Why did Austria Hungary Collapse

Whether the Austro-Hungarian Empire ever had a chance at surviving for even a full century is a mystery left to be debated by historians with no sure answer ever to come. Nevertheless, the general belief permeating the discussions of Austria and Hungary's intertwined past is that their shared empire was left for dead from the minute of its birth. According to many, it was nationalism and the vast array of ethnic minorities within the dual monarchy that served as a powder keg ill-fated to blow at any given notice. And eventually, it did. This video is brought to you by War Thunder. War Thunder is the most comprehensive vehicle combat game ever made, engulfing more than 2,000 tanks, planes, helicopters, and ships that you can use in PvP battles. Each vehicle is very detailed and modelled down to its individual components, and a whole collection of vehicles spans over 100 years of development, from the 1920s to the present day. You can apply hundreds of camouflages, historical markings, or 3D decorations such as bushes or equipment on your machines. What I personally like, besides the vehicle details, is how War Thunder creates a realistic and immersive battlefield with stunning fire, smoke, and destruction effects, achieving the perfect balance of strategy and entertainment. Use my link in the description to download, register, and play War Thunder now for free on PC, Xbox Series X and S, PlayStation 5, or the previous console generation. By doing so, if you are a new player, or if you haven't played for at least six months, you can claim an exclusive bonus pack, featuring premium vehicles, a premium account, a unique 3D vehicle decorator, and more. This is available for a limited time only. Austria-Hungary was formed in 1867 as a constitutional dual monarchy, with the King of Hungary and the Emperor of Austria being the same ruler. The states of Austria and Hungary thus shared a monarch, a military, and foreign policy, but were otherwise led as sovereign nations of their own. Together, Austria-Hungary stood as the third most populous state in Europe and the second largest state by landmass. It was one of the most powerful entities of its time and location, but it also encompassed many ethnic minorities who, now, seeing the Magyars securing themselves as equals to the Austrians in this new arrangement, wanted some autonomy of their own. This request would not be granted, and would contemporarily be swept under the rug, a problem to arise again later nevertheless. The great war would be the wooden spoon to stir the pot. When Austria-Hungary sent Franz Ferdinand into Bosnia-Herzegovina, the empire had already found itself on wobbly ground and was thus hoping to re-establish its authority and support in the region. The heir to the throne's assassination by Bosnian-Serb Gavrilo Princip would demonstrate exactly how hostile the situation had actually become under the rug. The Slavs, in particular, were growing tired of their lack of equality and freedom within the empire, and doing close to nothing about it had served Austria-Hungary quite poorly. Whether it was the work of rebellious minority groups in the empire alone or with the aid of neighboring Serbia was not undeniably clear at the time of the murder, but the Austro-Hungarian empire had to react with a heavy hand if it held on to any hope of proving lingering power. As a result, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia. When your military is a combination of ethnic and linguistic groups all fighting for one cause that scarcely any of them continue to believe in, it's hard to expect that you will find much success at war, and Austria-Hungary didn't. The military was underfunded, undersupplied, and disorganized, and on top of that, it was only as strong as its empire's unity, which was weak. The ethnic minorities were as determined as ever to earn themselves not just autonomy now, but ultimate freedom. As the war raged on, the Allies chose to back their pleas. Woodrow Wilson led the charge of Allied support for Austria-Hungary's rebels with his 14-point speech outlining his principles for peace and an end to the global war. Particularly on this topic, for point number 10, Wilson asserted that the people of Austria-Hungary, whose place among the nations we wish to see safeguarded and assured, should be accorded the freest opportunity to autonomous development. Austria-Hungary's emperor at the time, Karl I, looked to make a compromise to appease both the Allies and his empire's ethnic minorities, but this was too little, too late. Trust in Vienna had soared, and the time for meeting in the middle had passed. The nationalist groups within the empire wanted independence now. They wanted nation-states of their own. This pushed Emperor Karl into desperate measures as he frantically grappled to keep his empire together, though in one piece entirely, he knew to be impossible. His hope now was to assert his rule over a handful of individual states representing each ethnic group or region, a union of equals, much like the Austrian and Hungarian halves had established only a few decades prior. With this idea in mind, Karl hoped to enter armistice talks with the Allies utilizing the 14 points as the basis for peace, but the latter had changed its stance. Robert Lansing, the Secretary of State for the USA, made it clear that his nation was now in support of the updated demands of the nationalist movements across Austria-Hungary. The autonomous status supported by the 14 points wasn't enough anymore, and thus could not form the foundation of any treaty. By now, the Poles were in the process of forming their own state, as were the Czechs, the South Slavs were hoping to join Serbia, and the Slovaks were gunning for their own freedom. On October 17th, 1918, Hungary had, in fact, been the one to throw the lit match in the powder keg that was the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Hungarian Parliament voted to terminate their union with Austria. The dual monarchy was axed shortly after by Hungary's new Prime Minister, Count Mihai-Károlyi. Hungary was free, and Austria-Hungary had gone up in flames. The Empire was dead. On November 11th, 1918, Emperor Karl I dismissed his government and renounced his right to participate in Austrian political and government affairs. The next day, the Republic of German-Austria was born, beside the Hungarian Democratic Republic. The Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye marked the official end of armed conflicts between Austria and the Allies, while the Treaty of Trianon would do the same for Hungary. Together, these agreements helped to set new borders for the broken ruins of the Empire. As for Hungary and Austria, this meant a massive downsize of their territories. In the case of the latter, Austria's territory was slashed by around 60% as compared to its lands in the time of the Austrian Empire, and it was barred from forming a union with Germany as many had hoped would be done. Hungary would lose a devastating 72% of its former territory held prior to the war, and its Democratic Republic would meet its end shortly after its start, as the Hungarian-Soviet Republic was born and transformed into a restored Kingdom of Hungary. The rest of Austria-Hungary's disintegrated Empire would go on to make up the entirety or part of the First Czechoslovak Republic, the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs, the Second Polish Republic, Greater Romania, additionally, Austro-Hungarian lands fell back into the hands of Italy, and China. How Austria-Hungary collapsed can be explained thus through a timeline of events and treaties that led to the Empire's final acts and somber funeral. Why, however, is less clear. Some believe that the Empire was doomed ever since its first days, others blame the First World War, still, more say that the global affair had nothing to do with it, or only served to speed up the process, not cause it. The only factor that is generally agreed upon as a core explanation for why Austria-Hungary went up in flames is nationalism. Even before the outbreak of the Great War, nationalism within the Empire's borders had been on a persistent rise. Particularly among the Slavic groups, the idea of a national identity and even that of different nation-states for each ethnic group was becoming more and more popular. This can be directly linked, at least in part, to the creation of the Austro-Hungarian Empire because as the Austrians gave the Magyars a place as equals with their own kingdom within an empire, the other ethnic groups such as the Slovenes, Croats, and so on began to wonder why they themselves were not given the same recognition. This nationalism played a direct role in why heir to the Empire Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Bosnia by a Serb, and it's also why Woodrow Wilson included Point 10 in his 14-point speech. Everyone was aware of the growing movement, but the Emperor's efforts to fight the effects of it were failing. Nationalism was winning, and once the war began, there was a decreasing passion by soldiers of mixed ethnicities inside the Empire's armed forces to want to fight for a cause they no longer believed in. The Allies additionally took the chance to throw their support behind those who wanted to see the Austro-Hungarian Empire fall to pieces, fueling the Nationalist flame. And when the war ended, the Empire was split on Nationalist lines. Thanks again to War Thunder for sponsoring this video, don't forget to click our link in the description to play the game and get the large free bonus pack.