germanism, and now
grouped for the first time into a national unity such as they could
not even hope for under the Austrian government. The national
language was encouraged and a Slav liturgy developed. " The
people," says a Slovene historian, " were particularly impressed
with the precise and prompt justice accorded by the French courts.
General security was greater than at any other period, and the
Slovenes still have most excellent recollections of the French gen-
darmes. The imposts were regulated and collected with more sys-
tem, and communal liberties increased. It would be a long story
«to narrate all the benefits the French rule brought to these coun-
tries. During the four years over which it lasted the French lan-
guage rapidly spread among the people, and at Laibach there were
none with any pretense to enlightenment that did not learn French.
Even to this day the Slovene peasant calls the imposts Franke
in remembrance of the French financial administration. Charles
Nodier, who was appointed librarian at Laibach, published a poly-
glot sheet, the Illyrian Telegraph. The poet Vodnik translated the
grammar of Lhomond into Slovene, and sang the praises of Na-
poleon in the well-known ode, " Risen Illyria," in which the aspira-
tions and hopes of his native land are set forth. " Napoleon has
said, Awake, Illyria ! arise ! She wakes and sighs, * Who calls me to
the light? O noble hero, it is thou who hast awakened me! thou
wilt give me power, wilt lift me up. Our race shall be glorified, a
miracle is preparing! I dare prophesy to the Slovenes. Napoleon
has come, and an entire generation springs to earth. Resting one
hand on Gaul, I stretch out the other to Greece to save her. At the
head of Greece is Corinth, in the center of Europe is Illyria. Cor-
^ inth is the eye of Greece, Illyria shall be the jewel of the world.' "
B In Dalmatia likewise the French government favored the na-
tional language, which had been suppressed by the Venetians, and
had the official journals of the country published in both Slav and
Italian. Schools were created and a great road was constructed
which bore for many years the name of " Napoleon's Road." In-
deed it is a direct result of the French occupation of these regions
that Austria now possesses Ragusa, and that in her official docu-
ments she still retains the fiction of the kingdom of Illyria.
Austria came out of this struggle weakened and almost ruined.
Mt AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1809-1810
Only a policy of patient and wise moderation could now enable
her to reestablish her finances and reorganize her army. At the
moment peace was signed, Francis had taken as his first minister
Count Clemens Metternich, and after the dismissal of Stadion he
intrusted him with the management of foreign affairs. Metternich,
like so many others, came from a family strangers to Austria
proper, the name coming from the little village of Metternich in
the Rhenish provinces. In 1630, at a period when that country
was being exploited by the Germans, a branch of the family had
settled in Bohemia. Metternich's father had been Austrian min-
ister at the courts of the Rhenish electors. His son, who was bom
in 1773, had married a granddaughter of Kaunitz, and entered the
diplomatic service at an early age. Since the peace of Presburg
he had represented Austria at Paris. It was he who had prepared
the disastrous campaign of 1809, but in spite of its failure the
emperor deemed it necessary to place the direction of affairs in the
hands of the one man who best understood Napoleon.
It was Metternich who brought about the union between Na-
poleon and the Archduchess Marie Louise. He saw in this union
the best means of securing to Austria the alliance of her power-
ful enemy, and Francis II. was obliged to give his consent to
the marriage of his daughter to the upstart Caesar, who spoke
of the Austrian emperor as " this skeleton, Francis II., who has
been placed upon a throne through the merit of his ancestors."
Public opinion received this new humiliation with much grief. For
an Austrian emperor to accept as his son-in-law the crowned heir
of the revolution which had beheaded Marie Antoinette was an
even greater humiliation than Wagram. On the evening of the
marriage, which took place by proxy, and at which Napoleon was
represented by the plebeian Berthier, the " Sacrifice of Iphegenia "
was played at the court theater, and the courtiers could not forbear
comparing their sovereign with the barbarian Agamemnon and the
archduchess with the Greek heroine. Unfortunately the meanness
of Marie Louise's character has deprived her of much of the sym-
pathy her position would naturally inspire. Metternich accom-
panied the young princess to Paris, where he obtained some accom-
modation regarding the payment of the indemnity and the waiving
of the humiliating clause of the treaty which reduced the Austrian
forces to 150,000 men.
The most serious matter for Austria after 1809 was the finan-
FRANCIS II
l8iO-l8H
cial situation. From 1793 to 1810 the public debt had risen from
377,000,000 to 658,000,000 florins. It had been necessary to have
recourse to forced loans and at times to the suspension of payment
on official salaries. A patent of 1809 ordered all private citizens
to deliver their precious metals, in exchange for which they re-
ceived bonds and lottery tickets. The issue of paper money in-
creased steadily. In 1792 it amounted to 200,000,000; in 1810 it
had passed the milliard mark. Bills for 30 and 15 kreutzers were
issued, and paper money depreciated in the inverse ratio to the
quantities issued. In 1809 the florin had depreciated to one-fourth
its full value, and the banknotes from the provinces ceded to the
French contributed still further to this depreciation. Prices be-
came higher and higher, and to pay the indemnity to Napoleon it
was found necessary to melt down the precious vessels of the
churches.
In 1 8 10 a sinking fund had been created, and a tax of one-tenth
was laid on all property, real or personal. By 181 1 the total amount
of the banknotes issued had reached the appalling sum of 1,060,-
798,753 florins, and nothing was left the government but bank-
ruptcy. On February 20 of this year all notes were reduced to one-
fifth of their face value, which brought about a terrible financial
catastrophe, and many families were ruined. This special patent
fixed the value of paper money from 1799 to 1810, taking into con-
sideration the date on which debts had been incurred. Persons
who had borrowed 100 florins in 1803 paid 129 florins in paper;
in 1806, 148; in 1809, 234; and in 181 1, 500. The Hungarian diet
agreed to a reduction of fifty per cent., but refused the scala, which
was nevertheless insisted upon by the government. It was only
in 18 1 6 that order was restored in the finances.
The reign of Francis II. was more successful in legislation
than in finance. In 1803 the penal code was published, and in 181 1
the new civil code. Both were animated by the spirit of humanity
and justice to which the eighteenth century had given birth. The
penal code suppressed confiscation, the galleys, and the dragging
of boats. It retained hanging as the death penalty, and imprison-
ment in three degrees of severity — hard labor, the pillory, and fast-
ing, which is even now inflicted. It did not provide for the ap-
pointment of a minister of justice nor allow prisoners to have
counsel, and yet this penal code was one of the best of this time,
and continued in force down to 1852. The civil code of 181 1 was
50# AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1811-1812
the result of fifty years or more of work which had been begun by
Maria Theresa. On January i, 1812, it came into use throughout
the whole empire, excepting in Hungary and Transylvania. It
recognized special legislation for the church, for the Jews, and for
large landed estates in their relation to the provincial estates, and
while it left the peasants in subjection, it did not recognize serf-
dom, admitting the principle that every citizen was capable of
enjoying civil rights.
This adoption of a uniform code for all the provinces except
Hungary aided materially to bring about that political unity which
has always been the chief aim of the dynasty. Only the Magyars
held to their independence, refusing to accept it, notwithstanding
the superiority of the new code over the jus tripartitum then in
force.
So long as Napoleon remained at the head of the French
empire there could be no peace in Europe; nations must be either
his allies or his enemies. Francis had chosen to be his ally, and it
was not long before he was dragged into his wars. In the struggle
tween Napoleon and Russia he had to submit to the necessity of
helping his son-in-law, as he had formerly submitted to the humilia-
tion of giving him his daughter. Austria, reduced to the role of
land power, was surrounded on all sides by states created
by the conqueror: Switzerland, the Confederation of the Rhine,
Italy, and the duchy of Warsaw were all creations of Napoleon,
and even Austria herself was in a state of vassalage. " God and
his avenging angel are destroying us," wrote Gentz. When
Radetzky was the chief of staff he formed a plan for making of
the standing army a body in which the whole male population
should be trained, after the model of the Prussian Landwehr, and
Mettemich had given his approval ; But Count Wallis, president of
the Hofkammer, opposed it on the basis that " Austria was in so
enfeebled a condition that she could not dream of going to war
for the next ten years, perhaps not for thirty."
Mettemich was determined to maintain cordial relations be-
tween the two empires, and so despite his desire to remain at peace,
Francis was forced to ally himself with Napoleon against the Tsar.
He promised 30,000 troops and 30,000 reserves, and in case of
success he was to receive a territorial compensation in exchange for
these sacrifices. Considering the situation of Austria these were
very honorable conditions indeed; it again put her in a position
r
FRANCIS II 305
1811-1812
to come forward as a mediator should circumstances allow it. But
the nation was discontented with an alliance with Napoleon; plots
were organized to deprive him of the Illyrian provinces, while Eng-
lish and Prussian agents journeyed throughout Austria rousing
the people against France. In May, 1812, Francis II. and his son-
in-law met at Dresden. Metternich, who accompanied his master,
endeavored to turn Napoleon aside from the Russian campaign,
an enterprise which he saw was full of danger. But his efforts
were in vain. The Austrian army assembled at Lemberg under the
command of Schwarzenberg, and the reserves were assembled in
Transylvania. There was little enthusiasm among the Austrian
soldiers, and Schwarzenberg's proclamation clearly expressed his
perplexity : " We are fighting for an object which is common to
us with other powers — those powers are our allies. We are fight-
ing with them, not for them. The army will show that virtue
which is the best of all military virtues, namely, to sacrifice itself
in order to fulfill the object which the sovereign has proposed to
himself." The army did fulfill its duty, and marched into the
duchy of Warsaw. Schwarzenberg penetrated some distance into
Lithuania, but he did not take part in the expedition against Mos-
cow or in the disastrous retreat which followed, and hence was
able to bring back his troops almost intact. It was plain that it
was not the business of Austria to continue, on her own account,
a struggle in which the grand army had failed. The war had been
unprofitable from the beginning, and now it was more so than ever.
Metternich, who was regarded as the author of the fatal expedition,
was loaded with abuse: public opinion demanded an open alliance
with Napoleon's enemies. Upon the express orders of the Em-
peror Alexander the Russians refused to recognize the Austrians
as enemies. " We are waging war," they said, " only against the
French and the Poles." A diplomatic agent was even sent to
Schwarzenberg to propose that he should recognize an armistice,
and although the proposition was refused, Schwarzenberg con-
sented to cross to the left bank of the Vistula.
At Vienna the excitement was intense when' it was learned
that the king of Prussia had left Berlin and publicly formed an
alliance with Russia. Vienna had become the rendezvous of many
Prussian and German emigres, among whom was the poet Korner,
who had become attached to the theater at Vienna as dramatic
poet. Even at the time of the French alliance Korner wrote songs
S06 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1812-1813
which could not fail to arouse hatred against France. This is
especially true of his ode on the victory of Aspern, which, accord-
ing to him, was a German victory. " This battle have the German
people fought." He had addressed some enthusiastic verses to the
Archduke John. " My German pride bows down before the
German hero who has rekindled the flame upon the altar of vic-
tory." He invoked the shade of Hofer, the Tyrolese hero, in ar-
dent language : " They have captured thee, the slaves of the tyrant,
but thou hast looked to heaven as a place of victory; and hast
entered to liberty through death." The burning of Moscow he
celebrated in these words : " The phoenix of Russia flung itself into
the flames only to rise younger and more beautiful than ever;
already St. George is brandishing the victorious lance."
Francis H., without daring to show his sympathy for the
passions raging round him, proposed nevertheless that Napoleon
make peace, and to that end offered his mediation, which was ac-
cepted. Mettemich was becoming suspicious about the aggrandize-
ment of Russia, which only recently had annexed Finland and
Bessarabia, and he also believed that the time had not yet come
when Napoleon could be safely attacked. In order that Austria
might be able to intervene with some chance of success, it was neces-
sary that she should be well armed, and a considerable force was
accordingly assembled in Bohemia. Schwarzenberg was sent to
Plans with instructions, as Metternich said, " to offer to Napoleon
not merely mediation, but rather the intervention of an ally who is
weary of the war and desires to put an end to it." But the ar-
rogant speech of Napoleon at the opem'ng of the Corps Legislatif
in February, 1813, left but little hope for peace. In the meantime,
public feeling grew more and more violent at Vienna, and when
the king of Prussia declared war on Napoleon, it could no longer
be restrained. The government concluded a secret agreement by
which the Austrian army in Poland returned into Galicia and re-
mained neutral. Napoleon endeavored to interest Austria in the
war against Prussia by the promise of Silesia, and, if need be, the
surrender of the Illyrian provinces ; but these vague promises were
not sufficient, and thenceforth the only bond that united France to
Austria was the slender tie of the marriage between Marie Louise
and Napoleon. When Napoleon left Paris he was anxious to de-
termine the value of the Austrian alliance, and issued orders for
the Austrian auxiliary troops to march with Poniatowski. The
FRANCIS II 307
1812-1813
order was not obeyed. The Austrians, who had begun to withdraw
from the left bank of the Vistula, continued their retreat. Still
Francis, desiring- to save appearances, could not make up his mind.
The English agents were ordered to leave Austrian territory, and
he ostentatiously refused to receive the Prussian General Scham-
horst, who was coming to propose an alliance with Prussia and
Russia. Secretly, however, he sent Stadion to the Russian camp,
while he congratulated Napoleon on the victory of Lutzen. He
levied a special tax, called an anticipatory tax, amounting to twelve
times the value of an ordinary tax, a sum approximating 45,000,000
florins. Never did the old adage. Si vis pacem para bellum, receive
a more complete application.
The command of the army assembled in Bohemia was given
to Schwarzenberg. His principal officer was Joseph Radetzky,
who later was to play a very important role in the military his-
tory of Austria. The emperor, accompanied by Metternich, set out
for Bohemia in order to be near the scene of military operations.
After an interview with Alexander, and the king of Prussia, Met-
ternich went on to Dresden to see Napoleon. He endeavored to
make the French emperor agree to a European peace. He pro-
posed that Napoleon surrender the Hanseatic towns and the Illyrian
provinces, abolish the duchy of Warsaw, and the Confederation- of
the Rhine, and restore Prussia to the position she had occupied in
1805. But intoxicated by victory, the conqueror refused to listen to
the proposals. The utmost that he would concede to preserve Aus-
trian neutrality was the cession of the Illyrian provinces. After the
departure of Metternich, however, he authorized Maret, his minister
of foreign affairs, to enter into negotiations with Austria, and
even to accept proposals for a conference which was to meet at
Prague to arrange a European peace. But in the meantime Aus-
tria, Russia, and Prussia had signed the Treaty of Reichenbach,
on June 27. Consequently, the conferences which were opened at
Prague were not of a serious character. Napoleon had granted an
armistice with the sole object of gaining time to organize his
forces. But while the congress was in meeting, the military repre-
sentatives of Russia, Prussia, Sweden, and Austria met in Silesia
to determine upon a common plan of operation against Napoleon,
In order to flatter Austria, the supreme direction of affairs was in-
trusted to Schwarzenberg, at this time in the prime of manhood.
He had entered the army at the age of fifteen, had fought against
806 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1813-1814
the Turks under Joseph II., and had participated in the campaigns
of the Low Countries and the Rhine, as well as in all the wars
against France. He well knew the enemy he had to deal with,
and Napoleon, too, recognized in him a worthy adversary. The
choice of Schwarzenberg, therefore, as the leader of the allied
army may be attributed as much to his military talent as to deference
to Austria. Two Austrian armies took the field, one on the frontier
of the Illyrian provinces, the other on the side of Bavaria. Too late.
Napoleon decided to make overtures. His courier arrived on the
morning of August ii, and on the previous evening Mettemich
had sent a note tb Caulaincourt announcing the alliance of Austria
with Prussia and Russia. The army of Austria was to play a de-
cisive part in the campaign which was now opening.
The Austrian army found a secure base of operations in Bo-
hemia, protected on all sides by mountains. On August 17 Schwar-
zenberg's forces began to pass the defiles into Silesia, and crossed
the Saxon frontier on the 22d. The proclamation of the generalis-
simo expressed the situation succinctly : " Russians, Prussians,
Austrians ! you are fighting only for the liberty of Europe, and for
the independence of your native land! All for one, one for all!
Let this be your battle cry, and victory is yours." Thus was ush-
ered in the memorable campaign of 181 3, and throughout it all the
military history of Austria is intimately associated with that of
France and Germany. Some fighting on the southern frontier
of Austria, the great victory at Leipzig — fought on the days of
October 16, 18, 19, 181 3, and commonly called the Battle of the
Nations — the retreat of Napoleon, the campaign in France, and
finally the taking of Paris, in March, 18 14, mark the successive
stages of the conflict.
On Austrian territory itself considerable fighting occurred,
but as all depended on the outcome of the principal campaign, this
is of slight importance. Two attempts on the part of the French
to enter Bohemia were repulsed by the allies and served only to
bring Austria more closely into union with Russia and Prussia
in the Treaty of Teplitz. In the southwest the military operations
resulted in the occupation of Karlovac and Fiume without resist-
ance. A division was sent into Dalmatia and one into the Tyrol by
the Pusterthal. In Upper Austria the conflict was not serious, de-
spite the presence there of the Bavarians, the allies of the French.
The former had been invited by Russia and Prussia to join the
FRANCISII 809
1813-1814
alliance, and after some hesitation the Bavarian general signed an
agreement, on October 8, placing his army at the disposition of the
allies. As a result of these developments the French were forced
to abandon Laibach and the Illyrian provinces, the governor general,
Fouche, taking refuge on Venetian territory.
The news of the agreement arrived at between Austria and
Bavaria was welcomed in the Tyrol with the most lively satisfac-
tion, and the Austrian troops received an enthusiastic welcome at
Innsbruck, on their way to Italy. On their way southward they
seized Trent and pushed forward into Italian territory. The south-
ern Tyrol was now entirely in the hands of the Austrians, and the
Tyrolese of Innsbruck, jealous of the fortunate fate of their coun-
trymen, rose and drove out the Bavarians. In Dalmatia the towns
still faithful to the French were seized with the help of the troops
from an English squadron. The last place to hold out for the
French was Ragusa, and against it the Servian, Milutinovic, was
sent. After a slight resistance the town surrendered. Thus by the
beginning of 1814 Austria was again mistress of the Adriatic coast,
and the reannexation of Dalmatia and the Illyrian provinces and
the restitution of the Tyrol were to her by far the most important
results of that gigantic struggle which was only to be finally closed
by the battle of Waterloo.
These successes were more easily attained because of the dis-
asters which befell Napoleon at the beginning of the campaign in
Germany. The battle of Leipzig, won chiefly by the very capable
generalship of Schwarzenberg and his superior numbers, especially
after the defection of the Saxons, compelled the French to beat
a hasty retreat to the Rhine. Immediately before the battle of
Leipzig Schwarzenberg wrote to his wife : " As I stand at my win-
dow and reflect that I have opposed to me one of the greatest gen-
erals of our times, the veritable emperor of battles, it seems as if
my shoulders were too weak and that they must succumb under this
terrible burden. But when I look at the stars I say to myself that
He who directs their course has likewise traced my path. If it is
His wish that right shall triumph. His wisdom will give me light
and strength. If it is the will of Providence that we should suc-
cumb, my personal loss will be the least of all our misfortunes.
Whether defeat or victory is ours, I have already conquered all
self-conceit, and the judgment of the world will bring me neither
reward nor punishment." From the very beginning of the battle
SIO AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1813-1814
of Leipzig Napoleon saw the merit of Schwarzenberg. " It was I,"
he said to the Austrian General Merveldt, who had been brought to
him as a prisoner, " it was I who first drew the attention of your
sovereign to Schwarzenberg. If he is going to beat me, he is cer-
tainly going about it in the right way." He sent Merveldt back to
propose an armistice on the basis that the Austrians were to re-
tire into Bohemia, the Prussians and Russians behind the Oder,
the French behind the Saale, and Saxony was to remain neutral.
But it was too late. Francis declined to receive the overtures of
Napoleon, and the victory which followed justified his decision.
After the battle the emperor conferred the grand cross of the Order
of Maria Theresa upon Schwarzenberg, the field-marshal present-
ing his commander's cross to Radetzky, saying, " Loudon wore it,
and I cannot give it to one more worthy." Nor was the diplomat
who brought about the coalition forgotten in the distribution of
imperial favors. To Mettemich was granted the title of hereditary
prince. The Austrians also took part in the battle of Hanau, in
which they tried, with the help of the Bavarians, to cut off the retreat
of Napoleon. One by one the states belonging to the Federation of
the Rhine, Wurtemberg, and Hesse-Darmstadt joined the coali-
tion. Francis II. entered the town of Frankfort, where twenty
years before he had received the imperial crown, and where
Schwarzenberg now established his headquarters.
The allied armies were now on the borders of France, and Met-
temich, desiring to keep the humiliation of Napoleon from being
carried too far, tried to open negotiations in Frankfort. He sent
for the French minister at the court of Weimar and dictated to
him the terms on which a treaty might still be arranged. France
was to surrender Holland, Italy, and Switzerland, and to accept the
natural frontier of the Pyrenees, the Alps, and the Rhine as her
boundary. To these propositions Napoleon replied in vague and in-
definite terms, proposing a conference at Mannheim for Novem-
ber. This the allies, encouraged by their recent success, particularly
in Spain and Holland, declined to entertain, and it was decided to
march upon Paris. Nevertheless even in the thick of the first con-
flict of the campaign in France, negotiations between Metternich
and Caulaincourt continued. A congress early in February of
1814 at Chatillon-sur-Seine resulted in the demand by the allies
that France should return to her limits of 1790. Napoleon, in-
toxicated by a few temporary triumphs, endeavored to enter into
FRANCIS II 811
1813-1814
direct negotiations with Francis, offering to divide the empire of
Europe with him. He beHeved that victory had again returned to
his banner. " I am nearer Vienna than the alHes are to Paris ! " he
exclaimed in his arrogance. His overtures were rejected, and on
March i the representatives of the allies — Metternich, Nesselrode,
Hardenberg, and Castlereagh — signed the Treaty of Chaumont,
in which the powers agreed not to lay down their arms until they
had restored the peace and liberty of Europe. This treaty was to
last for twenty years. None of the signatory powers was to
make peace on its own account. The congress at Chatillon broke
up without coming to any definite conclusion, and Schwarzenberg
decided to march directly upon Paris. On March 30 the allies
entered the French capital, their success being due to the wise
temerity of Schwarzenberg. Napoleon once said to the Austrian
Koller, who accompanied him to the island of Elba : " An ordinary
general would have been anxious over his return, and would have
worried over his lines of communications; a good general would
do nothing but just what Schwarzenberg did. I knew that he was
capable of doing this, but I expected him to solicit the advice of the
sovereigns and that he would thus allow the favorable moment to
escape." Bliicher confirmed the judgment of Napoleon when, some
time later, during a visit to Carlsbad, he drank " to the hero who
in spite of the presence of three monarchs led us to victory." The
courts of Europe loaded the happy conqueror of Paris with every
distinction. The city of London voted him a sword of honor, the
University of Oxford made him a doctor of civil law, Bohemia
erected a statue to him, and the Emperor Francis granted him a
permission to quarter the arms of the house of Austria with
his own.
Francis II. did not enter Paris with his two allies, but he
gave his consent to their arranging the affairs of his son-in-law
and daughter, not allowing his feelings to interfere in matters of
state. When he reached Paris, on April 15, the Treaty of Fon-
tainebleau had already been signed. By this treaty the island
of Elba was given to Napoleon, and Parma, Piecenza, and Guas-
talla to Marie Louise, the daughter of the Caesars not caring to ac-
company her husband into exile.
In Italy Eugene at Rome and Murat at Naples, both creatures
of Napoleon, were unable to maintain themselves against the coali-
tion. While Eugene was fighting the Austrians on the Adige,
81« AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1813-1814
Murat tried to establish his authority throughout all central Italy,
but the English and Austrians seized Tuscany, and the latter en-
tered Milan. Two months later the Treaty of Paris gave Italy
north of the Po and east of the Ticino to Austria, and thenceforward
Austria gradually assumed the role of policeman in favor of legiti-
macy throughout all the peninsula. Austrian troops reestablished
Francis IV. on the throne of Modena and Reggio, Ferdinand in
Tuscany, and Ferdinand IV. in the kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
But the story of Austrian domination in Italy does not enter into
the scope of this work.
On May 3, 1814, Louis XVIII. entered Paris; the war was
over; Schwarzenberg laid down his command, and the work of
diplomacy commenced. It was no easy matter to come to an agree-
ment over the partition of the spoil. From the outset it had been
agreed that the grand duchy of Warsaw should be divided among
the three eastern monarchs, but now Alexander, who coveted all
of Poland, raised objections, and won over Prussia to his side by
promising her Saxony. In the diplomatic negotiations which re-
sulted Mettemich showed much cleverness and perseverance in
defending the interests of his sovereign. He induced the powers to
arrange the terms of peace with France, and then postponed all
other questions till a congress could be called at Vienna.
In the month of September, 1814, Vienna became the ren-
dezvous of the crowned heads of Europe. The kings of Wiirtem-
berg, Denmark, Bavaria, and Prussia, and the emperor of Russia
all attended the congress, at which festivities were throughout more
in evidence than business. The words of the Prince de Ligne, " Le
congris tie marche pas, il danse," are well known. The first anni-
versary of the battle of Leipzig was celebrated by a gigantic review,
at which Alexander paid solemn homage to the military skill of
Schwarzenberg. " It is to you, after God," said he, " that we owe
our success." The preliminary arrangements were not easy. The
question of Poland gave the diplomats much embarrassment, and
caused more than one disagreement. Mettemich, although sup-
ported by Castlereagh and Talleyrand, had to withstand much
violent opposition in the preliminary congress. But it was never
a real congress, rather a succession of committees where questions
which affected particular countries were discussed by the representa-
tives of those countries. The subjects of discussion were not
merely those which had resulted from the great war against Na-
■n
H
r
FRANCISII S13
1813-1814
poleon, but included also such general questions as the navigation
of the rivers of central Europe, the slave trade, and the pirates of the
Mediterranean. The congress was divided into a number of sec-
tions and was looked upon as if it were a European tribunal, before
which all who had suffered in the revolution might come to demand
redress for their injuries. The Order of the Knights of St. John
appealed to it for the restoration of the island of Malta, which they
lost twenty years previous, while all the petty princes of Germany
urged their claims upon the congress.
But the great stumbling-block was the Polish question, and on
more than one occasion it threatened to break up the congress.
Russia had taken possession of the grand duchy of Warsaw and
treated it as conquered territory. At one time it looked as if the
negotiations must break up, Austria, England, and France even
going to the extent of forming an alliance against the pretensions
of Russia and Prussia. At last Nesselrode worked out a plan
which seemed to satisfy all, and according to which Poland was
divided much as she is now. The serious difficulties over the
claims of the king of Prussia, who demanded Saxony, which Aus-
tria and France would not consent to, were also adjusted. A com-
mittee was appointed, consisting of the representatives of Austria,
France, England, Russia, and Prussia, to settle the disputed points.
This committee became the real congress. Indeed, it was the begin-
ning of that system of the five great powers which directed the des-
tinies of modern Europe for a quarter of a century after the
congress. This committee induced Prussia to renounce most of her
claims to Saxony, and arranged the final partition of Poland.
It was in the midst of these negotiations and festivities that
Vienna received the news, on March 4, that Napoleon had
landed on the coast of Provence. By a strange coincidence the
very evening that the news arrived a comedy entitled " The Inter-
rupted Dance " was being played at the court theater. The Aus-
trian troops were at once ordered to take up their march toward
France, and a few days later it was publicly declared that Napoleon
Bonaparte, having violated all law, was an enemy to the public
peace, and placed under the ban of the nations.
On March 25 the allies renewed the Treaty of Chaumont,
and declared themselves resolved to carry on the war until Na-
poleon should be deprived of all power. The plan of campaign was
worked out at the house of Schwarzenberg, the sovereigns of Rus-
814 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1814-181S
sia and Prussia and the Duke of Wellington taking part. Three
g^-eat armies were formed, one in the Low Countries under Wel-
lington and Bliicher, comprised of English, Dutch, and Prussians;
one on the Rhine under Schwarzenberg, including the Austrians,
Russians, and Germans; and an Austrian army in Italy to check
Murat, who was advancing with 80,000 men. While the armies
of the coalition marched against Napoleon, Marie Louise remained
quietly at Schonbrunn. This commonplace princess merits very
little attention from the historian; unfaithful to her husband even
during his lifetime, she died in 1847, the dupe of Mettemich's
policy and the willing accomplice of Neipperg. The war did not
seriously interrupt the negotiations of the congress; indeed, the
arrival of Napoleon rather served to hasten a final settlement. On
May 3 the treaties regarding the final partition of Poland were
signed. In June the constitution of Germany was drawn up, and
on June 1 1 the sittings of the congress terminated. The war began
in Italy in the month of April, when Murat advanced into the Po
valley and was defeated by the imperial troops at Rimini, at Anco,
and at Solentino. He fled to Naples, whither he was pursued
by the Austrians and forced to take refuge in France. On the
Rhine the Austrian troops found but little to do. They entered
Alsace, took Huningue, and held the small army of Rapp in check
at Strassburg. On June 30 the allied monarchs took up their quar-
ters at Hagenau, where they received a deputation from the French,
headed by Lafayette. He was told that no steps toward peace
could be taken until Napoleon had been surrendered to the allies.
The main body of the army of Schwarzenberg then marched upon
Paris, which he entered, this time without resistance. No Austrian
fought at Waterloo on the memorable day of June 18, where the
last hopes of Napoleon were dashed. On November 20, 181 5, the
second Treaty of Paris was signed, by which France was required
to pay an indemnity of 700,000,000 francs and to submit to the
frontiers of 1790 and the occupation of her eastern provinces by
150,000 men for a period of five years.
It may well be asked what were the results of so many battles
and so much diplomacy. No other of the Hapsburg dynasty had
passed through such a series of reverses and triumphs. Four times
Francis II. had had to accept humiliating peace from his arrogant
conqueror: twice he had seen the enemy enter his capital, and he
had lost the Low Countries, the lands in Suabia, and the duchy of
FRANCIS II 816
1814-1815
Milan, receiving in compensation Venice, Dalmatia, Salzburg, and
western Galicia — only to lose them again. He had had even to
sacrifice the hereditary provinces, the loyal Tyrol, Istria, Triest,
Gorica, half of Carinthia, Camiola, and a part of Croatia. He had
had to surrender that imperial crown which had been for cen-
turies the ornament and glory of his house. And yet after the
Treaty of Vienna he found himself in possession of a more vigorous
and more compact empire than before the Revolution; while his
army and diplomacy excited the envy and admiration of Europe.
He had the hegemony both in Germany and in Italy, the younger
branches of the house of Hapsburg-Lorraine having been reestab-
lished in Tuscany and Modena. The Empress Marie Louise was
to have Parma, Guastalla, and Piacenza for life. In Germany,
Austria regained all which had been taken from her by Bavaria,
with the exception of Wurzburg and Aschaffenburg. She had
given up the troublesome possessions of the Low Countries, the
Breisgau, Suabia, and western Galicia. To sum up, in place of
24,000,000 inhabitants in 1792, scattered from the North Sea to
the Danube, over an area of 266,000 square miles, she now had
28,000,000 on a compact area of 277,637 square miles. Every
portion of the empire was contiguous, except at one comer, where
the Turkish districts of Klek and the Sutorina interrupted the coast
line of the Dalmatian possessions. The empire of Austria now
included five kingdoms of different origin, Bohemia, Hungary,
Galicia, Illyria, and the Lombardo-Venetia.
Francis II. had declined all proposals to assume again the
imperial crown of Grermany, but he by no means wished to give
up his position in the German world. It was Austria which had
made Germany, it was at Vienna that the final reconstruction of the
German states had been made, and in exchange for these services
Metternich successfully claimed that his monarch should be presi-
dent of the diet of the Confederation of German states at Frank-
fort. But in order that Austrian domination should be successfully
maintained in Germany, it was necessary that the largest possible
number of her subjects should belong to the Confederation. Fran-
cis therefore declared that all of his provinces which had at any
time belonged to the Holy Roman Empire were now included in
the Germanic Confederation. Of these provinces only Austria,
Salzburg, the northern Tyrol, and Vorarlberg, containing at the
most three or four millions of people, were purely German. In
816 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1814-1815
order to make up the needful number these were augmented by
the addition of Bohemia, two-thirds of whose population was Slav ;
Moravia, with four-fifths of hers Slav; Styria, one-half Slovene;
Carinthia, Camiola, Gorica, and Gradiska entirely so; Istria and
Triest, half Slovene, half Italian ; the southern or Italian Tyrol ; Aus-
trian Silesia, half Slav; and the Polish duchies of Auschwitz and
Zator, in Galicia. Thus by her diplomatic triumph Austria forced
six or seven millions of pseudo-Germans into the Germanic Confed-
eration, and from the point of view of numbers made a good showing
at Frankfort. In order to justify her pretensions as a German
power she had to work harder than ever to Germanize her people,
and in so doing opposed the natural development of their genius
and political freedom. But the extension of her influence in Ger-
many and the consolidation of her territory was not the only result
of the twenty years' war. Her internal organization had been
greatly strengthened by the creation of an army such as had been
unknown in the days of Joseph II. or Maria Theresa. There
had been developed in this army the spirit of discipline and
brotherhood in arms which had drawn together and inspired with
the same feelings those of the most diverse lands — Germans, Slavs,
and Magyars. And this army was to be on more than one occa-
sion the bulwark of the empire; to enforce that obedience, which
comes from fear, or all sorts of peoples, and to spread ideas of
fidelity to the flag and to the monarchical principle which has given
new vigor to the Austrian empire. But in spite of this the govern-
ment has not succeeded in stifling the aspirations of the various
states for liberty and national autonomy, for the realization of their
historic rights, always ignored by the sovereign, but always claimed
by the people.
r
PART VI
THE PERIOD OF REACTION AND THE
AWAKENING OF THE NATION-
ALITIES. 1815-1848
f 1
I
I
J ■
Chapter XXV
FRANCIS II AND METTERNICH. 1815-1835
THE treaties of 181 5 seemed to have brought to an end the
era of revolution. The years which followed mark a
period of implacable reaction, in which the sovereigns of
Europe, rejoicing over the fact that tHey had rescued their crowns
and their lands from the Revolution, united in a common effort to
resist the ideas of 1789.
Among those princes who undertook to lead his subjects back
to the doctrines of the old regime none was more zealous than
Francis II,, and none was so ably served in this respect as he,
in his chancellor, Prince Mettemich. Francis II. had a common-
place mind and a mean character. He had no capacity for under-
standing great things, and attached an undue importance to trivial
ones. He had a passion for writing documents and for holding
audiences. Fond of games and chamber concerts, in which he
liked to take part himself, he was always, says Springer, on the
lookout for anyone who would be of use as a member of the
quartet. He was envious of anyone who, like the Archduke Charles
or Radetzky, had won the popular favor by his services. On one
occasion, in a fit of suspicious jealousy, he went even so far as to
have the private locks of the archduke broken open. This same
characteristic sometimes drove him to act with extreme cruelty.
In 1820 a riot took place among the students at Prague, and,
being unable to find the culprit, he compelled all those who had had
bad marks to enlist in the army. A harsh selfishness was the nautral
consequence of his theory of absolutism, which led him to look
upon his people and provinces as if they were his private property.
Like his predecessors, however, he knew how to clothe his despot-
ism in patriarchal form, which always pleased the simple people.
In the absence of representative government an inquisitorial police
acted as an agent between the sovereign and his subjects. Like
Louis XV., he took much pleasure in scandal, using it both as a
means of diversion and an instrument of government. In his eyes
319
I J
320 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1815-1821
the monarchy had no better support than Catholicism; he be-
lieved that Josephinism in attacking religion was undermining the
monarchy. In 1821 he addressed the president of the gymnasium
at Laibach as follows : " Hold to that which is old, for that is
good; if our ancestors were pleased with it to be so, why not we?
New ideas are to-day being advanced of which I do not nor ever
shall approve. Hold them in suspicion and keep to that which is
approved. I have no need of learned men ; I want faithful subjects.
Be such ! that is your duty ; he who would serve me must do what
I command. He who cannot do this, or who comes with new
ideas, may leave us; if not, I shall send him," On another occasion
he said to the French ambassador: "My peoples are strangers to
one another; so much the better. They will not catch the same ill-
ness at the same time. In France when a fever comes, it takes you
all on the same day. I send Hungarians to Italy and Italians to
Hungary, and each one looks after his neighbor. They do not
understand each other, they hate one another: but this very an-
tipathy gives birth to order, and their mutual hatred secures the
general peace."
With principles such as these the emperor did his utmost to
make his empire secure against ideas of science and thought from
abroad. The censorship of the press was ruthlessly applied, and
literature was regarded as dangerous. Some remarkable men, it
is true, had been taken into the Austrian service, as, for example,
Gentz, Frederick Schlegel, and Adam Miiller; but their works as
publicists were intended for foreigners, and were almost unknown
in Austria. Men of talent, and they were few, were regarded with
suspicion; only one man, and he Metternich, succeeded in gaining
the complete confidence of the emperor. The period of wars had
come to an end, and Francis no longer had need of his generals;
but the precarious state of Europe still assured a diplomat who
had negotiated the treaties of Vienna a first place in the councils
of his sovereign. It is true Metternich did not interfere with the
internal administration of Austria, but his foreign policy reacted
strongly on the home policy. A foreigner by birth, Metternich
knew very little of the history of the states over which his sovereign
ruled, and cared only indifferently about Austria's internal prob-
lems, so inherent in the history and ethnographic make-up of the
empire. A man of the eighteenth century, he despised history, and
had no inkling of the smoldering flames of revolution beneath the
FRANCIS II AND METTERNICH 321
1815-1821
surface of the confused discontent and agitation about him. He
owed his high position and the continuance of his good fortune less
to his talent than to his tenacity of purpose and to a happy set of
circumstances. He fell heir to the victories of Austria in 1813-
181 5. An obsequious flatterer, he was fortunate in having to deal
with two monarchs who were too weak to do without him, and who
therefore submitted foreign affairs entirely to his keeping. " Fran-
cis and Metternich," says the German historian Springer, " were
the complements of each other. Metternich knew nothing about
the details of government, and never interfered in them ; while the
emperor, on the contrary, attached the greatest importance to them.
Francis had entered into an agreement to maintain order and had
determined to carry out his engagement by maintaining a state of
perfect tranquillity in his own empire. Metternich insisted on the
passive obedience of all Austrian countries, in order to be able to
employ the whole powers of the empire abroad. For the former
absolutism was a matter of sentiment; for the latter of reason, and,
thanks to their egotism, they confused the good of the state with
their own personal interests. They believed the interests of the
state satisfied if their own interests were, and in time regarded the
political conspirator as no better than a parricide. Neither one
had the slightest feeling of responsibility as stewards of the na-
tional resources."
Nor can it be said that Mettemich's devotion was altogether
disinterested. He was not above receiving subsidies from foreign
princes, and managed the public funds in a manner that showed
that he did not believe an account could ever be required of him.
His gallantries on more than one occasion scandalized the good town
of Vienna, that luxurious and corrupt city in which, according to
the saying of a contemporary, the life of the inhabitants resembled
that of hibernating animals. Indeed, in all of the Austrian states
Metternich aimed to keep the people completely in a condition of
tutelage, while abroad he sought to maintain the prestige and
leadership which her military successes and her diplomacy had
secured to her.
Metternich and his sovereign set about to act as the police
of Europe. To their eyes revolutions, wherever they might occur,
threatened Austria herself. Because of her German, Italian, and
Polish possessions, Austria more than any other state was in dan-
ger of the contagion of liberalism. As early as 181 5 the Italians
829
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1815-1822
began that secret war of conspiracies and secret societies which
ended, after so many years of painful struggle, in the regeneration
of their country. In Germany generous spirits, especially among
the students and the more enlightened, demanded intellectual free-
dom and constitutional government. In 1819 the sovereigns of
Austria and Prussia decided to put an end to all these dangerous
demands and manifestations, and drew up the famous Carlsbad
0
C AUSTRIA
m 181 B-r
Decrees for the suppression of liberalism. In 1820 the king of
Naples, yielding to a military insurrection, granted a constitution
to his subjects. A congress was called at Troppau, in 1820, and then
at Laibach in 1821, to discuss methods for the suppression of the
revolutionary spirit in Italy. This time Russia joined the two reac-
tionary powers. Together they set up the claim to a right to regu-
late the affairs of the Italian states, despite the protests of England
and France. The king of Naples appeared before the congress at
FRANCIS II AND METTERNICH 323
1815-1820
Laibach and renounced the concessions he had made. An Austrian
army accompanied him back to Naples and restored him to all his
absolute power. Some days later a similar movement was sup-
pressed by an Austrian army in Piedmont, the armies of occupa-
tion remaining in both kingdoms. About the same time the gentle
and lovable Silvio Pellico, guilty of patriotism, was thrown into
the Spielberg dungeon. His book, "/ miei Prigioni," ("My
Prison Day " ) , translated a hundred times, and read throughout
Europe, remains to this day as the most formidable indictment of
Austrian rule in Italy.
Francis II. rewarded his minister by granting him for these
ill-omened successes the title of chancellor of the empire. " Eu-
rope," said a contemporary, " praises, envies, or curses the power
of Austria, but never thinks of the Austrian people. They think
only of the prince and his minister." Metternich on his part was
jubilant. " See what a revolution is w^hen taken in time," he once
exclaimed to the emperor of Russia. Thenceforth he thought all
the affairs of Europe could be managed in congresses, in which Aus-
tria was naturally to take the leading part. The congress of
Verona, in 1822, was called with the special purpose of considering
the Spanish revolution, and this time the France of the Restoration
became the instrument of the Austrian policy, and secured the dis-
creditable honor of carrying out the decrees of the Holy Alliance
against Spain. This congress also decided that Austria should
evacuate Piedmont and maintain only a small garrison in Naples.
In both states the reaction had been terrible, and Austria became an
object of horror to the Italians. The cry, " Away with the Grer-
mans ! " became the watchword of the patriots. These Germans
were for the most part Magyars, Slavs, Slovenes, Servians, Poles,
and Czechs, the unconscious instruments of a policy of oppression
of which they were themselves also the victims.
The friendly relation between Austria and Russia, mani-
fested in so many common undertakings during the Napoleonic
period, was now to reveal itself again in connection with the East-
em Question, which has so long perplexed European diplomats.
The prelude to the Greek revolution was beginning to attract gen-
eral attention by 1820. The conflicts which the Austrian state
had carried on against the Porte, her geographic position on the
borders of the Turkish empire, and her ethnographic constitution,
all seemed to point out Austria as the protectress of the Chris-
M4 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1821-1825
tians of Turkey and the possessor of those provinces which might
revolt. The successor to the kings of Hungary might invoke
claims to Bosnia and Bulgaria less hypothetical than those which
had recently been made use of in regard to Galicia. Unfortunately,
during the centuries which had preceded, Austria had been too
much occupied in Germany to look after her affairs in the East,
where her statesmen should have seen her paramount interests.
Joseph II. had announced that he would curb the barbarians who
had been the curse of Europe for so long, but he died before he
could carry out his project, and while the Austrian state was ab-
sorbed in its struggles with the French Revolution, the influence
of Russia steadily increased in the Balkan peninsula, where the
people were not only one with her in race, but also in religion.
In the beginning of the nineteenth century the Servians had
risen, driven out the Turks, and formed an independent principality
on the frontier of Hungary (1804-1815). A little later the Greeks,
concentrated in ancient Hellas or dispersed along the coast from
the JEgea.n to the Danube, began to dream of freedom. Metter-
nich and his master did not feel equal to carrying out the projects of
Joseph II., and they were accustomed to regard as enemies all
people who dared to think of their independence. At the congress
of Laibach Mettemich took great pains .to convince the Tsar of the
dangers of the revolutionary movements.
The official gazette of Vienna ostentatiously announced on
March 29, 1821, that the Emperor Alexander did not in the slight-
est degree approve of the adventures of Prince Ypsilanti, that he
had expelled this revolutionist from the Russian army, and had
disavowed his enterprise at the court of Constantinople. Indeed,
the court of Vienna showed in a much more direct way its senti-
ments regarding Turkey and the Greeks. When Ypsilanti crossed
the frontier into Transylvania he was promptly seized and thrown
into prison, while most of his accomplices were interned (1821).
Mettemich saw in the Greek revolution only a revolt of subjects
against their legitimate sovereign, and gave a deaf ear to the ad-
vocates of the cause of the Greeks. Among these, many thought
that Austria might, by taking part in the expulsion of the Turks,
play the glorious role of liberator of the oppressed, and create for
herself a strong marine on the Mediterranean. That Mettemich's
opposition to the Greeks was based partly, at least, on a fear of Rus-
sia must be admitted. He endeavored above all to bring about a cor-
FRANCIS II AND METTERNICH S25
1821-1825
dial understanding- between Austria and England. In a journey
to Hanover in 1821 he had an interview with Castlereagh, and
assured himself of his cooperation. England was to use her in-
fluence at St. Petersburg, and Austria at Constantinople, to bring
about moderation and peace. Alexander at first yielded, and the
Greek envoys who appeared at the congress of Verona were not
granted an audience. In 1823 the two sovereigns met at Lemberg,
while Mettemich had an extended interview with Nesselrode. The
continued success of the Greeks, however, greatly interfered
with the Austrian chancellor's plan for pacification. On the other
hand, Alexander, despite the overweening influence exercised over
him by Mettemich, was unable to overcome either the interests of
Russia or his romantic humanitarian ideas. In 1824 a conference
was held at St. Petersburg for the purpose of pacifying Greece.
Austria participated in the deliberations, but her policy was di-
rected toward delaying matters and preventing a definite solution.
The death of Alexander in December, 1825, brought no change
in the situation. Nicholas showed himself disposed to treat on
amicable terms with Turkey concerning the Danubian principali-
ties and the rectification of the frontiers, while, thanks to Austrian
intervention, everything seemed to adjust itself once more. " The
hopes of a certain faction, enemies of public tranquillity, are shat-
tered," wrote the Augsburg Gazette. " The monarchs should unite
to crush revolution in whatsoever form it manifests itself, to
renounce momentary advantages and to hold firmly to the system
of the Holy Alliance. Any statesman who departs from this
course is an enemy to thrones and to peoples. The leading states-
man of the continent, he whose wise councils have for so many
years secured the peace of Europe, who has always remained true
to himself, who despite the attacks of his enemies has never de-
parted from this straight road, this time again has defeated the
hopes of the Liberals ! " But at the very moment when Mettemich
was receiving, perhaps dictating, these praises, and believing himself
master of Europe, he was totally outwitted by Russia and England.
By a protocol sigpied in London, in April, 1826, the two powers
agreed to intervene in behalf of the Greeks. Austria in the mean-
time, by her ambiguous policy, suffered a well-merited decline in her
Eastern commerce. The Greek corsairs attacked her merchant ves-
sels, capturing- two hundred in 1826 alone. England recognized the
Greeks as belligerents, and the cabinet of Vienna, without going to
826 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1829-1831
this length, was at least forced to admit that they had the right
to seize Austrian vessels carrying contraband of war. In the
month of July France gave her assent to the London protocol, and
the three powers sent their Mediterranean fleets to Turkey.
In 1827 the battle of Navarino gave the final blow to the hopes
of the Austrian chancellor. Europe had emphatically taken up the
cause of the revolutionists. In 1828 war broke out between Russia
and Turkey, and at Vienna confusion and fear prevailed. Austria
was convinced, so Gentz wrote to Lord Stanhope, that the Tsar
would push on to Constantinople. To prevent this she had not
financial resources, an adequate army, or allies. Even France was
hostile, Charles X. declaring that if the Emperor Nicholas attacked
Austria he would await results, but if Austria attacked, he would
immediately attack her. Fortunately Russia encountered greater
difficulties on the Danube and in the Balkans than had been fore-
seen. The war ended in September, 1829, in the Treaty of
Adrianople, in which the independence of Greece was recognized,
and the Danubian principalities were left under Russian influence,
much to the detriment of Austrian commerce.
The defeat of Turkey was regarded as a real catastrophe for
Austria. The prestige of the cabinet of Vienna crumbled and a
large part of its influence in Europe was lost ; England and Russia
had emphatically freed themselves from her tutelage. In diplo-
matic circles the narrowness of the Viennese statesmen was openly
criticised. It was sufficient, in order to obtain the favor of Francis
and his minister, Mettemich, to be an avowed opponent of modern
ideas. In 1821 a constitution had been proclaimed at Lisbon; the
Austrian ambassador refused to illuminate his house. A constitu-
tion even upon the distant shores of the Atlantic was regarded as a
menace by Francis II. It can be readily understood, therefore, with
what fear the revolution of July, 1830, was regarded at Vienna.
The events in Poland brought the danger more directly home to
Austria. At the Congress of Vienna Metternich had protested
against the cession of the grand duchy of Warsaw to Russia, and at
this moment a secret grudge against Russia, arising out of the Turk-
ish campaign, still rankled in the Austrian mind; Galicia was ex-
cited; the Hungarians, fearful of the aggrandizement of Russia, de-
clared the future of their nation compromised by the growth of
the Muscovite nation, and demanded intervention in favor of Po-
land ; the Slavs were disturbed over the conflict between their kins-
FRANCIS II AND METTERNICH 327
1831-1833
men. Even the Germans — some because of their hberahsm, others
because of their rehgious convictions — favored Poland. At Vienna
the poHcy of the cabinet on the PoHsh question was quite as am-
biguous as in the Eastern Question. An army corps was sta-
tioned upon the GaHcian frontier to prevent the insurgents from en-
tering Austrian territory, and to prohibit the importation of arms
into Poland; but the Austrian minister remained at Warsaw,
while Prussia, more correct from the standpoint of diplomatic
etiquette, withdrew hers. Metternich did not announce his inten-
tion of intervening against the insurgents as he had done in Italy
and Spain, and Gentz, in the Augsburg Gazette, even expressed the
generally felt sympathy for them. There was even talk in the politi-
cal circles of Vienna of an Austrian archduke for the throne of
Poland. When the struggle had reached its climax Metternich
offered his mediation, which was promptly declined, and Russia
dealt with Poland as a conqueror with the conquered.
In the meantime disturbances again broke out in Italy. In Feb-
ruary, 1 83 1, the people of Parma and Modena revolted against
their Austrian sovereign. Austria feared that the revolution would
extend to Lombardy and Venetia, those fertile Italian provinces
held by her since 181 5, and from which revenues amounting an-
nually to between fifty-seven and fifty-eight millions were derived.
In view of this the Austrian troops entered Modena and Parma, and
occupied the legations. But the latter were soon abandoned be-
cause of the protest by France. The following year, however, a
new insurrection broke out, and Austria, on the request of the
Pope, again entered the Papal territory. France replied by occu-
pying Ancona. Thus Austria continued her mistaken policy, tight-
ening her grasp on Italy, which rejected her, and turning her back
on Poland, which would perhaps have accepted her with enthusi-
asm, if the heir of the Jagellons of Bohemia and of Hungary had
wisely revived the traditions of the past, appealed to the sentiments
of the Polish Catholics, and recalled the ancient alliance of the
three kingdoms. In Germany the influence of Metternich, although
dominant, was often paralyzed by the very multiplicity of states
and sovereigns. More than once the Austrian , minister had
groaned over the weakness of governments which accepted laws
imposed upon them by their people during revolts, and over the
errors of peoples misguided by the example of the July revolution.
The sovereigns, on their part, forced to make humiliating conces-
8fl8 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1833-1835
sions, gladly turned for assistance to the powerful chancellor, and
Mettemich exercised over them a veritable tutelage.
Conferences analagous to the Congresses of Laibach and Trop-
pau continued the alliance between the three courts of Russia,
Austria, and Prussia. In September, 1833, the three sovereigns
met at Miinchengratz and a treaty was signed which ag^in confirmed
the alliance, or, perhaps better, the conspiracy of the three monarchs.
According to it no political refugee could find an asylum in any of
the three states, and all fugitives from justice were to be surren-
dered. Precautions were also taken against the spirit of liberty
which was again appearing in France. In case the French Govern-
ment should be unable to suppress revolutionary plots against for-
eign states, the three emperors reserved to themselves the right to
intervene. But despite all this high-handed policy in international
matters, Austria was rapidly discovering the most deplorable state
of affairs within her own borders.
The financial situation was very grave, and despite the efforts
of Francis and his minister to stifle the new political ideas, the
most serious problems began to arise. Austria had paid dearly
for the glory of being the arbiter of Europe and the restorer of
legitimacy. The patent of 181 1 was a frank avowal of bankruptcy.
An issue of forty-five million Anticipatiouseheine in 181 3 had not
relieved the paper currency, and Stadion, who had been called to
reorganize the finances, found his task very difficult. The ex-
penses of the expedition of 181 5 had been covered by a loan of
fifty millions, out of which the government realized scarcely forty.
The imposts were increased till they overwhelmed the taxpayer.
Austria had received nearly fifty million florins indemnity from the
war. But England demanded the payment of the subsidies. From
1792 to 1814 the sum amounted to more than eleven million pounds
sterling. A new loan was necessary to balance this account, which
Austrian statesmen would fain have overlooked. Stadion elab-
orated a plan to remedy all these evils. No more paper money
was to be issued, and the National Bank of Austria was established,
which was to administer a sinking fund formed out of the war
indemnity. But the notes of this bank were refused, and fell into
the hands of the stock-jobbers. Other expedients had to be tried ;
new loans were raised to pay old ones. It was at this time that
the famous banking houses of Vienna — the Barings, Laboucheres,
Parishes, and, above all, the Rothschilds — took their rise and be-
FRANCIS II AND METTERNICH 32iy
1833-1835
gan to dictate to every European capital. As has been justly
remarked, Vienna became the center of a financial aristocracy
which administered the whole European public debt as if it were its
private estate.
Hungary never agreed willingly to any national system of
taxation, and down to the year 1827 custom houses were to be
found along the frontiers of every province in the monarchy, and
the prohibitive system paralyzed all industry. From an economical
point of view the most important event of the reign of Francis II.
was the establishment of the Austrian Lloyd, at Triest, which has
become an important marine navigation company.
We have already said something of the system of repression
which weighed upon everyone. An inquisitorial police watched
over the lives of the citizens, and the censorship of the press inter-
fered with every expression of opinion. Liberty of conscience was
subject to most annoying restrictions; public education was placed
entirely in the hands of the clergy ; no one was allowed to study in
a foreign university; and the central government persisted in re-
fusing to recognize the rights of the diets. And yet, in spite of all
this, public opinion was slowly working its way toward freedom
with irresistible energy.
Chapter XXVI
HUNGARY AND THE SLAV COUNTRIES. 1790-1835
JOSEPH n. had left Hungary in a state of violent excite-
ment. The comitat of Pesth proclaimed the fall of the dynasty,
and others predicted it in case the new sovereign did not grant
the country her liberty. Everybody was agreed in demanding the
convocation of the diet, which was at last to give voice to the long-
suppressed wishes of the people. The revolutionary spirit which
was agitating France had passed to the Magyars, but between
France and Hungary there existed a remarkable difference: in
France the revolution occurred in the name of equality, while
among the Magyars the greater and lesser nobility alone repre-
sented the political element of the nation, and they demanded, in
the name of liberty, privileges which for the most part were abso-
lutely contrary to the ideas of 1789. " Some of the comitats even
declared that it was not the peasants who had occasion to com-
plain, but the lords; and that, instead of making regulations to
relieve serfdom, it was necessary to lend assistance to the nobles
in the enforcement of their privileges. Others, setting up this opin-
ion as a doctrine, declared that Providence had planned that there
should be kings, nobles, and serfs." Among the recent reforms,
the only one regarded with favor by the Magyars was the tolera-
tion granted the Protestants, the lesser nobility being for the most
part of that faith.
Nevertheless a democratic party was gradually forming
which endeavored to excite the masses, and it was under these
circumstances that Leopold H. decided to convoke the diet. It held
its preliminary session in the castle of Buda. " O blessed day ! day
of resurrection ! " wrote the poet Baroti. " I hear the mother
tongue ; the old costumes delight me." " We swear it, that as long
as the blood of Attila flows in our veins, as long as the name of
Magyar remains, this day will remain sacred in our memory I"
cried the poet Peozely. In the two chambers the nobles naturally
330
HUNGARY AND SLAV COUNTRIES 331
1790
had the majority. From the opening- session serious charges were
made. Some accused the king of treason, others claimed for Hun-
gary complete independence in regard to foreign affairs, and de-
manded a Magyar ambassador at Constantinople, and that Magyar
regiments in time of peace should be stationed in Hungary, and be
commanded by native officers only.
Leopold n., taking his stand on the Pragmatic Sanction, re-
fused to recognize any other agreement with Hungary, and on
November 15, 1790, caused himself to be crowned. He did more:
he restored the palatine, the diet electing his son, the young
Archduke Alexander, to the office. But it was little more than an
empty title, since it was not at all likely that the young prince would
show much energy in defending the rights of the kingdom against
his father. Nevertheless these concessions, following immediately
after the reign of Joseph H., called forth transports of joy among
the Magyars. The measures adopted by the diet summed up the
wishes of the people. The crown of St. Stephen was to remain at
Buda; the king was to reside from time to time in Hungary; he
was to consult, concerning Hungarian affairs, only with Magyar
counselors, and not to apply the laws of the other states to Hun-
gary. The diet was to be convoked at least every three years, and
it alone possessed the legislative power and the right to spend
money and to raise troops. These important decisions were com-
pleted by an act providing for liberty of conscience on a much more
liberal basis than that established by Joseph H.
But a question more difficult of solution than all these was that
of the amelioration of the lower classes — peasants, serfs, the
Servians of the Banat, and the citizens of the free cities. The
nobles were little disposed to surrender their privileges, and it was
Leopold who advocated the cause of liberalism against them. The
diet granted to the peasants the right of changing their abode, but
refused to grant the abolition of corporal punishment. The bour-
geoisie of the cities were for the most part of foreign origin. They
now took up the principles of the French Revolution and demanded
admission to public offices, and a real representation in the
diet. The king did his best to conciliate their interests with those
of the nobles; he likewise protected the Servians, and author-
ized them to assemble in congress to discuss the interests of their
race. The Orthodox church was recognized, and a Servian chan-
cery was created, despite the opposition of the Magyars. Death
9S9 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1790-1802
Struck the emperor, Leopold II., down at the very beginning of his
popularity, and at a time when the country had great need of him.
When France declared war against Francis II. the Magyar,
aristocracy at once showed its readiness to support the sovereign.
They were eager to be led against the revolutionists and democrats
on the banks of the Seine. But gradually Francis, by his ob-
scurantism, coupled with that of his minister, Thugut, lost the
popularity which had greeted him on his accession. The censor-
ship, and the persecution of Protestants, in which the Magyar
Catholics themselves took a conspicuous part, created discontent.
The adherents of the French Revolution increased throughout the
kingdom and some even undertook to propagate the French doctrines
in the form of a popular catechism. They were arrested, with
many of their accomplices. Fifty citizens accused of high treason
were shut up in the fortress of Buda. It was difficult to prove the
plot, but the works of the accused showed tendencies hostile to
royalty and to the nobility. One among them, Bascany, had trans-
lated the " Marseillaise." Five were sentenced to death on the scaf-
fold, and in May, 1795, they were executed. Others, among whom
was Bascany, were shut up in the Fortress Kiifstein in the Tyrol,
while many of their publications were burned by the hangman, nota-
bly the translation of the " Marseillaise." The author of this trans-
lation of the French Revolutionary hymn expiated his imprudence
by nine years of imprisonment.
The Magyar nobles obtained important commands in the Aus-
trian army, and the diet of 1796 voted the entire appropriation de-
manded of it. Hungary gave to Austria some of her best generals,
as, for example, the well-known Alvinzy, while her poets encour-
aged their fellow-countrymen in the conflict. Up to the peace of
Campo Formio Hungary had lost more than 100,000 men and
30,000,000 of florins. But the country, drained of its men and
money, and badly cultivated, was reduced to the lowest depths of
misery, foreign affairs having completely blinded the eyes of the
Hungarians to the real interests of the kingdom. The diet of 1796
considered no other question but that of subsidies for the army.
The diet of 1802 had to deal with a very critical situation. It
concerned the reform of the customs regulations, so unfavorable to
the economic interests of the country. The Austrian Government,
on the other hand, was occupied much more with another ques-
tion, namely, the maintenance of the Hungarian army upon a war
I
I
HUNGARY AND SLAV COUNTRIES 333
1790-1802
footing in the time of peace, which involved a supplementary sub-
sidy of a million florins. The troops furnished by Hungary were
twofold in character: the regular regiments and the insurrection,
raised after a war had actually broken out. The government
was anxious to strengthen the regular army at the expense of the
insurrection. It wished that the assembly would give up its right
of voting the contingent. On this point it failed, but it did succeed
in obtaining 6000 recruits yearly in time of peace and 12,000 in
time of war, who entered into obligations to serve for ten years.
At the same time it obtained two millions for the war budget. In
its turn the diet tried, though unsuccessfully, to secure the annexa-
tion of Dalmatia to Hungary. The debates concerning the privi-
leges of the nobility revealed once again how stubbornly attached
to its privileges was the Magyar aristocracy, and how utterly un-
touched by the ideas of equality by this time spread broadcast
throughout Europe. This selfishness of the ruling classes was to
stand royalty in good stead when, desiring to check the nobility
finally, it found support in the people, especially the middle classes.
In the meantime the government continued its Germanizing
policy. The German theater at Pesth was favored by a consid-
erable subsidy. On the other hand the enthusiastic Hungarian
poets, Csokonay, Verseghy, Berszenyi, and especially the immortal
Kisfaludy, placed the Hungarian language on a firm basis by
excellent productions, which rank with the very best poetry
of western Europe. After the diet of 1802 the most important
event of this period for Hungary was the creation of the ofiicial
title of emperor of Austria, which deeply wounded the Hungarians,
despite the assurances of the monarch that this would involve no
change in the relations between the different states. The prestige
of their kingdom of St. Stephen was henceforth to be subordinated
to that of the empire. Nevertheless, the hereditary loyalty of the
Magyars again triumphed, and when Napoleon, after the capitula-
tion of Ulm, reached the gates of Vienna the diet would not sell
its services. The Magyar aristocracy remained faithful to the
hereditary dynasty. Nevertheless the diet would not consent to
the levy en masse which the government asked. It demanded new
concessions for the national language, notably the right of the
comitats to correspond with the central government in the Magyar
tongue. The frontiers of Hungary were soon exposed to the
French arms. Napoleon was at Vienna, the army of Italy on the
334 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1802-1809
Raab. But the Palatine Joseph did not wish to expose the king-
dom to an invasion. He withdrew to Buda-Pesth, sent the sacred
crown of St. Stephen to Munkacs, and left General Palfify at
Presburg, with orders to obtain from Napoleon the neutrality of
Hungary. Davoust readily consented to contenting himself with
the occupation of Presburg without imposing either requisitions
or contributions upon the inhabitants. At the same time Napoleon,
as appears from his correspondence, gave orders that the griev-
ances of the Hungarians against the Austrian government should
be studied and use made of them.
The diet of 1807 devoted itself exclusively to internal ques-
tions, and the government made every effort to obtain supplies in
view of future conflicts. It demanded levies, the number fixed once
for all, and an extraordinary impost for military needs. The lower
chamber refused the regular levy, claiming for Hungary the right
to give or withhold its men as it wished. The chamber of mag-
nates was more conciliatory, in form at least, and was more
disposed to make the financial sacrifice. It granted a sixth of the
revenue of the nobility, merchants, and bourgeoisie, and one per
cent, of the value on all real property. Over the question of the
regular levy the conflict was very bitter. The diet did not wish to
surrender its right of determining the contingent, and even after
it was voted the conflict was taken up by the comitats. It was at
this diet that Paul Nagy, the great Magyar orator of Hungarian
independence, first appeared. In spite of the protests of the court,
the diet energetically maintained the autonomous position of
Hungary within the Austrian monarchy.
In order to win for himself the sympathy of the Magyars,
Francis II. decided to have the new empress-queen, his third wife,
Marie Louise, crowned. This ceremony never fails to excite much
enthusiasm among the Hungarians, and is always a source of
profit to the monarchy. On the other hand Napoleon's war with
Spain excited in the Hungarian nobility a lively indignation.
During the campaign of 1809 the diet added 20,000 con-
scripts to the 12,000 which they had voted previously, and decreed
the insurrection. The poets, Verseghy and Kisfaludy, called the
nation to arms. The great families made enormous sacrifices;
Prince Esterhazy furnished two hundred horses, the archbishop
of Kalocsa one hundred and twenty. The enthusiasm increased
still more when, on May i, 1809, the empress-queen and the
»
HUNGARY AND SLAV COUNTRIES 335
1S09
heir-apparent, leaving Vienna, which was threatened by the enemy,
came to seek an asylum in the imperial castle at Buda. Napoleon,
who never properly estimated public sentiment in Hungary,
thought the moment had come for striking a great blow at
Austria by detaching from her the kingdom of St. Stephen.
From his headquarters at Schonbriinn he addressed a proclamation
to the Hungarians which was immediately scattered throughout
the kingdom. This document had been translated by the poet
Bacsanyi, who, thrown into the prison of Kufstein some time be-
fore, had there met Maret, ambassador of the French Republic,
arrested by the Austrians. Maret, now duke of Bassano and min-
ister of Napoleon, met again at Vienna his old companion in
captivity, who undoubtedly aided him in drawing up the original
and took upon himself the translation.
" Hungarians ! " the proclamation said, " it is the emperor of
Austria, and not the king of Hungary, who has declared war
on me. Your consistent defensive system and the measures taken
by your last diet have shown that you wished to maintain peace.
The moment has come for you to recover your independence. I
offer you peace, the integrity of your territory, of your liberty,
and of your laws, either as they have existed, or modified by
yourselves, if you think that the interests of the time and of your
fellow-citizens demand it. I wish nothing of you and desire only
;o see you a free and independent nation. Your union with Aus-
a has been your misfortune. Your blood has been shed for
er in distant lands, and your dearest interests have been constantly
crificed to those of the Hereditary States. You form the finest
part of her empire, yet you are only a province, always enslaved
to passions which are foreign to you.
B " You have national customs and a national language ; you are
^ proud of your illustrious and ancient origin : resume then your
existence as a nation. Have a king of your own choice, who may
reign only for you, reside in your midst, and be surrounded only
by your citizens and your soldiers. Hungarians! that is what all
Europe, which is watching you, demands of you; that is what
I, too, demand of you. A lasting peace, commercial relations, and
assured independence, such is the reward that awaits you if you
wish to be worthy of your ancestors and of yourselves. You will
not reject such liberal and generous offers, you will not waste your
, blood for feeble princes, always enslaved to corrupt ministers and
886 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1809-1815
sold to England. Assemble in a national diet on the field of
Rakos, in the manner of your ancestors, and make known to me
your resolutions."
This document, in spite of the incontestable ability with which
It had been drawn up, produced little impression in Hungary.
The insurrection took up arms and concentrated at Raab. Badly
equipped and poorly armed, it assembled in an entrenched camp
under the command of the Archduke John. But the formidable
French artillery and the inequalities of the marshy ground ren-
dered unavailing the valor of the Hungarian cavalry, Raab was
taken, and the Austrians were not sparing in raillery to those fine
gentlemen who had allowed themselves to be beaten on their own
soil. After this reverse, the court still demanded 40,000 men of
Hungary. Soon furnished by voluntary enlistment, these went to
reinforce the army of the Archduke Charles. The kingdom suf-
fered besides from requisitions and from military excesses
which have not rendered popular the memory of the French sol-
diers. The Treaty of Vienna detached from Hungary certain por-
tions of Croatia, a wrong which the Magyars highly resented.
They had not hesitated to fight for Austria, but they refused
to lend themselves to the deplorable measures that the govern-
ment of Vienna thought necessary in order to remedy the bad
state of its finances. The emperor, supported by his lieutenant,
the Palatine Joseph, had recourse to violent means. The recal-
citrant deputies were summoned ad audiendiim verbum regium,
and one of them, Joseph Desseffvy, was excluded from the diet.
In the end they yielded to force. On the whole the Hungarians
were poorly repaid for their fidelity to Austria.
Nevertheless Hungary furnished a numerous and brave con-
tingent for the campaign of 1813-1814, though it took part in
the struggle without enthusiasm. This time the poets and the
publicists celebrated neither the supreme conflict against the tyrant
of Europe nor the victories of the Austrian army. " We are
^i^PPy/' said one address to Francis, " for the victories of your
majesty; they will permit you to think of the welfare of your sub-
jects. The fear of the enemy has thus far prevented all your wishes
from being carried out." Hungary had fought more for the
dynasty than for her independence; she had postponed the dis-
cussion of questions touching her own especial interests ; she hailed
the peace with joy, in the hope that the sovereign would at last
HUNGARY AND SLAV COUNTRIES 337
1815-1825
interest himself in his faithful Hungarians — an illusion that did
not last long.
After 1815 Francis H. refused for some time to convoke the
diet. While poets such as Kolczey, and Alexander and Charles
Kisfaludy were attempting to revive the ancient glories of the
nation, the Viennese government was endeavoring to stifle the
development of public spirit by means of the censorship. But
in the absence of the diet the people turned to the comitats. That
of Bars, for instance, protested nobly. " We do not doubt," it
said, " that this rigorous censorship imposed on our literature
appears useful to his majesty's government. The ignorance of
contemporary events that we owe to it makes easier, perhaps, the
exercise of authority. We only ask if manly spirits will put up
with such repression? What indeed are our sins? Why are the
sources of civilization closed for us? Why are we cut off from
human society?"
In the face of afi adversary so tenacious as the Hungarian
aristocracy the convocation of the diet could not be indefinitely
postponed. The royal chancery at Pesth found itself powerless
to govern without the legal concurrence of the country, the Arch-
duke Joseph, who had been palatine for many years, had been
somewhat influenced by the Magyar ideas of self-government, and
Austria needed troops for the occupation of Italy. The king at-
tempted to win over the Hungarians by flattery, and after a mili-
tary review in 1820 made a speech in which he told them that,
while the rest of the world was relinquishing old laws and seek-
ing new forms of government, they had a constitution " which
you love and I love and will preserve and transmit to our suc-
cessors." This declaration had little effect upon the Magyars,
however. The comitats refused to pay taxes or to furnish soldiers,
and even after the sovereign had replaced the foispan by royal
administrators, resisted still further, and all the officials resigned.
The magistrates even refused to prosecute the cases for high
treason sent them by the government at Vienna.
It now seemed that royal authority could be best strengthened
through a national parliament, and the diet of 1825- 1829, which
met at Presburg, September 11, 1825, marks an important step in
the constitutional history of Hungary. The king in his speech
promised anew to observe the constitution and hand it down intact
to his heirs, while he did not neglect a ceremony which has always
888 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1825-1833
had great prestige in Hungary, and his fourth wife, Charlotte of
Bavaria, was crowned as queen. Among the deputies of the diet
were Szechenyi in the upper chamber, known as the Great
Magyar, and in the lower chamber Paul Nagy, whose fiery elo-
quence had signalized him in previous diets, and a young advo-
cate of the comitat of Zala, Francis Deak. The deliberations
were noisy and less docile perhaps than the court had hoped.
There were recriminations against the violence of the government,
the misdeeds of royal administrators, the violations of personal
liberty, and the long adjournment of national representation
— all with the verbiose eloquence and in the 4oubtful Latin
v.hich the assembled Magyars then employed. The dynasty had
to hear some hard truths. Violent orators even proclaimed that
the Hapsburgs were the hereditary enemies of Hungary, and
the king was obliged to accord satisfaction and declare that he
had not intended to violate the constitution. The Hunga-
rians asked that there be added again to their kingdom those
territories which had been a part of it by historic right, Dal-
matia, for example, but they were not listened to. The finan-
cial measures of 1811 and of 1816 were stormily debated. One
of the most important results of this diet was the development
of the Magyar language and literature. Szechenyi used the na-
tional tongue in the tribune, and subscribed 60,000 florins to the
founding of the Hungarian Academy, while a national theater
arose at Pesth. A ready writer no less than an eloquent orator,
Szechenyi undertook to reveal economic truths to his compatriots,
and his book on " Credit " was epoch-making. The old world of
magnates broke down under the force of modern ideas and the
years which followed 1830 are marked by important works, such
as the construction of the bridge at Pesth and the tunnel at Buda,
and the regulation of the course of the Theiss.
In order to attach the Hungarians more closely to him, Fran-
cis II., during his lifetime, had his successor, the Archduke Ferdi-
nand, crowned. After the July Revolution he needed to dispose of
all the forces of Hungary, and convoked the diet in order to obtain
new levies. Twenty thousand men were granted, but were only
to be levied in case the monarchy should be directly attacked. The
diet of 1833 had to determine some grave questions; this time it
had to deal not only with the relations of the aristocracy with the
sovereign, with taxes and with the constitution, but also with the
HUNGARY AND SLAV COUNTRIES
1833
emancipation of the agricultural classes and the economic develop-
ment of the country. The Hungarian nobility, very zealous in
the defense of its own interests, had always shown a deplorable
egotism in its relations with the peasants. It had given good op-
portunity to the Austrian government to play a tutelary role
toward the peasants. More than once terrible jacqueries had
stained the provinces with blood, as for instance in 1831, at the
time of the cholera, when the peasants of the comitat of Saros
massacred some of their seigneurs accused of having poisoned the
wells. The emperor now invited the diet to discuss a project of
agrarian reform, the basis of which he himself laid down. The
lower chamber agreed to this programme. Deak, Balogh, and
Kolczey spoke eloquently of liberty and human dignity, while the
chamber of magnates was rebellious at such liberal concessions,
and not at all disposed to grant them. The discussions were pro-
longed for two years, when certain reforms were agreed upon.
Hereafter the peasants were not to be at the mercy of the jurisdic-
tion of the seigneur, who had been at the same time judge and
party to the case; they could no longer be arrested by his order;
they had the right of leaving their lands by selling their usufruct,
and of acquiring property by an arrangement with the seigneur,
without, however, breaking the feudal tie; and finally, they had
no longer to bear the expenses of the diet, which, up to this time,
they had had to pay alone. This was the first step toward equality
of taxation, equality to which the old Magyar spirit was pro-
foundly repugnant. It was regarded as a great event when
Szechenyi obtained that on the new bridge at Pesth, all nobles
and yeoman alike should pay toll. Cziraki, the supreme judge
of the kingdom, declared with tears that he would never cross this
bridge, which symbolized to him the ruin of the old national
constitution.
It was the diet of 1833 that marked definitely the entrance
of the Magyar language into parliamentary life. The lower
chamber compelled the upper one to use this as the common
medium of communication, while a young advocate, Louis Kos-
suth, edited in the Hungarian tongue a Gazette of the diet. This
organ, distributed secretly in order to escape the censorship, in-
terested the entire country in the parliamentary debates and carried
to the most distant frontiers those political conflicts of which Pres-
burg was the center. Some of these debates had dealt with the
340
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1833-183S
affairs of Poland. The Polish revolution had failed, but it had
excited much sympathy in Hungary, and, when some of the Polish
refugees in France tried to gain for their cause the intervention
of the Hungarian assembly, a number of fiery speeches were de-
livered from the tribune, one orator even going so far as to
reproach the government for having employed Hungarian soldiers
in the oppression of Italian patriots. It required all the tact and
popularity of the Palatine Joseph to prevent a diplomatic incident.
The revolution of Warsaw, in 1830, prepared in a certain measure
that of Pesth in 1848.
The other provinces of the empire are certainly not so inter-
esting historically during the years from 1825 to 1835 as is Hun-
gary, with its parliamentary and provincial institutions, its elo-
quent tribune, and its perpetual conflict between retrograde and
liberal ideas. But the life of a people is not entirely in its official
manifestations; it is at times concentrated in the development of
that private opinion expressed by sudden explosions. For the
Slavs of Austria the first thirty years of the nineteenth century
were not less productive than for the Magyars. At the beginning
of his reign Leopold II. had convoked the diet of Bohemia, where-
upon it sent him a long memorandum of its grievances, demanded
the repeal of all those measures passed in the two preceding
reigns which struck at the rights of the kingdom or at ecclesiastical
institutions, and asked for the right of taking part in the legisla-
tion which had been taken away from them in 1627 by the new
constitution of Ferdinand II. Leopold made some concessions,
but none that would enfeeble the authority of the central power.
The diet regained only the right of levying and arranging for col-
lecting taxes, and of discussing all laws proposed by the sovereign ;
the permanent committee was also reestablished, but with very re-
stricted powers. The crown of St. Vacslav was sent back to
Prague, and the emperor rendered homage to the historical tra-
ditions by having himself crowned, an example which was followed
by his successors, Francis I. and Ferdinand II. Indeed, the pres-
ent sovereign is, with Joseph II., the only king who has broken
with this time-honored custom.
The efforts of the diet to recover its prerogatives were only
feeble symptoms of the intellectual movement which had begun
toward the end of the eighteenth century. In 1774 one of the
few remaining representatives of the native aristocracy, Count
HUNGARY AND SLAV COUNTRIES 341
1790-1835
Kinsky, had in a German pamphlet urged the maintenance and
development of the national language. Some conscientious his-
torians, Pelcel, Dobner, and Prochazka, began to study the early
history of Bohemia, while the Royal Society of Sciences was
founded in 1784. Interest in archaeology led to philological re-
searches, and it was no longer possible to disdain a language in
which was found a curious genius of its own, a rich literature, and
close connection with that wide group of Slav tongues that extends
from the Adriatic to the Arctic. In 1793 a chair of the Czech
language was established at the University of Prague, where Joseph
11. had so shortly before ordered that all teaching should be in Ger-
man. The great linguist, Dobrovsky (1753- 1829), by his travels
and his writings laid the basis for Slav comparative philology. His
precursors had treated the Czech as a dead language. Now young
poets gave life to it and made it the organ of their patriotic aspira-
tions. Through the generosity of the Counts Sternberg the Czech
Museum was founded at Prague in 181 8, and its precious collec-
tions excited much sympathetic interest.
Archives and libraries were searched and the discovery of
mediaeval poems, such as the " Judgment of Libusa " and the
" Manuscript of Kralove-Dvor," was received with veritable en-
thusiasm. The authenticity of these poems has been contested, but
whether true or false it is certain that they exercised an irre-
sistible influence and corresponded admirably to the public senti-
ments of the time. " It would be shameful for us to look to the
Germans for justice," says the " Judgment of Libusa," " since it
is determined for us by the laws which our fathers formerly carried
into those countries." " The stranger has entered by force into
our heritage and commands us in a foreign language, and that
which he does from morning till night he forces our wives and
our children to do," says the " Manuscript of Kralove-Dvor."
Bohemia recognized that alone she was too feeble to hold
her own against both Austria arid Germany at the same time, but
to German solidarity she was able to oppose Slav solidarity; the
Czech tongue was not only spoken by five or six millions of
people, but those who spoke it could claim kinship with kindred
tongues, Russian, Polish, Croatian, and Servian. This union of
the Slavs became the watchword of the Czech patriots, and added
much to their strength. It was celebrated by the poet Kollar
in a famous pamphlet, and in the great poem which he con-
S42 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1790-1835
secrated to his race, under the name, " Slava dcera, the Daughter
of the Slavs, or the Daughter of Glory (1824)." "After being
bom to a new life," sang Kollar, " we have entered into a great
desert which heaven has not yet made productive; the Romance
and Germanic peoples walk in a beaten path and we follow them
with a slow step ; but we are a young people, we know what others
have done, while they are ignorant of what our role is to be in
the annals of humanity. We do not wish for a victory which falls
from heaven without sweat and without work." Elsewhere he
evoked the memory of the tragic fate of the Slavs of the Elbe:
" It is there ! I see it through my tears, that broad land, formerly
the cradle and now the tomb of a great nation. . . . From
the sources of the Elbe to the Baltic there formerly resounded
one great and generous tongue. Why does one hear it no longer?
Shame to thee, jealous and covetous German. Thou hast caused
torrents of our blood to be shed, and now thou dost continue to pour
forth floods of calumny, hoping in these to drown our memories
of the past. He alone who is worthy of liberty knows how to
respect all liberties. He who puts slaves in irons is himself a
slave."
Bohemia he shamed for having allowed herself to be invaded
and colonized by the Germans. " Who, then, is that young and
beautiful girl who runs in the fields? She must indeed be poor to
wear a robe pieced from such diverse materials. It is our Bo-
hemia dotted over with foreign colonists." Finally, he called
upon all the Slavs to form a definite alliance : " Russians,
Servians, Czechs, Poles, become united. . . . From Athos to
Pomerania, from the fields of Silesia to the plain of Kosovo, from
Constantinople to the Volga, wherever one hears the Slav language
let us rejoice and embrace each other, happy in our immense father-
land, Slavia. Believe me, brothers, we have all that which assures
continuance to a great people. Continents and seas stretch under
our feet ; gold and silver, strong and vigorous arms, a language rich
and powerful — we possess everything, except concord and liberty."
And following unremittingly this dream of unity he drew a vivid
picture of the new Slavia : " I have said it a hundred times, I cry
it again to you to-day, O dispersed Slavs, be united and not isolated
groups, be united or nothing. Ah, have I said more than once when
my spirit wavered, were our Slav people only of gold, of silver,
or of copper, I would weld them into a single statue. Of Russia I
HUNGARY AND SLAV COUNTRIES 343
1790-1835
would make the hands, of the Poles the bust, of the Czechs the
arms and the head, and of the Servians the feet. The smaller
nations, the Wends, Lusatians, Silesians, Croats, and Slovaks
should be the vestments and the weapons. Europe should kneel
before this image whose head should touch the clouds, and whose
steps should reach across the world."
Around Kollar was grouped a school of patriot poets; Cela-
kovsky, Hanka, and Vocel. The Slovak Safarik wrote a great work
on Slav antiquities (1837), while the Moravian Palacky, appointed
historiographer of the kingdom of Bohemia, commenced the his-
tory of his adopted country, which is one of the most remarkable
works of our time and has taken more than half a century to com-
plete. Thanks to such talents and patriotism Bohemia not only
regained the consciousness of her own nationality, but put herself
at the head of the Slav peoples of the empire, and the Slavs of
the south were not slow to follow her example. Then it was
that Croatia gave the signal for the awakening. That country
had been profoundly stirred by the Servian revolution, and the
works of the leading writers of the new principality, the Karad-
jitches and Obradnovitches, had found a sympathetic echo.
In 1826 a society of Servian literature had been founded by
the Servians of Hungary, and in its turn the capital of Croatia be-
came aroused. So far the diversity of provincial dialects had been
an obstacle to the unity of the literature, but now an eminent
publicist, Louis Gaj, undertook to unite into a harmonious whole
the scattered forces of Illyria, He commenced by publishing two
newspapers, one entitled the Croatian Gazette, the other the Croa-
tian, Slavonian and Dalmatian Aurora (1835). He chose the
following fiery motto : " A people without nationality is a body
without bone." He then proposed to substitute for the local
names of Servians, Croatians, Slovenes, and Dalmatians, the
common one of Illyrians, which Napoleon had restored. The fol-
lowing year he gave to his two journals the titles of Aurora, and
of the Illyrian Gazette. " Europe," said he, " rests on a three-
cornered lyre. This lyre is Illyria. It extends from Villach to
Varna and to Scutari ; the strings of this lyre are Carinthia, Gorica,
Istria, Camiola, Styria, Croatia, Slavonia, Dalmatia, Ragusa,
Bosnia, Montenegro, Herzogovina, Servia, Bulgaria, and south-
ern Hungary. They are not in accord with one another, but we
wish to make them resound harmoniously." Illy r ism, however,
S44 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1790-1835
soon encountered violent opposition ; at first from the Hungarians,
who did not care to see the Slavs escaping from their hegemony,
and then from the Servians, who feared that their traditions and
hopes would be absorbed by the Croatians. So Illyrism lost
ground little by little, until even its name has disappeared to-day,
though there still remains to the southern Slavs a serious sentiment
of their literary sohdarity. The movement had indeed given a con-
siderable impulse to mental development, and a poetical school ap-
peared, less brilliant perhaps than that of Prague, but not less
patriotic.
Thus, at the two extremities of the empire, the Slav peoples
were awakening and ready to contend against the Magyars on
the one hand, and against the Germans on the other. They were
again claiming their place in the world. Separated by historical
circumstances and geographical situation, they were acquiring a
consciousness of their own solidarity and developing the moral
force necessary for the approaching struggle.
Chapter XXVII
FERDINAND I— AUSTRIA ON THE EVE OF REVO-
LUTION. 1845-1848
FRANCIS II. died on March 2, 1835, much regretted
by the Viennese, who were attached to him through his
genial characteristics and the recollections of so many hard
experiences. In the provinces the rumor was current that he
had acquired a large fortune, and that he had left it to his
subjects. The people awaited with impatience the opening of the
will. But they were sadly disappointed, as the following lines
from the document will indicate : " I avow my love to my people.
I hope that I may be able to pray for them ; I ask of them to show
to my legitimate successor the fidelity and devotion which they
have shown to me; I thank all the functionaries who have served
me well." Louis XIV. could scarcely have spoken otherwise.
The successor of Francis II., Ferdinand L, of a delicate consti-
tution and subject to fits of epilepsy, was little fitted to take over
the heavy heritage of the monarchy. Even when in good health
his mind was never lucid nor was his will firm. The simple matter
of affixing the royal signature was for him a real burden. Con-
sequently, Metternich, whom Francis II. had recommended to
his son as the best of ministers, retained all his influence. " Touch
nothing at the base of the political edifice, change nothing. Have
full confidence in Prince Metternich, my best friend and most faith-
ful of servants. Undertake nothing without him." Nevertheless
Metternich was not able to govern entirely in the place of the real
sovereign, and a sort of regency was established, consisting of the
following persons : Clam Martinitz, the emperor's adjutant-general
and head of the military section of the council of state; Metter-
nich, minister of foreign affairs; Kolovrat; and the Archdukes
Louis and Francis Charles. Their meetings constituted the
Staatsconferenz, which was the real organ of executive power.
But its functions were never very well defined. Established
S45
846 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1835
in order to govern till the monarch should have regained his health,
it always had more or less of a provisional character. This gov-
ernment has been justly reproached with entire lack of unity
and an unusual insensibility to the real needs of the Austrian
people.
A number of liberal measures, however, did mark the open-
ing of the reign. An amnesty for political prisoners followed the
accession, a consulship was established in Servia, notwithstanding
the fact that the young principality owed its existence to an insur-
rection against the legitimate authority, a treaty of navigation was
concluded with Greece, which was in the same position, and diplo-
matic relations were resumed with Portugal. At the same time
the cabinet of Vienna extended its moral support to the Carlists
in Spain and sent some meager subsidies. The alliance of the
three northern powers continued, as the conduct of Austria in
Polish affairs sufficiently attested.
The city of Cracow had been erected by the treaties of 1815
into an independent republic. It had become the center of plots
and conspiracies, and was suspected by all the powers who had
shared in the spoliation of Poland. In 1831 the Russians had
occupied the territory of the republic in order to deprive the insur-
gents of one of their principal bases of operation and source of
supplies. But they had to evacuate it because of the objections of
Austria, and the city continued a hot-bed of agitation for the
refugees of the Polish revolution. In 1836 the three powers de-
manded the expulsion of all persons who had taken part in the
revolution of 1830 and decided to occupy Cracow. This time it
was Austria who undertook to police the republic, notwithstand-
ing the protestations of England and France. It was the first step
toward definitive occupation.
On the other hand Galicia was gradually being invaded by
the ideas of the patriotic revival and of a national revenge which
were steadily propagated by the emigres. It was a difficult matter
to oppose this general movement, which enlisted in its cause the
sympathies of liberal Europe, but Austria was able by a policy
analagous to that which was often adopted in Hungary to find
in Polish society itself the means of paralyzing the revolutionary
elements. Harsher even than the Magyar aristocracy, the
Polish sznlachta or nobility had aroused bitter hatred by their
treatment of the ignorant peasantry. The government took
FERDINANDI 347
1835-1846
pains to foment this class hatred ; it opposed the agrarian reforms ;
it had imposed upon the nobles the role of acting as recruiting
agents and collectors of imposts, while it gave to its own func-
tionaries the tutelary role of redressing abuses. Nor should it
be forgotten that in the greater part of Galicia the peasant is not
Polish. In the eastern part of the province Ruthenians constitute
the majority of the population, and they, even more than Polish
peasants, had been made to suffer at the hands of the Galician
magnates. Adherents of the Uniate Greek Church, they had on
more than one occasion to groan under the fanatic persecution of
their masters, who compelled them to pay for the privilege of wor-
shiping in their churches or opened them to the Jews. The gov-
ernor of Galicia, Stadion, knew of these grievances, and had taken
careful note of them. The Polish nobility could not remain ignorant
of the claims which were to be made against them. In the diet, in
itself anything but liberal, which met from time to time at Lem-
berg, the demand had been made to take up the cause of the
peasants in 1843, but the Austrian government cared little to regu-
late the conflicts out of which grew the conditions which gave it
the opportunity to keep the different peoples divided and thus to
rule them.
Nevertheless a Polish insurrection was preparing in Galicia
and the duchy of Posen. On February 28, 1846, upon the
announcement of a plot at Cracow, the Austrian General Collin
occupied that city with about a thousand men and three can-
non. For two days the city seemed tranquil, but on the third
day under pressure of the revolutionary factions, the senate and
the authorities of the republic resigned and the Austrian troops
were attacked by the Poles and forced to beat a retreat. Colonel
Benedek marched up from Lemberg and with the aid of the
peasants defeated the revolutionary committee of Cracow and
reoccupied the city on March 2. Benedek, the " falcon of the
Vistula," then commenced a career which was to end in failure
at Sadowa. The brief, ephemeral success of the revolutionists of
Cracow had thrown Vienna into a state of terror; the police
doubled the arrests throughout the empire, especially in Galicia.
These measures suppressed an insurrection which would doubt-
less have spread rapidly into Russian Poland. The peasants not
being in sympathy with their lords denounced them to the au-
thorities or gave them up themselves. A veritable jacquerie
848 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1846
broke out. Murder, pillage, and incendiarism raged, particularly
in the circle of Tarnow, with the encouragement, it is said, of
the Austrian government, its officers actually joining the bands.
The peasants declared that they pillaged and massacred at the
emperor's order. A personage of high rank, Ferdinand d'Este,
replied to the wife of a Pole who had just been assassinated, that
the death of her husband was a mistake, that it was her brother's
which had been intended. It was at this time that the poet Ujejski
composed the hymn " Z dymem pozarow," which is to-day a classic
in Poland : " Amid the smoke of our burning homes, and the blood
of our brothers, this song rises to Thee, O Lord. 'Tis a terrible
cry of pity, a groan out of the infinite ; prayers that cause the hair
to grow white ; the crown of thorns is piercing our heads. O Lord !
O Lord! What has time brought us? The mother is killed by
her son, brother has killed brother. Among us are many Cains,
but, O Lord, they are innocent ; other demons incite and urge them
on. Punish, oh, punish, the execrable hand and not the unwitting
sword."
The peasants were convinced that the emperor would free
them from all obligations toward their lords as a reward for their
devotion. The patent of April 13 granted only part of their
expectations. It suppressed compulsory cartage and labor during
harvest; and authorized the peasants to bring their complaints
directly to the captains of the circles.
Meanwhile the city of Cracow remained in the hands of the
Austrians. Its occupation was explained to the foreign powers
as a temporary measure dictated by military necessity. The Aus-
trian troops, it was urged, were sent only to insure the establish-
ment of a regular government in the little republic. Soon, with
the consent of Prussia and Russia, the occupation became defini-
tive, and the officials of the districts where the outrages had been
most violent were promoted. The protests of France and Eng-
land were of no avail. This acquisition was the first which
Austria had made since the Congress of Vienna. The new terri-
tory comprised about twenty-two square miles and 160,000 in-
habitants.
The annexation of Cracow confirmed once again the solidarity
of the three powers in respect to the partition of Poland. Never-
theless, in regard to the Eastern Question, during Ferdinand's
reign, as in that of his predecessor, harmony between Russia and
FERDINAND I 849
1835-1848
Austria was maintained only with much difficulty. The Porte,
weakened by the triumphs of its vassal, Mehemet-Ali of Egypt, got
into serious difficulty with him and appealed to Europe. Metter-
nich made the mistake of supporting the Sultan, and Vienna became
the center of animated conferences in which he induced the repre-
sentatives of the Tsar to agree to a collective note of the powers
promising the support of Europe to the Porte. But Tsar Nicholas
was deeply offended, disavowed the act of his ambassador,
and treated directly with England without consulting Austria
at all, in July, 1840. Austria, whose dealings with the Porte
have been as a rule very clumsy, then found it necessary to follow
the lead of the two contracting powers. Mehemet-Ali was asked
to restore a large part of his conquests. He was deprived of
Syria through the aid of the Austrian squadron, which now took
its place for the first time among the maritime powers. In the
month of July a treaty was concluded which forbade to all vessels
of war entrance into the Straits of Dardanelles, except by the
Sultan's permission.
But the chief interest of the reign of Ferdinand II. lies in
the increasing spread of the ideas of liberty and of nationality
among the different races of the Austrian monarchy, that secret
fermentation in which appeared the forces which were to trans-
form the old Austria. The various diets can be regarded only
as the official expression of political ideas. Docile or subdued in
Galicia, and silent in some of the provinces, as in Upper Austria,
Moravia, Silesia and Carinthia, in Lower Austria, Bohemia, and
especially in Hungary, even under the old feudal form in which
they still continued, the estates began to show signs of liberal
tendencies.
In the diet of Lower Austria the middle class was not even
represented. They had no right other than that of being present
and giving assent when the vote on the taxes was taken. But
notwithstanding this, the new ideas which penetrated the capital
had considerable influence upon the decisions of this assem-
bly. It showed a certain independence in economic matters. It
vigorously demanded the intervention of the estates in the govern-
ment, and criticised Francis II. for having ruled without their
help. In the Tyrol, on the contrary, clerical and ultramontane
ideas were supreme. Public instruction was almost entirely
in the hands of the clergy. Missions and miracles satisfied the
850 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1835-1848
popular imagination. The introduction of railroads was stub-
bornly resisted, and in 1837 the diet had recalled the Jesuits into
this province, from which they had been excluded in the preceding
century.
In Bohemia the debates in the diet did not reveal any very
energetic intellectual activity. The first act of the reunited estates,
on April 13, 1835, was to vote a monument to Francis II. Never-
theless, little by little they reestablished the ancient parliamentary
forms which had singularly fallen into disuse since Joseph II. The
diet drew up its privileges in the form of a code in order to deter-
mine what powers belonged to it and what to the permanent com-
mittee, which had become a simple organ of government. But even
these slight attempts at independence were reprimanded by the
monarch. Nevertheless when the permanent committee and the
government attempted to impose new imposts without the consent
of the diet a serious conflict broke out between Vienna and
Prague. Count Chotek, burggrave of the kingdom, resigned, and
the government in the hope of better restraining the turbulent
nobility placed the Archduke Stephen, son of the Palatine Joseph,
at the head of the Bohemian government. Lively protests were
raised against his rule, and the estates demanded a complete carry-
ing out of the constitution of 1627, thus proclaiming the continuity
of their historic rights, so misapprehended since the end of
the preceding century. Unfortunately the Czech nobility was
inspired in these claims only by a narrow spirit of caste. It
manifested a spirit of selfish egotism, passionately defended its
feudal privileges, and showed little desire to admit the middle class
to its deliberations. Only four royal cities were represented in the
diet, which numbered fourteen bishops, one hundred and fifty-one
lords, forty-three knights, and seven representatives of the middle
class. But notwithstanding this the disputes with the monarch
showed the progress of public opinion. In 1847 the leaders of
the opposition in Bohemia had resolved to come to an understand-
ing with the estates of the German provinces and with the diet
of Hungary concerning united action. When the year 1848 ar-
rived all the desiderata of the diet were confined to demands for
the representation of the towns in the estates, and the use
of the Czech language in the schools. The assembly lacked that
strength which comes from the support of public opinion because
it was formed only of the privileged classes. But below this decrepit
FERDINANDI 861
1835-1848
institution were the people who for half a century had been making-
rapid progress and who before arriving at their political eman-
cipation had started out on their intellectual and moral eman-
cipation.
The literary renaissance in Bohemia during the first forty
years of the century was purely of a poetical and archaeological
character, but in a state whose institutions are based upon historic
rights, as is the case in Austria, it was impossible that the study of
history would not have considerable influence upon the public mind.
In re-reading the treaties concluded between the kingdom and the
princes of the house of Hapsburg, Bohemian patriots were led
to ask of themselves what had become of the terms of the agree-
ments entered into. The episodes of the Thirty Years' War re-
awakened the recollection of rebellion prompted by generous
motives and stifled in blood. The Hussite Wars recalled a great
epoch of moral and intellectual development, of liberty of conscience
maintained against religious intolerance, which during half a
century made of a little people a great nation. Thus the study
of its history, of its national language, and of its ancient literature
led in Bohemia to an ominous reaction against Austrian Ger-
manism.
