This decennial revision gave the Hungarians recurring opportunity to levy blackmail on the rest of the empire. There was to be a customs union and a sharing of accounts, which was to be revised every 10 years. The common affairs were to be considered at the delegations, composed of representatives from the two parliaments. There was no common prime minister (other than Franz Joseph himself) and no common cabinet. The “common monarchy” consisted of the emperor and his court, the minister for foreign affairs, and the minister of war. Franz Joseph thus surrendered his domestic prerogatives in Hungary, including his protection of the non-Magyar peoples, in exchange for the maintenance of dynastic prestige abroad. Hungary received full internal autonomy, together with a responsible ministry, and, in return, agreed that the empire should still be a single great state for purposes of war and foreign affairs. Indeed, the peoples of the empire were not consulted, despite Franz Joseph’s earlier promise not to make further constitutional changes without the advice of the imperial parliament, the Reichsrat. The agreement was a compromise between the emperor and Hungary, not between Hungary and the rest of the empire. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |