Austria-Hungary
a monarchy in the heart of Europe. It is composed of the empire of Austria and the kingdom of Hungary. Area, 241,333 square miles. Population, 45,405,267. The government was organized on its present basis in 1867, following closely on the heels of the Seven Weeks' War. Austria agreed to the present plan rather than have the Hungarians draw out altogether.
The Austrian Empire and the Hungarian Kingdom are independent, except that they have a common monarch and unite for certain purposes expressly agreed upon. Each has its own constitution, its own legislature, and its own executive departments. Francis Joseph is emperor of Austria and the king of Hungary. He is also king of the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Forty members of the Austrian lower house and twenty members of the Austrian upper house constitute a joint committee on Austro-Hungarian affairs. Forty members of the lower Hungarian house and twenty members of the upper Hungarian house, however, form a corresponding Hungarian committee. These two committees are known as delegations. The king of Austria-Hungary, acting as emperor of Austria and king of Hungary, summons these delegations to meet one year at Vienna, the next at Budapest. They deliberate in separate chambers, communicating in writing. If, after three attempts, they do not agree in passing a bill, they meet together and act as one body, settling the matter under discussion by a majority vote.
The affairs common to the two states, that is to say, belonging to the government of Austria-Hungary, are three: 1. Foreign affairs. 2. Military and naval affairs. 3. National finance.
There are three corresponding ministries, the ministry of foreign affairs, the ministry of war, and the ministry of finance. There is, in addition, a court of public accounts. The ministers are responsible to the delegations.
The organization of the army in a general way corresponds to that of Germany, but it is peculiar, in that Hungary maintains an army, Austria maintains a third army. The military forces of the two states may very properly be called militia. The prominent feature of the whole organization, however, is that every young man must perform two or three years of active military service away from home, and, in addition, report for drills and such other duties as may be required long enough to bring his entire service up to twelve years. Soldiers who have finished their active duty are known as reserves. They are held in readiness to be called upon in case of war. The great amount of military service required of the young men is one reason for emigration. The Austria-Hungarian army numbers about 350,000 men. Money is reckoned in crowns. A crown is worth about twenty cents. The annual expenditure of the dual monarchy, including military expenditure, is about $86,000,000.
The king has an annual salary or civil list of about $4,500,000. One-half is paid him as emperor of Austria out of the revenues of Austria; the other half as king of Hungary out of the revenues of Hungary. The present monarch is Emperor Francis Joseph who is popular with both peoples; but the two nations do not get on together in all respects. There is a wide difference in language, race, and temperament. They are likened to an ox and a horse yoked to the same plow. The joint parliament is said to be a cockpit in which the representatives of many diverse race elements fight out their race antipathies. The race issues within the Austrian end of the kingdom are hardly less acute. Bohemian, Pole, and German have differences of their own. It is predicted freely that the Germanic or up-river element, that is to say, the Austrians, will some day pull away and seek admission as a state of the new German Empire.