The middle class now gloried in cultivating a language which
they had previously despised. In the absence of a political life
the intelligent now found a field for their patriotic desires. Cer-
tain of the nobility attached themselves to the movement, and the
popular literary society, the Matice Ceska, soon became a center
for the patriotic propaganda. Founded in 1831 with fifteen mem-
bers, it numbered 1667 in 1846. But the real organ of political
life is the press. Up to 1840 Bohemia's few journals devoted
their attention solely to literature. In 1846 Charles Havlicek, a
man of great talent and patriotism, with an ingenious spirit of
sarcasm which at times recalls that of Voltaire and of Heine,
founded the OfUcial Gazette. Havlicek realized perfectly that it
was necessary to overthrow the feudal regime and the privileged
classes, and he addressed himself directly to the middle class and
to the people. He pleaded the cause of his country, under the cloak
of articles written on the sufferings and oppression of Ireland,
whose struggle for autonomy he described in vivid, suggestive
language. All Bohemia understood, and the word " Repeal " be-
came, therefore, the watchword of the patriots. Havlicek played
S5St AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1835-1848
the same role at Prague as did Kossuth at Pesth and Louis Gaj
at Agram.
The agitation for which Prague thus furnished the center ex-
tended as far as Moravia, and even to the Slovaks of Hungary.
Nor was it purely political; it had an economic and a religious
character as well. The patriots were interested less in the priv-
ileges of the nobility than in the miseries of the peasantry who
had so faithfully guarded the national language and popular
poetry; they were the natural apostles of all the measures destined
to ameliorate this condition. Moreover, the mere recollection of
the Thirty Years' War was sufficient to make them hostile to the
spirit of intolerant devotion which reigned at Vienna in official
circles.
In the history of modern Hungary, two tendencies are to be
noted. On the one hand is the generous and truly patriotic spirit
which animates the Magyars and leads them to the greatest sac-
rifices for the maintenance and recognition of their historic and
national rights; on the other is a blind egotism which prevents
the recognition of the rights of others living among them. This
twofold aspect of their character explains both their success and
their failures. After 1825 public opinion made remarkable prog-
ress in Hungary. From the time the national language was
accorded the right of being employed from the tribune eloquent
orators were numerous in the diet. The opposition adopted
language toward the government very much bolder than that
employed at Vienna or Prague. Her orators and statesmen ranked
with the political orators of London and Paris. These eminent
men added to a sincere love of country marked intelligence and
an appreciation of the real needs of their country.
The session of the diet in 1836 was most remarkable. The
orators of the opposition vigorously attacked the government,
which, devoted to obscurantism, endeavored to shackle the move-
ment for popular education. " The nation must rely upon itself
alone," cried both Deak and Beszeredy ; " we have the right and we
have the power," added the latter, " to work for the salvation of our
country." After the dissolution of the diet Kossuth undertook
to educate public opinion by a periodical publication in which were
brought together the deliberations of the various comitats. He
was arrested and thrown into prison with several of his friends.
But among the younger Hungarians liberal ideas spread with
I
FERDINAND I 868
1840-1848
amazing rapidity. When the diet opened again in 1840 the gov-
ernment offered to the opposition the release of the prisoners in
exchange for certain concessions. But Deak, who from this
moment received the name of the sage of his country, refused in
eloquent words : " Duty toward native land is greater and holier
than sympathy for one's friends. They themselves would find
a liberty acquired at this price more cruel than their sufferings."
An amnesty reconciled for the moment the opposition and the
authorities. The government obtained the soldiers it demanded,
the Magyar language was permitted in communications with the
court and in ecclesiastical affairs, and the diet completed the steps
taken by the previous assembly in regard to the purchase of land
by the peasants.
From 1840 onward democratic ideas continued to invade
Hungary more and more. Kossuth founded the Pesth Gazette,
which eloquently disseminated the doctrines of equality and politi-
cal freedom. In some of the comitats the meetings took on the
character of clubs. But social progress still came slowly. The
equality of all citizens in regard to taxes, which was proposed to
the diet in 1843, was not adopted. About the same time a young
poet coming from the lower classes, Alexander Petofi, published
in the reviews passionate odes on the love of country and liberty.
" Formerly Hungary was a sea in which all the fallen stars, stars
of the north, of the east, and of the south, extinguished them-
selves. The glory of Hungary is like a comet which has disap-
peared, and after several centuries will return brilliant and terri-
ble." Other poets excited the national patriotism in singing of
the historic past of Hungary.
" The nation must be formed out of new elements," Kossuth
wrote in his paper; a curious remark because one of the most
serious grievances of the patriots against the government of
Vienna was the progress of Slavism among the Croats and the
Slovaks; and thus their egotism condemned among their neigh-
bors those very aspirations of which they were so proud among
themselves. Together with the Polish emigres and the Pan-Ger-
mans, they conjured up the red specter of Panslavism, as
a pretext for combating it and of persecuting their fellow-country-
men, the Servians, the Slovaks, and the Croatians. The Austrian
government had no interest in creating a state of things from which
Russia would profit; but in view of the possible struggle with the
854 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1847-1848
Magyars it could not afford to aid them in crushing the people
who claimed merely the right of existence. Nothing was less
legitimate, however, than the eflforts of the Viennese government
to paralyze Hungarian liberty, commerce, and industry. At one
time it thought it had arrived at a suppression of Hungarian ob-
stinacy by attacking the very source of her national liberties, the
institution of the comitat. The foispan of the comitat, or chief
count, was often a great lord who, being frequently absent during
a part of the year, was replaced by an alispan or administrator.
The chancellor, Apponyi, filled the place of the foispan in the
village districts by a royal administrator. This attack upon an
ancient privilege excited the most lively irritation throughout all
the country; the administrators were compared to the captains
of the Austrian circles (Kreishauptmdnner) and to the French
prefects. They were possessed of unlimited powers and did not de-
pend, as the prefects, upon responsible ministers. The stubborn
patriotism and the judicial spirit of the Hungarians made the
task of these new functionaries very difficult. Deak was one
of the first to organize resistance. In conformity with the tradi-
tions of the country, he entered into correspondence with all the
comitats of the kingdom, and secured a vote that the institution
of the royal commissioners was illegal.
The diet of 1847 opened calmly enough, in spite of the fact
that Kossuth had been elected at Pesth in opposition to the govern-
ment. The monarch and his family appeared at the opening session
and affected a sympathy for the Magyar language which touched
the hearts of the patriots. The Archduke Stephen, son of the
Palatine Joseph, who had recently died, enjoyed great popularity
and was in his turn made palatine. The discussion of the speech
from the throne gave rise to lively debates. The opposition insisted
above all upon securing the autonomy of the comitats by depriv-
ing the crown of the right of appointing royal administrators.
The Chamber of Magnates wished to treat the king with more re-
spect. It was decided to leave the address to the throne without a
reply, and while Kossuth excited the masses by his eloquence,
Szechenyi exerted himself to keep his compatriots within the bounds
of law and moderation. The programme of the opposition drawn
up by Francis Deak set forth clearly the demands of the kingdom.
" Hungary," says this remarkable document, " is a free country
with a separate system of representation and legislation; it is sub-
FERDINAND I S66
1847-1848
ordinate to no other country. It is not our desire to put the interests
of our country in opposition to those of the unity of the monarchy
and the safety of its existence, but we regard it as contrary to law
and justice that the interests of Hungary should be subordinated
to any other power whatsoever. We will never consent to be
sacrificed to the idea of unity in the system of government. . . .
For us the constitutional life is a treasure which we are not per-
mitted to sacrifice either to foreign interests or to material advan-
tages, however great. Our first duty is to maintain and strengthen
it. We are convinced that if the Hereditary States still enjoyed
their ancient liberties, or if according to the needs of our century
and of justice, they took their place among constitutional nations,
our interests and theirs, which now are so often divided, some-
times even antagonistic, could easily be reconciled. . . . The
monarchy, increasing in material and intellectual power, would be
able to resist with greater assurance the storms which time and
circumstances may some day bring."
The question of the official language added greatly to the
excitement. A project for a law submitted for the royal sanction
had in it the following provisions : Magyar is henceforth to be the
official language of the kingdom. Laws published in any other
language shall not be legal. . . . Croatia in its relations with
the central government must make use only of Magyar, and this
language shall be taught in all the schools of the kingdom.
Hungarian writers meant to imitate the example of France in
this attempt to secure the general use of Magyar, forgetting, how-
ever, that in France it was merely a question of local idiom, not of
national language, which had to be overcome.
Croatia had been annexed to Hungary for many centuries, but
it did not form an integral part of it. With Slavonia and Dalmatia
it looked upon itself as constituting a triple kingdom with its capital
city at Agram. In fact, Dalmatia, taken by the Austrians from the
Venetians, formed a separate province which the government at
Vienna refused to hand over to Hungary or to the Croats. At
the head of the government of the two provinces there was a high
official known as the ban, a sort of viceroy invested with civil and
military powers and the right to call together the diet or general
assembly. It consisted of the orders of the comitats of Croatia
and the delegates from the three Slavonian comitats. This diet in
its turn sent a deputy to the Hungarian Table of Magnates and
866 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1835-1848
two to the estates, while a certain number of Croatian and Slavo-
nian magnates sat in their own right in the upper chamber. The
diet of Agram reserved to itself the right of sanctioning the laws
passed at Presburg. The ties which bound Croatia to Hungary
were not clearly defined; the Hungarians looked upon Croatia as
conquered territory, while the Croats claimed that their relations to
Hungary grew out of a personal union only. They never forgot
that the pragmatic sanction of Charles VI. had been voted by the
Croats before it was voted by the Hungarians. So long as Latin
had served as the common language between the two peoples no
strong antagonism had arisen, but the struggle began as soon as the
Magyars tried to impose their language. Out of the resistance to
Magyar aggression there developed an independent literature in
this province, to which reference was made above. This lUyrian or
Yougo-Slav movement could not but be disagreeable to the
Magyars, but they made the great mistake of attacking it and
of seeing in it the hand of Russia; of denouncing it as the work
of a Panslavist propaganda, which as a matter of fact did not
exist.
The Servians complained of even more serious grievances. In
1792 the Magyars had brought about the suppression of the Illyrian
chancery, and the Servians, looked upon with suspicion, were de-
prived of all political employment. Added to this was the fact that
a part of their race which had been torn from the Ottoman yoke
by Milosh Obrenovitch had been formed into a separate principality,
a circumstance calculated to arouse their patriotism. In 1826 they
had established at Pesth a literary society which served as a model
for many similar institutions throughout the Slav countries.
The military frontier was occupied largely by Slavs and Ruma-
nians, subject, as we have already seen, to a separate administra-
tion. These were always ready to ally themselves to the cause of
the dynasty either out of the instinct of military obedience or be-
cause it was also the cause of their Slav and Rumanian fellow-
countrymen. In the northern comitats the Slovaks had long been
treated as veritable helots. " A Slovak is not a man," says a
Magyar proverb. Nevertheless the Slovaks could not remain in-
different to the movement which was then agitating Bohemia;
two of its greatest writers, Safarik, the author of " Slav Antiqui-
ties," and Kollar, the poet of Panslavism, were Slovaks. They
dreamed of creating a national literature apart and distinct from
FERDINAND I 867
1835-1848
that of Bohemia. Men of ability like Stur, Hodza, and Urban led
the movement and demanded a place for their nation among civil-
ized peoples. From 1843 onward they made energetic demands at
the court of Vienna, but without effect. Their neighbors, the
Ruthenians or Little Russians, also began to awake under the in-
fluence of the Slav movement.
The principality of Transylvania ever since its reannexation
in 1699 had been governed directly from Vienna, although it had a
diet of its own which sat at Klausenburg. A chancery of Transyl-
vania was established at Vienna and a guberniutn regiiim at
Hermannstadt. In this province, as in the case of all the rest of
the kingdom of St. Stephen, except in Croatia and in the purely
Magyar lands, the majority was crushed by the ruling minority.
The Hungarians, who numbered five hundred thousand, the one
hundred and seventy thousand Szeklers, and the three hundred
thousand Saxons alone were represented in the diet, while one
million two hundred and fifty thousand Wallachians had not a
single representative. But the time was near at hand when these
Wallachians also were to claim political rights.
In Vienna, likewise, liberal ideas began to ferment. Official
formality or red tape was unusually hated, and all the internal
miseries of the empire were attributed to it. Mettemich had grown
old, and since the difficulties in the East his increasing weakness
was apparent. The education of the people had progressed in
spite of the shackles which the government had laid upon it. Up
to 1830 Vienna had been a luxurious and indolent city, devoted to
music and sensual pleasures — the Capua of the mind, as the Vien-
nese poet, Grillparzer, called it. But gradually men's minds awak-
ened, notwithstanding the detestable education which prevailed
even in the higher schools, and the sole result of which was a very
mediocre knowledge of Latin. The number of distinguished men
produced by German Austria during this period was very small.
In 1847 the Emperor Ferdinand founded the Academy of Sciences,
to-day one of the most flourishing in Europe, and in order to gain
literary credit for Austria abroad, the government supported the
Viennese Literary Review, the only publication which had no cause
of complaint against the censors, because it was in large part edited
by them. Up to 1848 this censorship of the press was a veritable
scourge to the country. Its powers and functions were not defined
by any law, but the contraband sale of books which was carried on
S58
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1848
on a large scale — ^prohibition only exciting public curiosity and call-
ing the attention of the public to the forbidden fruit — served in part
at least to offset it. Pamphlets introduced by fraud made up for the
silence of the press. To the close observer it was evident that the
people so long kept down would rise at the first opportunity and,
not being accustomed to enjoy liberty, would commit unfortunate
errors when they first found themselves in possession of it
PART VII
REVOLUTION AND REACTION. 1848-1867
Chapter XXVIII
THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT. 1848-1849
NO other country has so tempestuous a history as has Aus-
tria during the years 1848 and 1849. In united countries
revolutions have one center only toward which the pro-
vincial movements gravitate; in Austria there were several. At
Vienna, Venice, Pesth, Prague, Agram, and Lemberg popular
uprisings occurred simultaneously. Three great races were sud-
denly aroused and hurried forward by different and even opposite
paths to secure liberty. Their divergent interests and their old-
time rivalry led to conflicts among themselves, which made their
most generous efforts abortive and crushed their hopes for a long
time to come.
If ever a sovereign was unfit to deal with popular outbreaks,
it was Ferdinand I., surnamed the Beneficent. The news of the
February revolution in Paris was a veritable thunderclap, both
for him and for his councilors. Austria was no longer, as in
1830, isolated from France by a reactionary Grcrmany. On all
sides German princes, either won over or overwhelmed by the
current of popular opinion, granted constitutions to their subjects.
Indeed, Germany herself transmitted to Vienna the new ideas
which had come from Paris. On March 13 petitions were laid
before the diet of Lower Austria demanding the publication of
the budget, the regular convocation of an assembly consisting
not only of the privileged estates but of representatives from all
classes of the population ; liberty of the press ; publicity of the public
tribunals; and new municipal and communal institutions. The
students of the university, united with the liberals, went in pro-
cession to present the petition to the estates. The troops tried in
vain to disperse them. With cries of " Down with Mettemich ! "
the crowd burned the villa of the minister who had for so many
years controlled the destinies of the empire. His dismissal was
demanded, and escaping from Vienna in a washerwoman's cart
he fled to England.
Sdi
S62
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1848
" The last beam of the old system has given way," said the
London Times, " or, to speak more respectfully of so experienced
a statesman, Prince Mettemich has been compelled to retire from
a contest which he can no longer wage with the world, or even
with the public opinion of the pacific inhabitants of Lower
Austria. . . . The oldest minister of the oldest court has been
driven from office. . . . After forty years of unlimited sway he
leaves an empire by so much in arrear of the rest of Europe —
impoverished in its finances — divided in its provinces — ^and not
obscurely threatened in its most important possessions. . . ."
The emperor was obliged to authorize the arming and for-
mation of the students into an academic regiment, and the organ-
ization of a sort of national guard. He invited the estates to
send delegates to a parliament at Vienna, and announced the aboli-
tion of the censorship and the publication of a liberal press law.
Vienna believed in his promises and made holiday. Kolovrat was
named president of the council and Ficquelmont minister of the
interior and leader of the cabinet. This student of Mettemich
inspired little confidence; nevertheless he seemed to take seriously
his role of reforming minister, and prepared the constitution which
THK 0( THKEAK OF THE REVOLLTION OF 1848 IN VIENNA
The i)opulace seizing the Octroi gates of the city
Drawing by ff. Zweigle
REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT 363
1848
was published on April 25 following-. It was copied in large part
from the Belgian charter, and took no account of the peculiar
conditions of the Austrian state. Hungary and Lombardy were
not included at all, and for the remainder of the empire it estab-
lished two chambers : a senate composed of princes of the imperial
family, members nominated for life by the monarch, and owners of
large estates ; and a chamber of deputies which was to consist of 383
elected members. The constitution also guaranteed the right of
public meeting, liberty of conscience, and liberty of the press. It
concerned itself with neither nationalities nor the promises so
recently made by the sovereign to Bohemia. This charter granted
by the monarch and proclaimed with great pomp did not satisfy
the demands, and Ficquelmont was forced to resign as a result of a
popular movement on May 4. His successor, Pillersdorf, drew up
an electoral law which carefully excluded the laboring classes, and
the excitement in Vienna redoubled. At first the monarch seemed
to yield to the popular movement; on May 15 he granted the
establishment of a single chamber elected by universal suffrage,
but two days after he left Vienna and fled to Innsbruck. The
populace of the capital, still too much imbued with the tradi-
tions of monarchy to think of usurping its power, was amazed and
embarrassed. A few barricades were erected, it is true, and a few
lives lost, but on the whole the government of the emperor re-
mained unquestioned. The Archduke John was sent to Vienna
and empowered to form a ministry which was slightly more liberal
than the preceding one. Early in July the delegates to the parlia-
ment began to arrive, but from the events which had occurred in
the provinces it could be readily seen that this assembly was not
destined to play a very serious role, or to restore peace to the
Austrian empire, now shaken to her very foundations by revolution.
In Bohemia the revolution had broken out even earlier
than in Vienna. The signal had been given by a liberal club which
bore the significant name of " Repeal." On March 11 a
meeting held in the hall of the Baths of St. Vacslav drew up a
petition which demanded the union of Moravia and Silesia with
Bohemia under a common administration, the amelioration of the
condition of the peasants, and provisions for public instruction.
These demands were very moderate, but the news of the events
in Vienna soon emboldened the Bohemian patriots. Czech stu-
dents organized an academic legion, and the Committee of Peti-
364 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
184a
tions sat continually. The smoldering- national life burst forth
in all public activities with an unexpected vigor. Soon a second
petition was drawn up demanding the reconstruction of the king-
dom of Bohemia, with a central diet sitting at Prague, the estab-
lishment of a responsible ministry, and the recognition of equal
rights for the two races, the Czechs and the Germans. A deputa-
tion carrying these demands went to Vienna, where it was favorably
received. The government postponed the annexation of Moravia
and Silesia till the meeting of the central parliament, but guaran-
teed equal rights to the two nations of Bohemia. It also promised
to call a Bohemian diet, chosen on the basis of universal suffrage,
and oflFered to Bohemia a considerable degree of local autonomy.
A national committee was instructed to draw up the new reforms
But Bohemian autonomy, restricted though it was, was not looked
upon with favor by the Germans of Vienna who wished to remain
at the head of the empire, nor by the Hungarians in conflict with
the Slavs, and always frightened by the specter of Panslavism.
Still less did it please the Germans of Bohemia itself. They main-
tained that the kingdom belonged to them by the Treaty of Vienna
and by ancient right, and looked forward to its being one of the
parts of a Greater Germany. The Committee of Fifty, which met
at Frankfort to prepare for the meeting of the German parlia-
ment, had invited Palacky, the great national historian of the
Czechs, to take part in its deliberations. His famous reply clearly
set forth the position of Bohemia and of Austria in regard to a new
Germany.
" The aim proposed by your meeting," said he, " is to sub-
stitute a federation of peoples for the old federation of princes,
to bring the German nation to a true unity, to strengthen the
sentiment of German nationality, and to secure the greatness of
Germany, both at home and abroad. I honor these eflforts and
the sentiments which inspire them, but that does not say that I
can associate myself with them. I am not a German, or at least
I do not feel as if I were one. And certainly you have not
called me to join you that I might play the role of a super-
numerary without opinion and wishes of my own. ... I am
a Czech, a Slav by descent, and the little that I may be worth
is all at the service of my country. This country is doubtless
small, but it has possessed since its origin an historic individuality.
Its princes have acted in concert with German princes, but the
REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT 365
1848-1849
people themselves have never looked upon themselves as German.
. . . Moreover, you wish to enfeeble Austria forever and make
it impossible for her to exist as an independent state. Now, the
maintenance of the integrity and the development of Austria is
of great importance, not only to my people, but to all Europe, to
civilization, and to mankind."
But the German element was fully in sympathy with the
ideas of the promoters of the Frankfort parliament, and orders
were issued to elect deputies. This gave rise to serious disputes
and disorders, which were still further increased by the publica-
tion of the Austrian constitution of April 25. It contained no
reference to the engagements entered into by the government
with Bohemia a few days before, and the popular indignation rose
to its height. On the flight of the emperor to Innsbruck the Czechs
declined to obey the ministry at Vienna, and set up a sort of pro-
visional government. When Count Thun summoned the diet of
the kingdom some of the most illustrious Czechs joined in a move-
ment to convoke a Slav congress at Prague. It was the counter-
part of the German parliament of Frankfort. For the first time
the Slavs of all parts of the monarchy met together. The
proclamation of the committee read as follows : " Brothers ! Who
does not look on the past of our race with sorrow? Who does
not know that our sufferings have been the result of the ignorance
in which we have remained in regard to one another, of our quar-
reling and of our scattered position? After so many centuries of
misery we have become aware of our unity and solidarity." The
congress was divided into three sections — the Czech section, in-
cluding the representatives of Bohemia, Moravia, and the Slovak
provinces; the Polish and Ruthenian section, and the Servo-Croat
section. The relations of the Slavs of Austria among themselves,
their relations with the Germans, the Magyars, and the Slavs under
Turkish rule, their attitude toward other nations, especially toward
the Germans now assembled in parliament at Frankfort, the con-
ditions under which Austria could be made into a federal state, and
the extent to which the decisions of the German parliament of
Frankfort should be binding on the Slav countries of Austria, these
were the questions which the congress set itself to consider.
It was also proposed to address a manifesto to the peoples of
Europe in order to acquaint them with the conditions of a race
too little known, or known abroad almost entirely through the
366 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1848-1849
calumnies of its enemies. Unfortunately, while the congress was
pursuing its peaceful deliberations, a riot, the cause of which re-
mains even to-day undetermined, broke out in Prague. On June
12 shots were exchanged between the students and the soldiers of
the garrison. The wife of the military commander, Prince Win-
dischgratz, was killed in her hotel. Barricades were raised, while
the commando, securely established in the upper part of the town,
bombarded the lower town for three days, till it surrendered uncon-
ditionally. The Slav congress was dissolved, a state of siege was
proclaimed at Prague, and the plans for the convocation of the
diet were abandoned.
A little later the elections to the assembly at Vienna took
place. The Germans of the kingdom sent thither to represent
them men whom they knew to be violently hostile to the Slavs.
They were occupied more with the idea of a greater Germany than
with Austria, and they seemed to regard the attempts of the Czechs
to bring about their political emancipation as particularly directed
against them. The Czechs, on their part, chose those of their
compatriots who were most deeply compromised with the national
movement. They went to Vienna with a programme demanding
constitutional liberty, the preservation of the integrity of the
empire, menaced by the Hungarians and the Germans, and the
greatest possibly autonomy for the kingdom of Bohemia. The
Germans of Bohemia on the contrary looked toward Frankfort,
and would willingly have given up one-half of the kingdom to the
Hungarians provided they could have secured a dominant position
in the other.
In Galicia also the revolutionary movement of March had
made itself felt. Quite early the Poles of Lemberg had made known
their demands to the government. They did not ask for a separa-
tion from Austria, but demanded the dismissal of the unpopular
officials, the suppression of the secret police, the administration of
the country by the natives, and that Polish regiments should not
be required to leave Galicia. But the Galician nobles dared do
nothing, held in check by the fear of Russia on the one hand and
of the peasants on the other. The people were excited by numerous
political refugees who had returned to the country; a sort of pro-
visional government was established at Cracow, and on April
26 an insurrection broke out which was promptly suppressed by a
bombardment. A few days before, the governor, Stadion, in pro-
REVOLUTIONARY MOVEMENT 367
1848-1849
claiming the abolition of the corvee, deprived the nobles of the
credit of a measure which they had themselves demanded. He
also administered a clever check to the demands of the Poles by
favoring the aspirations of the Ruthenians, who demanded the
recognition of the equality of their nation with that of the Poles,
and of the Uniate Greek with the Catholic clergy. He thus secured
for the Austrian government the position of arbitrator, which
greatly increased both its moral and material power in this ancient
Polish province, and from this time Galicia gave Austria no further
trouble.
Before passing to Hungary let us recall briefly the events which
had taken place in Italy. On March i8 Milan had risen, and the
Austrians had been forced to withdraw to the famous Quadri-
lateral, a strongly protected region guarded by fortresses, between
Lombardy and Venetia. A little later they had been driven out
of Venice, Modena, and Parma. Early in April, Charles Albert,
king of Piedmont, had espoused the cause of the Italians and
declared war on Austria. Before the end of the summer, how-
ever, he was defeated. Radetzky, the Austrian general, after an
able campaign reoccupied Lombardy in August.
"In deinem Lager ist Oesterreich
Wir andere sind einzelne Trumtner."
" In your camp alone Austria is found, we others are but
lonely ruins," wrote the Viennese poet Grillparzer. A long series
of conflicts was needed to restore these isolated ruins to that
fictitious unity in which absolutism maintained them for another
half a century.
I
Chapter XXIX
THE HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION. 1848-1849
AS early as March 3 Kossuth had secured the adoption
of an address by the chamber of deputies at Presburg
L demanding the appointment of a responsible ministry,
and on the 15th a deputation took the address to the em-
peror. A whole series of radical measures was adopted pro-
viding for the reform of public education, religious equality,
trial by jury, liberty of the press, the annual convocation of the
diet, the union of Transylvania with Hungary, the participation
of the nobles in the payment of the taxes, and the abolition of
the corvees and other feudal dues upon payment of an indemnity
to those who suffered losses. But while these measures were
being passed at Presburg, the city of Pesth became the center
of an agitation which proved to be the beginning of the Hun-
garian revolution. A number of young men, among them the
well-known poet, Petofi, the novelist, Jokai, and the fiery and pop-
ular orator, Vasvary, seized a printing press and in spite of the
royal censorship printed the famous programme of March 15. This
programme, divided into twelve sections, demanded most of the
liberal measures recently voted at Presburg; but it asked, besides,
that the diet be annually convoked at Pesth, that the ministry sit in
that town, that a national guard and a Hungarian bank be estab-
lished, and that an amnesty be declared for all political prisoners.
The emperor-king acceded to the wishes of the diet, and the palatine
called upon Count Batthyany to form the first Hungarian ministry.
Kossuth was made minister of finance, Eotvos minister of public
education, Szechenyi of public works, and Deak of justice. At
the same time the diet worked out a new electoral law, based upon
a limited suffrage, by which the number of electors was raised
to one million two hundred thousand. Nothing up to this point
showed any signs of a desire on the part of the Hungarians to
break with the dynasty. On April 10, when Ferdinand came to
close the sitting of the diet, he was enthusiastically received.
But although the majority of the Magyars were satisfied with
HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION 369
1848
their position, the non-Magyar natiotis were not. The laws con-
cerning the Hungarian language had greatly irritated the Croats
and Servians. In an assembly held on May 13 at Karlowitz they
voted the reestablishment of the offices of patriarch and voievode
and the formation of the Servians into an independent nation under
the Austrian crown.
On May 30 the diet of Transylvania met at Klausenburg
and voted the union of that principality with Hungary, But
here also an hitherto unrecognized race was about to demand its
rights. The Magyars, the Szeklers, and the Saxons had hitherto
directed the affairs of the principality, but now the long-suppressed
Rumanians raised their voices and in a large popular assembly
held at Blasendorf they drew up a list of their demands, which
involved a recognition of their nationality, religious equality, the
suppression of all offensive expressions against the Rumanians
contained in the Hungarian laws, and the postponement of the
vote of union with Hungary until they should be represented in
the diet. But the Magyars were too much infatuated with their
own interests to listen to these just demands, and harshly rejected
them.
A struggle between the Magyars and the other nationalities in
the borders of Hungary was inevitable, and the Servians gave the
signal for its beginning. After having come to an understanding
with Jellacic, the new ban of Croatia, they seized the arsenal at
Titel and established a camp near Karlowitz. They were com-
manded by an old lieutenant of hussars, Stratimirovic, who showed
remarkable talent. In his manifesto he said: " We fight those who
violate the constitution, who seek liberty only for themselves, and
who will not pretend to do other than to employ for the benefit
of the Magyar minority the treasure amassed by the labor of Slavs,
Germans, and Rumanians." The soldiers of the military frontier
made common cause with their compatriots, and numerous volun-
teers were sent from Servia. The court, which was established at
Innsbruck, took good care not to suppress a movement which
justified once again the old principle of the monarchy, '' Divide et
impera."
The Hungarian diet, which met at Pesth on July 5, assembled
therefore under foreboding auspices. Kossuth, in a remarkable
speech, pointed out the dangers to Hungary from the southern
Slavs, and asked for a levy of men and a loan of forty-two million
870 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1848
florins. Conferences between the Hungarians and Croats were
called at Vienna, but they settled nothing-. " We will soon meet
again on the banks of the Drave," said the president of the Hun-
garian ministry to the ban. " No," replied Jellacic, " I will come
to find you on the Danube," and on September ii he crossed the
Drave.
Stratimirovic had collected thirty thousand men and a hun-
dred cannon. In September the Magyars sent a deputation to
the parliament of Vienna, but that body, dominated by the Slavs
and irritated by the injustice of the Hungarians, refused to receive
it. The palatine, divided between the duties of his official position
and those of his position as a prince of the imperial family, left
Pesth under the pretext of going to assume the leadership of the
national army. Instead, he sought an interview with Jellacic, and
on being refused left Hungary to its fate and retired from office.
Louis Batthyany also resigned, and a committee of public defense,
presided over by Kossuth, was established by the diet on Septem-
ber 25. The same day an imperial decree appointed General Count
Lamberg commissary-royal and commander of the military forces of
Hungary. But soon after his arrival at Buda he was murdered
by an angry crowd. To this act the emperor replied by appointing
Jellacic lieutenant of the king and commander of all the forces of
the kingdom, and the rupture between Hungary and the monarch
was complete.
The Magyars began to make preparations for the defense
of their country. Kossuth issued a call for volunteers and re-
called all the national troops doing garrison duty in Bohemia and
Galicia. Jellacic was repulsed in his march upon Pesth and fell
back toward Vienna, whither the emperor had returned upon
August 12. The diet, then in session in Vienna, espoused
the cause of the dynasty against the Magyars. The populace of
the capital, on the contrary, out of hatred for the Slavs, and be-
cause of their own revolutionary sentiments, showed a passion-
ate sympathy for the revolution at Pesth. On October 17
they rose against the government to prevent reinforcements from
being sent to Jellacic, and appealed to the Hungarians for aid.
The Hungarians arrived too late and were forced to recross the
Leitha, while the Viennese had to open their gates to Windisch-
gratz. The events of this episode of the revolution will be
treated later. In the meantime the Hungarians were still ham-
HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION S71
1848-1849
pered by the desire to remain loyal to the king of Hungary. The
Hungarian ministers declared that they remained faithful " to the
beloved king of Hungary," even though they were fighting the
troops of the hated emperor.
But suddenly there was no longer any king. Ferdinand ab-
dicated on December 2 in favor of his nephew, Francis Joseph.
The Magyars would not recognize this abdication, and while
revolting against the governing king maintained a platonic
fidelity to the king who had abdicated. Kossuth put the kingdom
in a state of defense, organized the famous battalions of the Hon-
veds, or " defenders of their country," and formed foreign regi-
ments, which were eagerly joined by the Poles. The struggle thus
begun was terrible. Austria attacked Hungary by way of Moravia,
Galicia, Styria, and the south, while the Rumanians in Tran-
sylvania energetically aided the imperial troops, less because of
their love for the emperor than out of hatred for their old op-
pressors. In this unequal struggle Hungary was destined to be
completely beaten. Windischgratz entered Presburg on the i8th
and Raab on December 27. On January i, 1849, ^he committee of
defense was forced to quit Pesth, and to retire to Debreczen in a
sandy and almost inaccessible region. A few days later the Hun-
garian troops also withdrew and the city was immediately oc-
cupied by Windischgratz. Batthyany was arrested, court-martials
were established, and a reign of terror was inaugurated in the
wretched capital.
A On the other hand, Bem, a Pole, who had been one of the de-
^ fenders of Vienna, carried on a marvelous campaign in Transylva-
nia, in which the youthful poet Petofi perished. For a long time
d|| his countrymen refused to believe in his death, and many years
■ afterward Hungary was stirred up by the report that Petofi was
being held prisoner in Siberia by the Russians, and that after a
A captivity of thirty years he was about to return to his native land.
* In spite of the intervention of a Russian corps Hermannstadt fell
into Bem's hands and the Austrians and Russians retreated into
Wallachia. In the south Perczel reconquered a part of the Servian
^ territory.
^ Fortune seemed again to smile upon the Hungarians. Win-
dischgratz was dismissed and Kossuth believed himself strong
enough to strike a decisive blow. On April 14 the diet at De-
breczen voted the deposition of the house of Austria and the
37a AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1849
independence of Hungary. Kossuth was made governor-president
and the decision as to the form of government reserved for the
future. Hungary was far too aristocratic and too much imbued
with monarchical traditions to proclaim a repubHc. In his new
ministry Kossuth intrusted Count Batthyany with foreign affairs
and Gorgei was made minister of war. At last Hungary, which
had seemed up to this time so attached to legal forms, definitely
broke with its old traditions. But the only state of Europe which
was willing to recognize her was the short-lived republic of Venice.
A great success, however, followed the declaration of independ-
ence. On May 21 the fortress of Buda was captured from the
Austrians.
But a new danger now threatened the Hungarian cause. Three
weeks previous the Official Gazette of Vienna had announced that
Tsar Nicholas had placed the Russian armies at the disposal of
the Emperor Francis Joseph, in order that he might crush his re-
volted subjects. This meant the avowal of Austrian weakness,
but it was at the same time, as has been remarked, a recognition
of Russia as the natural protector of the oppressed Slavs against
the Hungarians. In vain Vladislas Teleki at Paris, and Andrassy
in Turkey, endeavored to bring about a counter-intervention in
favor of the Magyars. The Russians crossed the Carpatians on
June 4, while Haynau, who had already made himself notorious
in Italy, defeated the Hungarian generals on the Danube and
marched upon Pesth. One hundred thousand Russians under the
command of Paskievitch entered Galicia, while fifty thousand
pushed into Transylvania. During this time Gorgei acted in the
most suspicious fashion; while pretending to fight the enemy, he
prepared to enter into negotiations with him, and to restore the
monarchy. In dire straits, the diet at Debreczen proclaimed the
equality of the races in Hungary. But it was too late. On August
II Kossuth surrendered his dictatorship to Gorgei, and two days
later the latter capitulated at Vilagos to the Russians with twenty-
three thousand men and one hundred and thirty cannon. This was
the signal for flight. Bem, Kossuth, and those who could escape
crossed over into Turkey, and Klapka was forced to surrender the
almost impregnable fortress Komom on September 2y. " Hun-
gary," wrote Paskievitch to the Tsar, " lies at the feet of your
Majesty." With the fall of Komom the last rampart of Hungary
was gone.
HUNGARIAN REVOLUTION 373
1849
It would have been wise and magnanimous to have honored
by clemency a victory which, after all, had been gained only at
the cost of foreign intervention. But other councils prevailed.
The vengeance of the conqueror was pitiless. Louis Batthyany
was shot at Pesth; the generals who had capitulated were either
shot or hanged like malefactors, and the executions which followed
recalled the bloody days of Eperies. Thousands of patriots,
among them women of noble birth, were consigned to imprison-
ment. The property of the condemned was confiscated; Grorgei
escaped the death penalty, but was imprisoned in the fortress of
Klagenfurt. Even those who had escaped into Turkey were perse-
cuted, both Austria and Russia demanding their extradition. But
the Sultan refused, and from this time may be dated the affection
of the Magyars for the Turks, an affection which has been in-
creased by their hatred of Russia and everything Slavic. The
two powers did succeed, however, in their demand that certain
of the refugees should not be allowed to leave Turkey. Many of
them became Mohammedans, notably the Pole, Bem, who died
shortly afterward at Aleppo. One of the refugees, Count Julius
Andrassy, was one day to be called upon to direct the destinies
of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy.
On the news of the capitulation of Vilagos Venice had sur-
rendered, August 22, in Lombardy. Charles Albert, after a second
attempt, had been defeated at Novara on March 23, 1849, and
abdicated, leaving to his son, Victor Emmanuel, a kingdom
harassed by difficulties. The Austrian rule was reimposed in
northern Italy, and with Hungary also vanquished and pacified the
reaction could have full play till the time when it should have
worn itself out, or till events would permit the conquered people
once again to assert themselves.
Chapter XXX
THE REVOLUTION IN VIENNA. 1849
WE have now to return to the attempts at constitutionalism
in the Austrian countries outside of Hungary. The
diet at Vienna was composed of 383 deputies, 53 for
Upper and Lower Austria, 48 for Moravia, 91 for Bohemia, and 19
for Styria and other provinces. Among this number the rural
deputies formed a considerable element. A great many of them,
especially the Ruthenians and Galicians, did not understand Ger-
man. The Austrian aristocracy had obtained no votes or had
refused to become candidates, and the Germans were consequently
in a minority. The radical papers, journals of the German party,
fearful of this barbarian invasion, denounced it in unmeasured
terms, some being printed with a black border. The Viennese in
their anger went to such extremes in their hostility toward the
Czech majority that only threats of a removal of the parliament
to some other city could restore them to reason. On July
10 the deputies met in the imperial riding school to decide
upon the rules of order. Representatives from eight different
nationalities were present: Germans, Czechs, Servian-Croats from
Dalmatia, Poles, Ruthenians, Italians from Istria, and Walla-
chians from Bukowina. The first difficulty arose over the language
question. In what language should the deliberations be con-
ducted? It was decided that interpreters should be furnished
those who did not understand German; but no one dared declare
German the official language. Schmidt, a lawyer of Vienna, was
chosen president of the assembly ; Strohbach, a Czech, and Smolka,
a Pole, its vice-presidents. At first fixed parties did not appear;
divisions followed rather lines of nationality; the Czechs with
the Ruthenians occupied the right; the Tyrolese and the Austrian
conservatives, the black-yellows, as they were called, the center,
while the left was occupied more particularly by the Germans and
the democrats. On July 22 the diet was opened, and the speech
from the throne declared that it had been convoked " to finish the
374
REVOLUTION IN VIENNA 376
1848
great work of the revival of the Fatherland and to secure
liberty." In the absence of the emperor the Archduke John oc-
cupied his place, but he was soon called away to Frankfort, where
he had been proclaimed vicar of the empire. The assembly then
besought the sovereign to return and he reentered Vienna on
August 12.
The chamber had appointed a committee to draw up a new
constitution. The first question of importance with which it had
to deal was the condition of the peasantry. The assembly was
besieged with petitions which not infrequently partook of the na-
ture of threats, and the discussions on this weighty question were
all the more long and passionate because so many peasants were
in the diet. By the end of the month of August the assembly
voted to purchase at a reasonable price all the rights of the lords to
dues and forced labor, and decided by a vote of 224 to 125 that
a special indemnity fund should be created in each province. This
was the first step toward federation.
While the parliament, a veritable Tower of Babel, deliberated
with wise and often ludicrous slowness, the apostles of radicalism
were at work in the capital. The laboring classes became excited,
and the Aula, as the students' organization was called, exchanged
fraternal greetings with the artisans. The ministry, after the ex-
ample of the national workshops in France, had been paying the
laborers at the rate of fifteen kreutzers per day, notwithstanding
the fact that they did little or no work, and now the reduction of
the wages led to riots that had to be put down by force.
The committee of safety which had been established in March
was dissolved and with the great material distress troubles be-
came frequent. The populace demanded the dismissal of the
ministers, Latour, Schwarzer, and Bach. The assembly declared
itself in continuous session, but it could not maintain order even
within its own walls, for the radicals clamorously demanded the
reestablishment of the committee. A central committee of all
radical associations was formed, and the popular excitement
reached its height when the Hungarian deputies reached Vienna
to plead the cause of their country before the diet. That body,
under the influence of the Slavs, would not receive them. But
the democrats of Vienna gave them an ovation and promised them
brotherly assistance. They kept their word. Early in October
they prevented the departure of the imperial troops against Hun-
876 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1848
gary. A conflict occurred and the crowd destroyed the bridge
over which the troops had to cross. Latour, the minister of war,
was attacked in his house, brutally maltreated, and hanged. The
diet, notwithstanding the heroic efforts of some of its members,
was unable to prevent the excesses which disgraced these " October
days." It formed a committee of safety which endeavored to
act as a peacemaker between the government and the populace, and
asked for a popular ministry and a change of policy toward Hun-
gary. The emperor graciously received the deputation, but on
the following day he fled to Olmutz in the midst of his Slav sub-
jects, who alone seemed to furnish a shelter against the revolu-
tion. He left behind a manifesto in which he denounced the ex-
cesses of the preceding days in scathing terms, and announced
that he would take measures for the deliverance of the people of
Vienna and the maintenance of their freedom.
Three armies led by Generals Auersperg, Windischgratz, and
Jellacic were soon brought against Vienna, and, left to itself, the
capital could not long resist. Nevertheless it undertook to make a
defense. The republicans of Frankfort, in order to encourage their
political co-religionists, had sent a deputation at whose head was
Robert Blum, a bookseller of Leipzig and one of the foremost of
the German Liberals. After the departure of the emperor the con-
servatives of the diet, the Czechs leading, had quitted the assem-
bly and retired to Prague, from which they issued a protest
against the disturbances among their colleagues remaining at
Vienna. The diet was thus reduced to impotence by its own dis-
sensions, nor did the capital enjoy its triumph long. The attack
was made by Windischgratz and Jellacic on October 28,' and on the
31st the city capitulated. The Hungarians arrived too late to
afford assistance to their allies, and defeated by Jellacic, they re-
crossed the Leitha in disorder. Windischgratz entered Vienna and
at once proceeded to take terrible revenge, notwithstanding the fact
that the German parliament protested vigorously. Messenhauser,
the commandant of the national guard, and Robert Blum were
shot, the latter's rank as a deputy of the parliament of Frankfort
failing to save him. Others among his victims were Becker, the
editor of the Radical, and his assistant Jellinek. The minister of
the empire was forced to disavow Windischgratz, but the death
of Latour was avenged.
But the emperor did not await the submission of the capital
REVOLUTION IN VIENNA 377
1848
to convoke the diet in a place where its deliberations would be
assured of the necessary quiet and security. A rescript of Oc-
tober 22 suspended its sessions and invited it to resume its
meetings on November 22 in the Moravian city of Kremsier.
In this little town the diet might escape all demagogic influence.
Here the Pole, Smolka, was elected president, and on the previous
day a new cabinet came into office. The head of the new
ministry was the "soldier-statesman," Prince Schwarzenberg,
jWho had learned the art of suppressing revolutions by a long
ireer in Italy. He had first served in St. Petersburg, subse-
juently at London, Turin, and Naples, where he had shown
limself a passionate friend of absolutism, and later he had played
'an important role in the camp of Radetzky. The department of
internal affairs was intrusted to Count Stadion, who had shown
real talent for administration. The new ministry announced itself
without reserve in favor of constitutional government, and de-
clared that Austria would remain closely united to Germany, with-
out, at the same time, sacrificing her own interests. This pro-
gramme was made public on November 27, and on December
2 the diet was convoked in extraordinary session. To the great
surprise of the assembly, the president announced that the Em-
peror Ferdinand had abdicated, that his brother, the Archduke
Francis Charles, had renounced his rights, and that in conse-
quence, the young son of that prince, the Archduke Francis Joseph,
had succeeded to the imperial throne. The day before he had
reached his eighteenth year and been declared of age. This grave
decision had been made at a family meeting at which only the
ministers, the privy council. Prince Windischgratz and Jellacic had
been present. The very day of his abdication Ferdinand set out
for Prague, where he continued to live in retirement till his death.
His feeble health had for some time prevented him from perform-
ing the duties of his imperial office.
Chapter XXXI
EARLY YEARS OF THE REIGN OF FRANCIS JOSEPH—
THE PERIOD OF REACTION. 1848-1860
FRANCIS JOSEPH began his reign by declaring his inten-
tion to rule as a constitutional monarch. In his first
proclamation he said : " Firmly resolved to preserve with-
out blemish the splendor of the crown, we hope with the
aid of God and the cooperation of our people, with whom we are
prepared to share our rights, to unite all the countries and all
the races of the monarchy into one compact state." This programme
seemed to indicate a firm resolve to make out of Austria-Hungary
a centralized state. Since the constitution of the monarchy, or, to
speak more correctly, of this polyglot polyarchy, had become the
question of the day, three systems commanded the attention of
statesmen — ^first, centralization, which grouped all the provinces,
all the nationalities, and all the languages under a single govern-
ment, either parliamentary or absolute, at Vienna ; second, dualism,
which left Hungary with her historic constitution and grouped all
the other states about a factitious unity; and, third, federalism,
which would satisfy both the national aspirations and the historic
traditions of the different groups which composed the Austrian
empire. Up to that moment no principle had been laid down for
the solution of this grave problem. In point of fact, dualism
already existed, for Hungary had not been invited to the delibera-
tions of the diet at Vienna or at Kremsier. Federalism was de-
manded by the Slavs and some of the German groups, jealous of
their traditions and of their autonomy, as, for example, the Tyrol.
Palacky, the Czech historian, drew up a project which formulated
the demands of the federalists. It provided for only four
ministries for the whole empire, those of war, of marine, of finance,
and of foreign affairs. Each province was to enjoy complete local
independence, and the local diets were to choose a certain number of
deputies who would constitute the central diet. Palacky's scheme
recognized seven nationalities — Germans, Bohemians, Poles, Ital-
878
FRANCIS JOSEPH 379
1849
ians, Yougo-Slavs, Magyars, and Wallachians. Each of these
was to be represented at Vienna by its own chancery. This pro-
ject was naturally opposed by the German advocates of centraliza-
tion, who wished to Germanize the empire. Besides, it was evident
that there were many practical difficulties in the way. One of the
most serious of these was that the deputies did not dare to dispose
of Hungary without the concurrence of her representatives. It
was hoped that the emperor would invite Hungarians to the diet,
and that they might come. Three months passed in empty dis-
cussion without the government intervening or making known its
intentions Finally, on March 2, the work of constitution-making
seemed to be finished.
It was hoped that after reaching an understanding with the
government the constitution would be finally adopted, and that
on March 15, the anniversary of the revolution of 1848, it
should be solemnly proclaimed. But the deputies at Kremsier
[had overlooked the baneful influence of the German policy which
rhad weighed so heavily on Austria for centuries. An Austrian
^archduke was chosen vicar of Germany, and the parliament
[at Frankfort looked upon Austria as an annex of Germany
[whose mission it was to Germanize the refractory elements and
[to carry out the motto, " Drang nach Osten " ( Press on to the
[east). It voted the following articles in regard to Austria: No
)art of the German empire can be united into a single state with
other non-German countries; if a German country has the same
sovereign as a non-German country the relation between the two
countries can only be regulated in accordance with the principles
of a personal union." " When Austria and Germany, with re-
newed vigor shall each have decided on a new and definite form,
then only can the nature of their political relations be settled,"
declared the manifesto of November 27.
The federalists, especially the Slavs, had accepted this decla-
ration as a promise of emancipation from the yoke of Germany.
The leaders of the German party had replied on January 14, 1849,
by excluding Austria from the new German union. This gave
very little concern to the Austrian cabinet, which persisted in look-
ing upon Austria as the first of the great German states. A parlia-
mentary coup d'etat was decided upon, and on March 6 Stadion
called together a number of deputies and informed them that
in the absence of the Hungarians the assembly could not legally
$80 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1849-1851
adopt a constitution for the empire. In spite of the protests
of the deputies, the diet was dissolved, and the so-called con-
stitution of March 4 was granted through an imperial decree.
It was little more than a copy of the Belgian and Berlin con-
stitutions, and the Griindrechte of Germany. It declared the
Austrian empire to be independent, indivisible, and indissoluble;
and the equality of all the provinces, whose diets became purely
provincial councils. Two chambers were to assist the monarch,
who proclaimed his intention of being crowned emperor of Aus-
tria. The Hungarian constitution was to be maintained in so far
as it did not come into conflict with that of the empire. A special
statute was to regulate the status of Lombardy-Venetia. The
prohibitive censor was suppressed, and the free exercise of domestic
religion authorized ; of the historic rights of the different provinces,
and of the equality of various nationalities not a word was said.
Two years later, in 185 1, Schwarzenberg declared in a circu-
lar, "The constitution granted on March 4 was only the basis
on which it was expected to build up again the authority of
the throne. There was no time then to study the fundamental
provisions of a constitution, and so they were copied from foreign
models. Such an act could have no consequence and has had none."
In fact, the constitution of March 4 was never really put into prac-
tice. But although Austria was impotent at home, she nevertheless
played an important part in Germany. When the parliament of
Frankfort offered the imperial crown to the king of Prussia the
emperor of Austria broke with it, declaring that he was sovereign
of a single and united state, and that he would never admit
the intervention of a foreign monarch or assembly in any portion
of it.
The ten years which followed the pacification of Hungary and
of northern Italy mark a period of pitiless reaction. By the end
of 1849 order was reestablished everywhere. Nothing stood in
the way of putting the constitution into practice. An imperial
decree of August 4 had declared : " It shall not remain a dead
letter. It will serve as a rampart of liberty, a guarantee of the
power, the glory and the unity of the monarchy." Stadion, who
had secured its adoption, was in honor bound to see it put into
practice, but he lost his mind and was replaced by a Viennese
lawyer, Alexander Bach, who a short time previous had been a
fiery radical. Having attained power, however, he became the
FRANCIS JOSEPH 381
1851-1857
advocate of absolutism and reaction. Of all the gains of the
revolution he preserved only the laws concerning the condition of
the peasantry, and those which proclaimed civil equality for persons
and property. The delusive constitution of March 4 was declared
abrogated by imperial decree on December 31, 1851. The provinces
of the monarchy were divided; the administrative head in each
was appointed by the central government, and the functions
of the diet were reduced to a minimum. Further, the centralizing
bureaucracy became the instrument of a pitiless policy of German-
ization, which weighed equally heavily on the Hungarians, who
wished to dismember the empire, and the Slavs, who strove to
maintain it. " A temporary arrangement " — such was the word
which designated the system which was in vogue for ten entire
years, and if such a thing were possible, said Springer, " one would
have invented a temporary arrangement of temporary arrange-
ments." " Distrust of the government became a state maxim,"
said another publicist, and the only remedy sought for this distrust
was in material force.
Hungary was the first to suffer from the new absolutism.
Everything was done to deprive her of her independence. A
royal lieutenant was installed at Pesth, and the kingdom cut up
into five divisions. Public offices were intrusted to Germans by
preference, the German language was made the language of the
administration, the courts, and the schools. A ruthless police
watched over the citizens, and the state of siege was kept up till
1854, a general amnesty not being proclaimed until 1857. The
annexed kingdoms, Transylvania, Croatia, and Servia, were again
detached and given local independence. But the Slavs, thus freed
from the Magyar yoke, fell under the rule of the Germans. The
same policy was followed in Bohemia and Galicia, especially after
the death of Schwarzenberg in 1852, when Bach became more
powerful than ever. " Trial by jury and the right of public trial
were suppressed," says Tomek, " the elections of the municipal
bodies were suspended, and the equality of the Bohemian language
with the German set aside in the schools ; the police were arbitrary
and harsh, interfering frequently with the ordinary courts. . . .
The liberty of the press in everything which concerned public af-
fairs was completely stifled; it was not even permissible to publish
a journal in Czech. The Austrian government, solely occupied
with establishing its influence in Germany, hoped to secure the
889 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1850-1857
sympathies of the Germans by securing to them a supremacy over
the other nations of the empire."
The government, thus addicted to absolutism, readily saw that
it could strengthen its position by an alliance with the church, for
the Holy See and the bishops were its natural allies. In an assem-
bly held at Vienna in 1849 the Austrian prelates had vigorously
protested against the national movements. They had declared
" nationality a relic of paganism and different languages a conse-
quence of sin and the fall of man." It was decided that the last
traces of Josephism, which provided for the supremacy of state
over the church, should be abolished, and after extended negotia-
tions the Concordat of 1855 was concluded. It declared Catholi-
cism the privileged religion, placed both private and public
instruction in the hands of the clergy, and authorized the publica-
tion of all pontifical documents without reference to the civil
power, while the state bound itself not to permit the circulation of
books censured by the clergy. The bishops were invested with
the powers of imposing corporal punishment, as for example, im-
prisoning refractory priests, and the government pledges itself to
aid them in executing the^r judgments. These measures gave an
ecclesiastical bias to the centralized, absolutist system of the ten
years from 1849 to 1859. All political life ceased, and intellectual
torpor marks the period, while material conditions became steadily
worse. The events of 1848-1849 had exhausted an already im-
poverished treasury, and the years immediately following brought
no relief, so that in spite of constantly increasing taxes the annual
deficit continued. In order to meet the exigencies of the situation
the government was led to issue paper money subject to a discount,
and banknotes down to the value of five cents were actually in
circulation.
Abroad, Austria was able at the beginning of this period
to make a fairly tolerable showing. In Germany, Schwarzenberg,
whom public opinion was pleased to consider as a great minister,
had succeeded in maintaining the federal compact which assured
to Austria a dominant position among the German states. Prussia
was checked by a coalition of princes cleverly grouped about
Francis Joseph, and in November of 1850 she was forced to recede
absolutely from her position in supporting the liberals of Hesse
against their stupidly reactionary prince. At a conference at
Olmiitz the Prussian minister, Manteuffel, contributed still further
FRANCIS JOSEPH 383
1854-1857
to his country's humiliation. Most of the demands of Schwarzen-
berg were acceded to, and Prussia agreed to cooperate in rein-
stating the elector of Hesse, to act in Holstein only with the aid
of Austria, and to take part in the conferences at Dresden to dis-
cuss the future organization of Germany. The conference at Dres-
den ended, as Austria advocated, in reestablishing the old confed-
eration with its diet at Frankfort. The only part of her programme
that Austria was unable to carry through was her plan to secure
the admission of all her Italian and Slav provinces into the empire.
In 1854 Francis Joseph knit still closer the bonds with the south
German princes by his marriage with Princess Elizabeth of Bavaria.
In the Eastern Question the Austrian policy during this period
was entirely negative. All its positive force seems to have been
directed toward Germany and Italy. In the Slav or Rumanian
countries, subjected to the Turk, her intervention might at times
have been favorably received, but it was impossible for her to
espouse the cause of the Slavs in the Balkan peninsula when she
was herself endeavoring to crush out Slavism in her own states.
Hence a drifting, uncertain policy. Unable to wield a controlling
influence in Turkey, she contented herself by counteracting that
of Russia.
The Crimean War was a painful experience for Austria. She
owed the Emperor Nicholas a definite obligation for the services
rendered her during the Hungarian revolution. Yet Schwarzen-
berg was right when he said, " Austria will astonish the world by
her ingratitude." When the dificulties in the East between Nicholas
and the Porte first arose, the Austrian minister. Count Buol, pro-
posed a conference. He guaranteed Austrian neutrality only on the
condition that Russia promised to respect the integrity of the Otto-
man empire. Some time later, in August, he demanded that the
Danubian principalities be placed under the protection of the five
great powers, that the navigation of the Danube should be free,
that the treaty of 1841 be revised by the contracting powers, and
that Russia renounce her claims to the protectorate over the Greek
Christians subject to the Sultan.
When the campaigns of the Crimean War began the cabinet
of Vienna allied itself with France and England to defend the
Danubian principalities against Russia. The conferences held at
Vienna were of no avail to maintain peace. Austria was not sorry
to see Russia weakened without her armed intervention, and re-
SS4, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1855-1858
mained satisfied with occupying the principalities with the consent
of the Porte. But an unexpected event caused serious anxiety to
Austrian statesmen. Piedmont, known to be be governed by an
ambitious and intelligent prince, joined the allies and sent an
army to the Crimea. Might this not be a portent of awakening
in Italy in spite of the rule of terror that prostrated her? In any
case, this new development was the signal for energetic measures
on the part of Austria to bring the war to a close. She renewed
her proposals of August 8, demanding Russia's withdrawal from
Bessarabia, and the neutralization of the Black Sea. She even
recalled her ambassador from St. Petersburg. Peace was thus
forced on Russia, and the terms of a final treaty drawn up at
the Congress of Paris were signed on March 30, 1856. The
Black Sea was neutralized, the navigation of the Danube made
free, the claim of Russia to a protectorate over the members of the
Orthodox Greek Church in Turkey renounced, and the other diffi-
culties regarding the East referred to the powers.
But an incident occurred at the Congress of Paris which was
to have the most serious consequences for Austria. Piedmont was
represented by Cavour, and through him the Italian question was
brought up for discussion. Both Cavour and Walewski drew at-
tention to the abnormal conditions in the peninsula, and the dan-
gerous preponderance which Austria had acquired. Having crept
in under the shadow of the Eastern Question the Italian Question
was now to the front, and would not be long in finding the solu-
tion which had become inevitable.
Thus, on the whole, the results of the Crimean War were not
so favorable to Austria as at first appeared. She had secured the
free navigation of the Danube, but the principalities of Wallachia
and Moldavia had united to form the state of Rumania, thus
creating a center of attraction for the Rumanians in Austria.
The friendship of Russia had cooled and St. Petersburg even
accused Vienna of treason. But more significant still. Piedmont
had entered the European concert, and sure of the friendship of
Napoleon III., prepared for war. In the summer of 1858 Cavour
brought about an alliance with the French emperor by which the
latter promised to deliver the whole of Lombardy-Venetia as far
as the Adriatic in return for Savoy and Nice, and a marriage
alliance between the Princess Clotilde, daughter of Victor Emman-
uel, and Prince Jerome.
FRANCIS JOSEPH S85
1858-1860
Cavour also obtained the help of Lord Cowley, and through
his good offices demanded of the Austrian government the creation
of a national government for Lombardy-Venetia, the abandonment
of the Romagna and the establishment of a constitutional system
in Parma, Modena, and Tuscany. At this point England and
Russia proposed a congress. But, fortunately for Italy, Buol,
backed by the war party at Vienna, assumed the aggressive. In
April he sent an ultimatum demanding the disarmament of
Piedmont. This precipitated the war, and early in May official
declarations of war were made by France and Sardinia against
Austria. The minions of Austrian rule at once fled from the
duchies, and her new general, Giulay, the veteran Radetzky hav-
ing died the year before, showed none of his predecessor's ability.
He did not understand how to invade Piedmont or to cut the
road between Turin and Grenoa, and was driven back toward
Lombardy. After a number of defeats, notably at Magenta, the
Austrians evacuated the whole of Lombardy and withdrew to the
region of the " Quadrilateral." Here they were again severely
defeated by the Italians and French at Solferino, June 23. But the
fortified region of the " Quadrilateral " still protected Venetia, and
Napoleon III. mistrusted his ability to carry out his entire pro-
gramme. He had declared that he wished to free Italy " from
the Alps to the Adriatic," but he now drew back from the ex-
ecution of the project. He feared Germany, and he dared not take
advantage of the desire of Hungary to rise, because that would
be strengthening his cause by an alliance with revolution. On July
1 1 he had an interview at Villafranca with Francis Joseph. Peace
was decided upon, without the consent of the Italians, and on No-
vember 10, 1859, Victor Emmanuel was obliged to agree to the
Treaty of Zurich. By it the Austrian emperor surrendered to Na-
poleon, who was to give it to Sardinia, all of the province of Lom-
bardy excepting the fortresses of Mantua and Peschiera. The
grand dukes of Tuscany and Modena were to return to their states.
Italy was to form a confederation in which Austria was to be a
member by right of her possession of Venetia, fantastic dreams
which the patient and wily policy of Cavour quickly annihilated.
Chapter XXXII
ATTEMPTS AT CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT— THE
EXPULSION OF AUSTRIA FROM GERMANY. 1860-1867
THE absolute and centralized system had ended in the dis-
memberment of the empire, and in her defeat Austria
could not even count upon the loyalty of her people.
Some among them openly rejoiced at her disasters. Bohemian
peasants declared : " If we are defeated we will have a constitu-
tion, if victorious, the inquisition." Francis Joseph at last realized
that he had pursued a wrong policy, dismissed his reactionary min-
ister Bach, and, after some hesitation, adopted a series of reforms
looking toward the gradual introduction of a constitutional
regime. On March 6, i860, he extended his council by the
addition of thirty-eight members, making of it a council of the
empire in which the notables from the different countries were
represented. But this council was, after all, merely a consultative
body without any right of initiative, and was far from meeting
the expectations and demands of the people. A Galician noble-
man, Goluchowski, who did not share the rancors of the Ger-
mans and the Hungarians, was called to the ministry, and with his
assistance the patent of October 20, i860, was drawn up. It
provided, among others, for the following reforms: The legisla-
tive power was to be vested in the hands of the emperor and the
diet ; the council of the empire, composed of 100 delegates from the
diets, was to have charge of all matters concerning the common
interests, such as finance, trade, ways of communication, and war.
All other matters were left to the decision of the separate diets.
Citizens were to be equal before the law in regard to religion, tax-
ation, and military service. The common ministries of the interior,
of justice, and of public worship were abolished. The diets retained
the old organization based upon class distinctions.
The nevy minister, Schmerling, was intrusted with the task of
developing and carrying into practice the principles of this patent,
which he completed by the patent of February 26, 1861. Like
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 387
1861
Bach and Mettemich, his chief aim was to establish the ascendency
of the German element. Besides, his attempt to apply to Austria
the pariiamentary theories which were suitable only to a homo-
geneous state could not but be unsuccessful. He established two
chambers : the upper chamber, in which sat the princes, large land-
owners, prelates, and some men of eminence chosen by the mon-
arch ; and the lower chamber, consisting of 343 members, elected by
the provincial diets. The portfolios of the ministers of the in-
terior, of public worship, and of justice were restored, and the
authority of the central diet was increased at the expense of the
provincial diets. The hopes raised by the patent of October among
[the federalists were destroyed. But it could scarcely be expected
khat the Hungarians would so readily consent to surrender their
[autonomy and willingly deliberate concerning the interests of their
: country in a diet with Czechs, Slovenes, and Poles. A con-
ipromise was arranged by which their deputies took their seats only
twhen the common interests of all the empire were being dis-
tcussed. Their presence constituted the Reichsrath with full
power, their absence changed the parliament into an assembly of
limited powers in which the other groups busied themselves with
questions beyond the competency of the separate diet. In this
way the centralizing minister avoided dualism. At the same time,
he organized all the provincial diets upon the same model, but
with an elective system cleverly manipulated so as to stifle the Slav
majority. Three classes were admitted to representation, large
landholders, the middle class of the cities, and the peasants.
Special privileges were granted to the large estates belonging to the
aristocratic families whose owners were vassals of the sovereign,
and to the towns in which there were numerous German colonists.
The electoral divisions were made in the most arbitrary way. In
Bohemia, for example, Slav towns had one deputy for 12,020
voters, while the German towns had one for every 10,315. In the
rural districts the Slavs had one deputy for every 53,000 inhabi-
tants, the Germans one for every 40,800. The German town of
Reichenberg, with 19,000 inhabitants, had three deputies, while the
Slav city of Prague with 153,000 inhabitants had only ten. Certain
German towns were made into veritable rotten boroughs. The
German hamlet of Parchen, with 500 inhabitants, had a deputy,
while the Slav town of Kladno, with 8000 inhabitants, had none.
In short this electoral system was a deception, and since its adop-
388 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1861-1863'
tion the non-German people have never ceased to demand its
repeal, but with certain modifications it continues in force to-day,
and so long as it remains Austria cannot be regarded as having a
truly representative government.
After the promulgation of the constitution of February the dif-
ferent peoples of the empire were divided as to whether they would
accept it and send deputies to the new Reichsrath. The Italians in
Venetia, the Magyars and the Croatians refused, and 140 deputies,
more than one-third of the total 343, failed to appear. " We can
wait," proudly remarked Schmerling. But all his diplomacy failed
in the face of the judicial obstinacy of the Hungarians. " I know
only the Hungarian constitution, and I can treat only with it as a
basis," was the invariable reply of Deak to the propositions of the
Viennese statesmen. The Hungarian diet convoked at Pesth in
April, 1861, rejected all compromise, the rigorous legists even going
so far as to refuse to recognize Francis Joseph as king, because he
had never been crowned. For the coronation, said they, in a
country whose rights are historical, is not merely a religious cere-
mony, but a bilateral contract. In it the sovereign takes an oath
which recognizes the ancient rights of the kingdom. The legists
wished to pass a resolution only, but Deak prevailed upon them to
vote an address. In this document, remarkable for its lucidity
and logic, he recalled the historical rights of the kingdom. " The
fundamental condition of our political life and our national inde-
pendence," said he, " is the legal independence and self-govern-
ment of our land. Our first duty is to consecrate all our faculties
to maintain Hungary as Hungary and to secure her constitutional
rights. . . . We solemnly declare that we cannot sacrifice
the rights based upon treaties, laws, royal letters, or coronation
oaths, for any consideration or to any interests whatsoever." The
address demanded that the law of 1848 and the engagements of the
Pragmatic Sanction be put into effect. But the government of
Vienna believed itself powerful enough to overcome the Hun-
garians by force, and dissolved the diet. Meetings of the comitats
were forbidden, and royal commissioners were substituted for the
refractory Fotspanak. But in spite of all this the resistance of
the Magyars continued.
Bohemia was hardly more satisfied than Hungary. She
justly complained of the electoral system granted by Schmerling,
and sent deputies to the Reichsrath only after reserving all the
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 389
1863-1866
rights of the kingdom. After 1863 her representatives ceased to
take part in its deHberations. The only liberty granted by Schmer-
ling to Bohemia was that of the press, but the Slavs profited little by
this, for within the space of three years the owners and editors
of fourteen Czech newspapers were condemned to sixty-one months
of imprisonment, more or less severe, and an aggregate fine of
21,500 florins.
The Polish insurrection in 1863 caused great excitement in
Galicia, and serious embarrassment to the cabinet of Vienna.
Again a wavering policy was followed, while Prussia secured the
friendship of Russia by concluding an agreement with that power
against the insurgents. Austria, on the contrary, listened to the
overtures of Napoleon, whose sympathies for the Poles were pro-
nounced. He wanted to aid the cabinet of Vienna to regain
Silesia, and to assure it of the Danubian principalities in exchange
for Venetia, projects neither understood nor favored at Vienna.
Austria contented herself by addressing diplomatic notes to St.
Petersburg and by declaring a state of siege in Galicia. This
double policy irritated not only the Poles, but also the Czechs of
Bohemia and Moravia, who were more inclined to sympathize with
the Polish revolutionists than with the Muscovite autocrats.
The work of Schmerling was becoming increasingly impractica-
ble. In 1865 the emperor journeyed to Pesth in order to come to an
understanding with the Hungarians. He gave them a new chancel-
lor, and Schmerling resigned. The doctrinaire advocates of
Germanism groaned, but in the provinces the joy was great, and
the cities of Prague, Pesth, and Lemberg illuminated. Francis
Joseph declared the February constitution suspended, and ad-
journed the Reichsrath until the diets of Hungary and of Croatia
should have expressed themselves as to their relations to the em-
pire. Belcredi, a Moravian, was given Schmerling's place. The
diets of the larger Slav provinces, Bohemia and Galicia, showed
their gratitude for the change of ministry, and hastened to undo
the Germanizing measures of the previous cabinet. In Galicia, for
example, the Polish language was introduced into all the schools.
In the Hungarian diet, which was opened on September 14, 1865,
the extreme left demanded the unequivocal execution of the
laws of 1848, but the liberal party, under the direction of Deak,
drew up a programme which endeavored to reconcile the practical
needs with the maintenance of Hungary's historical rights. To
890 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1860-1866
do this it was necessary to put the laws of 1848 into force and
to nominate a responsible ministry, which alone would have the
right to impose the necessary modifications. The debates dragged
on for a long time and were finally interrupted by the war with
Prussia and Italy in 1866.
Prussia had not forgotten her humiliation at Olmiitz. She
was not only longing for revenge, but ready to assert her leader-
ship in Germany. For this role it must be admitted she was much
better suited than her rival, for except in the duchy of Posen and
some parts of Silesia, the Prussian state was entirely German.
William I., who was crowned in 1861, had found in Bismarck
the minister whose policy enabled Prussia not only to crush Aus-
tria, but to raise herself to a position of undisputed leadership
among the German states. The mistaken policy of Austria in
Germany at the Congress of Vienna, and thenceforward under
the guidance of Metternich ; her steady support of reaction against
the growing sentiment in favor of liberalism, of the independence
of the small states as against the yearning for a strongly united
Fatherland; her hostility to Prussia and the Zollverein; and, as
we have just seen, her triumph in again saddling upon Germany
the effete system of the Confederation after the movement of
1848, had plainly allied her with a doomed cause. Prussia, on
the other hand, particularly during the decade following Olmiitz,
gained rapidly in strength and prestige. Her customs union was
a constant source of material strength and its success a practical
guarantee of her fitness for leadership. By i860 the union had
practically closed its doors to Austria by the adoption of such low
duties that the old protective system to which that country clung
tenaciously made her membership impossible.
But the final solution of the question of the place of Austria
in Germany was to come about through an entirely different
matter. Already during the troublesome years of 1848 and 1849
the Schleswig-Holstein question had led to serious difficulties.
The two duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were united to Den-
mark by a personal union, although the populations were largely
German. Greographically, too, they were closely connected with
Prussia, and it was only natural that the attempts of Denmark
in 1848 to incorporate them should have met with protests, and
even armed intervention. In 1852 the London Conference, to
which Austria and Prussia were parties, established the semi-
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 391
1860-1866
independence of the duchies under Denmark. In violation of
this arrangement the king of Denmark tried, in 1863, to incor-
porate them. The dispute which followed led to the joint inter-
vention of Austria and Prussia in January of 1864. The Danes,
deceived in their hopes of foreign assistance, were easily defeated,
and by the Treaty of Vienna, October 30, 1864, Christian IX. ceded
all his rights to Schleswig, Holstein, and Lauenberg to the victors.
The two powers were thus left with the spoils, and difficulties
over the disposition of them soon arose. Austria was naturally
at a disadvantage because of her geographic separation from the
conquered territory. Finally, after much negotiating, the Treaty
of Gastein was signed on August 14, 1865, by which Austria re-
tained Holstein, and Prussia, Schleswig and Lauenberg, with certain
guarantees concerning the right of transit through Holstein.
Trouble soon arose over the administration of the duchies.
Prussia vigorously suppressed all liberalism and all movements
looking toward the establishment of the duchies as independent
■ states of the Germanic Confederation, while Austria on her side en-
couraged these movements in Holstein. Bismarck protested, and
when Austria submitted the difficulties to the diet at Frankfort he
refused absolutely to be bound by its decisions and accused Austria
of having violated the agreement of Gastein.
Both powers prepared for war. For Prussia this meant the
first steps toward mobilization only. Her army and her alliances
had been prepared long before the crisis came. The former under
the direction of Moltke and Roon had been developed into the most
perfect military machine the world had seen. The latter had been
readily effected by Bismarck's able diplomacy. The friendship of
Russia had been won, as we have seen, by his policy toward the
Polish insurrection in 1863, and with Italy a definitive offensive
alliance was made, by which the latter power was to obtain Venetia.
Poor distracted Austria, on the other hand, was far from ready
from the military standpoint. Even to the last moment Francis
Joseph seemed to regard war with Prussia as well-nigh impossible.
Nevertheless Austria had apparently important allies. With a few
minor exceptions the princes of Germany, jealous of Prussia, were
on her side. Napoleon IH., too, seemed favorably disposed.
Immediately on the outbreak of the war the detached forces
of the smaller German states were promptly crushed by the Prus-
sians and the respective capitals occupied. The three south German
392 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1866
States alone held out, and that rather because of the fact that tliey
were so far removed from the base of Prussian military operations
than by virtue of any special military prowess. Italy sent her
fleet into the Adriatic and her armies against the " Quadrilateral,"
and although defeated on land by Archduke Albert at Custozza,
and on sea by Rear Admiral Tegethoflf at Lissa, she was never-
theless instrumental in keeping a large and formidable Austrian
force occupied in the south, while Prussia was pushing her light-
ning campaign in the north. Here was fought what proved to be
the decisive battle of the war, and indeed one of the decisive battles
of the world. The Prussian forces entered Hannover, Hesse-
Cassel, and Saxony, and on June i8 occupied Dresden, the Aus-
trian commander, Benedek, having made the mistake of not support-
ing the Saxons, but of waiting for the Prussians in Bohemia.
Thither the Prussian forces in three main divisions proceeded to
find him, and after two minor successes drove him back in some
confusion upon Koniggratz and the village of Sadowa. Here he
decided to make a stand, and it soon became evident that the crisis
of the campaign had been reached. King William, Moltke, and
Bismarck joined the Prussian army, and on July 3 the great battle
of Sadowa was fought. The Austrians were completely defeated
and the road to Vienna lay open to the enemy. He promptly took
advantage of it, marching southward by way of Moravia. Austria
lay helpless before the march of the victorious Prussian army, and
Francis Joseph was not slow to accept the overtures of peace prof-
fered him by Bismarck, who was particularly anxious to come to a
settlement before the French emperor should have an opportunity
to intervene. Preliminaries were signed at Nikolsburg on July 26,
and on August 23 a definitive treaty was agreed to at Prague. By
the terms of this treaty Austria agreed to the dissolution of the
German Confederation and her own exclusion from the affairs of
Germany, the enlargement and consolidation of Prussia by exten-
sive annexations in north Germany, the foundation of a North Ger-
man Confederation under Prussian leadership, the payment of a war
indemnity, and the surrender of Venetia through Napoleon HI. to
Italy, the relations with the latter state being arranged by a separate
treaty signed on October 3.
Thus in a short campaign of six weeks the proud Hapsburgs
had again been sorely humiliated by their old rival, and Prussia
took the place of Austria, not only in Germany, but in Europe. To
CONSTITUTIONAL GOVERNMENT 393
1866-1867
contemporaries it seemed as if the loosely knit Austrian empire
could scarcely survive the catastrophe. After half a century of
constant effort to maintain her supremacy in Italy and Germany
she found herself excluded from both, with her army demoralized,
her finances ruined, and face to face with a discontented Slav and
Magyar people, not to mention the sorrow and humiliation of the
sad fate at this very time of her most popular prince, the Arch-
duke Maximilian, a younger brother of the emperor, who fell a
victim to the ambition and wiles of Napoleon III. in Mexico.
PART VIII
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. 1867-1910
-1-
Chapter XXXIII
THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DUALISM. 1867-1871
I
"^HE task of reestablishing the shaken edifice of the Aus-
trian empire was perilous and difficult. Hungary and
Bohemia were in a state of profound irritation. The
Magyars had all but been driven into the camp of Prussia. Dur-
ing the war they had held proudly aloof, and now, after Austria's
defeat they would accept no settlement which did not recognize
their national independence and the equality of Hungary with
Austria. The Czechs likewise had taken little part in the con-
flict, the government having actually refused their request for
arms to defend their country, because it had so little faith in their
loyalty. With these two discontented elements the government
had now to deal face to face. Austria could no longer look for
her center of gravity in Grermany or in Italy, nor hope to
dominate the Slav and Magyar races by the theory of the greater
interests of the German empire. To aid him in the solution of
the problem Francis Joseph called the Saxon statesman and op-
ponent of Bismarck, Baron von Beust, from Dresden, and with his
assistance what is known as the Ausgleich, or dual agreement with
■flungary, was arranged. Realizing that Hungary had too highly
developed a national existence to enter into a centralized monarchy,
he agreed to her separation that he might have her for an ally, by
whose help the demands of the other nationalities for a federal state
could then be resisted. Negotiations were accordingly opened
with the committee of the Hungarian diet, at whost head was the
great patriot and legist, Francis Deak, the Franklin of Hungary.
Early in 1867 the political individuality of Hungary was
agreed upon by the creation of a separate ministry under Count
Julius Andrassy, one of the exiles of 1849, and the emperor guar-
anteed the nation's historic rights by being crowned at Buda
on June 8. Thus was instituted the system which is to-day the
basic principle of the government of Austria-Hungary, and which
established a dual government in the dominions of the Hapsburgs
397
898 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1887
by dividing them into two states with strictly equal rights, each
with its separate government, but subject to the same sovereign
and with the same flag. Officially the state was to be known as
Austria-Hungary. Hungary was to consist of those provinces
which had in times past been a part of the dominions of the
crown of St. Stephen, namely, Hungary proper, Croatia, Slavonia,
Transylvania, Servia, and the military frontier. Austria comprised
the rest — seventeen provinces in all. The Hungarian group is
known as Transleithania and the Austrian as Cisleithania, names
derived from the river Leitha, which marks the boundary between
Austria and Hungary.
In its details, the agreement with Hungary provides for the
general rights of the Magyar kingdom as they appear in the act
of inauguration and the coronation oath; the king excuses him-
self for not having, " owing to circumstances," been crowned
earlier, and renews the engagements of his predecessors in all that
concerns the constitution, independence, privileges, and territorial
integrity of Hungary. He promises to exercise the executive
power himself and to abolish the office of the palatine; that if the
diet be dissolved before voting the budget, a new diet is to be
convoked within a year. The defense of the country is declared
the common business of Hungary and all the other states, just
as foreign affairs are common to all. But the Hungarian diet
alone must vote the Hungarian contingent. The finances, the ■
army, and foreign affairs are declared common to both parts of the
monarchy. The financial liabilities of each are left to be arranged
by special negotiations. Hungary can enter into union with con-
stitutional governments only, and it is therefore necessary that the
other nationalities shall be legally represented in a legislative as-
sembly. A special ministry is to be created to deal with affairs
common to the whole empire. A delegation from her two cham-
bers is to arrange all common affairs with the delegations from
the parliament " of the other countries." These two delegations
are to have the same number of members and meet alternately
at Pesth and Vienna. They shall discuss public affairs in writing
and in the language best suited to their convenience. The common
ministry is subject to the two delegations, whose special function is
the discussion of the common budget. The delegations exercise the
right of initiative, and if either of the two parliaments is dissolved
its delegation is ipso facto dissolved also. Hungary is not to be
f. "
00
DUALISM 899
1887
responsible for debts contracted without the consent of her diet,
but she is ready to accept a fair share (thirty per cent.) of the com-
mon debt. Hungary accepts the Austrian customs system, the
revenues of which are applied to the common defense of the empire.
The coinage is to be uniform, but Hungary reserves the right to
use her own language on her coins.
Such, in the main, was the compromise which the wise per-
tinacity of Deak had forced upon both parties. This upright citi-
zen, whose name is thus indelibly associated with one of the most
important acts of his nation's history, would accept neither honors
nor dignities; he even refused a portfolio in the new Hungarian
ministry, resting content with being the leader of the moderate
party in the diet, which maintained the privileges of Hungary, the
dignity of the dynasty, and the integrity of the monarchy. His
great compatriot, Louis Kossuth, remained a voluntary exile,
refusing to profit by the general amnesty and protesting to the last
against a compromise which lost sight of Hungarian independence.
But liberal Europe applauded the work of Deak, little dreaming
of the policy of repression and Magyarization soon to be inaugu-
rated in Hungary. With their habitual egotism the Magyars
thought only of themselves, having little regard for the other races.
Indeed, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy organized by the com-
promise left a ruling race in each division, the Germans in Cis-
leithania, the Magyars in Transleithania. In order to reduce the
refractory elements within their boundary to obedience, the Mag-
yars had recourse to measures far from legitimate; they took ad-
vantage of their victory to impose severe and harsh laws upon the
Rumanians, Servians, and Slovaks, whose grievances have fre-
quently reached western Europe through the press. With the ex-
ception of the Croats, who, thanks to the strength of their historic
claims, have succeeded in obtaining a fair share of local self-
government and a special ministry at Pesth, the non-Magyar
people have been kept in a kind of serfdom, and to keep them there
the Hungarians are under the necessity of supporting the German
Austrians, for they know that the emancipation of the Slavs of
Bohemia, Carinthia, and Carniola would give a moral force to the
Servians and Slovaks in Hungary which could not be resisted.
In both parts of the monarchy the compromise was marked
by the reestablishment of constitutional government. The consti-
tution of 1848, modified so as to allow the right of selecting the
400 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1867
ministers to the king, was restored in Hungary. The executive
power was vested in the ministry, responsible to the diet, which
consisted of two houses, a chamber of magnates and a chamber
of deputies. The former, composed mainly of hereditary nobles
and having in 1867 over 800 members, remained aristocratic, while
the latter was democratic, being elected by popular vote on an
extended suffrage. In Austria the constitution of 1861 was so
modified by the " fundamental laws" of 1867 as to make it really
liberal. They proclaimed equality before the law, recognized per-
sonal, religious, and political liberty, and reassured the non-German
peoples by proclaiming equality of race and language. " All
races in the state enjoy equal rights, and each has an inviolable
right to its own nationality and tongue. The equal rights {Gleich-
berechtigung) of all the languages in use is recognized by the
state in school, office, and public life. In countries where dif-
ferent nationalities existed public education was to be so ar-
ranged that every citizen might acquire all the necessary instruc-
tion without having to learn a second language. This provision,
which would have no point in a unified country, such as France
or Italy, is the expression of a necessary right in a polyglot state
such as Cisleithania, but it has never been honestly carried out
The Czechs in Bohemia, the Slovenes in Carinthia, Carniola, and
Istria, complain that their primary and secondary schools are in
the hands of German or Italian masters.
The Reichsrath consisted of two houses, and the ministry was
responsible to it, but possessed the right of initiative. The lower
house was elected by the diets of the seventeen provinces. Be-
tween the Reichsrath and the provincial diets powers were care-
fully distributed so as to give control very largely into the
hands of the central government, securing to it even the regulation
of the press, public meetings, association, " confessional rela-
tions," education, criminal justice, civil and commercial rights, and
organization of the courts and the administration. The exercise
of the franchise was, as we have seen, based upon class and
property qualifications. Four classes of electors had been estab-
lished, based on economic status; great landholders, chambers of
commerce, cities and rural districts. Each class elected its own
deputies. A change in the constitution could be effected only by
a 'two-thirds vote. Thus, as M. Seignobos says, " Austria became
a liberal constitutional monarchy, almost parliamentary, with a
i
DUALISM 401
1887
representative system in three stages: in each of the seventeen
provinces a diet (Landtag) voting the laws and the budget of the
province ; for Austria, the Reichsrath ; for the whole Austro-Hun-
garian monarchy, the Delegations."
But this system was far from satisfying the non-German
peoples of Austria, nor should it be supposed that because the
work of reconciliation was accomplished with so little difficulty
between Hungary and the sovereign, that matters were as readily
adjusted in " the other countries of his Majesty." The diets of
these provinces had been convoked at the same time as that of
Pesth, but they were not consulted concerning their relations with
the sovereign and the others countries of the monarchy. They
were simply invited to send deputies to the Reichsrath at Vienna.
This was deciding the question in advance. The Magyars had
refused to allow themselves to be absorbed in a centralized mon-
archy; the Slavs had the same right to protest against this closely
centralized government which was presented to them under the
form of dualism. The Germans naturally supported a system
which favored their pretensions, and which, thanks to Schmerling's
electoral system, would assure their domination in a great part of
the empire. Of the others only the Poles, who, not possessing
any historic rights, and seeing the harsh treatment of their com-
patriots in Prussia and Russia, hoped for better treatment if they
assented to the programme of Baron von Beust, sent deputies to
Vienna. But the Czechs of Bohemia and Moravia and the Slovenes
of Carniola insisted upon affirming their separate existence and
refused to go to the new parliament.
In the Bohemian diet, Rieger pointed out with much ability
and energy the dangers of dualism and the Germanizing policy.
On the other hand, the adherence of the Galicians to the policy of
Beust materially cooled the sympathy which the events of 1863 had
aroused in Bohemia for the Poles. Some of the most eminent
men of Bohemia and of the other Slav countries, dreading the
triumph of the German policy, drew toward Russia, the one state
in whom they saw a possible protector against German greed. The
journey of a number of Slavs to Moscow on the occasion of
an ethnographic exhibition caused much talk both in Bohemia and
in the west of Europe. In regard to the Reichsrath the Slavs of
Bohemia and Moravia adopted a policy of passive resistance, and
stubbornly refused to send deputies to the Austrian parliament.
40S AUSTRIA-HUNGARY "^S^
1867-1871
In the meantime the ministry, under the presidency of Baron
von Beust, although ignoring the claims of the Slavs, proceeded,
nevertheless, to inaugurate a series of liberal measures which won
the good opinion of the whole of Europe. Foreigners only heard of
the liberal measures ; they did not appreciate the conditions arising
from their execution, nor did they even know of the existence of
such different people. The " fundamental laws " of December 21,
1867, were often cited as a model of liberal legislation.
In December, 1867, the first parliamentary ministry of Cis-
leithania was formed under the presidency of Prince Auersperg.
It consisted of eight Germans and one Pole, Count Potocki. Its
first work was to free Austria from the clerical and ultramontane
yoke under which she had suffered since 1855. The Concordat
was modified, a new marriage law decreed that marriages could
be contracted before the civil authorities in case of refusal of a
priest to solemnize them, and that all disputes concerning matri-
mony must be tried before the ordinary courts. Later came an
important law concerning schools, which freed education from the
tutelage of the church. But as this law encroached upon the
autonomy of the provincial diets, it was passed only with difficulty,
the Poles, Slovenes, and Tyrolese withdrawing from the Reichsrath.
But thanks to Schmerling's electoral system, the German deputies
were still sufficiently numerous to enable the assembly to continue
its deliberations. Another law, designed to regulate the relations
arising from mixed marriages, was also adopted. The court of
Rome and several members of the higher Austrian clergy pro-
tested against these measures, but the government persisted and
even summoned some of the bishops, whose pastoral letters had
urged their flocks to disobey the laws, before the civil tribunal.
These energetic measures in ecclesiastical matters were accom-
panied by reforms in justice, finance, and the army. Trial by jury
was reestablished, even in cases in which the press was concerned,
though cleverly nullified among the nationalities opposed to dual-
ism. A financial measure introduced by Brestel unified the national
debt and increased the tax on coupons 20 per cent., a measure
which seriously impaired the credit of Austria abroad. A new
military law reorganized the army according to the Prussian sys-
tem, and provided an army in time of peace of 255,000 and of 800,-
000 in time of war. A force of volunteers, serving one year, was
introduced, and the efficiency of the army increased by the intro-
DUALISM 403
1887-1871
duction of the breech-loading rifle. A little later, in 1870 and
1 87 1, the general staff and the war office were completely reor-
ganized.
But these useful reforms must not make us overlook the long
struggle of the non-German races to secure their rights and their
autonomy against the encroachments of the new administration
centralized at Vienna. In 1867 the Czechs, as we have seen
above, refused to send deputies to Vienna. As soon as the right
of public meeting was proclaimed they organized monster mass
meetings in which they formulated and demanded their rights.
In 1868 the Emperor Francis Joseph visited Prague, but his in-
terviews with the chiefs of the national party, Palacky, Rieger,
and Clam Martinitz, did not result in a solution of the difficulties.
The ministry continued pitiless in its persecution of the Bohemian
press. Because of the law providing trial by jury a curious state of
affairs arose. As juries in the Czech towns never failed to acquit
their fellow-countrymen, the government sent the journalists be-
fore juries in German towns, where the incriminating articles could
not even be read in the original. When the provincial diets were
convoked, the Czechs, who were still kept in a factitious minority
through the electoral system of Schmerling, refused to attend,
and published a manifesto, known as the " Declaration," which
remains to this day the best expression of their claims.
This declaration by the Czech deputies, which was dated Au-
gust 22, 1868, consisted of eight articles, which may be summarized
as follows: Article I. There exists between Bohemia and the
sovereign mutual rights and treaties which are equally binding on
both. Article II. Austria is not one undivided state; the king-
dom of Bohemia is attached to the rest of the empire by a personal
union only. Article III. No modifications of this relationship can
be made except by a new contract between the kingdom and the
dynasty. Article IV. No assembly, Reichsrath, or chamber of
deputies foreign to Bohemia can impose upon the kingdom the
debt of the empire or any other public burdens. Article V. The
Hungarians have a right to treat with the sovereign concerning
their own interests, but not those of Bohemia. Article VI. Cis-
leithania is a division of the country which has no historical
foundation, and Bohemia is not bound to send deputies to the
Cisleithanian assembly. Article VII. The constitutional questions
now pending are to be regulated by common agreement between
4041 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1887-1871
the sovereign and the Bohemian nation " represented upon the
basis of a just electoral law and an honest election."
A short time after the Slav deputies of the Moravian diet
published a similar declaration. They declared that the Reichsrath
had no power to decide what were the rights of the various nations,
nor the relations which, according to these rights, exist between
them. " Dualism," said they, " is founded neither on historical nor
political rights ; no deputy of Moravia has had the right to treat in
the name of his country in the Reichsrath " — the German deputies
are plainly implied — " nor to cede the legislative power and the
political rights of the Moravian diet to the representatives of an-
other state. The constituent power of the Reichsrath is based on a
manifest violation of ancient laws, and its decisions are null
and void. No arrangement can endure except one founded on our
historic rights, and entered into by the sovereign in agreement with
our lawfully constituted and elected diet." In accordance with
this declaration the Czech deputies of Moravia refused to sit in
the diet of Briinn, which they did not consider a " lawfully consti-
tuted and elected diet."
The fifth centenary of the birth of John Huss, in July, 1868,
was made the occasion for a great national demonstration, and
the opposition reached such a point that the government pro-
claimed a state of siege at Prague, which was not raised till April
29, 1869. In the elections for the diet of this year those who had
signed the " Declaration " were reelected, both in Bohemia and
Moravia, and both states refused to send deputies to the Reichs-
rath at Vienna. This led the government to devise the plan of
having deputies for the Reichsrath elected by the electors directly
and not by the diets, but even this measure, though not tried till
some time later, proved ineffective. The offers of successive
cabinets at Vienna to the leaders of the national party for an
arrangement based upon the existing constitution were consistently
rejected, because it was precisely this constitution which the Czechs
would not accept. They insisted on the terms of the " Declara-
tion," and the situation remained unchanged till the Franco-Ger-
man War.
In Galicia, the Poles and Ruthenians, possessing no historic
rights in the monarchy, and not having a contract with the
dynasty, were more conciliatory. Under the leadership of Golu-
chowski, the diet at Lemberg had voted to send deputies to the
DUALISM 405
1867-1871
Reichsrath, notwithstanding the opposition of the party led by
Smolka, who demanded a close alliance with the Czechs. By this
act they recognized the new constitution. But most of the Poles
looked upon themselves as only temporary guests in the Austrian
monarchy and troubled themselves very little with the interests
of the other provinces or races. Awaiting better times, they en-
deavored to obtain the best terms possible for themselves, and
aimed at making Galicia the cornerstone for the restored Poland
of their dreams. There was, however, a federalist, democratic
party among them, which in September of 1868 propagated its
views in a resolution similar to the Czech declaration. It declared
that the diet of the country alone could choose the deputies for the
Reichsrath, that the central government had no right to order direct
election, that Galician deputies could take part in the deliberations
of the Reichsrath only when matters common to Galicia and the
other Cisleithanian countries were concerned, that commerce,
finance, rights of citizenship, status of foreigners, education, jus-
tice, and administration w^ere matters over which the diet alone
had power. It demanded a supreme court for Galicia and a sepa-
rate administration responsible to her diet. Needless to say, these
demands were rejected in the Reichsrath. When they were sub-
mitted to this assembly in 1869 they were laid on the table. They
were even opposed by the Ruthenian deputies, who, fearful of the
dominance of the Poles, wished the support of a strong central
power. In the southwestern portion of the monarchy the Slovenes
also, in numerous meetings, demanded the formation of a separate
kingdom to be known either as Slovenia or Illyria, which should
include Trieste, Istria, Gorica, Gradisca, Camiola, southern Carin-
thia, and southern Styria. The opposition in Dalmatia was not less
vigorous. In the diet at Zara a strong conflict arose between the
Italian minority, supported by the government and always hostile to
the Slavs, and the representatives of the Servo-Croats. Toward the
end of 1869 an insurrection broke out in the Bocche de Cattaro,
though this insurrection was due rather to the opposition aroused
by the attempt to introduce the new law concerning the landwehr
among the warlike Servians of this district. They were willing,
they said, to defend their own mountains, but would not enroll
themselves in the regular army and be turned into Kaiserliks.
The revolt was suppressed with great difficulty, and that more by
persuasion and a general amnesty than by force.
406 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1867-1871
But if this dissatisfaction prevailed in the Austrian or Cis
leithanian part of the dual monarchy, the situation in the Trans-
leithanian portion was little better. When the dual agreement had
been finally arranged, Count von Beust is reported to have said to
Deak : " Now take care of your barbarians, and we will take care
of ours." By barbarians were meant, of course, the non-German
and non-Magyar races. The difficulties of carrying out this pro-
gramme in Cisleithania have been indicated, and it will appear later
how the Germans- have failed almost entirely in their efforts
to Germanize and restrain the other races. The Hungarians, on
their part, for reasons that will appear, have been much more suc-
cessful. At the time the agreement between the German and the
Magyar elements was made, the Magyars were by no means the
largest race numerically in Hungary. Of a total population of six-
teen millions in 1867, they numbered only a little more than six
millions. But the Magyars possessed the advantage of being a com-
pact group, strongly aristocratic in its tastes and accustomed to rul-
ing, while the other races, apart from the scattered Germans and
Jews, were composed mainly of masses of peasants without strong
political aspirations. One group, however, the Croats, in the king-
dom of Croatia-Slavonia in the southwest, had a national organiza-
tion. The Croats had always been dissatisfied with conditions
imposed upon them by the Magyars, and in 1866 their diet declared
that Croatia would not give up her right to self-government, that
she would no longer send deputies to the Hungarian diet, and that
she would treat directly with the sovereign. As a consequence, the
Magyars twice dissolved the diet at Agram. Bishop Strossmayer,
later distinguished by his part in the Vatican council, and the soul
of the national opposition in Croatia, was exiled, and a man of very
doubtful reputation appointed locum tenens banalis of Croatia.
The port of Fiume was annexed by Hungary, notwithstanding the
protests of the Croatians. Finally the Hungarian government had
recourse to an expedient similar to the measures employed byt
Schmerling. The electoral law was altered, and a subservient as-
sembly secured which readily lent itself to the designs of the larger
kingdom. By this diet many of the ancient rights of Croatia were
surrendered. But the Magyars did not feel strong enough to disre- »
gard the claims of the kingdom entirely, and a compromise wasf
made in 1868 which left to the kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia its ban|
and its diet, and its own system of justice, education, religion, offi- i
DUALISM 407
1867-1871
cial national language, and coat-of-arms. Common affairs, such as
foreign relations, finance, commerce, and communication were
under the control of the Hungarian diet and ministry in which
Croatia was represented by forty deputies and a Croatian minister,
while the financial arrangement allowed Croatia forty-five per cent,
of her taxes.
But if the Croats complained of their treatment, the other
races of Hungary fared much worse. The Servians of the southeast
received no recognition and the Rumanians in Transylvania found
themselves completely incorporated in the kingdom of Hungary,
deprived of their diet and independent administration, and their
kingdom divided into districts represented in the diet at Pesth.
But even in this modicum of representation they had little share,
because of the property qualification in the electoral law, which
secured even the rural seats to the Magyars and their Saxon allies,
a little group of Germans in Transylvania of about two hundred
thousand souls, which has always retained its solidarity.
Chapter XXXIV
PARLIAMENTARY STRUGGLE FOR FEDERALISM
1871-1878
IN view of the conditions just described, it is scarcely to be ej
pected that the Ausgleich \/ould satisfy any of the peoples
of Austria except the Magyars and the Germans. The Poles
of Galicia accepted it, it is true, but did all in their power to
make it subservient to their own plans for the future, while the
other races made no secret of their discontent. The situation of
the cabinet in the Austrian part of the monarchy was difficult
indeed. Ministries succeeded each other in rapid succession. Vio-
lent disputes marked all the sessions of the Reichsrath, and the
deputies from the Tyrol, Galicia, and Slavonia in turn withdrew
from the assembly. The Potocki cabinet attempted to work out
a plan which would preserve the constitution of 1867 and still
make some concessions to the demands of the federalists. Ac-
cording to this, the upper chamber was to consist of members
elected by the diets of the provinces, the Reichsrath of members
chosen by direct election. But their good intentions came to
nothing, the situation being complicated still further by the Franco-
German War. Austria, from the military standpoint, was not in a
condition to aid France or to take revenge on Prussia for Sadowa.
Its government, moreover, was in the hands of the Germans, who
applauded the success of their kinsmen and celebrated the glory
of the new Germany in newspapers inspired from Berlin. The
Magyars also, for the most part, rejoiced in the victories of Prussia,
for they believed that if Cisleithania were once absorbed by the
greater Germany their hands would be free for the realization of
their ambitions for the complete independence of their own country.
Things were in this condition when the emperor considered it
his duty to appoint, in February, 1871, a cabinet which would carry
out the federalist policy. Its leader, Charles Hohenwart, governor
of Upper Austria, offered two positions in the cabinet to Czechs,
a fact in itself indicative of the attitude of the new ministry. But
its task was a difficult one; to be successful it was necessary to
408
STRUGGLE FOR FEDERALISM 409
1871
deprive the German element of that supremacy which the actual
organization of the electoral system secured it by legal right, and
in doing this, the opposition of the Germans both at home and
abroad would have to be overcome. One of the leaders of the
German party declared in the Reichsrath : " To concede to Bohemia
what might be granted to Galicia would be to reduce two million
Germans to the position of the Ruthenians. It must not be for-
gotten that these Germans are the kindred of a great neighboring
people." Another speaker said : " We have not conquered at Sedan
in order to become the helots of the Czechs " ; while certain news-
papers compared the condition of Bohemia with that of Schleswig,
plainly insinuating the role to be played by Prussia as liberator.
Nevertheless, the minister set heroically to work. He entered
into negotiations with the Bohemian leaders, Rieger and Palacky,
and laid before the Reichsrath a new law, which increased the
functions of the provincial diets and granted them initiative in
matters of legislation, but his proposal was naturally defeated. A
little later he introduced a special project in regard to Galicia,
granting the principal points of the Galician " Resolution." On
an interpolation as to whether he proposed to introduce similar
measures regulating the rights of the other provinces, he frankly
declared his programme. If, he said, Bohemia would be satisfied
with the concessions which he was preparing for Galicia, he would
not hesitate to make the offer. This was the signal for a general
outbreak, and the Germans of the Reichsrath passed a motion of
lack of confidence in the ministry. The Reichsrath was dissolved,
and the provincial diets convoked for September. In the mean-
time negotiations were carried on between Vienna and Prague.
Rieger, who occupied much the same place in Bohemia as did
Deak in Hungary, drew up in collaboration with Clam Martinitz
a plan on which was to be based the final reconciliation of Bohemia
with the constitutional government. Both sovereign and minister
showed their readiness to make important concessions. On
September 12 the Bohemian diet was opened. This time the Czech
deputies, who had so long absented themselves, reappeared, and,
thanks to the new election in which for the first time the govern-
ment had not falsified the returns, they had a majority, notwith-
standing Schmerling's electoral law. The king's speech promised to
recognize the rights of the kingdom of Bohemia. The diet was
asked to make known by what means cordial relations could be
410 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1871
established between the kingdom and the rest of the monarchy.
" Recognizing the political importance of the crown of Bohemia,"
said the emperor, " and recollecting the renown and glory which the
crown has conferred upon our predecessors, and grateful for the
loyalty with which the Bohemian nation has supported our throne,
we are ready to recognize the rights of the kingdom and to renew
this recognition by the coronation oath," This declaration was re-
ceived with enthusiastic joy by Bohemia, Moravia, and Carniola,
but excited great anger among the Germans. A project for a new
election law, and another concerning the nationalities, was laid
before the diet at Prague. The German deputies immediately pro-
tested and withdrew. A commission was, however, appointed to
draw up the definite plan called for in the emperor's speech, upon
which the relations of Bohemia to the rest of the Austro-Hungarian
states should be based. This plan was drawn up and voted by
the Slav deputies of the diet, and has become known as the " Funda-
mental Articles." It was sent to Vienna and the diet adjourned
to await the reply of the sovereign.
According to these " Fundamental Articles," Bohemia, like
Hungary, was to be represented in all matters common to the em-
pire by a delegation named by the diet at Prague and not by the
Reichsrath. She was to treat with the other Cisleithanian states
only through these deputies. Her self-government was to be as-
sured, and only matters relating to war, diplomacy, and commerce
were to be considered the common affairs of the monarchy. A
senate, composed of members nominated by the emperor, was to
arrange all differences which might arise between the different king-
doms or provinces. Finally, the representation of the towns and
rural communities was to be considerably increased, a measure
which would assure that preponderance of the Czech nation which it
was claimed belonged to it both by virtue of its numbers and its
historic rights. The diet of Moravia accepted the " Fundamental
Articles," and at the same time demanded the reestablishment of
a special chancery for the countries of St. Vacslav. The Slavs of
the monarchy ardently longed for the success of a policy which,
in leading Austria toward federalism, would put an end to the
German and Magyar supremacy.
It was not surprising, therefore, that these projects of the Slavs,
so ably formulated by Rieger and Clam Martinitz, aroused the
hostility of the Germans and the Hungarians to the highest pitch.
STRUGGLE FOR FEDERALISM 4.11
1871
We have already shown why the Magyars dreaded Slavism. As
for the Austrian Germans, there were very few who held in practice
to the well-known saying of Francis IL : " Justitia erga omnes
nationes est fundamentum Austria." Besides many of them longed
for a greater Germany and were anxious for the destruction of
the Czech nation, which so obstinately interjected itself between
Vienna and Berlin and which is, as has so often been said, a thorn
in the side of Germany {ein Pfeil im deutschen Fleisch).
Unfortunately for the aspirations of the Czechs, these enemies
of federalism were too powerful, and their plans were again de-
feated. If, according to the Treaty of Prague, Austria was to
abstain from interfering in the internal affairs of Germany, the
same rule has by no means been observed by Germany in regard to
Austria. Statesmen of Berlin have continued to bestow upon their
kinsmen on the Upper Elbe and the Danube the same jealous at-
tention that they formerly showed toward their brethren in
Schleswig and Alsace. They carried on a constant agitation in
a part of the Viennese press. Numerous interviews between
Emperors William L and Francis Joseph, for which the baths
of Gastein afforded the excuse, presented opportunities for the
interchange of views in which German interests were generally
less frequently sacrificed than the Austrian. In the summer of
1871 these interviews were particularly frequent, the two em-
perors being sometimes joined by Bismarck, Beust, and Andrassy.
All the German and Magyar influences united to checkmate the
Bohemians, and to this coalition the Emperor Francis Joseph be-
lieved himself obliged to yield. The first signs of retreat appeared
when the ministry declared that the " Fundamental Articles "
would be submitted to the approaching Reichsrath. To all who
knew the character of this assembly, the result of such a step could
not be doubtful. Rieger, in a visit to Vienna, made a final effort
to induce the sovereign to fulfill his engagements, but, less fortunate
than Deak, he failed in his attempt. On his return to Prague,
however, he was made the object of an enthusiastic ovation. Then
followed several curious developments. Hohenwart resigned on
October 30, 1871 ; Baron von Beust was shortly afterward relieved
of his duties as chancellor, and transferred to the embassy at
London, while Count Andrassy, the head of the Hungarian
cabinet, was placed in charge of foreign affairs, thus securing the
preponderance of the Magyar influence in the monarchy.
41« AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1871-1878
The new Austrian ministry, consisting entirely of Germans
and presided over by Auersperg, blandly invited the diet of Prague
to send deputies to the Reichsrath. Persecutions against the Slav
press were resumed, and a spectacle, never before witnessed in
any other country, occurred when the police publicly destroyed the
copies of the imperial manifesto. When the Bohemian diet refused
to treat with anyone but the legitimate king, it was dissolved, as
were the diets of the oth^r provinces in November. A new Reichs-
rath was called, and in spite of the absence of the federalists, a
large enough number favorable to the constitution obeyed the
summons, to enable a legal sitting to take place. Dualism was re-
confirmed in full force, and the hopes of Bohemia indefinitely
postponed.
The next six years, from 1872 to 1878, are marked by minis-
tries ardently supporting the constitution. In 1873 ^" important
electoral law was brought forward and passed which increased the
number of deputies in the Reichsrath and established the principle
of election by direct vote instead of by the diets. The number
of deputies was set at 353: 85 to landowners, 139 to cities and
chambers of commerce, and 129 to rural districts. The results of
the new law continued much of the inequality of representation and
still gave the Germans a majority in the chamber, there being up
to 1878 about 220 Germans as against 115 Czechs and 15 Italians.
The anti-clerical policy was continued, and in 1874 the system of
the Concordat was abolished by the " May Laws." Non-Catholic
societies were granted the right to found religious societies and
bishops were ordered to report all vacancies and all nominations
in the church to the civil authorities.
In the Hungarian part of the monarchy the years between
the Compromise and the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
were marked by a political calm. The place assigned the non-
Magyar races in the monarchy has been noted; the Magyars were
in undisputed control, the secondary peoples having only insignifi-
cant representation at Pesth. Questions of policy, therefore, and
not race and national disputes, mark the party divisions. Deak's
party became the liberal ministerial party, and was opposed by the
party of the left, democrats and followers of Kossuth, the irrecon-
cilable enemies of Austria. The reform of the army, the adminis-
tration and the financial system occupied the government. The
honved, or militia, was reorganized into a purely Hungarian
STRUGGLE FOR FEDERALISM 413
1871-1878
force, while the active army remained common to the entire
monarchy and retained German as the language of command. In
the reform of the administrative system, the ancient comitats
remained self-governing under the direction of delegates, one-half
of whom were elected, the other half appointed, by the heaviest
taxpayers. In the matter of the relations between the state and
the church, the government, fearful of losing the support of the
Catholics, introduced no radical measures. Nor was this fear of
loss of support imaginary, for in 1875 ^^e government was saved
from overwhelming defeat only by the complete change in front
of a large part of the left under the leadership of Tisza, who re-
nounced the policy of a personal union and rallied to the support
of Deak. In August of this year Tisza became head of the liberal
ministry, a position he continued to occupy for fifteen years.
But if this period failed to secure for the Slavs the recognition
of their rights which they demanded with so much persistency,
and the painful and irritating causes for disputes and conflicts
remained, because the greater part of the peoples of the Austro-
Hungarian state did not succeed in realizing the political ideals
to which they aspired, it nevertheless witnessed the accomplishment,
besides the establishment of dualism and electoral reform, of great
social and economic reform and progress. Numerous lines of rail-
road were constructed; Vienna, Pesth, and Prague were brought
into touch with the most distant points of the monarchy and with
the great capitals of foreign countries, including Constantinople.
Treaties of commerce were concluded with France, England, and
Russia. Industrial development in the various provinces made
rapid progress, as was evidenced by the great international exposi-
tion held in Vienna in 1873, which was one of the most interesting
of the international expositions of this epoch. Unfortunately, it
coincided with a calamitous financial crash in the monarchy, and
its beneficent results were greatly lessened. This disaster in the
financial world which destroyed the public credit for many years
was due largely to the bad policy of the ministry of finance and
to overspeculation. Vienna had become after 181 5 a center of
banking and of speculation. The institution of the lottery had de-
veloped among the population a taste for speculation and stock-
jobbing. Unbridled speculation ended in the now famous Krach
or financial disaster of 1873. Of 147 joint-stock banks, 96 failed in
three years, and hundreds of families were ruined.
414
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1871-1878
But notwithstanding the unfortunate results of the Krach,
this period of the reign of Francis Joseph was an era of restoration,
rebuilding, expansion, and artistic embellishment for the large cities.
Vienna set the example, and by a transformation as thorough and
wise as it was necessary, inspired the other cities to improvements
that have made of Pesth, Prague, and other capitals well-appointed
modem cities. And in each of these cases the rebuilding and em-
bellishment of the city became an object for the exercise of the
national pride and patriotism of the particular race it represented.
The German Austrians made a new Vienna, which rivals even
Paris in its fine streets, magnificent buildings, and in the excellence
of its municipal appointments.
STRUGGLE FOR FEDERALISM 415
1871-1878
Till the middle of the last century Vienna was in many respects
one of the worst cities of Europe. Thoroughly mediaeval in
character and shut up behind its thick walls which had served
it against the Turks, the population was fearfully congested in a
tangle of narrow, crooked, and filthy streets. Beyond the fortifi-
cations encircling the city were grouped a series of miserable vil-
lages from which transit to and from the town was doubly difficult
because of the bad roads and the congestion of traffic at barriers.
In 1857, after careful deliberation, an order was issued by the
imperial government for the demolition of the fortifications. For-
tunately these were unusually extensive ; besides the usual wall and
moat, there was a broad open space beyond called the glacis, so
that altogether the available open space regained included an area
larger than the inner city itself. All of this was now cleared in
accordance with a systematic plan, in the carrying out of which
the city, the diet of Lower Austria, and above all, the imperial
government, cooperated most unselfishly. The main feature of
the plan was a fine octagonal street (Ringstrasse) about sixty
yards wide, following the line of the fortifications. Flanking this
broad and well-constructed thoroughfare a series of parks,
gardens, open spaces, and large public buildings was laid out and
erected. Only about one-fifth of the entire area was sold to private
purchasers, who were naturally restricted in the use to be made
of the land and manner and style of buildings erected. After the
Ri7ig came the renovation of the inner city. Private enterprise was
stimulated by the city through laws exempting new and improved
buildings from taxation, the exemption usually ranging from twelve
to thirty years, a considerable inducement in a city like Vienna,
where the taxes are very high. The details of the progress made by
the other cities cannot be introduced here; the significance of the
transformation of Pesth in the national revival of Hungary will be
readily appreciated. The courses of the Danube and the Theiss
have been regulated and confined within narrower limits, thus giv-
ing a much more rapid current and better facilities for commerce.
Side by side with the modernizing of the cities, architecture
and painting naturally flourished. Vienna, Pesth, Prague, and
Cracow, each produced its masters, not a few of whom deserve
to be remembered by posterity. The leader of the Viennese school
of painting was Hans Makart, who excelled in decorative work.
In Galicia the grandiose works of Matejko reproduced the more
416 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1871-1878
glorious episodes of Polish history. Bohemia produced Czermak,
the painter of the southern Slavs, and Brozik, who devotes himself
to the Middle Ages and the Renaissance; Hungary, Munkaczy,
Benczur, and Zichy. In sculpture there was a similar renaissance,
and numerous societies were organized to encourage the liberal
arts and to organize annual exhibitions.
But architecture, especially, had a most extraordinary de-
velopment, thanks to the extensive public works which were under-
taken in the different capitals. Vienna was, as we have seen,
entirely transformed and in place of its old poorly built quarters
there was erected a city of spacious streets and squares and mag-
nificent edifices, adorned with monuments and works of art. Among
the many remarkable buildings of this period are especially to be
noted the new Opera House by Van der Nult and Riccardsburg, the
Academy of Fine Arts, the new Reichsrath building, the Exchange,
the Conservatory of Music by Schmidt, the beautiful Votive
Church, with its graceful Gothic towers by Ferstel, the Rathhaus,
one of the best adaptations of the Gothic architecture to secular
uses, and the chaste Palace of Justice in the German Renaissance.
By virtue of the cooperation of the authorities with these artists
the Ring became a street of rare magnificence, and all Vienna
shows the signs of this commendable partnership of authority
with taste and technical skill.
In music this period did not produce in Austria such rare and
STRUGGLE FOR FEDERALISM 417
1871-1873
gifted geniuses as Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven. But there
flourishes at Vienna, Prague, Pesth, and Florence interesting
schools of music of which certain productions bid fair to live. All
the world knows Liszt's Hungarian fantasies and the exhilarating
waltz music of Strauss. The works of the Bohemian school are
less known, though they are quite as good, and the names of
Dvorak and Smetana are likely to pass down to posterity.
The intellectual development, particularly public instruction,
shared in the general prosperity and progress. The schools were
withdrawn from clerical control and education placed on a more
liberal basis. Two new universities were founded, one at Agram
in 1874, destined to become the intellectual heart of the Slavs
of the north, and that of Czernowitz, in 1876, upon the jubilee
of the annexation of Bukowina. Croatia was allowed to furnish
advanced instruction in the sciences in its own language, but
Bukowina was less fortunate; her university is German and serves
as the last landmark of German civilization on the Russian frontier.
Two academies were also founded, one at Agram, which is rapidly
becoming the Athens of the Yougo-Slavs, the other at Cracow in
1 87 1. The latter owes its existence to the liberal efforts of the
minister Jirecek; it has become the great literary and scientific
center of the Poles. At Vienna the faculty of Protestant theology,
the academy of fine arts and the polythechnic institute were re-
organized, while at Pesth the national university of the Magyars
was remodeled and improved. Copyright agreements for the pro-
tection of authors and their publishers were made with other
nations.
If Austria were made up of one people who spoke one language
we might speak here of her literature. But as the history of the
state shows that there is no unity, so there is not, and cannot
be, an Austrian literature. The various languages have made
unequal progress, and manifiested their genius in widely different
ways. The German literature which flourished at Vienna, at
Prague, or even at Pesth, is simply an offshoot of that of Germany.
The Hungarian literature, on the other hand, which has its home
at Pesth, is an indigenous production in the Magyar soil and the
Magyar mind, as the work of the well-known novelist, Jokai,
readily illustrates. The Slav literatures, however, in spite of their
common origin, are far from following the same tendencies; they
have but few points of contact, and, as a rule, follow different paths.
418 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1871-1878
The Poles and Ruthenians in Galicia derive their inspiration from
divergent and often even opposite traditions. The Czechs, whose
intellectual superiority among the Slavs is incontestable, have not
been able to impose their language upon the Slovaks, who, in their
turn, have great difficulty in maintaining themselves against the
Magyars. The Croats find themselves separated by religious dif-
ferences from the Catholic Slovenes and the Orthodox Servians.
Nevertheless, in all the provincial centers the most active in-
tellectual life prevails, and the development of the national litera-
tures is doing much to keep alive the spirit of local independence.
In foreign affairs the military and financial weakness of Aus-
tria after 1866 completely lost her the position of predominance
she had previously held. In 1870 the startling successes of the
Prussians prevented her, even if she had desired, from avenging
herself on Prussia, and reasserting her leadership in Germany, by
an alliance with France. Recognizing the predominance of Prus-
sia on the Rhine, she thenceforward directed her efforts toward
the Danube and the Orient. The old causes of dispute with Prussia
were removed, and in 1871 the friendly relations between Austria
and Germany were consolidated by frequent meetings of the
emperors and diplomats, and the establishment in 1872 of the so-
called " alliance of the three emperors " by association of the tsar
with them. Gradually Italy, alarmed at the activity of the Catholic
party and the aggressive policy of France in Tunis, attached herself
to them, and central and eastern Europe seemed closely united in
the interests of a peaceful policy. But troubles among the peoples
of Turkey were soon to reveal that Austrian and Russian interests
in those regions at least were far from identical.
In 1875 an insurrection broke out among the Slavs of Herze-
govina, caused by the excesses and abuses of Turkish rule. Instead
of boldly taking the part of the Christians and assuming the role
of champion and deliverer of the oppressed, Austria was rendered
helpless by her own internal disorders and the opposition of Russia
against a strong Austrian policy on the Lower Danube.
From its very beginning, therefore, the insurrection in Bosnia
and Herzegovina caused serious difficulty to Austria. She had not
only to contend with the ill-will of the Magyars, but also with the
restless jealousy of her ally. The Hungarians had no wish to sec
the Slav element of the dual monarchy, which was already too large,
increased by the addition of new territory which might be instru-
STRUGGLE FOR FEDERALISM 419
^871-1878
mental in aiding- some day in submerging them under a Slav
majority. It was also to the interests of Russia and Prussia not
to allow their ally to enlarge her frontiers and to augment her
army by the warlike populations of the two provinces. The result
was that after 1875 Austria pursued a policy often at variance with
itself; at one time the Turks were allowed to violate her territory
with impunity, and even ravage the frontiers of Croatia ; at another
she would forbid them to disembark arms on their own territory
at Klek. At Constantinople her ambassador, in concert with Gen-
eral Ignatiev, obtained the promise of the Porte to carry out those
famous reforms which it is always promising and never doing,
and which the diplomats who recommended them knew per-
fectly well could never be accomplished. In December, 1875, Count
Andrassy's note formulated the wishes of civilized Europe on this
point. " Christianity should be put on the same footing with
Islamism, in theory and practice, . . . tax-farming should be
abolished once and for all . . . and the execution of the reforms
left to a controlling board of Christians and Mussulmans." But the
conference at Constantinople in December of the next year resulted
only in revealing- once again the powerlessness of diplomacy, and
the incorrigible obstinacy of the Porte. Servia and Montenegro
had meanwhile espoused the cause of their oppressed kinsmen in
Bosnia and Herzegovina and declared war against Turkey. This
still further increased the difficulties of Austria. The Slavs of the
monarchy called upon the government to take part in the conflict,
and followed the various phases of the heroic but fatally unequal
struggle with feverish interest. The Hungarians, on their part,
neglected no opportunity to show their hatred for the Servians and
their sympathy for Turkey. When Abdul-Kerim Pasha won the
battle of Djunis over the Servians a subscription was raised to pre-
sent him with a sword. A Magyar deputation went to Constanti-
nople to express the enthusiastic friendship of Hungary to the
softas, or Mussulman students. The Hungarian general, Klapka,
the old defender of Komorn, who had once offered his sword to
Prussia against Austria, now offered the service of his military ex-
perience to the Porte. Some time later the softas visited Pesth to
return the visit of their Magyar brethren, and the Sultan, in order
to express his gratitude to the Hungarians, sent the emperor-king
some remains of the library established by Matthias Corvinus, but
pillaged by the Turks. These manifestations, puerile enough
4t0 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1871-1878
in themselves, were directed especially against Russia, whose policy
in 1849 the Hungarians had never forgiven. But they deeply
offended the Slavs, who looked upon the cause of the Servians
and Bulgarians as their own. Counter manifestations took place
in Prague in honor of the Russian general Tchemiaiev, but these
were vigorously suppressed by the Austrian police.
At Pesth Andrassy endeavored in vain to restrain his violent
countrymen, and to make them understand that street demonstra-
tions would not influence the policy of the government. On
the other hand he caused the arrest of the Servian Stratimirovic,
one of the heroes of 1848, who had offered his sword to Prince
Milan Obrenovic. He had the journalist-deputy Miletic thrown
into prison on the charge of having wished success for his country-
men and negotiated a loan for their cause. To justify these ex-
traordinary measures, laws of former days were invoked which
pronounced all those who furnished arms to the Turks or to other
infidels guilty of treason.
Thus the monarchy, divided against itself, painfully followed
the lead of its two powerful allies, and in spite of the enthusiasm
of the Slavs and the indignation of the Magyars was compelled
to remain a placid observer of the victories of the Russians, who,
after the fall of Plevna, pushed their victorious troops forward
to the very gates of Constantinople. Nor could she have forced
a modification of the Treaty of San Stefano, which Russia im-
posed upon Turkey in 1878. Fortunately for her the terms ex-
acted by the tsar so nearly destroyed the power of Turkey in
the interests of Russia that the European powers united in demand-
ing a revision of the treaty and the submission of the entire Eastern
Question to a European congress. At the Congress of Berlin
the three Christian states of Rumania, Servia, and Montenegro
were enlarged and declared independent, while Bulgaria was
greatly reduced. To Austria-Hungary the congress granted the
occupation of the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina for an in-
definite period.
r
Chapter XXXV
ACQUISITION AND INCORPORATION OF BOSNIA AND
HERZEGOVINA. 1878-1894
A CCORDING to the secret agreement made with Russia
L\ before the war, Austria was to receive some compensa-
X -Bl. tion in exchange for her benevolent neutrality. This
compensation, as we have seen, was secured in the occupation of
the provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was from these
provinces that the signal for the insurrection had gone out which
brought on the war in the Balkan peninsula and provoked the victo-
rious intervention of Russia. They might well have hoped, now
that the Turk had been vanquished, to be made into an independent
principality like Bulgaria, or allowed to form a part of the neigh-
boring Slav states of Servia or Montenegro, with which they were
closely allied in race and religion. The preliminary Treaty of San
Stefano declared merely that " the ameliorations proposed by the
conference of Constantinople with such modifications as should be
agreed upon by the Porte, Russia, and Austria-Hungary should be
applied to them." The Treaty of Berlin, signed on the following
July 13, by the representatives of all the great powers assembled in
congress, decided : " The provinces of Bosnia and Herzegovina shall
be occupied and governed by Austria-Hungary. The government
of Austria-Hungary not wishing to undertake the administration
of the government of the sandjak of Novibazar, which extends
between Servia and Montenegro on the southeast as far as Mitro-
vitza, the administration shall there remain in the hands of the
Turkish government. Nevertheless, in order that the new political
situation may be maintained and that the means of communication
may be free and safe, Austria-Hungary reserves the right of
keeping garrisons and of having military and commercial roads in
all this portion of the old vilayet of Bosnia."
The last clause was of great importance. The sandjak of
Novibazar is that portion of Bosnia which separates Servia from
Montenegro. By virtue of its actual military control the govern-
421
423 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1878
ment of Vienna isolated the two Servian principalities and could
at any time prevent their united action either against Turkey or
against itself. Austria-Hungary still further dominated these
two principalities, Montenegro by her command of the Gulf of
Cattaro, and Servia by her position on the Danube. Her occupation
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, therefore, completely destroyed the
hopes of the Servian and Montenegrian patriots, who had dreamed
of reestablishing the ancient empire of the tsar douchan as a center
for a larger Slav state. By crushing at the outset the hopes of
the Servian patriots, Austria averted a serious danger. But a
feeling of profound disappointment was. felt at Belgrade and Cet-
tinje. Many of the patriots went so far as to express themselves
willing to sacrifice all the advantages secured to the two principali-
ties by the Treaty of Berlin, if only the conditions that existed before
the war could be reestablished. So long as Bosnia and Herze-
govina belonged to Turkey pretexts would never have been want-
ing to the other Slav states to intervene. But all these opportunities
passed away with the advent of Austrian rule in the provinces, and
the introduction of the principles of religious tolerance, equality
of race, and European administration.
Apart from the interests of Servia and Montenegro, and per-
haps even of the inhabitants of Bosnia and Herzegovina them-
selves, this clause of the Treaty of Berlin might have the most
serious consequences for the future of the Balkan peninsula and
the peace of Europe. Up to 1878 no European power had secured
much share in the spoliation of Turkey. Only the Servians, Greeks,
Rumanians, and Bulgarians had profited by the revolutions in
their respective provinces. Even Russia, after having reached the
very gate of Constantinople, had withdrawn with nothing but a few
remote and unimportant advantages in exchange for her sacrifices.
But a new principle seemed now set up by the Congress of Berlin, to
the effect that the provinces of the Ottoman empire might at any
moment become the spoil of the various European powers. If
Austria established herself in Bosnia and Herzegovina, why should
not Italy seek to do the same in Dalmatia, Russia at the base of
the Balkans, and England in Constantinople? This is a very grave
question, by no means solved as yet. Some day it will certainly
force itself again into recognition, with serious risks to the cause
of justice and peace. The only equitable solution of the Eastern
Question is that which assures to each of the people under the Otto-
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 423
1878
man yoke the peaceful and complete possession of that soil which
is theirs by right of history and of race.
Moreover, Article 29 of the Treaty of Berlin raises further ap-
prehensions. In establishing Austria in the sandjak of Novibazar
at the head of the railway and of the military road running from
Mitrovitza to Salonica by the valley of the Vardar, a ready means
is afforded the statesmen of Vienna of some day seizing this com-
mercial and military line and assuring themselves of this most
excellent outlet into the yEgean Sea and the East.
As soon as Austria received the mandate confided to her by
the Congress of Berlin she began to carry it into effect. In the
summer of 1878 her troops crossed the Save and entered the
newly acquired provinces. The occupation was not expected to
cause any serious difficulties, but altogether unlooked-for obstacles
arose. The Bosnian Mussulmans, who formed the upper class of
the country, could not calmly witness the separation from their co-
religionists at Constantinople, or the overthrow of a state of
things which had profited them for centuries. The Orthodox
Greek, in his turn, mourned the loss of hopes for union with Ser-
vian countries. The Catholics alone welcomed the occupation. And
although the Turkish government did not officially decline to obey
the commands of Europe, it nevertheless secretly conveyed arms and
ammunition to the two provinces. A revolution broke out at Sera-
jevo and a provisional government was organized to resist the
foreign occupation, the brave and fanatical General Hadji Loja at
its head with the title of First Patriot of the Land. The first suc-
cessful resistance occurred in the mountain defiles. The Austrians
were also repulsed at Maglaj and at Gradac, and found themselves
opposed not merely by a few hastily improvised bands of militia,
but by well-organized battalions of the Turkish army provided
with artillery. The Austrian position became critical. The in-
habitants, as a rule, quitted the towns and found shelter behind
the natural defenses of the country, whence they inflicted serious
losses on the army of occupation. Serajevo, the capital of Bosnia,
was reached only on August 19, but even then hostilities did not
cease. Herzegovina was not completely occupied before Septem-
ber and Bosnia not till a month later; the task of occupying the
principalities had required three entire army corps and cost the
enormous sum of sixty-two million florins.
The occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, notwithstanding
424 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1878-18S2
its apparently temporary character, is evidently regarded as a
definite conquest by Austria-Hungary, although the Sultan re-
mains nominally sovereign. Austria-Hungary alone has charge
of the administration, and she certainly has no intention of aban-
doning it. These possessions open to her, as has been indicated, the
route to Salonica, and afford large outlets to her commerce, while
securing safe and easy communication between Hungary and Dal-
matia. In short, they form a very ample compensation for the
loss of Venice. The area of the two provinces is 23,262 square
miles, and they had in 1895 a population of 1,568,092, all speaking
the Servian or Croat dialect, although divided, as to religion, into
three principle groups, of 548,632 Mohammedans, 334,142 Ortho-
dox Greeks, and 673,246 Catholics. These groups maintain a
tolerably even balance of power, thus giving Austria an excellent
opportunity to act again on her favorite maxim, " Divide in order
to govern."
The provinces are governed in the name of the emperor-king
by a special bureau under the minister of finance common to the
whole monarchy, and most of the privileges of the Mohammedans
were left undisturbed. From the material point of view the
country has made rapid progress. Railways have been constructed
between Brod and Serajevo, Gabela and Cattaro, and Mitrovitza
and Serajevo. The last mentioned town has become more and more
European and its economic condition has been greatly improved.
In 1 88 1 compulsory military service was introduced into the two
provinces, and a number of insurrections occurred, which were,
however, promptly suppressed, notwithstanding the official re-
monstrance of the Porte.
The political consequences of the absorption by Austria-
Hungary of these two provinces have been numerous. For a time
it brought about a close dependence upon Russia in Servia and
Montenegro. But the prompt recognition of King Milan in 1882,
and the gradual domination of the kingdom's financial and eco-
nomic interests, by Austria, brought Servia into close relationship
with her. Montenegro remained faithful to her Russian protector
for a much longer period, and more recently through marriage
alliance with the royal house of Italy has drawn very close to that
country, thus introducing Italy as a much interested party in the fl^
relations of Austria to the Balkan states. ^^
The latter power very naturally, although adopting a peace-
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA
425
1882-1888
ful policy in regard to the Balkan peninsula, sought to reap every
benefit the acquisition of the two provinces promised, by increas-
ing her influence with the Christians of the Balkans and by opening
for herself a trade route to Salonica. This brought increased ri-
valry with Russia, and fearful of a disturbance of the existing
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conditions, Austria concluded a secret treaty with Germany in
1879, which was published in 1888, at a time when Russia
seemed to be assuming a threatening attitude. This treaty, called
" an alliance for peace and mutual defense," pledged the two states
to maintain the state of things established at Berlin, especially
against Russia.
This understanding between Austria-Hungary and Germany,
brought about by the divergence of Russian and Austrian inter-
426 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1881-1888
ests in the Balkan peninsula, was the first step in what has since
become the well-known Triple Alliance. Angered and alarmed
at the action of France in occupying Tunis, Italy joined the two
powers of central Europe. In 1881 King Humbert visited Vienna
and prepared the way for the formal alliance two years later. The
object of this alliance was the maintenance of the peace of Europe
by a coalition of the three central powers. In order to live up
to the engagements imposed by the Triple Alliance, Austria-
Hungary was forced to augment the efficiency of her armies, and
in 1886 the two parts of the monarchy passed a new law for the
organization of the Landsturm. It is doubtful whether this force
will ever be directed against Prussia. Austria has completely for-
gotten Custozza and Sadowa, and she has behaved toward the new
German empire with a friendliness that has at times astonished the
world. Notwithstanding the official alliance, however, relations
between Vienna and Rome have not been so cordial. The claims
of the Italians on Trentem and Istria, and the agitations of the
Irridenta, occasionally give rise to painful incidents. The Italians
of Istria invariably make violent protests whenever the govern-
ment tries to do justice to the Slavs of the province, and this the
patriots of Italy applaud enthusiastically. In short, the Emperor
Francis Joseph has been compelled to rest for support at home on
the Magyars, who revolted in 1848, and abroad on Prussia and
Italy, who fought him in 1866.
Within the monarchy the annexation of Bosnia and Herze-
govina entailed, as we have seen, heavy expenditures for the army
of occupation, and a further complication of the inter-racial strife
brought about a crisis. The parliaments in both parts of the
monarchy were displeased with the government for having under-
taken the occupation. The Treaty of Berlin ought, they claimed,
in the points affecting Austria-Hungary, to have been submitted to
them. Finally the Hungarian diet voted the appropriations, but in
the Reichsrath at Vienna the German constitutionalist party was
staunch in its opposition. Like the Magyars, they feared further
increase of the Slav populations of the monarchy. At last the
emperor appealed to the Czechs, aristocratic federalists and ultra-
montanes. Count Taaffe, the representative of the federalists,
supplanted Auersperg. He announced his intention of treating all
nationalities with impartiality. His appointment was, in fact, a
defeat of the factions whose aim was the maintenance of German
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 427
1879-1893
influence throughout Cisleithania. Count Taafife succeeded in
persuading the Czechs to again take part in the Austrian Reichs-
rath. They declared that they did not, by so doing, give up
their principles in regard to the rights of Bohemia, but that
they took part without hesitation in the work of the new cabinet.
Prazak, a deputy from Moravia and a friend of the political
leaders of Bohemia, was appointed to a place as minister without
portfolio and later became minister of justice. Two Poles of
Galicia were made members of the cabinet. This alliance with the
Czechs, Poles, extreme German Catholics, and the aristocracy
assured a compact majority to the new ministry, the elections of
1879 having returned 145 constitutionalists (94 liberals and 51
progressists); 168 federalists in three groups (54 Czechs, 57
Poles, and 57 German federalists, Slovenes, Dalmatians, and
Croatians) ; and 40 unclassified deputies, whom Taaffe skillfully
used to hold the balance of power. The Taaffe ministry, thus
organized and pledged to a moderate federalist policy, lasted for
fourteen years, to 1893. It maintained the constitution but con-
stantly tended toward concessions to the Slavs and to the Catholic
clergy at the expense of the Germans and the lay power.
The Czechs in particular, using their support of the govern-
ment as a lever, gained concession after concession. In 1882 they
secured a national university by the division of the University of
Prague into two universities, one German, the other Czech. Four
years later they made a great gain in the language strife by a de-
cree of the minister of justice obHging all officeholders to answer
questions in the language, Czech or German, in which it was made,
a measure plainly aimed at the Germans who would not speak
Czech. A large national theater was built at Prague by private
subscription and a school fund or matice skolska created to enable
the Czech schools to compete with the German schools and to
further education in remote districts. The property qualification
for the exercise of the franchise was reduced, and a new division
of the electoral districts made, which enabled the Czechs to secure
a majority in the parliament of Prague, a majority which would
have been still more increased if certain electoral fictions in regard
to a number of Czech deputies had been removed. The Germans
demanded that the kingdom of Bohemia be divided into two ad-
ministrative divisions, one German, the other Czech, and finally
refused to take part in the deliberations of the diet at Prague.
4128 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1887-1894
On the whole the Slavs of Bohemia owe a debt of gratitude
to Taaffe; he endeavored, as far as possible and often under
the most difficult circumstances, to put in practice the old motto:
Justitia erga omnes nationes est fundamentum Aiistrice. The
Czechs have every interest in being patient, and concentrating their
energies upon gaining what is practicable, securing from time to
time such concessions as they can in favor of their language and
their nationality. They have been divided into two well-defined
factions since 1887; that of the Young Czechs, who are radical,
demanding universal suffrage, liberty of the press and of public
meeting and lay schools, and that of the Old Czechs, who are more
moderate in their wishes and more inclined to compromise with
the government, and represent the interests of the nobles and the
clergy. The former carried on an active campaign of mass-
meetings, demonstrations, and protestations in support of their
principles, and bitterly attacked Rieger, the leader of the Old
Czechs. This soon gave them the support of the country, and the
Old Czechs in alarm turned to the Germans. These agreed to re-
sume their seats in the diet, and a compact was agreed upon in
January, 1890. A compromise diet was held in May, and an
agreement reached according to which the kingdom was to be
divided into districts in which one language only should be recog-
nized, the regulation requiring officials to speak both languages
was to be repealed, and the diet was to be divided into a German
and a Czech section, as were also the principal bodies of the ad-
ministration, as, for example, the courts and educational council,
The scheme met with violent opposition on the part of the Young
Czechs, who saw in it the defeat of all their hopes for the future
autonomy of their country, and it failed completely. Taaffe now
asked the emperor to dissolve the Reichsrath. His policy did not
receive the support of the electors, especially in Bohemia, where
the Young Czechs carried more than three-fourths of the seats.
When the Reichsrath assembled Taaffe was forced to admit that
he did not have a majority, but asked for a postponement of the
race questions till commercial treaties were arranged with Italy,
Germany, and Switzerland in 1892, while negotiations for similar
agreements were carried on with Russia and Rumania. Measures
were passed regulating taxation and currency, and other bills were
pending when the agitation of the Czechs in Bohemia again forced
the government to direct its attention to their demands. Follow-
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 429
1878-1894
ing Stormy scenes in the diet came rioting and demonstrations in
the streets of Prague, till the government was obliged to place the
city in a state of minor siege, suppressing nationalist and socialistic
newspapers and dissolving Czech societies, especally the National
Liberal Club, to which the Young Czech deputies belonged.
Count Taaffe determined, nevertheless, to make concessions,
and proposed a measure for a reform of the electoral law which
would practically have established universal suffrage and increased
the number of voters from 1,500,000 to 4,500,000. This greatly
alarmed the conservative parties, and, supported by the emperor,
who was opposed to the Young Czechs and the socialists alike,
they combined against Taaffe and forced him to resign. With
the resignation of the minister ended, for the time at least, the fed-
eralist policy pursued by him since his advent to office in 1879.
In November, 1893, a new ministry was formed by Windisch-
gratz, which was to last for two years and serve as a temporary
stop-gap.
In the meantime the Transleithanian or Hungarian part of
the monarchy had been developing rapidly since 1878. The oc-
cupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, although causing a crisis in
the affairs of the monarchy, brought no serious change in the
policy of the government at Pesth. The liberal ministerial party
retained its majority, and Tisza continued in the direction of
affairs. He was opposed to concessions for the minor races in
Austria or Hungary. Nevertheless, the newly acquired provinces
gave fresh hopes to the Croats, who now began to dream of a
greater Croatia, independent of Hungary and united to the mon-
archy by a personal union only. They demanded and were
granted the incorporation of the military frontier by Croatia, but
Dalmatia and Fiume they failed to obtain. In 1883 their stolid
opposition to the Magyars broke out into open acts of violence;
a new coat-of-arms placed by the minister of finance over his door
was torn down by a mob, and in 1885 the forcible removal of
the Agram archives to Pesth produced such tumultuous scenes in
the diet that several radical deputies were arrested and imprisoned.
But the agitation against Magyarization and in favor of a greater
Croatia continued, and on the occasions of the king's visit in 1895
a Magyar flag was openly burned by the students. The smaller
nationalities, having no political organization, were in no position
to make their grievances felt. But although deprived of all ade-
430 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1878-1894
quate means of agitation, their protests were frequently heard.
The Slovaks in the north tried to make common cause with their
kinsmen, the Czechs, only to find themselvcLr the subject of attack
by both the government and the Lutheran clergy. All pastors and
teachers in a Slovak country were forbidden to join in the Slav
propaganda. The Rumanians, among whom a party looking
for an ultimate union with Rumania had arisen, found the lead-
ers of their deputation to " the emperor " with a memorandum
asking for a separate government for Transylvania arrested and im-
prisoned. Of the other races, the Saxons, favored by the electoral
law, objected occasionally to the policy of the government, but in
the main they made common cause with the Magyars, and the
agitations of the Servians in 1884, to regain the privilege of electing
their metropolitan and of managing the affairs of their school and
church, were not of sufficient importance to cause the government
much anxiety.
In economic and social matters the period is marked by a policy
far-reaching in its effects. The acquisition by the state of the
Hungarian railways was effected with energy and credit, and in
1889 Barossa, minister of public works, introduced the zone sys-
tem of fares. The fares were greatly reduced and the passenger
traffic in Hungary trebled in one year. This increased intercom-
munication was likewise of great advantage to the new industries,
which the government did its utmost to encourage. With the
rising importance of industry and commerce came the decline
of the influence of the old landed aristocracy, and the increase
of that of the Jews. An attempt to place the latter on a
footing of equality with other races was accordingly met by bitter
race prejudice. Tisza's measure to allow mixed marriages be-
tween Jews and Christians passed the lower house, but was thrown
out by the house of magnates. This led to a reform of the upper
chamber, which greatly reduced the number of magnates. At the
same time the mandate of the deputies was increased from three
to five years.
In 1890 Tisza, after having ruled in Hungary like a dictator
for fourteen years, resigned. He had been losing ground even
with his own party, and the last years of his dominance were
marked by flagrant political corruption. In 1889 the opposition
in the diet became tumultuous, and the next year, finding himself
deserted by his colleagues on his measure to abrogate the law ex-
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA 431
1889-1894
patriating Kossuth, he handed in his resignation. He was suc-
ceeded by Szapary, who was, however, unable to weather the storm
aroused by an attempted reform of the administration of the
comitats and by the disputes over the relations between church and
state, especially on the question of mixed marriages. Before the
end of the year the able financier, Dr. Wekerle, was appointed in
his stead. Wekerle's entry upon office is significant because he
was the first minister-president to come from the ranks of the
middle class, and also because it marks the serious inauguration
of the conflict between church and state in Hungary.
He entered at once upon the work of reform, and notwith-
standing the frenzied attacks of the clergy and the conservative
aristocracy, secured the adoption of his project by the lower house.
The plan involved five points: first, the freedom of worship to all
religious bodies in Hungary; second, the civil registration of
births, marriages, and deaths; third, the recognition of the Jewish
religion ; fourth, the permission of mixed marriages ; and fifth, and
most important, compulsory civil marriage. The magnates re-
jected the measure regarding civil marriages and the greatest ex-
citement prevailed. Encouraged by the popular support, Wekerle
submitted his project to the lower house a second time, by whom it
was again passed by an enormous majority. But again the peers
rejected it, and the king, who all along was suspected of fearing
the effect of the example of such a law on Austria, and therefore
secretly opposing it, refused to create a sufficient number of new
peers to carry the measure, and the minister resigned. The resig-
nation came at the very moment when Hungary was cast into
deep mourning by the death, in exile, of her renowned patriot,
Kossuth, in 1894.
Chapter XXXVI
RECENT HISTORY. 1894-1910
THE history of Austria-Hungary during the last twelve]
years is marked by a continuance, often in violent foi
of the race rivalry, and by the perplexing conditions of
a parliamentary deadlock in both parts of the monarchy, side byl
side with much that is significant in the field of intellectual and na-|
tional development. No material change has been made in the
political relations of the two parts of the monarchy, and yet it has
been impossible for nearly a decade to obtain a parliamentary sanc-
tion to the Ausgleich or modus vivendi upon which .the continu-
ance of the dual agreement must ultimately depend. The attitude
of the minor races has changed but little; they are, if anything,
more insistent in their demands, and better organized than in
previous years. In economic matters great progress has been
made, but in these, as in foreign affairs, the absence of political
harmony and a strong central government has had an unfortunate
influence. The old prestige of the monarchy and the loyalty to
Francis Joseph has done considerable to counteract the evils of
the political situation, but conditions in the dual monarchy are
discouraging in the extreme.
Taaffe's resignation had been the result of the opposition
aroused by his liberal plans for electoral reform. His successor,
Count Windischgratz, whose appointment was regarded as a make-
shift, found that the opposition to the reform measure had by no
means abated with the withdrawal of its author. On the other hand,
the Social Democrats, who were rapidly increasing in numbers, the
Czechs, and the German Liberals carried on the agitation for uni-
versal suffrage. The premier decided on a compromise. He pro-
posed the creation of a fifth electoral group to be added to the four
already existing. This group was to consist of the artisans of
the towns and all Austrians who had paid direct taxes for two
years. The proposal satisfied none of the liberal parties, while
the Socialists were bitter in their attack upon it. About this time
432
RECENT HISTORY 433
1894-1896
the race conflict between Slavs and Germans broke out anew be-
cause of the government's proposal to give instruction in the
Slovene language in the high school at Cilli in Steiermark, and the
German parties withdrew their support from the ministry. Win-
dischgratz was forced to resign without having passed his electoral
bill. After a brief space of provisional rule under Count Kiell-
mansegg the remarkable opportunist government of Badeni was
inaugurated in September, 1895.
A Pole from Galicia, Badeni, had served a thorough appren-
ticeship in the art of manipulating political parties. He now or-
ganized a ministry including representatives of the most diverse
views, declaring that it was the intention of the government to
direct, not to follow, the chambers. Sure of the support of the
Poles, Clericals, Conservatives, and the court, he announced a
programme which would, it was hoped, secure the support of the
Germans as a whole. He would, he said, stand by the Germans,
though giving at the same time due regard to the just demands of
all nationalities. He would renew the Ausgleich and introduce
electoral reform. All parties were asked to give their support
to this programme, which, he ominously hinted, embodied the last
effort of the king at constitutional government. If it failed
Austria would return to absolutism.
Early in 1896 the new electoral bill was presented to the
Reichsrath. It fell far short of the reforms proposed by Taaffe.
Indeed, it was less a reform than a makeshift compromise. Like
the proposals of Windischgratz, it created a fifth group of electors.
It was to consist of all Austrians over twenty-four years of age,
not included in the other four groups, who had had a residence of
six months in the district. To this group, which would include
the great mass of the voters, over 5,500,000, was allotted 72 seats
in the Reichsrath, while the other four groups, which counted only
1,700,000 voters, still retained their 353 seats, or 83 per cent, of
the total representation. To the great mass of workingmen and
peasants, therefore, the bill gave 72 deputies, whom they might, in
conjunction with the other four classes, elect; to the large landed
proprietors, 85; to the chambers of commerce and industry, 21; to
the towns, 118, and to the rural communes, 129. It was mani-
festly the best that could be secured, and with the support of the
German Liberals and the Young Czechs the measure was passed in
June, 1896.
484 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1887-1907
The elections held under the new law in March, 1897, were
very tumultuous, and proved a grievous disappointment to the gov-
ernment. No less than twenty-eight parties and twelve national
groups were represented in the new Reichsrath. A consistent
working majority could not be got together, and Badeni tendered
his resignation. But the emperor refused to accept it, declaring
that " the general interests of the state " were superior to parties.
The premier remained in office and in April issued the now famous
" language decrees," putting the Czech language on an equal foot-
ing with the German in Bohemia and Moravia. By 1907 all
officials were to know both languages, and in the courts of justice
either language should be used according to the wish of the parties
in the case.
The promulgation of these decrees was the signal for violent
outbursts of anger among the Germans, and the inauguration of
that notorious policy of obstruction which has since been copied
by the opposition parties in both Austria and Hungary, and which
has made a by-word of parliamentary government in the dual
monarchy. Indeed, Badeni's " language decrees " may be said to
mark the inauguration of a decade of unconstitutional govern-
ment in Austria. La constitution ne fonctionne plus, as the French
aptly express it.
The Germans objected to the unconstitutionality of the de-
crees. A matter so vital to the interests of the state was clearly ^
a subject for legislation and could not be disposed of by imperial B
ordinance. They urged the inexpediency and unfairness of the
measures. It was both easy and profitable for the Czechs to learn
German, a language spoken by the great mass of the people of
central Europe. For the German official to learn Czech was not
only extremely difficult, but unprofitable, since a knowledge of the ;^
language, they claimed, had little or no commercial value. To ^
the Czech argument that Bohemia was a united and indivisible king-
dom they replied that there were three distinct divisions, one in
which Czech alone was used, a second in which both Czech and
German were in use, and a third in which German was used ex-
clusively. The most unseemly tactics were resorted to in order
to force the government to reconsider the decrees. Prolonged
speeches, Dr. Lecher talking for twelve hours at a stretch, inter-
ruptions, stamping and slamming of desks, and even assaults upon
opposition members marked the sessions. Nor was the obstruction
RECENT HISTORY 435
1897-1899
confined to the Reichsrath. Wherever possible, in town and vil-
lage councils, and in provincial diets a vigorous campaign of ob-
struction was carried on to hamper the administration. Motion
after motion was introduced for the impeachment of Badeni, and
the house refused to vote the Delegations. Personal recrimina-
tions led to a duel between a pan-German member, Herr Wolf,
and the premier, in which the latter was wounded. Finally, after
the deputies had engaged in more than one pitched battle, the minis-
try resorted to a police measure, the " lex Fallenheyn." This led
to hostile demonstrations against the ministry in the streets of
Vienna, and the emperor at last agreed to Badeni's resignation,
in December, 1897.
Baron Gautsch succeeded to the ministry, but notwithstand-
ing the fact that he chose his cabinet entirely from the Germans,
they declared that they would continue their obstruction till the
" language decrees " were modified, and the renewal of the Aus-
glcich, which was a matter of deep concern to the government, and
which had been agreed to by the parliament at Pesth, could not be
effected. On the basis of article fourteen of the constitution it
was continued provisionally by royal decree. The ministry's com-
promise measure in regard to the language question in Bohemia
was likewise rejected, and in March, 1898, Gautsch was replaced
by Count Thun.
Thun fell heir to an extremely difficult situation. The
language controversy continued, the obstructionist tactics of the
Reichsrath had passed to the provincial diets, the commercial ar-
rangement with Hungary remained unconfirmed, and the dynastic
sentiment was losing ground. In outlining his policy the new
premier adopted a decidedly conciliatory tone, appealing in the
name of Austria to all parties to aid the government in securing
justice to all nationalities, and in effecting the necessary social and
economic reforms. But in spite of this appeal the obstruction con-
tinued, and no business was done. Again recourse was had to
the powers conferred on the government by article fourteen of
the constitution. The term of the Ausgleich was again extended,
and certain taxes, as, for instance, the duty on spirits and the sugar
tax and bounty, prolonged indefinitely. An imperial message was
issued thanking the provincial diets for the expressions of loyalty
during the celebration of the emperor's jubilee, and promising
an extension of the functions of the diets. This greatly en-
436 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1899-1900
raged the Germans, who saw in it mere truckling to the Slavs.
The extremists determined to continue the obstruction, and dur-
ing the whole of 1899 they carried out their programme. To the
government's request to legislate on measures necessary to the
existence of the state, as, for example, the bill for raising the
annual contingent of recruits, they replied, " there is no greater
necessity of state than the withdrawal of the language decrees."
Scenes of violence again marked the sessions, and the Reichsrath
was prorogued. But the extensive application of article fourteen
to ordinary matters of legislation aroused a storm of opposition
throughout the country. Meetings and demonstrations were or-
ganized, scores of municipalities, chambers of commerce, and other
public bodies joined in the agitation, and Thun was forced to
resign in September, 1899.
The selection of Clary Aldingen revealed a tendency on the
part of the emperor to revert to a policy more favorable to the
Germans. One of his first acts was to withdraw the " language
decrees," The Germans had triumphed at last. But the with-
drawal of the decrees by no means restored order into Austrian
politics. The Czechs now took the place of the Germans in block-
ing legislation, and before long it became again necessary to appeal
to the power conferred on the emperor by article fourteen. This
the premier refused to do, and resigned.
In January, 1900, Dr. Korber formed a new ministry. He
secured the election of the Delegations, but failing to carry any
other measures, he asked the emperor to dissolve the Reichsrath.
Soon afterward the sovereign declared that this would be posi-
tively the last attempt at constitutional effort to end the crisis. He
lauded the Poles as the only one of the nationalities that refrained
from obstruction and worked in the interests of the state. The
elections were conducted amid gloomy forebodings, the Viennese
press adopting a particularly despondent tone. The result of the
elections did not promise much improvement. The old supporters
of the government, the Clericals, sustained severe defeats ; likewise
did the anti-Semites, while the gains went to the extremists who
had been responsible for the deadlock. Owing largely, however,
to the increasing injury to the material interests of the country,
and to the premier's skillful policy, a stop, temporary it is true,
was at last put to the paralysis of legislation which had lasted
for four vcars.
I
RECENT HISTORY 437
1900-1904
The Czechs and radical parties agreed to suspend the strife
over language and national rights, and take up measures of vital
importance to the welfare of the country. Night and day sessions
were held and much important legislation was carried. Bills for
the amalgamation of the railroads, the building of new lines, the
construction of an extensive system of internal canals connecting
the Danube, the Elbe, and the Moldau, the improvement of indus-
trial conditions, and the abolition of some of the most irksome
customs duties were passed. But only a provisional budget was
adopted, and the rivalry between Czechs and Germans again be-
came so violent that the work of the Reichsrath came to a stand-
still, and the second session of 1901 had to be adjourned without
a vote on the budget. In the meantime a decided feeling against
the demands of Hungary in the matter of the Ausgleich was begin-
ning to manifest itself in the Austrian part of the monarchy. The
provisional arrangement of 1896 was denounced, and Dr. Korber
formally declared that the government was resolved to secure
better terms for Austria, or put an end to all the existing economic
arrangements with Hungary.
But the dissatisfaction with Hungary in no way relieved the
difficulties between the races in the Austrian Reichsrath. The
Czech deputies continued to obstruct 'legislation, and in Novem-
ber, 1903, they issued a manifesto setting forth a complete state-
ment of the demands. It asked for the federalization of the mon-
archy, the application of the principle of equality to the Czech and
German languages in the lands of the Bohemian crown, the found-
ation of Czech technical, secondary, and primary schools in Sil-
esia, and of Czech public schools in Lower Austria, especially in
Vienna for the Czech population, the protection of national minori-
ties, electoral reform, and the same rights for the use of the Czech
language in the army as those to be accorded the Magyars. Till
an effort was made to grant these demands they threatened to
block the work of the house. The budget and other urgent
measures could not pass, and at the end of the year matters of
immediate importance were again regulated by imperial decree.
The next year brought no improvement. Indeed, the sit-
uation seemed, if anything, rather worse, for in most of the
provincial diets, excepting that of Galicia, the disgraceful pro-
ceedings of the Reichsrath were reenacted during 1904. At Prague
the sittings assumed such a violent turn that the session had to
k
438 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1904-1906
be suspended after the second day. Throughout the country the
racial antagonism grew steadily worse. Cities, towns, and vil-
lages were divided. Germans were mobbed in Prague, while
Czechs were maltreated in Vienna and other places. At the same
time difficulties with the Italians of Austria developed. In No-
vember a conflict occurred at Innsbriick between German and
Italian students over the establishment of a faculty of law for
the Italians. The action of the government was severely criticised
even by the Germans, and the affair finally led to the resignation
of the Korber ministry.
Baron Gautcsh succeeded to the premiership, but during the
year 1905 the conflict of nationalities and the strained relations
with Hungary paralyzed all effective parliamentary action. A
sharp rebuke was administered to Hungary in a long statement
by the premier in which he declared that Hungary must fulfill her
engagements and accept the commercial treaties, in regard to
which Austria would make no concessions. If these arrangements
were not satisfactorily concluded by March i, 1906, Austria would
act independently. In May the Austrian parliament passed the
Ausgleich, upon which, as a basis, commercial treaties with Ger-
many, Italy, Russia, Belgium, and Switzerland were pending, but
the Hungarian parliament would not pass the measure. Much
bitterness of feeling against Hungary developed, Pan-German
members of the Reichsrath boldly demanding a severance of the
economic relationship with Hungary for one with the German
empire.
But of equal or even greater import than the race conflict
and the strained relations with Hungary during these years was
the increasing strength of socialism. In 1895 Herr Bebel of the
German Reichstag had brought the Austrian socialists into closer
touch with those of other countries, and had by his active propa-
ganda effected a more thorough organization among them. This
work manifested itself in the steady growth of the party, and by
1905 it had assumed proportions truly alarming to the supporters
of the old electoral system. Meetings and demonstrations de-
manding equal suffrage occurred in all the principal Austrian
towns. In November a monster demonstration of from 200,000
to 300,000 workingmen and women carrying red flags took place
in front of the parliament buildings in Vienna while the Reichsrath
was in session, and the government promised to lay before parlia-
RECENT HISTORY 439
1894-1906
ment not later than February a measure for the reform of the
franchise, based on the principle of universal suffrage.
On February 23, 1906, this important measure was presented
to the Reichsrath. It made a clean sweep of the old electoral sys-
tem with its divisions into groups or classes, placing all electors
on an equal footing, except where racial considerations made a
special arrangement necessary. Every male citizen who had com-
pleted his twenty-fourth year and had resided in the electoral
district for one year, unless under legal disabilities, was to have a
right to vote. The bill abolished plural voting and further pro-
vided for a division of the electoral districts, which gave to the
Germans 205 representatives, the Slavs, comprising Czechs, Poles,
Slovenes, and others, 229, the Italians 17, and the Rumanians
4. Considerable opposition to the measure developed among some
of the German parties, who feared for the majorities in the Reichs-
rath and the provincial diets. On March 23 the bill passed its first
reading in the Reichsrath.
The political development in Hungary during the years from
1894, when Dr. Wekerle resigned from his first premiership, to
the summer of 1906, when he was called to office to form a cabinet
from the coalition opposition, presents many features found in
the story of the Austrian part of the monarchy for this period.
There are the same difficulties over parliamentary procedure, the
same obstructionist tactics, the same difficulties over the Ausgleich,
the same, though in a markedly less degree, antagonism between
races and the same progress toward electoral reform. Added
to this is a growing demand for separation from Austria in all
matters except the sovereign, a movement which has in recent
years become so powerful that it is represented by the majority in
parliament.
Finding it impossible to secure a compromise ministry after
the withdrawal of Wekerle, the emperor, in 1895, asked Count
Banffy to continue the work and policy of the former premier.
The Liberals were jubilant and in their enthusiam succeeded in
passing the most important measures advocated by their former
leader. Among these, it will be remembered, the laws establish-
ing obligatory civil marriage and liberty of education for children
of mixed marriages were the most important. But the opposi-
tion of the Clericals, and of the Separatists, or party of Independ-
ence, led by young Kossuth, increased, notwithstanding a concilia-
440 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1897-1907
tory visit of the emperor-king to Hungary. A measure to provide
for the continuance of the Ausgleich for one year on the under-
standing that if no permanent agreement had been arrived at
between the two parliaments by May, 1898, the ministry would
present proposals for a settlement based more exclusively on the
interests of Hungary, was not allowed to pass. Other govern-
ment bills met with the same fate, neither the budget nor the pro-
visions for the customs, the bank, or the levy of recruits being ap-
proved. Only one measure of importance passed the houses in
1897, a law providing for the rigid control of agricultural labor.
During the following year the obstruction continued, and the
government was forced to adopt the English rules of order and to
carry out the enactments necessary for the budget, the Ausgleich,
and other indispensable measures without reference to parliament.
This drastic policy alienated many of the Liberals, but Banffy re-
mained firm. By 1898, therefore, it was necessary to sanction
by the royal prerogative measures approved by the majority in
parliament both at Vienna and Pesth, but which could not be
regularly passed.
Finally the minority was successful in forcing Banffy to
resign. Count Apponyi, a Magyar of the Magyars, had with-
drawn his support, and in February, 1899, Szell, a follower
of Deak, became premier. Szell pledged the government to rule
constitutionally, and the Liberals, who had seceded because of
Banffy's drastic measures, returned to the support of the ministry.
Obstruction ceased, and the Ausgleich, with a slight modification in
regard to the bank, which had been continued provisionally, was
finally adopted for the decade ending in 1907. But the parlia-
ment at Vienna would not do its part and refused to ratify the
agreement. In the ensuing year Premier Szell uttered some very
ominous words, asserting that in case Austria proved unable to
fulfill her engagements he was fully prepared to " assert the rights
of Hungary and its Independence." ..." Meanwhile let us
husband our strength and keep our powder dry." These remark-
able words were the more ominous because of the recognized con-
servatism of the speaker.
Late in 1900 the jealousy between the two states reached a
crisis on the question of the extension of the Bosnian railways, in
the settlement of which Austrian interests were shamefully sacri-
ficed in favor of the continuance of Hungary's monopoly of the
RECENT HISTORY 441
I 894- 1898
traffic to that province. In the summer of 1901 scandalous cor-
ruption was disclosed in the matter of government contracts, many-
members of parliament being associated with industries and com-
mercial enterprises which held large contracts from the state. To
prevent collusion and corruption for the future an incompatibility
bill was introduced and passed, in which it was clearly specified
what occupation or other circumstances are incompatible with a
seat in parliament.
In the elections of this year the returns showed a distinct gain
for the party of Independence, and during the following year Kos-
suth and his followers lost no opportunity of asserting the claims
of Magyarism and demanding total independence, going to such
extremes that even the veteran novelist and patriot Jokai pub-
lished an indignant appeal to the people against them. Premier
Szell continued his policy of maintaining the dual agreement, re-
plying to Kossuth that the political features of the dual agreement,
as, for example, the dynasty, the succession to the throne, the
common army and navy, the diplomatic service and the Delega-
tions were irrevocable and not subject to revision. On the ques-
tions of the quota, the customs tariff, and other commercial and
economic matters he hoped soon to reach a satisfactory arrange-
ment. That such a settlement was infinitely more difficult than had
previously been the case was evident.
On the occasion of the first renewal of the Ansgleich consider-
ble difficulty had been experienced in arriving at a satisfactory
arrangement. The Hungarians demanded the establishment of an
Hungarian national bank and a revision of the tariff and com-
mercial relations. After more than two years of negotiations an
agreement had finally been concluded in June, 1878. A national
bank on a dualist basis was created, and Hungary retained 31.4
per cent, of the quota, or common expense of the monarchy, as
against 68.6 per cent, for Austria, a modification of the original
arrangement made on the occasion of the addition of the military
frontiers to Hungary. As no difficulty arose over the renewal ten
years later, this arrangement remained in force for two decades.
Fully two years before the date of its expiration in 1897 the states-
men in both halves of the monarchy took steps to prepare the way
for its renewal. Preliminary conferences were held and special
commissions appointed. At first difficulties arose over the quota,
Austria demanding that Hungary pay a larger share, while Hun-
443 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1894-1904
gary, although she at first agreed to the old arrangement, later
demanded a radical modification of its provisions. Her economic
interests being so largely agricultural, the protective system in
favor of Austrian industries was naturally disadvantageous to her.
The lack of success attending the efforts of the governments, both
at Vienna and Pesth, in arriving at an adjustment has been seen.
The possibilities were still further decreased by the growth of the
Independence party, which demanded the abolition of the com-
promise entirely.
After 1897 the compromise, so far as Hungary was con-
cerned, was maintained under a provisional arrangement known
as the " Szell formula," by which it was agreed that if no definite
arrangement could be reached by the end of 1902, both parties
were free to dissolve the customs union in 1904. Owing largely to
the personal intervention of the emperor and the successful policy
of Premier Szell, the arrangements, despite the hostile action of
the Reichsrath, were renewed. Both governments submitted the
details of the project simultaneously to both parliaments in Janu-
ary, 1903. But again the obstructionists blocked the way, and
the bills giving effect to the agreement did not come to a vote.
This was the more unfortunate because new problems were
arising which made its adoption more difficult than ever. The
first of these appeared in connection with a bill providing for
an increase in the number of recruits for the army from 103,100
to 125,000 men. The increase was nothing more than an adjust-
ment of the size of the army to the increased population, and under
normal conditions ought not to have called forth serious objec-
tions, but the Magyars, especially the Independence party, made
it the occasion for an attack on the common army system, and on
the dual agreement as a whole.
Premier Szell was unable to overcome the opposition and
resigned in June, 1903, being succeeded by Count Hedervary, a
former ban of Croatia. Hedervary was as much a man of the
government as Szell had been, and the Kossuthites continued to
obstruct business in parliament. They asked that Hungarian
words of command should be adopted for the Hungarian regi-
ments of the army, that all Hungarian officers be transferred to
these regiments, with other demands looking toward the ultimate
establishment of an independent Hungarian army. A majority
of the parties in the lower house supported these demands, and the
RECENT HISTORY 443
1903
government was at a loss how to proceed. To yield was im-
possible, the emperor declared, for the common army was one of
the bulwarks of the monarchy. Besides, the Austrian Germans
strongly opposed the proposed changes. If Hungary obtained
control of her contingent of the army, then Austria, whose pro-
portion of recruits was only 56 per cent., should no longer pay
65 per cent, of the cost of maintenance, according to the arrange-
ment of 1899. They also urged that to yield to the Hungarian
demand in regard to the words of command would lead to sim-
ilar demands by the Czechs, Poles, and other nationalities, not
only in the Austrian division of the army, but in the Hungarian
itself. To bring the obstruction of its policy directly home to
the people and at the same time to make up the deficiency caused
by the Hungarians in refusing to vote the recruit bill, the gov-
ernment issued a decree detaining the time expired men, who
would normally be allowed to return to citizen life, with the colors
for an indefinite period.
Late in the summer, during the military maneuvers in Galicia,
the emperor announced in strong terms his determination to up-
hold the unity of the army and its existing organization. The
Austrian premier declared that in matters affecting the imperial
army the Austrian half of the monarchy had a legal right to inter-
fere. The effect of this firm language was largely destroyed by
the emperor's explanatory communication some time later, which
had much the air of an embarrassed apology. And when Heder-
vary defended the view of the Austrian premier before the Hun-
garian house he raised such a storm of protest that he was forced
to resign.
Count Tisza, the son of Hungary's veteran premier, suc-
ceeded Hedervary in October, 1903. An agreement satisfactory
to the majority had been reached with the king regarding the pro-
posed army changes and the royal prerogatives. It involved the
use of Hungarian standards and military emblems by the side of
the Austrian ones on all military buildings in Hungary, the use of
Magyar among Hungarian officers, greater facilities for the edu-
cation of Hungarian cadets to insure an adequate number of Hun-
garian officers, the reduction of the period of service from three to
two years, the transfer of all Hungarian officers to Hungarian
regiments, and the retention of the common language of com-
mand and of service. But the opposition would not accept the
444 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1903-1905
agreement, Apponyi claiming that it did not go far enough in
the matter of education of Hungarian officers. Two sessions a
day were resorted to in order to overcome the obstruction. This
gave rise to disgraceful scenes, it is true, but it finally brought
about a compromise, by which the Independents agreed to refrain
from further obstruction on condition that double sittings should
be abolished and that parliament should declare that " in Hungary
the source of every right and in the army the source of rights ap-
pertaining to the language of service and command is the will of
the nation expressed through the legislature."
Early in the next year the premier proposed a new set of
standing rules of order of extreme severity, and in order to force
the hands of the opposition withdrew all other bills. The threat
proved effective. The recruit bill, an indemnity bill, and a pro-
visional agreement with Croatia were allowed to pass. This par-
liamentary victory was marked by another against the strike of
the employees of the state railroad, incited, it was believed, by the
opposition. But this merely embittered the conflict in the house.
Kossuth and Count Apponyi led a large majority in a vote against
Tisza's proposed revision of the rules of order, and the premier's
hold on the situation seemed to weaken. He was able, however,
to rally his supporters about him and replied to the obstructionists
by a revival of the " guillotine " or the closure, now called the " lex
Daniel," because the bill was introduced by Baron Daniel. The
passage of this measure raised the opposition to fever heat. They
appealed to the crown, and to the people; public meetings and
demonstrations were organized, and all the proposals of the pre-
mier for moderation scouted. At the opening of the session in
December they entered the house early, assaulted the police, broke
up the furniture, and finally had themselves photographed amid
the debris, Kossuth glorifying the action as " a symbol of the
political maturity of the Magyars, who, after asserting their rights,
refrain from violence."
Tisza finally resolved to appeal to the country and announced
the elections for February, 1905, asking the house to vote the sup-
plies for the year. This the opposition refused to permit unless
the " lex Daniel " were annulled. They declared at the same time
that unless the supplies were voted the laws of 1848 made the
dissolution illegal, the elections void. Tisza replied that the laws
of 1867 &^ve the crown the right to dissolve parliament at any
RECENT HISTORY 445
1905
time provided the ministry convoked the new parliament in time
to vote the estimates. The issues were clearly drawn, and finally
all the parties of the opposition took their stand with Kossuth in
favor of the laws of 1848, which was a virtual declaration that the
dual agreement did not exist.
The appeal to the people was conducted with great feeling
and passion, and the elections resulted in an overwhelming defeat
of the government, which elected only 152 deputies, while the Kos-
suthites elected 163, the Clerical Socialists, 23, Banffy's party, 11,
Andrassy's, 22,, and the non-Magyar nationahties, 8. The country
had spoken in no uncertain terms, and Tisza at once sent in his
resignation. For the first time in the history of Hungary since
the establishment of the dual monarchy the opposition possessed
a majority, and the king sent for Kossuth.
But the latter's views were entirely incompatible with the con-
tinuance of the existing political relations between the two parts
of the monarchy, and no arrangement could be made with him. It
was therefore necessary to make the attempt with a ministry from
the minority, and in June Baron Fejervary was appointed premier.
In the meantime the chamber had, by a large majority, passed an
address to the crown in which it demanded the appointment of
a responsible government supported by the majority; the reform
of the parliamentary and electoral system; the commercial and
financial independence of Hungary, and the nationalizing of the
Hungarian army by the introduction of the Magyar language and
emblems. A formal vote of censure on Tisza was passed, and on
July 18 a manifesto was issued declaring the Fejervary ministry
unconstitutional and urging everyone to withhold all public serv-
ices from it. Officials were given to understand that they might
refuse to cooperate in the collection of taxes and the enrollment
of recruits, indemnification being promised in case of dismissal.
This threatened to carry the deadlock hitherto confined to the
legislative department of the government into the administrative
also.
But the threat was of no avail, and in September the king
informed the leaders of the opposition coalition that he would sub-
mit the government of the country to them on the following con-
ditions only: First, the elimination of their demands in regard to
the language of command and of service for the army ; second, the
continuance, untouched, of the Pragmatic union of the two states
m
446 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1894-1906
with respect to the army and foreign affairs; third, the revision
of the economic relations only through negotiations with the Aus-
trian part of the monarchy and subject to the approval of the
crown ; fourth, an agreement to pass the measures necessary for the
conduct of the government as laid down by the constitution, as, for
example, the recruit bill, the commercial treaties, and the election
of the Delegations; and fifth, an obligation to vote the supplies
necessary for the military and naval reforms voted by the last
Delegations. Nothing could be more diametrically counter to
the April address, and the Magyar leaders refused to accept the
conditions. The deadlock thus created seemed likely to last for
some time, when a new factor which had hitherto been of minor
importance arose.
In Hungary, as in Austria, during these years the political
ideas of the masses were slowly undergoing an evolution in the
direction of universal suffrage. In September a socialist agita-
tion began at Pesth and spread rapidly over the country, till
the demands of the masses for admission to the franchise bade
fare to eclipse the interest in the conflict over the relations with
Austria and the crown. The new development was one of ex-
treme importance to the government, which saw in these demands
a new factor which might be effectively used against the opposi-
tion. For, bent at all hazards on a continuance of Magyar domi-
nance, which in the words of Bebel meant the rule of the nobles,
the large landholders, the clergy, and the bourgeoisie, the Hun-
garian leaders were naturally opposed to an extension of the suf-
frage which would enfranchise the great agricultural and artisan
proletariate, and secure to the non-Magyar elements of the popula-
tion a proportionate share in the representation. Realizing this,
Fejervary made universal suffrage, " with due provision for safe-
guarding state and national interests," the main feature of his
political programme. The programme contained many other pro-
gressive proposals, but they were all completely overshadowed by
this tremendously important issue. In his letter to the Hungarian
Socialists Herr Bebel vehemently supported the government's pro-
posal. He inveighed against the dominant class which holds up
its hands in pharisaical horror at the violation of the letter of the
parliamentary law while it keeps the majority of the nation from
its natural right of representation. " I subscribe word for word,"
he declared, " to the judgment pronounced by Premier Fejervary
f
RECENT HISTORY 447
1905
concerning the sterility and total insufficiency of Hungarian par-
liamentarism hitherto. I only wish that he might be able to carry
out his programme, which would make of Hungary what it has
not hitherto been, a modern state."
Whether the socialist leader is right or not, there is no ques-
tion of the fact that the opposition felt the force of the argument,
and the danger to its majority in the house unless it identified
itself with the movement. After considerable hesitation Kossuth
in a public letter accepted universal suffrage as a part of his
party's policy. At the same time the passive resistance to the gov-
ernment was continued. The Delegations could not be elected
and the county administrations could not " levy taxes or enroll
recruits for an unconstitutional government." The financial dis-
order increased, and with it the difficulties of the ministry.
Fejervary resigned, but the king declined to accept his resignation,
and ordered the dissolution of the diet. On February 19 the royal
message reached the house, and on a resolution by that body not
to accept the rescript, a military officer entered the chamber and
read the order. After entering a verbal protest the deputies sub-
mitted to the clearing of the hall, the forced dissolution being, con-
trary to expectation, orderly and without violence.
The order declared that " whereas, the majority constituted
by the allied parties of the chamber have, in spite of our repeated
summons, refused persistently to take over the government on an
acceptable basis without violating our royal rights as by law guar-
anteed, we, to the sorrow of our hearts, are not able to expect
from this parliament an activity conducive to the interest of the
country, and, therefore, on the proposal of our Hungarian minis-
try, declare the parliament convoked on February 15, 1905, to be
dissolved, and reserve to ourselves the convocation of a new par-
liament as soon as may be." The political deadlock seemed to
have reached a crisis, but early in April the opposition, fearing a
period of absolutism, at last agreed to a compromise on the basis
of which they accepted office under the leadership of Dr. Wekerle.
Associated with him were the leaders of the different groups of the
opposition, Kossuth, Apponyi, Andrassy, and Zichy. They were
pledged to pass the budget, the new commercial treaties, and
a bill for general, equal, and direct suffrage, while the king agreed
to carry out the elections under the old law and assemble parlia-
ment in May.
448 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1894-1906
The foreign affairs of Austria-Hungary, which, with the
army and navy, and finances connected with the general expenses,
are common to both parts of the monarchy, have been during this
period under the direction of Count Goluchowski, one of the ablest
diplomats of recent years. He was appointed in May, 1895, and
has throughout been in entire accord with the emperor-king,
giving to the Austrian policy its essentially dynastic character. Its
basic features have been the maintenance of the Triple Alliance in
central Europe, the peaceful solution of the difficulties in the
Balkan peninsula without any change in the existing state system,
and the promotion of the monarchy's commercial interests.
The evidence of the policy in the Near East appeared as early
as 1879 in the alliance with Germany against Russia, and its ex-
tension by the admission of Italy. In 1896 it made itself still more
apparent in Goluchowski's declaration that the integrity and liberty
of Turkey must be preserved, warning the Greeks against sending
aid to the Cretans, and by the unexpected agreement with Russia
against England in opposing the proposed intervention in behalf
of the Armenians. During the visit of the tsar to Vienna an
understanding was reached by which it was agreed that nothing
happening in the Balkans should disturb the friendly relations be-
tween Austria-Hungary and Russia. " The repeated meetings,"
said Francis Joseph in 1897, " which I have had with the emperor
of Russia have convinced me of the agreement of our views, and
upon them has been founded a relation of mutual confidence be-
tween our countries, the consolidation of which cannot but promise
well for the future." In elaborating upon the new policy the for-
eign minister explained that the differences between Austria-Hun-
gary, and Great Britain over matters in the Near East had
afforded the opportunity for the rapprochement with Russia. A
programme of action in regard to what he described as " the hot
ground of Eastern Europe," was drawn up, which he later de-
clared had as its foremost advantage the principle of non-inter-
vention in the internal affairs of the Balkan states, and the further
existence of Turkey in its present undiminished limits.
The understanding between the two eastern powers seemed
for a time in some danger of breaking up owing to the active
propaganda by Russian agents in Bulgaria and Rumania, the re-
awakening of the Panslavist movement, and the present of
arms by the tsar to the king of Montenegro, but it passed off
RECENT HISTORY 449
1903-1910
without seriously affecting the relations of the two powers. In-
deed, the lines were soon drawn closer through the joint action
of the two powers in Macedonia. A plan since known as the
Austro-Russian plan of reform was intrusted for its execution
by the powers to Austria-Hungary and Russia, and these two
states have since been jointly supervising the reorganization of
the gendarmerie and the development of the new communal au-
thority in the affected regions. In 1903 Goluchowski warned Tur-
key that she " must change if she wishes to live," and that resistance
to the Austro-Russian reforms would not be tolerated. The next
year he declared that the two powers would not rest till the reforms
had been carried into effect, and in his review of the monarchy's
foreign relations in the summer of 1906 he added that to the
policy of the firm maintenance of the Dreibund is " effectually at-
tached an understanding with Russia in regard to the treatment
of questions affecting the Near East."
The maintenance of the alliance between the three central
powers of Europe has, however, in recent years met with much
criticism and considerable opposition in Austria-Hungary. Owing
largely to Germany's high tariff and the dislike of the non-German
races for the pan-German propaganda, the Triple Alliance has be-
come unpopular. The renewal of the alliance in 1902 was re-
ceived with considerable dissatisfaction. " Our monarchy and
Italy," declared a leading Hungarian paper, " have nothing to
show for this alliance but enormous material sacrifices and no
profit." The partnership with Italy the opposition criticised as un-
natural. The close relationship between the royal families of
Italy and Montenegro has raised Italian interests in Albania which
are distinctly antagonistic to those of Austria. Italian-speaking sub-
jects of Austria in the southern Tyrol and along the shores of the
Adriatic, and the demands of the " Irredentists " for the annexa-
tion of these regions to Italy, stand in the way of a cordial under-
standing between the peoples of the two countries. The latter
have on a number of occasions threatened to cause serious trouble,
especially in 1902 during the agitations in Albania and the dis-
orders in Triest. Austria was also further piqued by the slight
in being omitted from the round of visits made by Victor
Emmanuel in this year.
But the government adhered to its policy, Goluchowski, in
his statement to the Delegations, laying great stress on the value
450 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1894-I9I0
of the Triple Alliance as affording a real guarantee of peace, and
an opportunity for its members to enjoy adequate freedom in
looking after their own interests without the fear of danger from
abroad. " The Irredentist demonstrations," he said, " were due
to the wild antics of certain political jobbers and fanatical agi-
tators," designed to embarrass the Italian government. And as
late as June, 1906, in commenting on the cordial reply of the king
of Italy to the joint message by Francis Joseph and William II.
in regard to the Triple Alliance, Goluchowski declared the alliance
to be as strong as ever ; " the keystone of that political system
which has existed for more than a quarter of a century, and whose
continuance constitutes an eminent pledge of the peace of the
whole European continent."
The close relations with the Vatican were considerably dis-
turbed during the early part of this period. Difficulties arose over
the question of the civil marriage law in Hungary and the cam-
paign in Austria for the overthrow of clerical influence — the " Los
von Rom " movement. The Vatican took an active part in both
cases. But no serious development occurred, unless it be the
gradual weakening of the close bonds which have heretofore united
Vienna and the Vatican.
Goluchowski's suggestions for regulating the increasing
stream of emigration and urging upon the government to do all
it its power to correct the conditions responsible for this loss of
productive force, were moderate and wise. His policy has also
been marked by an earnest effort to promote foreign commerce.
In his programme for the expansion of Austro-Hungarian trade he
frankly admitted the inability of the monarchy to acquire or govern
colonies, but laid down excellent projects for the improvement of
trans-oceanic trade. The merchants and manufacturers were urged
to found commercial houses in countries beyond the sea, to or-
ganize large syndicates and found an institution for the educa-
tion of capable commercial travelers. The navy should be in-
creased. And the disgraceful strife of nationalities which " sapped
the vitality of the whole country, delayed the most urgent business
of the state," and had a most " unfavorable influence on the for-
eign relations of the monarchy," should cease.
Indeed, the question of Austria-Hungary's commercial rela-
tions with the other powers of Europe was of particular im-
portance because negotiations for new commercial treaties were
RECENT HISTORY 461
1894-1910
being carried on with many of the European states at this time.
In fact, it seemed for some time as if all possibility of adopting
a tariff conformable to the proposed treaties was out of the. ques-
tion. By the spring of 1906 conditions in this respect, because of
the Hungarian deadlock, appeared worse than ever. But before
March i, the date on which the new treaties negotiated with
Germany, Italy, Russia, Belguim, and Switzerland were to go
into operation, the government overcame the difficulties and put
the new tariff into effect. These treaties were drawn for twelve
years and provide for a conventional tariff for products exchanged
with the treaty powers, the general tariff, regulated in certain cases
by the most favored nation clause, holding in all other cases.
Negotiations were also under way looking toward the establish-
ment of reciprocity rates- with Servia, Bulgaria, and Rumania.
Considerable friction existed between Austria-Hungary and the
first of these states and it was hoped that a reduction in the dual
monarchy's duties on live stock and agricultural products would
largely remove the difficulties.
But if strong reasons existed for the cessation of the political
warfare in Austria-Hungary because of its evil effects on the
country's foreign relations, more, and stronger ones, are to be
found during this period in its influence upon her economic de-
velopment at home. At one of its meetings in 1900 the Vienna
Chamber of Commerce resolved that the political and parlia-
mentary condition of affairs in Austria, through the development
it had undergone during the last three years, had had the most
prejudicial influence on interior political affairs, as well as on
the economic situation of the monarchy. It had become impossi-
ble to establish constitutional and stable relations with Hungary.
Government measures for promoting native commerce, industry,
and trade could not be carried out. The Chamber of Commerce
realized that to put order into the affairs of state and to remedy
the prevailing economic evils, it was necessary that the nationality
questions in Austria should be definitely solved in a sense which
would secure the state against illegitimate opposition and aspira-
tions, and that a definite and energetic economic policy should be
inaugurated. In the previous year a number of the leading Vienna
silk and Bohemian textile industries transferred their factories to
Hungary, and there was for a few years a distinct falling off in
the amount of Austrian production.
452 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1S94-1910
Indeed, there has been during recent years a remarkable addi-
tion to the economic interests of Hungary. From being entirely
an agricultural state it has gradually become, to a considerable
degree at least, industrial also. In 1897, when the agricultural
bill was introduced, it was found that two-thirds of the members
of the lower house and all the members of the upper house were
landowners. To-day many represent industrial and commercial
interests. Legislation on economic matters, if we except the Agri-
cultural Employers' and Workmen's Act, which, as originally
passed in 1897, has probably no parallel in point of severity upon
the laborer, has been generally enlightened and progressive. No
better comment on the social and economic progress in Hungary
in recent years can be made than appears in the third section of
the government's programme of October, 1905. It announced
that the agrarian and industrial policy of the past years must be
enlarged and intensified, and public works, particularly canals and
other waterways, vigorously developed. Children and workmen
must be legally protected; better provisions must be made against
sickness, accident, and old age; workmen's dwellings must be
erected in the large cities, and hospitals and sanitary institutions
for the working classes; the administration of justice must be
modernized, the penal code revised, and the commercial code
amended so as to protect the consuming public by insuring the
purity of food; the laws in distraint and usury must be revised
and taxation reformed by the introduction of a progressive income
tax, by the regulation of oppressive ecclesiastical dues, and by the
diminution of the duties on staple articles of food ; primary educa-
tion must be universal, compulsory, and free ; in the primary schools
the Magyar state language must be taught and the economic posi-
tion of the teacher improved; proper provision must be made for
the maintenance of Catholic priests; the salaries of officials must
be increased, and the power of the central authorities over the
local administration must be extended. These ideas are thor-
oughly in accord with the most influential public thought of the
state.
The remarkable improvement and modernizing of the capitals
of Vienna and Buda-Pesth has been alluded to in the previous
chapter. The municipal administration is good, though still
laboring under the difficulties of an electoral system based upon
groups or classes. Vienna has made extensive experiments in
RECENT HISTORY 453
1894-1910
municipal ownership. Besides its municipal gas and electric plants,
Vienna has owned and operated since 1903 the largest municipal
street railway system in the world. The extensive municipaliza-
tion of public monopolies has been effected largely as the result
of a political movement which has as yet figured only to a minor
degree in the national issues. It is known as Christian socialism,
and in Vienna has found a leader of remarkable organizing ability
in Karl Lueger. It is clerical, socialist, and intensely anti-Semitic.
Since 1897 Lueger has controlled the city, his success in the elec-
tions being based on the antagonism to the increasing influence
and success of the Jews, and the opposition of the small trader and
shopkeeper to the large industries and capitalists.
The never-ending and all-important race strife in Austria-
Hungary has entered so persistently into the history of the mon-
archy, and underlies so many of its problems, that some of its more
important phases require special attention. The incessant con-
flict over language and nationality, is, of course, merely the out-
ward expression of the struggle for power on the part of some
of the races, and for existence on the part of others. In the Aus-
trian half of the monarchy the practical outcome of the struggle
has been greater confusion than ever, if by confusion we mean an
increased vitality of the non-German tongues. Less fortunate than
their Magyar allies, the Germans have failed utterly to Germanize
the various races of Austria. Indeed, they have been forced to
yield ground, and to-day accord a place to the other languages
which even the most ardent Slavophile would not have predicted
in 1867.
The temporary success of the Czechs in making Czech along
with German the official language of Bohemia in 1897, reveals
the extent of the tendency, while the presence of twelve clearly
defined national groups in the Reichsrath scarcely indicates a suc-
cessful policy of amalgamation on the part of the hitherto dominant
race.
In Hungary the development has been strikingly different.
Ever since the establishment of the dual monarchy the Magyars
have bent all their energies to bring about national unity by
Magyarizing their country. And owing to their superior organi-
zation and civilization, and to their intense patriotism, they have
secured remarkable results in attracting large numbers of the non-
Magyar races into their own ranks, and crushing their national
454 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1894-1910
aspirations. These, if we except the Jews, are represented by the
Saxons, Croats and other Slavs, and the Rumanians. The Croa-
tians alone possessed a certain degree of national organization
before 1867, and, as a consequence, they have also been the only
ones able to resist the Magyarizing influences.
But the concessions to Croatia left the Magyars free to deal
with renewed vigor with the other races. A rigorous propaganda
was inaugurated, and the government adopted drastic measures to
establish the Magyar language, not only as the language of the
government and the university, but of secondary education, the
administration, courts, and fiscal oflices. Railroad employees had
to learn Magyar; Hungarian geographical names were Magyar-
ized. Non-Magyar elements are practically excluded from par-
ticipating in the government by the carefully devised franchise
laws, and political preferment in the municipalities is for the Mag-
yars only. German is ostracized from the theaters and the cafe-
chantants, and at the Millennium Exhibition at Pesth in 1896 the
exclusive use of Magyar labels was prescribed by the government,
notwithstanding the fact that they were unintelligible to most of the
visitors. Non-Magyar schools have been a special object of at-
tack, and every effort is made to suppress the teaching in other
than the Magyar tongue. Of the large number of German schools
in 1867, only a few remair'.ed in 1910.
Every inducement is held out to the other nationalities to
abandon their nationality and language and become Magyars.
Special laws facilitating this process have been enacted; a Magyar
name may be had for a mere pittance, " fifty kreutzer," and the
result is that thousands of Jews, Slavs, and Germans, either from
necessity or interest, are exchanging their old names for Magyar
ones. The historian Mommsen's experience is well known. To
his remark that he had seen on his journey to Pesth three persons
of the true Magyar type, Erdy, Matrai, and Toldy, he received
the surprising reply that the original names of his three Magyars
were Lutzenbacher, Rothcrebs, and Schaedel. " The famous artist
Munkacsy was of German parentage." But despite the success
of Magyarization, it is difficult to accept the claim of Kossuth
that in Hungary the race question does not exist. After nearly
forty years of dualism, both parts of the monarchy are still terribly
polyglot. Even Hungary has her Croatia guarding its national
idiom and its national privileges with jealous anxiety, and in the
RECENT HISTORY 455
1894-1910
recent elections a national Rumanian party had as the first point in
its programme the demand for " the recognition of Rumanian
citizens of Hungary as a state-supporting entity."
The results of these conditions in the political and industrial
life of the state have been made apparent in the history of this phase
of the country's development, but the worst feature of the race
problem lies deeper and is less apparent. The races of Austria-
Hungary are often not massed, but intermingled. The territory
of each is dotted with ethnographical islands. Hundreds of towns
and villages are made up of two or three such rival elements,
more or less exclusive of each other. And herein lies the serious
difficulty.
The loss of time and of productive energy through this lack
of mutual good-will and confidence, the inability, and often un-
willingness, to understand each other, and the absence of a com-
mon medium of communication, is very serious. Confusion and
distrust result from the use of different languages in the scores of
social and economic relationships of a community. In many sec-
tions of the monarchy a judge may be quite unable to understand
the witness, one or more of the jurors to understand the judge,
while one of the parties in the case is likely to speak a dialect
which tests the linguistic powers of the opposition lawyer to their
full capacity. The official interpreter is everywhere in demand.
Austria is the most polyglot country in the world, and yet nowhere
has the claim to public and official use of a given idiom been more
zealously, more fanatically, urged. Everywhere throughout the
monarchy, where rival races live side by side, the racial antago-
nism manifests itself, in the provinces as well as in the capitals and
other centers of the national life.
That this confusion and strife has gradually undermined the
loyalty to the dynasty is doubtless true, even though the love
for the kindly old emperor is still strong. Born in August, 1830,
Francis Joseph is now in his eighty-first year. As a young man
of eighteen he succeeded to the Austrian throne in 1848, in con-
sequence of the abdication of his uncle and the suppression of the
widespread revolutions of that year in the Austrian dominions.
His long reign has been marked by a series of overwhelming dis-
asters in the history of Austria, and deep sorrow and disappoint-
ment in his domestic life. As if the inglorious loss of the Italian
provinces, the crushing defeat at the hands of Prussia, and the
456 AUSTRIA-HUNGARY
1694-1910
subsequent necessity to yield to the Magyars, were not enough, the
life of Francis Joseph has been saddened by the bereavement of the
three persons nearest to him and his hopes.
The unfortunate fate of his favorite brother, the Archduke
Maximilian, in Mexico is well known. In 1899 the emperor's only
son and heir, the Crown Prince Rudolf, was found dead with the
Baroness Marie Vetsera at the hunting-lodge of Myerling, near
Vienna. The mysterious circumstances of the tragedy excited
universal comment, and in Austria-Hungary the untimely death
of the popular young prince was deeply mourned. It was a heavy
.blow to the emperor. " There is nothing more left to me," he said
to Count Tisza, " excepting my duty to my people." About the
same time in addressing the president of the Reichsrath he said,
" How much I owe to my dear wife ; how much I have to thank her
for the great support she has given me during this terrible try-
ing time, I cannot describe or express in language sufficiently
grateful."
The beautiful Empress Elizabeth, a Bavarian princess, was
worthy of these words. She was especially popular in Hungary,
and general sorrow was expressed at her tragic death by the hand
of an assassin in Geneva, Switzerland, a few years later. Since then
the life of the old emperor-king has been very lonely. He is popular
and universally beloved by his people, and the loyalty to Francis
Joseph is to-day one of the strong bonds against the disintegrating
tendencies in Austria-Hungary.
The succession at the death of the crown prince passed to the
Archduke Karl Ludwig, the brother of the emperor, who passed
it on to his eldest son, Francis Ferdinand, the present heir. But
even he seems to value the ancient scepter of the house of Haps-
burg lightly. In 1900 he married, morganatically, the Countess
Sophia Chotek, and by virtue of this union he formally renounced
the claims of his future children to the thrones of Austria and
Hungary. He is not popular, being suspected of clerical and Czech
sympathies.
Looking back over this recent period of Austro-Hungarian
history, there are a few features that stand out conspicuously. In
both Cisleithania and Transleithania there have been the same dis-
turbances and conflicts over the rights and claims of rival nation-
alities, with this difference, however, that in Hungary the develop-
ment has been steadily toward Magyar dominance and a national
RECENT HISTORY 457
1894-1910
language, while in Austria, German has to a large degree lost its
dominant place as the other languages, particularly the Czech, have
asserted themselves. Both at Vienna and at Pesth there have been
the same difficulties over parliamentary procedure, resulting, ex-
cept on rare occasions, in the complete paralysis of all parlia-
mentary machinery; dualism during most of this time has existed
only in name. In Hungary the Independence party increased in
strength at each election, until it secured a controlling majority
in 1905.
The year 1906 was marked by an important event in the his-
tory of Austria-Hungary, for it was made a constitutional state, and
many additional privileges were granted the people. It was during
this same year, on May 2^, that the tariff question was definitely
settled. During a conference of the ministers held on January 6,
1907, it was decided to open up negotiations looking towards the
securing of treaties with Roumania and Bulgaria. The venerable
emperor of the people is regarded with great affection by them, and
when he made his first public appearance on December 21, 1907,
after a severe illness, he was greeted by a warm welcome and made
to feel that he stood high in the hearts of his subjects. Another
demonstration of this nature was made at Schoenbrun castle near
Vienna, May 21, 1908, when more than 85,000 school children as-
sembled to honor the sixtieth anniversary of the ascension of
Francis Joseph to the throne. One of the questions before Austria-
Hungary during 1908, was the Turkish debt, and the government
definitely defined its policy in warning Servia, on November 11,
1908, that it would assume no part of it, and that Servia must cease
further preparations for hostilities. In compliance with this, Servia
withdrew its special guards on the Austrian frontier, and sent its
reserves home, on November 17. It was therefore with great sur-
prise that the Austrian government learned that on November 21,
a body of its countrymen had been fired upon by Servians. This
of course resulted in the increasing of the Austrian patrol on Servian
borders. The following day, the Austrian troops defeated a band
of Servians who were crossing the Bosnian border. In this engage-
ment twenty were killed. As a pleasant break in hostilities and
diplomatic affairs, came the diamond jubilee of the emperor, on De-
cember 2, 1908, which was celebrated with great pomp in the capital
city. During the weeks that followed, matters were in a disturbed
state, so that on February 10, 1909, the Premier found it advisable
458 AUSTRIA HUNGARY
1894-1910
to recommend the cabinet to restore peace to the empire. An im-
portant protocol was signed on February 26, by Austria and
Turkey, which definitely settled the compensation of the annexa-
tion of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In the meanwhile the dispute
between Austria and Servia had assumed such proportions that
France offered to act as mediator, and the Powers accepted this on
March 18, 1909. At the same time Great Britain, France and Russia
called upon Servia, urging that country to enter into peaceable
negotiations with Austria. Acting upon these recommendations,
Servia sent a note to Austria, on March 31, 1909, which was ac-
cepted by the latter country, and the tension between the two was
thus ended, although on April i, Austria sent Servia a final note
declaring that the conditions were accepted in order to avert war
in the Balkans. Later in the month, 70,000 grateful subjects of the
emperor in Vienna, publicly thanked him for his efforts to preserve
peace. The emperor on June 28, asked his former finance minister,
Dr. Lucaes, to enter into negotiations with Francis Kossuth with
the purpose of forming a Hungarian cabinet, believing him to be
the best man to effect this successfully. The complications over
the Manchurian railroad, resulted in Austria, the United States and
Great Britain refusing their recognition of the Russo-Chinese agree-
ment on July 5, which provided for Russian control of the govern-
ment of the towns along its route. One of the last acts of the em-
peror for 1909, was the appointment on December 23, of Ladislaus
von Lukacs, Premier of Hungary. The latter formed a cabinet,
but it did not meet with the approval of Francis Joseph, who in-
structed Count Knuen von Hedervary to form one which the em-
peror believed would be more in accordance with his views, and
this the count succeeded in doing on January 17, 1910.
Likewise common to both parts of the monarchy has been
the influence of the church in politics. Besides the old clerical
groups, a new party, the Christian Socialist, entered the political
arena, hoping, by allying itself with the rights of the people and the
hostility toward the Jews, to turn back the tide which threatened
the long-established influence and power of the church in the realm
of the Hapsburgs. But by far the most important development
common to every part of Austria-Hungary during this period has
been the rapid and consistent progress of socialism. Its demands
for the abolition of the effete electoral system, with its division
into groups or classes, have at last forced recognition. In both
RECENT HISTORY 458a
1894-1910
parliaments legislation for free, equal, and universal suffrage is
not only promised but being enacted.
Amid all these racial, political, ecclesiastical, and social strug-
gles, with their countless cross-currents of rival interests, what is
to be the outcome? Is the present dualism to continue or is dis-
solution inevitable? And if disintegration, what of the different
parts of the monarchy? Are the expectations of the pan-Germans
to be realized, and is all of German Austria to form a part of a
greater Germany, stretching from the North Sea to the Adriatic?
Are Hungary and Bohemia to become independent, but satellites
of the larger Germany, reaching out for new fields of influence in
the Near East and Asia Minor? Or is the Magyar to lead in the
organization of an empire of the middle and lower Danube? Or
is there still another possibility, one dreamed of by many a Slavo-
phile, the union of all the Slavic peoples of these regions into a
great Slav kingdom? More likely, at least for the near future, and
more in accord with the historic forces operating in recent years in
Austria-Hungary, is the transformation of the present dual mon-
archy into a federal state in which the local autonomy of the differ-
ent national groups will be respected and recognized. But whatever
the outcome, one thing is plain, that before these perplexing prob-
lems are solved, the voice of a new Austria-Hungary will be heard.
The establishment of universal suffrage and a consequent parlia-
mentary representation in both parts of the monarchy of such a
character that there will be no further questioning its authority,
will contribute much toward an amelioration of its political anarchy,
and the establishment of a new modus vivendi between the different
races.
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
HOUSE OF BABENBERG, (973-1246)
Leopold I (Margrave)
Henry I
Adalbert the Victorious
Ernest the Valiant
Leopold II .
Leopold III the Saint
973-994
994-1018
1018-1056
1056-1075
1075-1096
1096-1136
Leopold IV
Henry lasomirgott ( Duke)
Leopold (V) the Pious .
Frederick I ....
Leopold (VI) the Proud .
Frederick (II) the Fighter
1136-1141
1141-1177
1177-1194
1194-1198
1 198-1230
1230-1246
HOUSE OF HAPSBURG
Rudolf I, Emperor of Ger-
many 1273-1291
Albert I, Duke of Austria
(Emperor in 1298) . . 1282-1308
Leopold, Duke of Austria . 1308-1326
and Frederick the Hand-
some, Duke of Austria . 1308-1330
Frederick, King of the Ro-
mans from 1314, with
Louis of Bavaria
Albert the Wise .... 1330-1358
Rudolf the Founder . . . 1358-1365
Albertine Branch
Leopoldine Branch
Austria, properly so called
Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, Tyrol, Outer Austria
Albert (III), with the
Plaited Hair . . 1365-1395
Albert IV . . . . 1395- 1404
Albert V (in 1438
King of Bohemia
and Hungary, and
Emperor of Ger-
many as Albert II) 1404-1439
Ladislav the Posthu-
mous, King of Bo-
hemia and Hungary 1439-1457
Leopold III 1365-1406
William 1386-1406
Leopold IV 1386-1411
Styria, Carinthia, Carniola,
Trieste, (Capital at Gratz)
Ernest .
Albert VI .
Federick V (Em-
peror)
Maximilian I
1411-1424
1424-1463
1440-1493
1493-15 19
Tyrol, Outer Austria,
(Capital at Innsbruck)
Frederick IV
(Empty
Purse) . 1411-1439
Sigismund 1439-1496
i6l
40t
APPENDIX
HOUSE OF HAPSBURG
Spanish Branch
Austrian Branch
Charles V
Philip II
Philip III
Philip IV
Charles II
15 1 7-1 556
1555-1598
1598-1621
1621-1665
1665-1700
Ferdinand I ( King of Bohemia and Hungary in
1526, Emperor in 1558) 15 19-1564
Bohemia, Hun-
gary, Austria
Maximilian II
(Emperor)
1564-15 76
Rudolf II
1576-1612
Mathias 1612-1619
Styria, Carinthia,
Carniola, Gorica
Charles II 1564-1590
Ferdinand 1 1
(Emperor
ini6i9) 1590-1637
Tyrol and Outer
Austria
Ferdinand
1564-1595
Tuscany
Leopold KID
in 1790) .
Ferdinand III
Leopold II
Ferdinand IV
(Emperor
• ■ • 1765-1790
1790 and 1814-1824
. . . 1824-1859
. . . 1859
Austrian Branch
Bohemia, Austria,
Hungary
Ferdinand III 1637-1657
Tyrol
Leopold V 1623-1632
House of
AT
Hapsburgeste
MODENA
Ferdinand
Francis IV
Francis V
1803-1806
1814-1846
1846-1859
Leopold I . . i657-i705!Ferdinand Charles
1632-1662
Joseph I 1705-1711
Charles VI 1711-1740
Hapsburg-Lorraine
Maria Theresa and Francis I . . 1740-1780
Joseph 1 1 ( Emperor in 1765 ) . . 1780-1790
Leopold II 1790-1792
Francis 1 1 ( Emperor of Austria in
1806) 1792-1835
Ferdinand IV 1835-1848
Francis Joseph 1848-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The history of Austria-Hungary has not been a popular subject with Eng-
fish historians. In the foreign languages, on the other hand, especially in Ger-
man, the number of good works is considerable, though here also there are few
general histories of first-rate importance. The best guides to the literature of
the subject are :
Dahlmann-Waitz. — " Quellenkunde der Deutschen Geschichte." 7th edition,
Leipzig, 1906.
Krones, M. — " Grundriss der O est err eichis cite n Geschichte." 2d edition. Vienna,
1882.
This gives a careful and detailed bibliography of the works published before
1881.
Miihlbrecht. — " Wegweiser durch die neuere Literatur der Rechts- und Staats-
wissenschaften." 2 vols. Berlin, 1893.
Deutsche Zeitschrift fUr Geschichtswissenschaft.
In the appendix to this periodical a current bibliography of books on Aus-
trian history will be found, while reviews and notices of works on the subject
are numerous.
Historisches Jahrhuch.
This periodical, published under the auspices of the Gorres-Gesellschaft,
also gives an excellent current bibliography on Austria under the divisions
of Deutsches Reich und Oesterreich, and Ungarn und Balkan Staaten.
Among the general histories, the following are the best:
Coxe, W. — " History of the House of Austria from Rudolph of Hapsburg to
the Death of Leopold II." 3 vols. London.
There have been several editions and a continuation to 1852.
Whitman, S. — " The Realm of the Hapsburgs." London, 1893.
A short survey of the main features of the history of the Hapsburg lands.
" Austria." London, 1899.
In " The Story of the Nations " Series.
Leger, L. — " Histoire de I'Autriche-Hongrie." 4th edition. 1895.
This work, on which the present history is based, has been partly discussed
in the preface. It is strongly Slavophil and federalist. It contains a select
bibliography, pp. 641-659.
Leger-Hill. — " The Austro-Hungarian Monarchy."
A faithful translation of Leger's third edition (1893), without any attempt
at correction or revision. It is without the bibliography of the original, but
has a long introduction of considerable interest by Professor Freeman.
Mayer. — "Geschichte Oesterreichs." 2 vols. 1874.
Written with special reference to the history of civilization.
" Oesterreichische Geschichte fiir das Volk." Vienna, 1864 ff.
This collection is the result of the collaboration of a group of historians,
some of whom, notably Jirecek, Zeissberg, Krones, and Gindeley, have
written excellent volumes.
Huber, A. — " Geschichte Oesterreichs." 4 vols. Gotha, 1885-1892.
465
466 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Wurzbach, C. v. — " Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich." 60
vols. Vienna, 1856-1891.
" Du Oesterreich-Ungarische Monarchie in Wort und Bild." 1-397.
Vienna, 1886- 1902.
This interesting work was begun under the auspices of the Archduke
Rudolph.
" Archiv fiir Kunde der Geschichtsquellen Oesterreichs." Vienna, 1848 — .
This publication is scholarly in character and is published by the Academy of
Sciences, Vienna. The historical section of the Academy also publishes :
"Pontes rerum Austriacarum." Vienna, 1855 — .
"Pontes rerum Bohemicarum." Prague, 1871— '.
" Historxae Hungaricae fontes domestici." Budapest, 1881 — .
For the study of the geography and races the following works are the best :
Himly. — " Histoire de la formation territoriale des £tats de I'Europe centrale."
2 vols. Paris, 1876. An excellent work, frequently cited by historians.
Spruner, K. v. — " Historisch-geographischer Atlas des Oesterreichischen Staats."
Gotha, 1866.
Reclus, E. — " Nouvelle Geographic Universelle." Vol. iii. 3d edition. Paris,
1878.
Auerbach. — " Les Races et les Nationalitis en Autriche-Hongrie."
Much local history for Austria has been written. Separate histories of nearly
every division of the monarchy exist, but only a few of the more important can
be mentioned here.
Vambery. — " Hungary." London, 1889.
Sajous, E. — "Histoire Genirale des Hongrois." 2 vols. Paris, 1876.
The 2d edition, Paris, 1900, was crowned by the Academy, and is much the
best general history of Hungary for the foreigner who does not understand
the Magyar. It has a good historical bibliography.
For Bohemia and Moravia, especially for the Middle Ages.
Denis. — " Huss et la Guerre des Hussites." Paris, 1878.
The work has an excellent bibliographical guide.
Palacky, F. — " Geschichte von Bohmen." 5 vols. Prague, 1836-1867.
Also in the Czech language.
Tomek. — "History of the Kingdom of Bohemia" (in the Czech). 3d edition.
1876.
Liitzow, Count. — "Bohemia, an Historical Sketch." London, 1896.
Maurice, C. E. — "Bohemia from the Earliest Times to 1620." London, 1896.
In the " Story of the Nations " Series.
The history of Austria during the eighteenth century, owing to the acquisi-
tion of lands outside the limits of Austria, and to such remarkable rulers as
Maria Theresa and Joseph II, was peculiarly European in its character, and for
this reason no doubt the period has been a favorite subject with historical
writers. The following are of the more important works:
Wolf, A. — " Oesterreich unter Maria Theresia, Joseph H, und Leopold //." Ber-
lin, 1882.
Continued by Zwiedineck-Siidenhorst, 1884. (In Oncken's " Allg. Gesch. in
Einzeldarstellung. )
Ameth, A. v. — " Geschichte Maria Theresias." 10 vols. Vienna, 1863-1879.
The standard work on the famous Austrian queen.
BIBLIOGRAPHY 467
" Correspondance de Marie-Thcrese avec le Comte de Merci-Argenteau."
Edited by Arneth and Geoffrey. 3 vols. Paris, 1874.
"Memories du Cardinal Bernis." 2 vols. Paris, 1878.
Austrian affairs during the troublesome period of the revolutionary and
Napoleonic eras are so intimately connected with those of Germany, France, and
Italy that the best accounts are still to be found in the German and French his-
tories of the period, as for example in:
Hausser. — " Geschichte Deutschlands seit dem Tode Friederichs des Grossen bis
zur Grundung des Deutschen Bunds." 4 vols. 1854.
Sybel, H. von. — " Geschichte der Revolutionszeit von lySg-iSoo." 5 vols. Stutt-
gart, 1882. Continuation : " Oesterreich und Deutschland in Revolutions-
kriege." Diisseldorf, 1868.
Oncken, W. — "Das Zeitalter der Revolution, des Kaiserreichs und der Be-
freiungs-Kriege." 2 vols. Berlin, 1884-1887.
Sajous. — " Histoire des Hongrois et de leur litterature politique de lygo d, 1815."
Paris, 1872.
Metternich-Winneberg. — " Oesterreichs Theilnahme an den Befreiungskriegen."
1867. The work is based on Austrian documents.
Sorel. — " U Europe et la Revolution Frangaise." 8 vols. Paris, 1885-1905.
For the years from 181 5 to 1867:
Krones, A. — " Geschichte der Neuseit Oesterreichs vom 18. Jahrh. bis auf die
Gegenwart." Berlin, 1879.
Accurate and painstaking, but quite uninteresting.
Springer, A. — " Geschichte Oesterreichs seit dem Wiener Frieden, 1809." 2 vols.
Leipsig, 1863- 1865.
This is the best and most complete history for this period. It was pub-
lished in the series of " Staatengeschichte der Neuesten Zeit" and is written
from the standpoint of a German Liberal.
Bulla, C. — "Geschichte der Neuesten Zeit." 2d edition. 1886- 1887.
Reliable and more entertaining than Krones.
Rogge, W. — " Oesterreich von Vilagos bis sur Gegenwart." 3 vols. Vienna,
1872- 1873.
Anti-clerical and partial to the Germans.
For the Congress of Vienna, there is :
Kluber, J. L. — " Akten des Wiener Kongresses." 8 vols. Erlangen, 1815-1819.
Supplementary volume in 1835.
" Dispatches of Wellington." 8 vols. London, 1844-1847. Also " Supple-
mentary Dispatches and Memoranda." 15 vols. London, 1858-1872.
These afford a remarkable view of the Congress from the English stand-
point, and, like the correspondence of Prince Talleyrand, and the records of
Miinster, Stein, Di Borgo and others, must be regarded as strongly par-
tisan and personal. The same is true of Prince Metternich's " Memoires."
For Austro-Hungarian history since the establishment of the dual mon-
archy no single work of adequate proportions and scholarship exists.
Baron de Worms. — "The Austro-Hungarian Empire. A Political Sketch of
Men and Events." London, 1876. 2d edition. 1877.
Good but quite inadequate.
468 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Pressig, E. — "Short Outline of the History of Austria-Hungary." Brooklyn.
1905.
Umlauft, F. — "Die Oesterreich-Ungartsche Monarchte." 3d edition. Vienna,
1896.
Bertha, A. de.— "Lo Hongrie Moderne, 1849-1901." Paris, 1901.
Patterson, A. J. — "The Magyars; their Country and its Institutions." 2 vols.
London, 1870.
Much good work has been done in the line of biography, as for example,
"Life of Deak," by Forster, and "Count Beust," by De Worms. Articles of
more or less historical value are found in the historical and political reviews,
but they are as a rule partisan in character and of little historical value. Be-
sides the articles in the Fortnightly, Westminster and other English periodicals,
the Preussische Jahrbilcher, the Deutsche Rundschau and the Revue Politique
et Parlementaire frequently have excellent expositions of different phases of the
contemporary history of the dual monarchy.
The record of facts and events with the more important documents are found
in the official publications of the government, and in such annuals as Schulthess
" Europdischer Geschichts Kalendar," i860 (the section on Austria is very good,
though German in its attitude), the "Annual Register," and " L'Annee Poli-
tique." As a convenient statistical survey, the section on Austria-Hungary
in the " Statesman's Year Book " for 1905 will be found very useful.
INDEX
INDEX
Abdul-Kerim Pasha: wins battle of
Djunis, 419
Achmet II, Sultan of Turkey: recog-
nizes Bocskai as voievode of Tran-
sylvania, 224
Acre: siege of (1191), 92
Adalbert, St., Bishop of Prague: his
work in Hungary, 46; career of, 63
Adalbert, Margrave of Babenberg:
reign of, 89
Adam of Sternberg: see Sternberg,
Adam of
Adrian II, Pope: honors Saints Cyril
and Methodius, 32
Adrianople, Treaty of (1829), 326
Afensberg: battle of (1809), 298
Agram: popular uprising in (1848), 361
Agron, King of the Illyrians: pays trib-
ute to Rome, 1 1
Aix: battle of (102 RC), n
Aix-la-Chapelle, Treaty of (1748), 242
Ala, Samuel, King of Hungary: reign
of, 50
Albert I, Holy Roman emperor: reign,
lOI
Albert II, Holy Roman emperor, I,
King of Hungary, V, Duke of
Austria: his reign as Duke of Aus-
tria, 105; his reign as King of Bo-
hemia, 142; reign of, as King of
Hungary, 157
Albert (II) the Wise, Duke of Aus-
tria: reign of, 10 1
Albert (III) with the Plaited Hair,
Duke of Austria: reign of, 105
Albert IV, Duke of Austria: reign of,
105
Albert V, Duke of Austria: see Albert
II, Holy Roman Emperor
Albert, Archduke of Austria: at battle
of Custozza, 392
Albert VI, Duke of Styria : disputes the
possession of Austrian domains,
108
Albert of Saxony: marries Maria Chris-
tina of Austria, 245
Alboin, King of the Lombards: defeats
the Gepidae, 17
Alemanni : repulsed by the Romans
(356 A.D.), 15
Alexander V, Pope: chosen Pontiff, 122
Alexander VI, Pope : refuses to sanc-
tion the Kuttenberg Agreement and
the Cotnpactata, 148
Alexander the Great, King of Macedo^
nia: receives Celtic deputies, 10
Alexander I, Emperor of Russia: his
relations with the Eastern Ques-
tion, 324; death of, 325
Alexander, Archduke of Austria: made
count palatine, 331
Almos, King of Croatia : accession of,
51; dethroned, 52; blinded, 53
Alvinzy (Alvinczi), Joseph, Baron von
Barberck: defeated at Areola and
Rivoli, 282; sketch of, 332
Ambrones : location of, 1 1
Ancona: occupied by the French, 327
Andrassy: in Dr. Wekerle's ministry,
447
Andrassy, Count Julius: attempts to ob-
tain foreign aid for the Magyars,
372; made premier of Hungary,
397; made minister of foreign af-
fairs, 411
Andrassy Note, The (1875), 419
Andrew I, King of Hungary: reign of,
50
Andrew II, King of Hungary: reign
of, 55
Andrew III, King of Hungary: reign
of, 60
Andrew, son of Charles Robert of An-
jou: marries Joan of Naples, 151
471
472
INDEX
Andronicus: regarded as first bishop of
Sirmium, 14
Anco: battle of (1815), 314
Anne of Bohemia : marries Richard II
of England, 117
Anne of Hungary: betrothed to Ferdi-
nand of Austria, 168, 175 ; marries
Ferdinand I of Austria, 176
Apafy, Michael, Prince of Transylva-
nia : accession of, 228
Apponyi, Count: withdraws his sup-
port from the Liberals, 440; op-
poses army changes, 444; in Dr.
Wekerle's ministry, 447
Aquileia: founded, 11; under Roman
occupation, 12
Aquileia, Council of (381 a.d.) : con-
demns Arianism, 15
Arad, Diet of (1132), 53
Arcadius, Emperor of the East: acces-
sion of, 16
Areola: battle of (1796), 282
Arius : his doctrines condemned at the
councils of Sirmium and Aquileia,
IS
Amdt, Ernst Moritz: writes patriotic
hymns, 295
Arnulf of Bavaria: allied with Henry
the Fowler, 62
Arnulf of Pannonia : his struggle with
Svatopluk, 35
Arpad, " Magyar chieftain : death of,
43
Aspern: battle of (i8og), 298
Attila (Etzel) : career of, 16
Auersperg, Prince Adolf Wilhelm Dan-
iel : his campaign against Vienna,
376
Auersperg, Prince Karl Wilhelm: made
premier of Austria, 402
Augsburg: battles of (910 a.d.), 43;
(955 a.d), 44, 188
Augsburg, Peace of (1555), 197
Augustus III, Elector of Saxony:
claims part of Austrian dominions,
240
Augustus Caesar, Roman emperor: his
success among the peoples of the
Adriatic, 12
Aussig: siege of (1426), 134
Austerlitz: battle of (1805), 294
Austria-Hungary, History of: the mon-
archy: its character and component
parts, 3; primitive times, the Ro-
man occupation and the German
invasions, 10; the Slavs, 18; Mo-
ravia and the Slav apostles, 29; the
founding of the Magyar state, 41 ;
Hungary under the successors of
St. Stephen, 50; Bohemia and the
Premyslides, 62; early history of
the Austrian group — the house of
Babenburg, 88; the Austrian group
under the first Hapsburgs, 99; Bo-
hemia under the house of Luxem-
burg, 113; Bohemia and the Huss-
ite wars, 125; Bohemia under Po-
diebrad and the Jagellons, 142;
Hungary under the house of Anjou
and the elective monarchy, 151 ;
Hunyady and the Hungarian wars
with the Turks, 159; the Austrian
emperors, 173; Bohemia: her first
Hapsburg kings, 194; the Thirty
Years' War and the overthrow of
Bohemia, 204; Hungary divided,
216; Hungary freed from the Turks
and reconciled to Austria, 227;
Maria Theresa, 239; the internal
history of Austria under Maria
Theresa, 251; Joseph II, 264; Fran-
cis II and the wars against the rev-
olution, 279; Francis II and the
wars against Napoleon, 29a; Fran-
cis II and Metternich, 319; Hun-
gary and the Slav countries, 330;
Ferdinand I — Austria on the eve of
revolution, 345 ; the revolutionary
movement, 361 ; the Hungarian rev-
olution, 368; the revolution in Vi-
enna, 374; early years of the reign
of Francis Joseph — the period of
reaction, 378; attempts at constitu-
tional government — the expulsion
of Austria from Germany, 386; the
establishment of dualism, 397; par-
liamentary struggle for federalism,
408; acquisition and incorporation
of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 421;
recent history, 432
Austrian Lloyd: established, 329
Avars : invade the empire, 15 ; become
masters of the Danubian territory,
17; at war with the Slavs, 19; at-
tack Constantinople, 21; disappear
from history, 2>7
INDEX
478
B
Bach, Alexander von : becomes minister
of the interior, 380; dismissed,
386
Bacsanyi, Janos : translates Napoleon's
proclamation to Hungary, 335
Badeni, Count Casimir: his administra-
tion as premier of Austria, 433;
resignation of, 435
Bajan, chagan of the Avars: leads cam-
paigns against the Slavs, 19
Bajazet II, Turkish sultan: accession
of, 164; defeats Hungarians, 167
Bakracz, Cardinal : his mission to Hun-
gary, 168
Balogli: in the diet of 1831, 339
Banflfy, Count: made premier of Hun-
gary, 439; resigns, 440
Bank of Austria, National: established,
328
Banner (Baner, Banier), Johan: his
campaign in Bohemia, 212
Bascany: imprisonment of, 332
Basel, Council of (1431), 136
Basel, Peace of (i499). I73
Basta, General: governs Transylvania,
223
Batory: his campaign against the Turks,
163
Batory, Andrew: advises against the
ceding of Transylvania to Austria,
223
Batory, Gabriel, Prince of Transylva-
nia: elected, 224
Batory, Sigismund, Prince of Transyl-
vania: career of, 223
Batory (Bathori), Stephen, King of Po-
land and Prince of Transylvania:
accessions of, 220; his reign in
Transylvania, 223
Batthyany, Count Louis: chancellor of
Hungary, 254; forms Hungarian
ministry, 368; resigns his govern-
ment office, 370; made minister of
foreign affairs m Hungary, 372;
death of, 373'
Battle of the Nations (1813), 308
Bavaria: settled by the Vandals, 14;
united to Austria, 91
Beauharnais, Eugene: his campaign in
Italy, 299; defeated in Italy, 311
Bebel, Ferdinand August: his work
among the Austrian Socialists, 438;
supports Fejervary, 446
Becker : death of, 376
Bela I, King of Hungary: career of, 50
Bela (II) the Blind, King of Hungary:
reign of, 53
Bela III, King of Hungary: reign of, 54
Bela IV, King of Hungary: reign of, 57
Belcredi, Richard, Count von: made
premier, 389
Belgrade: destroyed by the Venetians
and Turks, 54; siege of (1440), I57;
battle of (1456), 160; taken by the
Turks (1516), 168; captured from
the Turks (1688), 231; (1717), 235;
taken by Loudon (1789), 271
Belgrade, Treaty of (i739), 192, 235
Belle-Isle, Charles Louis Auguste Fou-
quet, Duke of: plans division of the
Austrian state, 239
Bem, Josef: his campaign in Transylva-
nia, 371; flees to Turkey, 372; death
of, 373
Benczur: sketch of, 416
Benedek, Ludwig von: his campaign in
Cracow, 347; at the battle of Sa-
dowa, 392
Benedict IX, Pope: his relations with
the emperor Vacslav, 118
Berebistas, King of the Dacians: sketch
of, 12
Berlin, Congress of (1878), 420
Berlin, Treaties of: (1742), 241;
(1878), 421
Bernadotte, Jean Baptiste Jules: see
Charles (XIV) John, King of Swe-
den
Berszenyi : aids Hungarian language, 333
Bessarabia: annexed to Russia, 306
Bessenyi : serves in the guard of Maria
Theresa, 273
Beszeredy: in the diet of 1836, 352
Bethlen, Gabriel, Prince of Transylva-
nia: invades Hungary, 205; leads
Transylvanians, 224; elected prince,
225 ; claims throne of Hungary, 226 ;
death of, 226
Beust, Friedrich Ferdinand, Baron von:
arranges the dual agreement be-
tween Austria and Hungary, 397;
relieved of his duties, 411
Bible : the New Testament translated
into Slav, 32
474
INDEX
Bismarck-Schonhausen, Otto Eduard
Leopold, Prince von: ability of, 390;
at the battle of Sadowa, 392
Blucher, Gebhard Leberecht von: in the
Waterloo campaign, 314
Blum, Robert: his mission to Austria,
376
Bocskai, Stephen: leads Transylvanians,
224
Bohemia: offers crown to Ferdinand I
of Austria, 3; relics of the stone
age found in, 10; occupied by the
Boii, 11; occupied by the Marco-
manni, 13 ; settled by the Czechs, 18 ;
early history, 29; invaded by the
Franks, 30; at war with Hungary,
59; under the Premyslides, 62; un-
der Podiebrad and the Jagellons,
142; her first Hapsburg kings, 194;
overthrow of, 204 ; invaded by Fred-
erick II of Prussia, 241 ; under Ma-
ria Theresa, 251 ; under Joseph II
of Austria, 274; in the struggle
against the French Revolution, 286;
under Leopold II and Francis II,
340; revolutionary tendencies in,
350; revolution of 1848, 363; op-
poses the Austrian constitution, 388;
under the dual system of govern-
ment, 401 ; present political status
in, 453
Bohemian Brothers, Union of: rise of,
145; persecuted, 197; publish a
translation of the Bible, 198; pro-
scribed, 208; reappear in Bohemia,
266
Boii : occupy Bohemia, 1 1 ; defeated by
the Scordisci, 12
Boleslav (I) the Lion-hearted or the
Brave, Duke of Poland : marriage
of, 46; his relations with St. Adal-
bert, 63
Boleslav I, Prince of Bohemia: reign
of, 63
Boleslav II, Prince of Bohemia: reign
of, 63
Bonaparte, Joseph: negotiates Peace of
Luneville, 285
Boniface VIII, Pope: favors claims of
Charles Robert of Anjou to Hun-
garian throne, 151
Borivoj, Prince of Bohemia: sketch of.
30; baptized by Methodius, 33;
reign of, 62
Borut, Prince of the Slovenes: sketch
of, 2,7
Bosnia : invaded by the Turks, 155 ; con-
quered by the Turks (1463), 162;
claimed by the emperor, 231 ; acqui-
sition and incorporation of, by Aus-
tria-Hungary, 421.
Braclav, Slovene prince: forms an alli-
ance with Svatopluk, 35
Brandyse, Jiskra of: leads Czechs
against Hungarians, 159
Brestel : financial reform of, 402
Bretislav I, King of Hungary: reign of,
64
Bretislav II, King of Hungary: reign
of, 65
Brown, Count Maximilian Ulysses von:
in the Seven Years' War, 244
Brozils: sketch of, 416
Buda: captured by the Turks (1526),
169; siege of (1540), 217; taken by
the Hungarians (1848), 372; see
also Pesth
Buda, Diets of: (1405), I55; (i453).
160
Budweiss: sieges of (1451), 144; (1614),
202
Buquoi, General: his campaign in Bo-
hemia, 203
Bukowina (Bukovina) : Rumanian ele-
ment in, 8; occupied by the Dacians,
11; acquired by Austria, 249
Bulgaria: conquered by the Turks, 155;
claimed by the emperor, 231
Buol-Schauenstein, Karl Ferdinand,
Count von : his negotiations in the
Crimean War, 383; demands disar-
mament of Austria, 385
Burgundians : settle in Transylvania and
Hungary, 14
Butchery of Eperies (1687), 230
Cahera: appointed administrator of the
church of Tyn, 150
Campo Formio, Treaty of (1797), 283
Carafa, Father: organizes the counter-
reformation in Bohemia, 207
INDEX
475
CaraflFa, Antonio: his career in Hun-
gary, 230
Carinthia : united with Hungary and Bo-
hemia, 4; German element in, 6;
Taurisci settle in, li; annexed to
Bohemia, 74; surrendered to the
empire, 75 ; conquered by the Count
of Tyrol, 75; given to Menhard of
Tyrol, 100; invaded by Turks, 109;
under Napoleon, 300
Carlowitz, Treaty of (1699), 231
Carlsbad Decrees (1819), 322
Carniola: united with Hungary and Bo-
hemia, 4; annexed to Bohemia, 74;
surrendered to the empire, 75; in-
vaded by Turks, 109; revolt of the
peasants (1515), 173; progress of
the Reformation, 178; under Napo-
leon, 300
Carvajal, Cardinal: his mission to Bo^
hemia, 143
Castlereagh, Viscount: see Stewart,
Robert, Marquis of Londonderry
Catherine II, Empress of Russia: joins
in partition of Poland, 246
Catherine of Brandenburg, Princess-
dowager: claims throne of Transyl-
vania, 227
Cavour, Camillo Benso, Count di : at the
Congress of Paris (1856), 384
Cech : leads migration of the Czechs, 18
Celakovsky: sketch of, 343
Celtes, Konrad: founds the Sodalitas
Danubiana, 175
Celts: inhabit Austria-Hungary, 10
Cenek of Wartenburg, Burggrave of
Prague, 129
Charlemagne, Holy Roman emperor:
forms alliance with the Czechs, 30;
defeats the Avars, 37
Charles the Great, Holy Roman em-
peror: see Charlemagne
Charles IV, Holy Roman emperor, I,
King of Bohemia: accession of, 102;
his relations with Austria, 103;
reign of, as King of Bohemia, 115
Charles (III) the Fat, Holy Roman em-
peror: intervenes between Svato-
luk and Arnulf, 34
Charles V, Holy Roman emperor, I,
King of Spain : reign of, as emperor,
176
Charles VI, Holy Roman emperor, III,
King of Hungary : reign of, 190 ; es-
timate of, 192; reign of, as King of
Bohemia, 215; reign of, as King of
Hungary, 234
Charles (VII) Albert, Holy Roman em-
peror: claims part of the Austrian
dominions, 240; chosen emperor,
241
Charles I, King of Bohemia : see Charles
IV, Holy Roman emperor
Charles of Durazzo, King of Naples:
crowned King of Hungary, 154
Charles (XIV) John (Jean Baptiste
Jules Bernadotte), King of Swe-
den : ambassador to Vienna, 284
Charles, Archduke of Austria, son of
Ferdinand I: given Styria, Carin-
thia and Carniola, 179; rule of,
i8o
Charles (1771-1847), Archduke of Aus-
tria: his campaign in the south
against France, 282; in the war of
the second coalition, 285; estimate
of, 292; takes command of the army
of Italy, 293
Charles, Elector of Bavaria: claims Bo-
hemia, 251
Charles, Duke of Lorraine: at the siege
of Vienna, 184
Charles Albert, King of Piedmont and
Sardinia: at war with Austria, 367;
abdication of, 373
Charles Emmanuel I, Duke of Savoy:
aids Protestants of Bohemia, 203;
candidate for Bohemian throne, 205
Charles Robert of Anjou, King of Hun-
gary: crowned, 60; reign of, 151
Charles Theodore, Elector of Bavaria:
concludes a treaty with Austria,
250
Charlotte of Bavarja, Empress of Aus-
tria : crowned queen of Hungary, 338
Chateau-Cambresis, Treaty of (1559),
176
Chaumont, Treaty of (1814), 311
Chemnitz, Philip (Hippolytus a Lapide) :
his pamphlet on the Holy Roman
empire, 182
(Dhlumec: reign of (1126), 66
Chotek, Count Rudolf: intrusted with
the reform of the finances in the
476
INDEXjJ(^
hereditary provinces, 257; policy of,
262; resigns, 274
Chotek, Count, Burggrave of Bohemia:
resigns, 350
Chotek, Countess Sophia: marries the
Archduke Francis Ferdinand, 456
Chotimir, Prince of the Slovenes : labors
for the conversion of his people, 37
Christian IX, King of Denmark : party
to the Treaty of Vienna (1864),
391
Christianity: in early Austro-Hunga-
rian territory, 14; affects Rome's
power, 15 ; introduced among the
Croats and Servians, 22; progress
of, in Bohemia, 30; progress of, in
Moravia, 30; adopted by the Croats,
37; introduced among the Magyars,
46
Cimbri: defeat the Romans, 11
Clam Martinitz : made member of coun-
cil of regency, 345; leads Czech
party, 403
Clary Aldingen, Count: made premier
of Austria, 436
Clement VI, Pope : at war with the em-
peror, 115
Qement XI, Pope: issues a bull against
the emperor, 190
Coalitions : ( 1757) , 243 ; second one
against France (1799-1801), 285
Cobenzl, John Louis Joseph, Count: ne-
gotiates second coalition against
France, 285; negotiates the Treaty
of Luneville, 285 ; assumes the di-
rection of foreign affairs, 287; con-
ducts foreign affairs of Austria, 292
Collin : arouses patriotism of people, 295 ;
occupies Cracow, 347
Comenius, John : see Komenski, John
Commodus, Roman emperor: allows the
Vandals to settle on the Danube, 14
Compactata of the Bohemian Nation
(1346), 140
Company of the Levant: founded, 192
Confederation of the Rhine: organized,
294
Concordat of 1855, The, 382
Conrad of Hohenstaufen, Holy Roman
emperor: accession of, 90
Constance, Hungarian princess : affianced
to the Duke of Suabia, 55
Constance, Council of (1414-1418), 123
Constantine, Roman emperor: issues the
edict of Milan, 15
Constantinople : attacked by the Avars,
21 ; taken by the Turks, 160
Constantius II, Roman emperor : re-
pulses barbarians, 15
Constitution of March 4, 1849: granted,
380
Corvina Library : founded, 165
Cowley, Henry Richard Charles Welles-
ley, Earl of: aids Cavour, 385
Cracow: taken by the Bohemians, 64;
united to Bohemia, 80; occupied by
Austria, 346; annexed by Austria,
348
Cracow, University of: founded, 115
Cressennbriinn : battle of, 73
Crecy: battle of (1346), 115
Crimean War, The, 383
Croatia: Ferdinand I respects rights
and privileges of, 4; Scordisci settle
in, 11; annexed to Hungary, 52;
part of, separated from Hungary,
336; revolutionary feeling in, 343;
conditions in ( 1848) , 355 ; incorpo-
rated in Hungary, 398; rebels
against the dual system of govern-
ment, 405; separation from Hun-
gary agitated, 429; present political
status in, 454
Croats: defeat the Avars, 21; early
history of, 37; see Croatia
Csak, Mathew: rebellion of, 151
Csanad: destroyed by the Mongols, 58
Csokonay: aids Hungarian language, 333
Cumans: invade Hungary, 51; favored
by Ladislav IV of Hungary, 59
Cunegunda, Princess: betrothed to a
Bohemian prince, 68
Cunegunda of Russia: marries Premysl
Otokar of Bohemia, ys ; throws her-
self on the mercy of Rudolf of
Hapsburg, 77; marries Zavisa of
Falkenstein, 79
Custozza: battle of (1866), 392
Cymburga of Mazovia : marries Ernest,
the Man of Iron, 107
CjTil, Saint: mission of, 31; death of,
32
Cyrillic Alphabet: created, 32
Czapek of San: given command of
Hussite army, 138
Czech Museum of Prague: founded, 341
INDEX
477
Czechs : settle in Bohemia, i8 ; form alli-
ance with Charles the Great, 30;
clamor for their political rights,
403
Czermak: sketch of, 416
Dacia: part of, occupied by the Goths,
14; settled by Servians, 22
Dacians: rise of, il
Dagobert (I) the Great, King of the
Franks : at war with Samo the Mer-
chant, 20
Dalmatia : subject to the republic of Ven-
ice, 4; Italian element in, 8; St.
Luke's work in, 14; recognizes the
authority of Theodoric, 16; attacked
by Croats, 21 ; comes under Prank-
ish rule, 38; annexed to Hungary,
. 52; acquired by Hungary, 152;
' sketch of its history, 284; under Na-
poleon, 301; government of (1848),
355; under the dual system of gov-
ernment, 405
Dalmatians: conquered by the Romans,
12; see also Dalmatia
Dampierre, Henry of: his campaign in
Bohemia, 203
Danube River : made frontier of the Ro-
man empire, 12
Dardania: settled by Servians, 22
Daun, Leopold Joseph Maria, Count
von: rise of, 244; defeats Frederick
the Great, 244
Davoust (Davout), Louis Nicolas, Duke
of Auerstadt and Prince of Eck-
muhl: occupies Presburg, 334
Deak, Francis: in the diet of Presburg,
338; in the diet of 1831, 339; in the
diet of 1836, 352; draws up the plan
of the opposition (1847), 354; made
minister of justice, 368; opposes the
Austrian constitutions, 388; in the
negotiations for the dual alliance,
397; refuses all honors, 399
Decebalus, King of Dacia: reign of, 13
Declaration, The Czech, >103
Desseffvy, Joseph: excluded from the
diet, 336
Devay: his work in Hungary, 221
Diepold of Lobkovitz: see Lobkovitz,
Diepold of
Diepolt, Czech prince: regent of Bohe-
mia, 66
Dietrichtstein : his rule as governor of
Moravia, 209
Diocletian, Roman emperor: progress of
Christianity in Austro-Hungarian
countries under, 14
Djunis: battle of (1876), 419
Dobrovsky: aids Slav philology, 341
Domitian, Roman emperor: concludes
treaty with Dacia, 13
Dosza: leads Hungarian peasant revolt,
168
Dragon, Order of the: founded, 155
Dresden: taken by Frederick the Great
(1757), 244
Dresden, Peace of (174s), 242
Drzislav, Duke of Dalmatia: renounces
the overlordship of Byzantium, 38
Dualism, Establishment of, 397
Dubravka of Bohemia: marries Mieczy-
slaw of Poland, 63
E
East India Company, Ostend: see Os-
tend East India Company
Eastern Question, The : relations of Aus-
tria to, 323; in the reign of Ferdi-
nand II, 348; during the early years
of Francis Joseph, 383; effect of the
Treaty of Berlin on, 422
Eastern Trading Company, Vienna:
founded, 192
Eberhardt, Bishop of Brandenburg: re-
gent of Bohemia, 78
Eger: annexed by Bohemia, 73; surren-
dered to the empire, 75; siege of
(1552), 219
Egilbert, Archbishop of Pragfue: crowns
Vratislav and Svatova of Bohemia,
65
Ekmuhl: battle of (1809), 298
Elizabeth, Queen of Hungary: reign of,
157
Elizabeth of Bavaria, Empress of Aus-
tria: marries Francis Joseph, 383;
death of, 456
Elizabeth of Bohemia: marries Albert
IV of Austria, 106
Emeran, St., of Poitiers: founds the
bishopric of Salzburg, 88
478
INDEX
Emerich, King of Hungary : reign of, 55
Emerich, St., Prince of Hungary: death
of, so
Eotvos, Baron Jozsef : made minister of
public education, 368
Eperies, Butchery of (1687), 230
Ernest the Valiant, Margrave of Baben-
berg: reign of, 90
Ernest, the Man of Iron: sketch of,
107
Esslingen (Essling) : battle of (1809),
298
Este, Ferdinand d': in the Cracow in-
surrection, 348
Esterhazy, Prince: raises troops against
Napoleon, 334
Esterhazy, Nicholas: his mission to
Transylvania, 225
Etzel: see Attila
Eugenius IV, Pope: opposes compro-
mises with the Hussites, 136; inter-
venes in Bohemian affairs, 142
Eugene of Savoy, Prince : his campaigns
against the Turks, 231 ; wins battle
of Peterwardein, 235
F
Fabricius: accused of inciting the Em-
peror Mathias against the Protes-
tants, 201
Falieri, Doge of Venice: at war with
Hungary, 54
Fejervary, Baron: made premier of
Hungary, 445
Felbinger: summoned to Vienna, 261
Ferdinand I, Holy Roman emperor: be-
trothed to Anne of Hungary, 168,
175; reign of, as king of Bohemia
and of Hungary, 176; marries Anne
of Hungary, 176; reign of, as em-
peror, 177; his reign, as king of Bo-
hemia, 194 ; proclaimed king of Hun-
gary, 216; death of, 179
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman emperor:
works in behalf of Catholicism in
Styria, 180; accession of, to impe-
rial throne, 204; reign of, as em-
peror, 182; recognized as heir to
Bohemian throne, 201 ; reign of, as
king of Bohemia, 206; reign of, asj
king of Hungary, 225 '
Ferdinand III, Holy Roman emperor:
reign of, as emperor, 182; crowned
king of Bohemia, 209; reign of, as
king of Bohemia, 212; reign of, as
king of Hungary, 227
Ferdinand IV, King of the Two Sicilies :
marries Maria Caroline of Austria,
24s
Ferdinand I, Emperor of Austria: his
accession to the thrones of Hun-
gary and Bohemia, 3 ; crowned king
of Hungary, 338; reign of, 345; ab-^^H
dication of, 371, 377 ^H
Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria: given
the Tyrol, 179; labors for the res-
toration of Catholicism in the Tyrol,
181 ; marries the princess of Mo-
dena, 245
Ferdinand, Duke of Parma: marries
Marie Amelia of Austria, 245
Ficquelmont, Count Karl Ludwig von:
made leader of the cabinet, 362
Finland: annexed to Russia, 306
Fiume: acquired by the house of Aus-
tria, 108; annexed to Hungary, 406;
made a free port, 193
Fleurus: battle of (1794), 281
Fontainebleau, Treaty of (1814), 311
Forcheim, Treaty of (874 A.D.), 33
Francis I (Stephen), Holy Roman em-
peror: given command of the im-
perial army, 235; marries Maria
Theresa, 239; chosen emperor, 242
Francis II, Holy Roman emperor; reign
of, 279; becomes emperor of Aus-
tria, 290; character of, 319; as king
of Hungary, 332; death of, 345
Francis I, Emperor of Austria: see
Francis II, Holy Roman emperor
Francis I, King of France: aids John I
of Hungary, 216
Francis Charles, Archduke of Austria:
made member of council of regency,
345
Francis Ferdinand, Archduke of Aus-
tria: becomes heir apparent to Aus-
trian throne, 456
Francis Joseph I, Emperor of Austria:
accession of, 371, 377; early years
of his reign, 378; crowned king of
1
INDEX
479
Hungary, 397; marries Elizabeth of
Bavaria, 383; sketch of, 455
Franco-Prussian War, 408
Frangipani, The: charged with the de-
fense of Dalmatia, 54
Frankopan: leads conspiracy, 229
Frederick (I) Barbarossa, Holy Roman
emperor : on the Third Crusade, 55 ;
his relations with Bohemia, 66
Frederick II, Holy Roman emperor: his
relations with Bohemia, 69; his re-
lations with Leopold VI of Austria,
93
Frederick (III) of the Empty Purse,
Holy Roman emperor: reign of, as
Duke of Austria, 106
Frederick IV, Holy Roman emperor, V,
as Duke of Austria: reign of, as
Duke of Austria, 107; claims throne
of Hungary, 162; at war with Ma-
thias of Hungary, 164; death of,
174
Frederick (II) the Great, King of Prus-
sia: invades Silesia, 240; proposes
partition of Poland, 246
Frederick I, Duke of Austria: reign of,
92
Frederick (II) the Warlike, Duke of
Austria : takes advantage of the mis-
fortunes of the king of Hungary,
58; reign of, 93; death of, 59
Frederick (III) the Handsome, Duke of
Austria: claims the imperial crown,
loi
Frederick V, Duke of Austria : see Fred-
erick IV, Holy Roman emperor
Frederick, Burggrave of Nuremburg:
enters into an alliance with Rudolf
of Hapsburg, 75
Frederick V, Elector-palatine of the
Rhine : elected king of Bohemia, 204
Frederick, Elector of Saxony: concludes
a peace with the emperor, 211
Frederick William II, King of Prussia:
joins in the Declaration of Pilnitz,
276
Fundamental Articles of Bohemia, 410
Friuli: taken by the Austrians (1809),
2£^
Fiinfkirchen, University of: founded,
154
Fussen, Treaty of (1745), 242
Gaj, Louis: his work in Croatia, 343
Galicia: forms part of Poland, 4; relics
of the stone age found in, 10; does
homage to Hungary, 54; taken by
the Bohemians, 63; annexed to Aus-
tria, 248; spread of revolutionary
ideas in, 346; revolution of 1848,
366; invaded by the Russians, 372;
affected by Polish insurrection
(1863), 389; under the dual system
of government, 404
Gastein, Treaty of (1865), 391
Gautsch von Frankenthum, Paul: made
premier of Austria, 435 ; second pre-
miership of, 438
Geiza I, King of Hungary: reign of, 44,
Geiza II, King of Hungary: reign of,
53
Genthius, King of the Illyrians : defeated
by the Romans, 11
Gentz, Frederick: career of, 292; in the
Austrian service, 320
George of Podiebrad: see Podiebrad,
George of
Gepidas: settle in Transylvania and
Hungary, 14; drive back Huns, 16;
defeated by the Lombards (565
A.D.), 17
Germans : contribute to Austrian his-
tory, s; influence of, 6
Gertrude, Austrian princess : betrothed
to Vladislav III of Bohemia, 70
Gertrude of Meran, Queen of Hungary:
death of, 55
Ghika: death of, 249
Gisella of Bavaria: marries St. Stephen
of Hungary, 46
Giulay: his campaign in Italy, 385
Giulay, Prince of Transylvania: resists
St. Stephen of Hungary, 47
Gliick, Christopher Willibald: sketch of,
261
Godfrey of Bouillon: concludes an ar^
mistice with Koloman II of Hun-
gary, 52
Golden Bull, The (1222), 56
Golden Bull of Charles IV (1346), 116
Goluchowski, Count Agenor: made
prime minister, 386; leads the diet
480
INDEX
of Lemberg, 404; gives warning to
Turkey, 449; policy of, 450
Gorgei, Arthur : made minister of war
under Kossuth, 372; surrenders to
the Russians, 372; imprisoned, 373
Gorica: united with Hungary and Bo-
hemia, 4; condition of peasants re-
lieved by Maria Theresa, 259; un-
der Napoleon, 300
Goths: rise of their power, 14
Gradac: battle of (1878), 423
Gradiska (Gradisca) : united with Hun-
gary and Bohemia, 4; condition of
peasants relieved by Maria Theresa,
259
Gran: taken by the Mongols (1241), 58
Gratz: progress of the Reformation at,
178; influence of the Jesuits in, 180
Gregory VII, Pope : his relations to
Zvonimir, 38; aids Hungary against
the emperor, 51
Gregory X, Pope : recognizes Rudolf of
Hapsburg as emperor, 74
Gregory XII, Pope: acknowledged by
the emperor, 121
Grobnik: battle of (1241), 58
Guido, Cardinal: sent to Bohemia, 66
Gustavus (II) Adolphus, King of Swe-
den: death of, 211
H
Hagenau, Treaty of (1330), loi
Hanau: battle of (1813), 310
Hanka: sketch of, 343
Hasan, Pasha of Bosnia: defeated at
Sisek, 223
Haspinger (Father Joachim of the Red
Beard) : sketch of, 297
Haug^itz, Christian August Heinrich
Kurt, Prince von : made chancellor
of the hereditary provinces, 257
Havlicek, Charles: founds the Official
Gazette, 351
Haydn, Joseph : sketch of, 261
Haynau, Julius Jakob, Baron von: his
campaign against the Magyars, 372
Hedervary, Count: made premier of
Hungary, 442
Heister, General: defeats the Hunga-
rians, 233
Henry the Fowler, Holy Roman em-
peror: invades Bohemia, 62
Henry of Carinthia, King of Bohemia;
reign of, 113
Henry (II) lasomirgott, Duke of Aus-
tria: reign of, 91
Henry I, Margrave of Babenberg: reign
of, 89
Henry, Duke of Bavaria: attacks the
king of Hungary, 74
Henry the Proud, Duke of Saxony and
Bavaria: claims imperial crown, 91
Henry of Aoyta: teaches in the Univer-
sity of Vienna, 105
Henry of Breslau: claims guardianship
of Vacslav IV of Bohemia, 77
Henry of Dampierre: see Dampierre,
Henry of
Henry of Langenstein: teaches in the
University of Vienna, 105
Henry of Luxemburg, Holy Roman em-
peror: reign of, 113
Henry of Oftedingen: sketch of, 98
Heraclius, Emperor of the East : his pol-
icy toward the Avars, 21
Hermagoras, Saint: consecrated as
bishop of Aquileia, 14
Hermann : defeats Maroboduus, 13
Hermannstadt : battle of (1442), 157;
taken by Bem, 371
Hermunduri: attacks Celts, 11
Herzegovina: insurrection of the Slavs
(1875), 418; acquisition and incor-
poration of, by Austria-Hungary,
421
Hippolytus a Lapide: see Chemnitz,
Philip
Hodza: leads Slovaks, 357
Hofer, Andrew: sketch of, 297; death
of, 300
Hohenlinden: battle of (1800), 285
Hohenwart, Charles : his policy toward
the Czechs, 408; resigns, 411
Holzer: leads insurrection in Vienna,
108
Homburg-on-the-Saale : sends a deputa-
tion of children to Procopius, 135
Honorius III, Pope: quarrels with the
emperor, 93
Honorius, Emperor of the West: acces-
sion of, 16
Honter: his work in Transylvania, 221
Horazdovce: siege of (1307), 113
INDEX
481
Hormayer: reestablishes the govern-
ment of the Tyrol, 297
Hubertsburg, Peace of (1763), 244
Humbert, King of Italy: joins alliance
of Germany and Austria, 426
Hungarians: invade the empire, 15; see
also Hungary
Hungary: offers crown to Ferdinand I
of Austria, 3; relics of the stone age
found in, 10; invaded by the Gepidae
and Burgundians, 14; obtains a place
among European states, 46; becomes
an independent kingdom, 47; an-
nexed to Croatia, 52; at war with
Bohemia, 59; under the house of
Anjou and the elective monarchy,
151; divided, 216; freed from the
Turks and reconciled to Austria,
227; condition of, at beginning of
the Napoleonic period, 279; in the
struggle against the French Revolu-
tion, 286; under Leopold H and
Francis II, 330; revolution of 1848,
368; during the first years of the
reign of Francis Joseph, 381 ; op-
poses the Austrian constitution, 388;
from 1894 to 1896, 439; economic
progress (1894-1906), 452; present
political status in, 453
Hunniades, John: see Hunyady, John
Huns : migration of, 15
Hunyady (Hunniades), John: made re-
gent of Hungary, 157; in the Hun-
garian wars with the Turks, 159
Hunyady, Vladislav : death of, 161
Huss, John: career and teaching of, 119
Huss, Nicholas : becomes a leader of the
populace, 127
I, J
Ignatiev, Nikolai Pavlovitch: his nego-
tiations with the Porte, 419
Illyricans: sketch of, 11
Illyrism: rise of, 343
Innocent III, Pope : confirms the royal
title to the princes of Bohemia, 68
Innocent XI, Pope : supports John Sobi-
eski against the Turks, 184
Innsbruck: taken by the Austrians, 297
Iron Gates, The: battles of (1366), 152;
(1442), 157
Istria: part of, united with Hungary
and Bohemia, 4; Italian element in,
8; becomes Roman province, 11;
under Napoleon, 300
Italian Question, The, 384
Italians: contribute to Austro-Hunga-
rian history, 5; location of, in Aus-
tria-Hungary, 8
Jaroslav of Martinitz: see Martinitz,
Jaroslav of
Jazyges: settle in Macedonia, 15
Jellacic (Jellachich) de Buzim, Count
Joseph: sanctions acts of Croatians,
369; leads Croatian forces, 370; his
campaign against Vienna, 376
Jellinek: death of, 376
Jemmappes: battle of (1792), 280
Jensenius : death of, 207
Jerome of Prague : martyred, 124
Jesus, Society of (Jesuits) : founded,
178; growth of their power in
Gratz, 180; growth of their power
in Bohemia, 198; growth of, in Bo-
hemia during the Thirty Years'
War, 213; introduced into Transyl-
vania, 223 ; suppressed in Austria,
260; recalled by Lower Austria, 350
Jews: their influence in Austria-Hun-
gary, 6; condition of, in Austria,
96; condition of under Louis the
Great of Hungary, 154; condition
of, ameliorated under Joseph II of
Austria, 266
Joachim, of the Red Beard, Father: see
Haspinger
Joan of Naples : marries Andrew of An-
jou, 151
John VIII, Pope: confirms privileges
granted to Methodius, 33
John IX, Pope: receives a factum from
the German bishops of Moravia, 33
John XXIII, anti-Pope: honors Fred-
erick III of Austria, 107; sketch of,
122
John of Luxemburg, King of Bohemia:
reign of, 113
John (I) Szapolyai, King of Hungary:
proclaimed king, 216
John, Archduke of Austria: takes com-
mand of the army of the Tyrol,
293; defeated by the French, 336;
his work in Vienna, 363 ; proclaimed
vicar of the empire, 375
48£
INDEX
John, Count of Gorlitz: aids the Em-
peror Vacslav, Ii8
John of Pomuk: see Pomuk, John of
John of Zehv: leads insurrection in
Prague, 128; rules in Prague, 132
John George, Elector of Saxony: can-
didate for Bohemian throne, 205
John Paleologus, Greek emperor: asks
aid of Louis the Great of Hungary,
152
John Sobieski, King of Poland: saves
Vienna from the Turks, 184
Jokai, Maurus : takes part in the revolu-
tion of 1848 in Hungary, 368; pub-
lishes an appeal against the Inde-
pendents, 441
Joseph I, Holy Roman emperor: reign
of, 190; reign of, as king of Bohe-
mia, 214; proclaimed unworthy of
Hungarian throne, 233; death of,
234
Joseph n, Holy Roman emperor: reign
of, 24s, 264
Josephstadt: built, 252
Julius HI, Pope: grants absolution to
Ferdinand I for the murder of Mar-
tinuzzi, 219
Justinian, Emperor of the East: con-
quests of, 16
K
Kanisza: battle of (1601), 223
Kara Mustapha: besieges Vienna, 184,
230
Karat, Prince of the Slovenes: becomes
vassal of the Prankish monarch, 2>7
Karl Ludwig, Archduke of Austria: re-
nounces succession to throne, 456
Karloman, Duke of Carinthia: his pol-
icy regarding Moravia, 32
Karlstadt, Fortress of: built, 223
Kassa (Kaschau) : battle of (1601), 224
Kaunitz, Prince Wenzel Anton von: ca-
reer of, 242 ; given charge of foreign
affairs in the hereditary provinces,
258
Kazimir, Prince: invades Bohemia, 142
Kemenyi, John, Prince of Transylvania:
reign of, 228
Kenyer-Meso: battle of (1479), 164
Kiellmansegg, Count: premier of Aus-
tria, 433
Kiniszy: heroism of, 164
Kinsky, Count : urges the development!
of the Bohemian language, 341
Kisfaludy, Alexander: aids Hungariat
language, 333 ; arouses the Hunga-
rian nation, 334; attempts to revive
the glories of Hungary, 337
Kisfaludy, Charles : attempts to revive
the glories of Hungary, 2)2>7
Kiuprili : his campaign in Hungary, 228
Klapka, Gyorgy: surrenders to the Rus-
sians, 372; enters Turkish service,
419
Kocel, Slav prince: sends young ecclesi-
astics to Rome, 32
Kolczey, Ferencz : attempts to revive the
glories of Hungary, 337; in the diet
of 183 I, 339
Kolin: battle of (i7S7), 244
KoUar, Jan : celebrates the union of
Slav nations, 341; belongs to the
Slovaks, 356
Koloman (Salamon) I, King of Hun-
gary: reign of, 51
Koloman H, King of Hungary: reign
of, 52
Kolovrat: made member of council of
regency, 345; named president of
the council, 362
Komenski (Comenius), John: emigrates
from Moravia, 210
Komom : taken by the Russians, 372
Konigsberg: founded, 72
Konigsmarck, Hans Christoph: besieges
Prague, 212
Koppany, Magyar chief: revolts of, 47
Korber, Dr. E. von: made premier of
Austria, 436
Kormend: battle of (1664), 228
Korner, Karl: arouses patriotism of the
people, 295, 305
Kosovo: battle of (1448), 159
Kossuth, Louis: uses the Magyar lan-
guage in his Gazette of the diet, 339;
arrested, 352; founds the Pesth Ga-
zette, 353; elected to the diet of
1847, 354; made minister of finance,
368; presides over committee of
safety, 370; made governoi^presi-
dent of Hungary, 372; flees to Tur-
INDEX
483
key, 372; remains an exile, 399;
death of, 431
Kossuth, Louis, son of preceding: leads
opposition to Liberals, 439; asserts
claims of Magyarism, 441 ; leads op-
position to the revision of the rules
of order in the Reichsrath, 444; ac-
cepts universal suffrage as part of
his party's policy, 447; in Dr. We-
kerle's ministry, 447
Kray, Paul, Baron von Krajowa: in the
war of the second coalition, 285
Kresimir, Peter, the Great, King of Dal-
matia: accession of, 38
Krok: sketch of, 29
Krushevats : battle of ( 1456) , 160
Kunwald, Brotherhood of: rise of, 145
Kutchuk Kainardji, Treaty of (1774),
249
Kuttenberg: siege of (1307), 113
Kuttenberg, Agreement of (1485), 148
Lacy, Franz Moritz von: in the Seven
Years' War, 244
Ladislas (I) the "Holy, King of Hun-
gary: reign of, 51
Ladislas IV, King of Hungary: reign
of, 59
Ladislas the Posthumous, Duke of Aus-
tria: reign of, 106
Ladislav: see also Vladislav
Lafayette, Marie Jean Paul Roch Yves
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de : held
prisoner at Olmiitz, 283
Laibach: under Roman occupation, 12
Lamberg, Count: murder of, 370
Landshut: taken by Napoleon (1809),
298
Language Decrees (1897), 434
Lannes, Jean, Duke of Montebello : at
the battle of Esslingen, 298
Latins : contribute to Austro-Hungarian
history, 5
Latour, Count Theodore Baillet de:
death of, 376
Laudon, Baron Gideon Ernst von : see
Loudon, Baron Gideon Ernst von
Lech: leads migration of the Czechs, 18
Lecher, Doctor: in the Reichsrath of
1897, 434
Lechfeld: battle of (955 a.d.), 88
Lefebvre, Frangois Joseph: his cam-
paign in the Tyrol, 300
Leipsic, University of: founded, 121
Leipzig (Leipsic) : battle of (1813), 308
Leitha: battle of the (1246), 59, 94
Lemberg: made the capital of Galicia,
248; popular uprising in (1848), 366
Leopold I, Holy Roman emperor: reign
of, 183 ; reign of, as king of Hun-
gary, 228
Leopold n. Holy Roman emperor: reign
of, 275; as king of Hungary, 330;
as king of Bohemia, 340
Leopold (HI) the Pious, Duke of Aus-
tria : reign of, 105, 106
Leopold IV, Duke of Austria: reign of,
106
Leopold (V) the Virtuous, Duke of
Austria : reign of, 91
Leopold (VI) the Proud, Duke of Aus-
tria: reign of, 92
Leopold, Archduke of Austria: invades
Bohemia, 200
Leopold (I) the Illustrious, Margrave
of Babenberg: sketch of, 89
Leopold (II) the Handsome, Margrave
of Babenberg: reign of, 90
Leopold III, Margrave of Babenberg:
reign of, 90
Leopold IV, Margrave of Babenberg:
reign of, 90
Leuthen: battle of (1757), 244
Levant, Company of the: see Company
of the Levant
Libno, Treaty of (1608), 199
Libusa: career of, 29
Lichtenstein, Prince: directs Austrian
army, 263
Lichtenstein, Charles of: made governor
of Bohemia, 207
Linz: taken by Charles Albert (1742),
241
Linz, Peace of (1645), 227
Lipany: battle of (1434), 138
Lissa: battle of (1866), 392
Ljudevit, Croatian chief: revolts against
Prankish rule, 38
Lobkovitz, Diepold of: accused of incit-
ing the Emperor Mathias against
the Protestants, 201
Lobkovitz, William of: leads conspiracy,
201
484
INDEX
Lodomeria: annexed to Austria, 248
Loja, Hadji: leads revolution in Herze-
govina and Bosnia, 423
Lombards: settle in Pannonia and Nori-
cum, 17
Lombardy: its relation to Austria, 4
London Conference, The (1852), 390
London, Treaty of (1826), 325
Loudon (Laudon), Baron Gideon Ernst
von : in the Seven Years' War, 244 ;
his campaign against Turkey, 271
Louis the German, King of the Eastern
Franks: defeats the Moravians, 31
Louis (IV) of Bavaria, Holy Roman
emperor: at war with Margaret
Mautasche, loi
Louis I, King of Bohemia, H, of Hun-
gary: his reign as king of Bohemia,
149; death of, 150; affianced to Mary
of Austria, 167, 175; reign of, 168;
marries Mary of Austria, 176
Louis (I) the Great, King of Hungary
and of Poland: reign of, as king of
Hungary, 152
Louis n. King of Hungary: see Louis
I, King of Bohemia
Louis XVI, King of France: death of,
281
Louis XVIII, King of France: returns
to Paris, 312
Louis, Archduke of Austria : made mem-
ber of council of regency, 345
Louis of Baden : defeats Turks, 231
Lower Austria: united with Hungary
and Bohemia, 3; relics of the stone
age found in, 10; invaded by the
Slavs, 19; surrendered to the em-
pire, 75; in the struggle against the
French Revolution, 286; revolution-
ary ideas in, 349; revolution of
1848, 361
Ludwig, Count Palatine: at war with
Hungary, 74
Ludwig, Duke of Bavaria: enters into
an alliance with Rudolf of Haps-
burg, 75
Lueger, Karl: leads Christian socialism
movement, 453
Luke, Saint: his work in Dalmatia, 14
Luneville, Peace of (1801), 285
Lusatia: united to Bohemia, 65; invaded
by Procopius the Great, 135; joined
to Saxony, 212
Luther, Martin : publishes his theses,
149
Liitzen: battle of (1362), 211
M
Macedonia: Jazyges settle in, 15; rela-
tions with Russia and Austria-Hun-
gary, 449
Mack von Leiberich, Baron Karl: ca-
pitulates at Ulm, 293
Magenta: battle of (1859), 385
Maglaj : battle of (1878), 423
Magyars : contribute to Austrian his-
tory, 5 ; influence of, 7 ; invade Mo-
ravia, 34; rise of, 41
Mainz, Council of (852 A.D.), 31
Makart, Hans: sketch of, 415
Mansfeld, Ernest of: aids Protestants
of Bohemia, 203
Manteuffel, Otto Theodor, Baron : at the
conference at Olmiitz, 382
Mantua: condition of, at the beginning
of the Napoleonic period, 279
Marchegg: battle of (1278), 76
Marcomanni: attack Celts, 11; settle
Deserta Boiorum, 12; description of,
13
Marcus Aurelius, Roman emperor: at
war with the barbarians, 14
Marengo: battle of (1800), 285
Maret, Hugues Bernard, Duke of Bas-
sano : negotiates with Austria, 307 ;
issues proclamation to Hungary,
335
Margaret of France: marries Bela III
of Hungary, 54
Margaret Maultasche, Queen of Bohe-
mia: at war with the emperor, loi;
character of, 104
Maria Caroline of Austria: marries
Ferdinand of the Two Sicilies, 245
Maria Christina of Austria: marries Al-
bert of Saxony, 245
Maria Theresa, Holy Roman empress:
her succession secured, 191 ; career
of, 239
Marie Amelia of Austria: marries Fer-
dinand of Parma, 245
Marie Antoinette (Maria Antonia),
Queen of France: marriage of, 245;
death of, 281
INDEX
485
Marie Louise, Empress of Austria:
crowned queen of Hungary, 334
Marie Louise, Empress of the French:
marriage of, 302
Mark, Saint: his work in Aquileia, 14
Maroboduus, Prince of the Marco-
manni : career of, 13
Martin V, Pope : attempts to reestablish
the authority of the church in Bo-
hemia, 127
Martinitz, Jaroslav of, Burggrave of
Karlstein : accused of inciting the
Emperor Mathias against the Prot-
estants, 201
Martinuzzi, Friar: attempts to turn
Hungary against Austria, 217; in-
fluence of, 218
Mary (King Mary), Queen of Hun-
gary: marries Sigismund of Luxem-
burg, 153; accession of, 154
Mary of Austria : affianced to Louis II
of Hungary, 167, 175 ; marries Louis
II of Austria, 176
Massena, Andre, Duke of Rivoli and
Prince of Essling: his campaign in
Italy, 282; defeated by the Arch-
duke Charles, 293; at the battle of
Aspern, 298
Matejko, Jan : sketch of, 415
Mathias, Holy Roman emperor: made
governor of Austria, Moravia and
Hungary, 180; reign of, 181; his
reign, as king of Bohemia, 200;
reign of, as king of Hungary, 224
Mathias of Janov: teachings of, 119
Mathias Corvinus (Hunyady), King of
Hungary: at war with Bohemia,
146 ; elected king, 161 ; crowned
king of Bohemia, 163; estimate of,
164
Maximilian I, Holy Roman emperor:
reign of, 173
Maximilian II, Holy Roman emperor:
reign of, as emperor, 179; reign of,
as king of Bohemia, 197; reign of,
as king of Hungary, 219; candidate
for crown of Poland, 220
Maximilian Emperor of Mexico: fate
of, 393
Maximilian Joseph, Elector of Bavaria:
death of, 250
Melas, Michael von: in the war of the
second coalition, 285
Menhardt, Count of Tyrol: enters into
an alliance with Rudolf of Haps-
burg, 75 ; receives Carinthia, 100
Meran Manifesto, The, 177
Merveldt, General : at the battle of Leip-
zig, 310
Methodius, Saint : mission of, 31 ; hon-
ored by the Pope, 32; his struggle
with the German clergy, 33
Metternich, Prince Clemens Wenzel Ne-
pomuk Lothar von : intrusted with
the management of foreign affairs,
302; attempts to negotiate a peace
with Napoleon, 307; given title of
hereditary prince, 310; plans Con-
gress of Vienna, 312; character and
aims of, 320; made chancellor of the
empire, 323 ; retains his influence
under Ferdinand II, 345; fall of,
361
Michael III, Emperor of the East : sends
missionaries to Moravia, 31
Mieczyslaw, Duke of Poland: marries
Dubravka of Bohemia, 63
Milac of Moravia: teachings of, 119
Milan : condition of, at the beginning of
the Napoleonic period, 279; upris-
ing in (1848), 367
Milan, Edict of (313 a.d.), 15
Miletic: imprisoned, 420
Millesimo: battle of (1796), 282
Modena: revolt of (1831), 327; Austri-
ans driven out of (1848), 367
Moesia : occupied by the Ostrogoths, 16 ;
settled by Servians, 22
Mohacs (Mohatz) : battles of (1521),
168, 169; (1526), 150; (1683), 230
Mohammed II, Turkish sultan: death
of, 164
Mohatz: see Mohacs
Moimir I, King of Moravia: founds dy-
nasty, 30
Moimir II, King of Moravia: reign of,
36
Moldavia: occupied by the Dacians, 11;
invaded by the Slavs, 19
Moltke, Count Helmuth Karl Bern-
hard von: at the battle of Sa-
dowa, 392
Molvitz: battle of (1741), 240
Mongols: invade Hungary, 57; invade
Moravia, 70
Montecuculli (Montecuccoli), Count
486
INDEX
Raimondo: his campaign against
the Turks, 228
Montenegro: declares war against Tur-
key (1876), 419
Montenotte: battle of (1796), 282
Morava: battle of, 7Z
Moravia: relics of the stone age found
in, 10; occupied by the Marcomanni,
13; the Slav apostles, 29; invaded
by the Magyars, 34; conquered by
the Magyars, 42; part of, conquered
by Hungary, 47; invaded by the
Mongols, 70; joined to duchy of
Austria, 106; invaded by the king of
Poland, 142; united to Hungary
(1475). '^^Z'y under the counter-
reformation, 209; in the struggle
against the French Revolution, 286;
under the dual system of govern-
ment, 404
Moravian Brothers: rise of, 145
Moreau, Jean Victor: his campaign in
western Germany, 285
Moscow: Napoleon's expedition against,
305
Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus: sketch of,
261
Muhlberg: battle of (1547). 196
Miihldorf : battle of (1322), loi
Miiller, Adam: in the Austrian service,
320
Miinchengratz, Treaty of (1833), 328
Munkacs (Munkatz) : siege of (1687),
230
Munkaczy, Mihaly: sketch of, 416
Murat, Joachim: defeated in Italy, 312;
his campaign in Italy (1815), 314
Mustapha Kiuprili: his campaign in
Hungary, 231
Mutimir, Croatian chief: accession of, 38
N, O
Nadasdy: leads conspiracy, 229
Nagy, Paul: in the diet of 1807, 334; in
the diet of Presburg, 338
Napoleon (I) Bonaparte, Emperor of
the French : occupies Vienna, 293 ;
his expedition into Spain, 296; his
campaign against the Archduke
Charles, 298; marries Marie Louise,
302
Napoleon III, Emperor of the French:
at war with Austria, 384; his ambi-
tions concerning Mexico, 393
Nations, Battle of the (1813), 308
Navarino: battle of (1827), 326
Neerwinden: battle of (1793), 281
Nesselrode, Count Karl Robert: plans
present division of Poland, 313; his
interview with Metternich, 325
Netherlands : revolt of, 275
New Testament: translated into Slav,
32
Nicholas II, Pope : supported by the
council of Spalato, 38
Nicholas I, Emperor of Russia: his re-
lations to the Eastern Question,
325, 349
Nicolsburg, Treaties of: (1620), 226;
(1866), 392
Nicopolis: battle of (1396), 155
Nidhart of Reuenthal : sketch of, 98
Nikolsburg: see Nicolsburg
Nisch: captured from the Turks (1688)^
231
Nitra: oldest Moravian Christian churc
consecrated at, 30; taken by the Be
hemians, 74
Nodier, Charles: publishes the Illyriat
Telegraph, 301
Noreia: battle of (112 b.c.). h
Noricum: added to the Roman empire
12; invaded by the barbarians, 14J
recognizes the authority of Thee
dosius, 16; settled by Lombards, 17 s
peopled by Slav colonists, 19
Novara: battle of (1849), 2>7Z
Novibazar : under the military control
Austria-Hungary, 421
Nuremberg, Diet of (1431). I35
Obradovic, Dositei: sketch of, 271
Octavius: see Augustus Caesar
Odoacer: destroys the Empire of th«
West, 16
Oesova: taken by the Turks (i738)> 23
Old Czechs: work of, 428
Olmiitz: battle of, 70
Olmiitz, Peace of (1478), I47
Olmiitz Conference, The (1850), 383
Order of the Dragon: see Dragon, Or-
der of the
Ostend East India Company: founde<i
192
Ostrogoths: location of, 14; attacked
INDEX
487
the Huns, 15; drive back the Huns,
16
Otto of Bavaria, King of Hungary:
reign of, 151
Otto the Gay, Duke of Austria: reign
of, lOI
Otto, Margrave of Brandenburg: made
guardian of Vasclav IV of Bohemia,
Otto of Freisingen: advises Henry H of
Austria, 91
Ousti: becomes the center of religious
reformers, 127
Palacky, Frantisek: sketch of, 343;
draws up a project for the govern-
ment of the Austrian empire, 378;
leads Czech party, 403
Palffy, John: made lieutenant of Bohe-
mia, 253
Pannonia: under Roman rule, 12; in-
vaded by the barbarians, 14; rav-
aged by barbarians, 15 ; occupied by
the Ostrogoths, 16; settled by Lom-
bards, 17; peopled by Slav colonists,
19
Panslavism : rise of, 353 ; reawakening
of movement, 448
Paris: taken by the allies (1814), 308,
3"
Paris, Treaties of: (i795), 281; (1815),
314; (1856) 384
Parishes: rise of, 328
Parma: revolt of (1831), 327; Austri-
ans driven out of (1848), 2>^7
Partitions of Poland: see Poland, Par-
titions of
Paskievitch, Ivan Fedorovitch: invades
Galicia, 372
Passarowitz, Treaty of (1718), 235
Patent of October 20, i860. The,
386
Paul II, Pope: his relations with Bohe-
mia, 146
Pazmany, Cardinal : leads Anti-Refor-
mation party in Transylvania, 225
Pellico, Silvio: imprisoned, 323
Pepin the Short: aids Borut against the
Avars, 37
Perczel: his campaign in Servia, 371
Pereny, Peter: at the battle of Mohacs,
169
Perseus, King of Macedonia: forms al-
liance with the Illyrians, 11
Pesth: taken by the Mongols, 58; pop-
ular uprising in (1848), 368; inter-
nal improvements in, 414; see also
Buda
Petcheneguens : invade Hungary, 51
Peter III, Emperor of Russia: with-
draws from Austrian alliance, 244
Peter the German, King of Hungary:
reign of, 50
Peter de Vinea: writes a pamphlet
against Frederick the Fighter, 94
Peter of Mladenovic: tells of John
Huss's death, 125
Peterwardein : taken by the Turks
(1526), 169; battle of (1716), 235
Petofi, Alexander: writes on patriotism,
353; takes part in the revolution of
1848 in Hungary, 368; death of, 371
Philip the Handsome, King of Spain :
sketch of, 176
Philip, Patriarch of Aquileia: opposes
nnexation of Carinthia and Cari-
nola to Bohemia, 74
Pilgrim, Archbishop of Lorch: his work
among the Magyars, 46
Pilnitz, Declaration of (1791), 276
Pillersdorf: draws up an electoral law,
363
Pilsen: siege of (1434), 137
Pisa, Council of (1409), 121
Pius II, Pope (^neas Sylvius) : quoted
on the entry of the Hussites into
Basel, 137; his policy toward Bohe-
mia, 146; encourages Hungary to
fight Bohemia, 162
Pius IV, Pope: sanctions the use of the
cup in Bohemia, 197
Pius VI, Pope: visits Vienna, 267
Plantagenet, Richard, Duke of Corn-
wall : granted the imperial crown, y2
Podiebrad, George of : becomes leader of
non-Catholic sects in Bohemia, 143;
made regent of Bohemia, 144;
elected king of Bohemia, 145
Podiebrad, Victorin of: invades Aus-
tria, 146
Poland : under the rule of the king of
Bohemia, 81 ; insurrection of
(1863), 389
488
INDEX
Poland, Partitions of: {1772), 246;
(1793), 281; (1795), 281
Poles : significance of name, 25 ; see also
Poland
Polish Question, The, 327
Pompadour, Madame de : her relations
with Maria Theresa, 243
Pomuk, John of: sketch of, 118
Potocki, Ignatius: member of Austrian
cabinet, 402
Pragmatic Sanction (1713), 191
Prague: founded, 30; siege of (1400),
118; insurrection in (1419), 128;
siege of (1420), 129; becomes the
center of religious controversy, 150;
defenestration of, 202; battle of
(1620), 206; popular uprising in
(1848), 364, 366; Czech Museum
founded, 341 ; internal improvements
in, 414
Prague, Diets of: (1432), 136; (i433).
137
Prague, Treaty of (1866), 392
Prague, University of: founded, 115;
given to the Jesuits, 208
Prazak: made minister of justice, 427
Premysl Otokar (Premislas Ottokar)
I, King of Bohemia : reign of, 67
Premysl Otokar (Premislas Ottocar) II,
King of Bohemia : at war with Hun-
gary, 59; revolts against his father,
71 ; reign of, 71
Premysl of Stadice : sketch of, 29
Presburg: battle of (907 a.d.), 43; taken
by the Bohemians, 74; siege of
(1683), 230; occupied by the French,
334; taken by Windischgratz (1848),
371
Presburg, Diets of: (i435). IS6; (1825-
1829), ZZ7
Presburg, Treaties of: (1619), 205;
(180s), 294
Procopius the Great (the Shaven or the
Holy) : leads Hussite army, 134 ;
death of, 138
Prussia: rise of, 240
Q, R
Quadi: settle Deserta Doiorum, 12; re-
pulsed by the Romans (356 a.d.), iS
Raab: taken by the French (1809), 336;
taken by Windischgratz (1848), 371
Radetzky, Joseph Wenzel, Count ; his
campaign in Bohemia, 307; his cam-
paign in Italy, 367
Ragusa: siege of (1813), 309
Rakoczy, Francis: career of, 232
Rakoczy, George, Prince of Transylva-
nia : put at the head of the comitats
of the north of Transylvania, 226;
elected, 227
Rakoczy II, George, Prince of Transyl-
vania: reign of, 227
Rakocxy, Sigismund, Prince of Transyl-
vania: elected, 224
Rakos, Diet of (1444), 159
Rastiz : see Rostislav
Ratisbon: battle of (1809), 298
Rausimond, King of the Sarmatians:
leads his people to the lower Dan-
ube, IS
Reichsrath, The : description of, 400
Reformation, The : in Austria, 177
Reichenbach, Congress of (1790), 276
Reichenbach, Treaty of (1813), 307
Reinar von Hagenau: sketch of, 97
Reinar von Zweter : sketch of, 97
Revolutionary Movement of 1848, The,
361
Rhaeti : come in contact with Roman
power, 1 1 ; conquered by the Ro-
mans, 12
Rhaetia: invaded by the barbarians, 14,
15 ; recognizes the authority of The-
odosius, 16
Rhine, Confederation of the: see Con-
federation of the Rhine
Richard (I) Cceur de Lion, King of
England : imprisoned by Leopold V
of Austria, 92
Richard II, King of England: marHes
Anne of Bohemia, 117
Richard of Cornwall : see Plantagenet,
Richard
Rieger, Franz Ladislaus : leads Czech
party, 403; attempts to gain more
political rights for Bohemia, 409
Rimini: battle of (1815), 314
Rivoli: battle of (1797), 282
Roggendorf: death of, 217
Rome: her conquest of Austria-Hun-
gary, ID
Rosenberk, Ulrich of: leads Catholic
forces in Bohemia, 143
Rossbach: battle of (1757), 244
INDEX
489
Rostislav (Rastiz), King of Moravia:
accession of, 31
Rothschild, Mayer Anselm: rise of, 328
Roumanians : see Rumanians
Rous: leads migration of the Czechs, 18
Royal Society of Sciences : founded, 341
Rudolf (I) of Hapsburg, Holy Roman
emperor: aids Hungary against Bo-
hemia, 59 ; at war with Bohemia, 75 ;
invades Bohemia, 78; career of, 99
Rudolf II, Holy Roman emperor: reign
of, 180; his reign, as king of Bohe-
mia, 198; his reign, as king of Hun-
gary, 222
Rudolf of Austria, King of Hungary:
reign of, 113
Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria: reign of,
102
Rudolf, Prince of Austria: death of,
456
Rudolf von Stadek: sketch of, 98
Rumanians : contribute to Austro-Hun-
garian history, 5 ; location of, 8 ; ori-
gin of, 19; dissatisfied with the dual
system of government, 430
Rupert, Elector-palatine of the Rhine:
elected emperor, 118
Ruthenians: condition of, in Galicia, 347
Saatz: siege of (1421), 131
Sadowa: battle of (1866), 392
Safarik: sketch of, 343; belongs to the
Slovaks, 356
St. Gothard: battle of (1664), 228
St. Stephen, Order of: founded, 255
St. Vacslav, Convention of (1517), I49
St. Vit, Cathedral of: founded, 62
Salzburg: Taurisci settle in, 11; insur-
rection of, 177
San Stefano, Treaty of (1878), 420
Samo the Merchant : career of, 20 ; death
of, 21
Sarmatians : settle on the banks of the
lower Danube, 15 ; repulsed by the
Romans (356 a.d.), 15
Sarmizegethusa : battle of (loi a.d.), 13
Saxons: settle in Hungary, 53
Saxony: granted to Albert the Bear of
Brandenburg, 91 ; concludes an alli-
ance with Maria Theresa, 241
Sazava: battle of (1422), 132
Scaurus, Marius Aemilius : his cam-
paign against the Germans, il
Sch5>rnhorst, Gerhard Johann David
von : his mission to Austria, 307
Schehadeddin : his expedition against
Hungary, 157
Schlegel, Frederick: in the Austrian
service, 320
Schlesvig-Holstein Question, The, 390
Schiefer, Wolfgan (Serverus) : his in-
fluence on Maximilian II of Aus-
tria, 179
Schlick, Count of: leads conspiracy, 201
Schmerling, Anton von : made prime
minister, 386; resigns, 389
Schmidt: made president of the diet of
Vienna (1849), 374
Schonbrunn, Treaty of (1809), 299
Schwarzenberg, Felix Ludwig Johann
Friedrich, Prince von: made prime-
minister, 2)77
Schwarzenberg, Karl Philipp, Prince
von : commands Austrian troops in
Napoleon's Russian campaign, 305;
his mission to Paris, 306; given su-
preme command of coalition forces,
307
Scordisci: location of, II ; defeat the
Boii, 12
Scourge of God: see Attila
Selim II, Sultan of Turkey: concludes
treaty with Hungary, 220
Sempach: battle of (1386), 106
Serajivo: insurrection in (1878), 423
Servia: conquered by the Turks, 155;
created, 324; incorporated in Hun-
gary, 308; declares war against Tur-
key (1876), 419; brought into close
relationship with Austria-Hungary,
424
Shabats, Fortress of: built, 163
Sicarius : his mission to Samo the Mer-
chant, 20
Sigismund, Holy Roman emperor : his
accession to the throne of Hungary,
117; elected emperor, 122; invades
Bohemia, 129; his reign as king of
Hungary, 141, 155; marries Mary of
Hungary, 153
Sigismund, Duke of Austria: accession
of, 107
Sigismund Korybutovicz, Prince: in-
490
INDEX
vades Bohemia, 132; leads Bohe-
mian army, 134; accepts regency of
Bohemia, 133; driven out of Bohe-
mia, 134
Sigovesius, Celtic chief: tradition of, 10
Silesia : conquered by Bohemia, 64 ; in-
vaded by the king of Poland, 142;
part of, griven to Hungary (i475).
163; ceded to Frederick II of Prus-
sia, 241 ; in the struggle against the
French Revolution, 286
Sirmia: conquered by Bajan (584 a.d.)>
19
Sirmium : abandoned to Attila, 16
Sirmium, Council of (380 a.d.) : con-
demns Arianism, 15
Sisca: becomes Roman military post, 12
Sisek: battle of (1592), 223
Sistova, Treaty of (1790), 276
Sixtus IV, Pope: intervenes between
Bohemia and Hungary, 147
Slavata, William of: accused of inciting
the Emperor Mathias against the
Protestants, 201
Slaves : traffic in, forbidden in Dalma-
tia, 39; St. Stephen of Hungary im-
proves condition of, 49
Slavonia: Scordisci settle in, li; comes
under Prankish rule, 38; incorpo-
rated in Hungary, 398
Slavs : contribute to Austrian history, 5 ;
influence of, 8; invade the empire,
15; history of, 18
Slovenes : origin of, 19 ; history of, 27
Smolka : made vice-president of the diet
of Vienna (1849), 374; elected pres-
ident of the diet, ^yy
Sobeslav I, King of Bohemia: reign of,
66
Sodaditas Damebiana: founded, 175
Solentino: battle of (1815), 314
Solferino: battle of (1859), 385
Spalato: made metropolis of Croatia, 22
Spalato, Council of, 38
Speckbachev : sketch of, 297
Spytihnev I, Prince of Bohemia: reign
of, 62
Spytihnev II, Prince of Bohemia: reign
of, 64
Stadion, Count Franz Seraph : his ad-
ministration as governor of Galicia,
347; his policy during the revolu-
tion of 1848, 366; made minister of
internal affairs, 377; becomes in-
sane, 380
Stadion, Count Johann Philipp Karl
Joseph von : made minister of
finance, 328
Stahrenberg, Count: at the siege of Vi-
enna, 184
Steibrsky, Jakoubek: see Stribro, Jakou-
bek de
Stephen II, King of Dalmatia and Croi
tia: reign of, 39; death of, 51
Stephen (I), Saint, King of Hungary
baptism of, 46; reign of, 47
Stephen II, King of Hungary: reign of,
S3
Stephen III, King of Hungary : reign of,
54
Stephen IV, King of Hungary: made
king of Styria, 59
Stephen V, King of Hungary: opposes
annexation of Carinthia and Car-
niola to Bohemia, 74
Stephen, Archduke of Austria: at the
head of the Bohemian government,
350; made palatine, 354; resigns as
palatine, 370
Stephen Lazarevic, Servian prince: does
homage to the king of Hungary, 156
Sternberg, Adam of: accused of incit-
ing the Emperor Mathias against
the Protestants, 201
Stewart, Robert, Marquis of London-
derry: his interview with Metter-
nich, 325
Stone Age: in Austria-Hungary, 10
Stratimirovic : in the Croatian revolu-
tion, 369; arrest of, 420
Stribzo, Jakoubek de: teachings of, 125;
summoned before the Council of
Constance, 126
Strohbach: made vice-president of the
diet of Vienna (1849). 374
Strossmayer, Bishop : exiled, 406
Stuhlweissenburg, Council of (i435).
139
Stur: leads Slovaks, 357
Styria: united with Hungary and Bo-
hemia, 4; German element in, 6;
Taurisci settle in, ii; under control
of Hungary, 59; conquered by the
Count of Tyrol, 75; surrendered to
the empire, 75; added to Austria,
91; insurrection of, 177; progress
I
INDEX
491
of the Reformation in, 178; advent
of the Jesuits in, 179
Succession, War of Polish, 192
Succession, War of Spanish, 190, 233
Suevi: at war with the Celts, 11
Suleiman the Magnificent, Sultan of
Turkey: his campaign against Hun?-
gary, 169; aids John I of Hungary,
216; conquers Buda, 217; death of,
220
Suvarov, Count Alexander: assumes
command of the forces of the sec-
ond coalition, 285; refuses to com-
municate his plans to the Austrian
Council of War, 286
Svatopluk I, Moravian prince: career
of, 32; reign of, 34; death of, 35
Svatopluk II, Moravian prince: at war
with his brother, 36
Svenimir: see Zvonimir
Swieten, Gerhard von: intrusted with
the improvement of education in
Austria, 260
Sylvester II, Pope: accepts the homage
of Hungary, 47
Sylvius, ^neas : see Pius II, Pope
Szabolcz, Council of (1092), 51
Szapary : made premier of Hungary, 431
Szapolyai, George: at the battle of Mo-
hacs, 169
Szapolyai, John: leads nobles in Hun-
garian peasant revolt, 168
Szapolyai, John : see John (I) Szapolyai,
King of Hungary
Szapolyai, John Sigismund: made voie-
vode of Transylvania, 217; death of,
220
Szathmar, Treaty of (1708), 234
Szechenyi: in the diet of Presburg, 338;
favors moderation (1847), 354;
made minister of public works, 368
Szell: made premier of Hungary, 440;
resigns, 442
Szilagy: chosen governor of Hungary,
161
Szigeth: siege of (1566), 219
T, U
Taaffe, Count Eduard von: made pre-
mier, 426
Taurisci: location of, 11; defeated by
the Romans, 11
Tcherniaiev, Alexander Ivanovitch,
Prince: demonstrations in Prague
in favor of, 420
Tegethoff, Baron Wilhelm von: at bat-
tle of Lissa, 392
Teleki, Vladislas : attempts to obtain
foreign aid for the Magyars, 372
Temes: battle of the (ca. 1080), 51
Temesvar: battles of (loi a.d.), 13;
(1S13), 168
Temesvar, Banate of: occupied by the
Dacians, il
Temesvar, Diet of (1397), I5S
Teplitz, Treaty of (1813), 308
Teschen, Peace of (1779), 250
Teuts, Queen of the Illyrians: pays trib-
ute to Rome, 11
Theodoric the Great, Emperor of the
West: takes possession of Italy,
Dalmatia, Noricum and Rhaetia, 16
Theodosius I, Roman emperor: death
of, 16
Theodosius II, Emperor of the East:
pays tribute to the Huns, 16
Theresienstadt : built, 252
Thietmar, Bishop of Prague: sketch of,
63
Thirty Years' War, The, loi, 204
Thugut, Baron Franz Maria von : career
of, 287
Thun, Count Franz Anton: made pre-
mier of Austria, 435
Thun, Count Leo: summons the diet of
the kingdom, 365
Thurn, Count of: leads conspiracy, 201
Tiberius, Roman emperor: his campaign
against the Marcomanni, 13
Tisza von Borosjeno, Koloman: directs
affairs in Hungary, 429; resigns,
430
Tisza, Count, son of preceding: made
premier of Hungary, 443; resigns,
445
Toekoeli, Emerich: leads Hungarian in-
surrection, 229
Toleration, Edict of (1781), 266
Tomory, Paul, Archbishop of Kalosca:
at the battle of Mohacs, 169
Torstenson, Lennart, Count of Ortala:
his campaign in Bohemia, 212
Trajan, Roman emperor: his campaign
in the Danube valley, 13
Transylvania: Rumanian element in, 8;
492
INDEX
occupied by the Dacians, ii; in-
vaded by the Gepidae and Burgiin-
dians, 14; occupied by the Visigoths
and Gepidae, 16; invaded by the
Slavs, 19; granted to a voievode of
the race of Arpad, 47; revolt of
(1467), 163; invaded by Turks
(i479)f 164; conditions in (1848),
357; incorporated in Hungary, 398
Trencsin: battle of (1708), 233
Trent, Council of (1545-1563), 178
Triest : founded, 1 1 ; seeks the protec-
tion of Leopold of Austria, 106;
made a free port, 193; condition of
peasants relieved by Maria The-
resa, 259
Triple Alliance, The (1883) : concluded,
426; becomes unpopular, 449
Truber Primus : aids the Reformation in
Camiola, 178
Turks: invade Carinthia and Camiola,
109
Tyrol : part of, united with Hungary and
Bohemia, 4; German element in, 6;
Italian element in, 8; united to Aus-
tria, 104; insurrection of, 177; prog-
ress of the Reformation in, 178; ad-
vent of Jesuits in, 179; condition of
peasants relieved by Maria Theresa,
259; in the struggle against the
French Revolution, 286; insurrec-
tion of (1809), 296; dismembered,
300
Ujejski: sketch of, 348
Ulm: battle of (1805), 293
Ulric, Duke of Carinthia and Carniola:
death of, 74
Ulrich of Rosenberk: see Rosenberk,
Ulrich of
Union of Bohemian Brothers: see Bo-
hemian Brothers
Unstrut: battle of (1075), 90
Upper Austria: united with Hungary
and Bohemia, 3: relics of the stone
age found in, 10 ; settled by the Van-
dals, 14; surrendered to the em-
pire, 75
Urban V, Pope: sanctions the establish-
ment of the University of Fiinf-
kirchen, 154
Urban: leads Slovaks, 357
Urseolus, Doge of Venice: marriage of,
46
Vacslav, Holy Roman emperor, VI,
King of Bohemia: reign of, as king
of Bohemia, 117
Vacslav (Wenceslas) III (the One-
eyed), King of Bohemia: aids Hun-
gary against the Mongols, 58; reign
of, 69
Vacslav IV, King of Bohemia, I, of;
Hungary: reign of, "JT, reign of, as
king of Hungary, 151
Vacslav V, King of Bohemia: reign of,i
81
Vacslav VI, King of Bohemia : see Vacs^j
lav. Holy Roman emperor
Vacslav, St., Prince of Bohemia: sketchj
of, 62
Valens, Roman emperor: receives the
eastern part of the empire, 15
Valentinian I, Roman emperor: his re
lations with the barbarians, 15
Vama: battle of (1444), 158
Vandals : settle in the Danube country,]
14
Varad: taken by the Mongols, 58
Varad, Treaty of (1538), 217
Vasvar, Peace of (1664), 228
Vasvary: takes part in the revolution ol
18^ in Hungary, 368
Venceslas : see Vacslav
Venetia: its relation to Austria, 4
Venice: concludes treaty with Austria,^
282; siege of (1797), 283; popular j
uprising in (1848), 367
Verboczy, Stephen: sketch of, 167, 168;^
leads Hungarian patriots, 216; re-
fuses to recognize Ferdinand of Aus-
tria as king of Hungary, 217
Vercelli: battle of (loi B.a), 11
Verona, Congress of (1822), 323
Verona, Diet of (1245), 94
Versailles, Treaty of ( 1757) , 243
Verseghy: aids Hungarian language,]
333; arouses the Hungarian nation,]
334
Vervins, Treaty of (1598), 176
Vespasian, Roman emperor: strengthens^
Roman forces in Austro-Hung^riaa]
territory, I2
Veszprim: battle of (ca. 1000 a.d.), 47
Vetsera, Baroness Marie: death o^j
4S6
INDEX
498
Victor Emmanuel, King of Piedmont:
accession of, 373
Vienna (Vindobona) : as a fortified town
of the Roman empire, 12; taken by-
Rudolf of Hapsburg, 75 ; restored
by Henry II of Austria, 91 ; under
Leopold the Proud, 93; revolt of
(1286), 100; placed under the ban
of the empire, 108; siege of (1485),
164; siege of (1529), 179; advent of
the Jesuits in, 179; siege of (1683),
184, 230; occupied by the French
(1805), 293; French enter (1809),
298; popular uprising in (1848), 361,
370; revolution in (1849), 374; in-
ternal improvements in, 414, 415
Vienna, Congress of (1814), 312
Vienna, Treaties of: (1606), 224;
(1735), 192; (1809), 336; (1864),
391
Vienna, University of: founded, 104
Vilemov, Truce of (1468), 146
Villafranca, Treaty of (1859), 385
Vindelici : conquered by the Romans, 12
Vindex, Macrinus : defeated by the bar-
barians, 14
Vindobona : see Vienna
Visigoths : location of, 14 ; attacked by
the Huns, 15 ; drive back Huns, 16
Vitold, Grand Duke of Lithuania : of-
fered the crown of Poland, 131
Vladislav II, King of Bohemia: reign
of, 66
Vladislav IV, King of Hungary, VI, of
Poland: death of, 158
Vladislav V, the Posthumous, King of
Hungary and of Bohemia : birth of,
157 ; reign of, 142 ; his reign, as king
of Hungary, 159
Vladislav VI, King of Hungary and of
Bohemia : reign of, as king of Bo-
hemia, 147; elected king of Hun-
gary, 149 ; reign of, as king of Hun-
gary, 166; death of, 168
Vladislav Jagellon, Polish prince: prom-
ised the crown of Bohemia, 136;
death of, 139
Vladislav : see also Ladislav
Vladivoj, Prince of Bohemia: reign of,
64
Vocel : sketch of, 343
Vodnik: praises Napoleon, 301
Vojtech: see Adalbert, St.
Voszice, Treaty of (1425), 133
Vratislav II, King of Bohemia: reign
of, 64
W
Wagram: battle of (1809), 299
Waldhauser, Conrad: teachings of, 119
Waizen: taken by the Mongols (1235),
58
Walewski, Count Alexandre Florian
Joseph Colonna: at the Congress of
Paris (1856), 384
Wallachia: occupied by the Dacians, 11;
invaded by the Slavs, 19; conquered
by the Turks, 155 ; under the rule of
the Turks, 162
Wallenstein, Albrecht Eusebius von,
Duke of Friedland, Mechlenburg
and Sagan: sketch of, 210; assassi-
nated, 211
Walter von der Vogelweide: sketch of,
97
Warsaw: taken by the Austrians (1809),
298
Wartenburg, Cenek of: see Cenek of
Wartenburg
Waterloo: battle of (1815), 314
Weinsberg: battle of (1140), 91
Wekerle, Alexander: made premier of
Hungary, 431 ; second premiership
of, 447
Wellington, Arthur Wellesley, Duke of:
his campaign in Belgium against
Napoleon, 314
Wels: battle of (ca. 912 A.D.), 43
Wenceslas : see Vacslav
Wenzel : see Vacslav
Werner, Bishop of Strasburg: builds the
castle of Hapsburg, 99
Westphalia, Peace of (1648), 183
White Mountain: battle of (1620), 206,
226
Wiener-Neustadt, Diet of (1502), 174
William I, King of Prussia and Em-
peror of Germany : German policy
of, 390 ; at the battle of Sadowa, 392
William I, Duke of Austria: reign of,
105, 106
William of Lobkovitz: see Lobkovitz,
William of
William of Slavata: see Slavata, Wil-
liam of
494
INDEX
Windischgratz, Alfred Candidus Ferdi-
nand, Prince of : enters Vienna, 370 ;
enters Presburg, 371; his campaign
against Vienna, 376
Windischgratz, Count: his administra-
tion as premier of Austria, 432
Wogastiburg : battle of (630 A.D.), 20
Wolf (Wolff), Karl Hermann: his duel
with Badeni, 435
Wurmser, Dagobert Sigismund, Count
of: defeated by Napoleon, 282
X, Y, Z
Ypsilanti, Alexander: leads Greek revo*-
lution, 324
Young Czechs : work of, 428
Zapolski, John Sigismund : see Szapol-
yai, John Sigismund
Zapolski, John: see John (I) Szapolyai,
King of Hungary
Zara: taken by the Venetians, 54
Zavisa of Falkenstein: career of, 79
Zbynek, Archbishop of Prague : his re
lations with John Huss, 120
Zenta: battle of (1697), 231
Zerotin, Charles of: leads Bohemian
Brothers, 198; remains loyal after
the defenestration of Prague, 204;
emigrates from Moravia, 210
Zichy: sketch of, 416; in Dr. Wekerle's
ministry, 447
Zinzendorf, Count : aids Joseph H in his
commercial enterprises, 269
Zizka, John : becomes a leader of the
people, 127; death of, 133
Zoltan, Magyar chieftain : rule of, 43
Zrinyi (Zrinski), Ban of Croatia: de-
fends Szigeth, 219; his campaign
against the Turks, 228; leads con-
spiracy, 229
Zrinyi, Helen : heroism of, 230
Ziirich, Treaty of (1859), 385
Zvonimir (Svinimir), King of Dalma-
tia: sketch of, 38
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