applied to the Austrian regular army) is organized in 8 divisions of varying strength, the “Royal Hungarian” Landwehr or Honveds in 7 divisions, both Austrian and Hungarian Landwehr having in addition cavalry (Uhlans and hussars) and artillery. It is probable that a Landwehr or Honveds division will, in war, form part of each army corps except in the case of the Vienna corps, which has 3 divisions in peace. The remaining men of military age (up to 42) as usual form the Landsturm. It is to be noted that this Landsturm comprises many men who would elsewhere be classed as Landwehr.
The strength of the Austro-Hungarian army on a peace footing was as follows in 1905:—
| Officers. | Men. | Horses. | Guns. | |
| Infantry— | ||||
| Common Army | 10,801 | 187,604 | 1,152 | . . |
| Austrian Landwehr | 1,883 | 23,905 | 174 | . . |
| Hungarian Honveds | 2,258 | 21,149 | 262 | . . |
| Cavalry— | ||||
| Common Army | 1,890 | 45,486 | 40,740 | . . |
| Austrian Landwehr | 170 | 1,861 | 1,282 | . . |
| Hungarian Honveds | 390 | 4,170 | 3,510 | . . |
| Field Artillery | 1,630 | 27,612 | 14,520 | 1,048 |
| Fortress Artillery | 408 | 7,722 | 131 | . . |
| Technical troops (Pioneers, and Railway and Telegraph Regiment) |
588 | 9,935 | 19 | . . |
| Transport Service | 461 | 4,312 | 3,097 | . . |
| Sanitary Service | 85 | 3,062 | . . | . . |
| Total | 20,564 | 336,818 | 64,887 | 1,048 |
| Belonging to the | ||||
| Common Army | 15,863 | 285,733 | 59,659 | 1,048 |
| Austrian Landwehr | 2,053 | 25,766 | 1,456 | . . |
| Hungarian Honveds | 2,648 | 25,319 | 3,772 | . . |
The troops stationed in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1905 (376 officers and 6372 men) are included in the total for the common army.
The peace strength of the active army in combatants is thus about 350,000 officers and men, inclusive of the two Landwehrs and of the Austrian “K.K.” guards, the Hungarian crown guards, the gendarmerie, &c. The numbers of the Landsturm and the war strength of the whole armed forces are not published. It is estimated that the first line army in war would consist of 460,000 infantry, 49,000 cavalry, 78,000 artillery, 21,000 engineers, &c., beside train and non-combatant soldiers. The Landwehr and Honved would yield 219,000 infantry and 18,000 cavalry, and other reserves 223,000 men. These figures give an approximate total strength of 1,147,000, not inclusive of Landsturm.
Fortifications.—The principal fortifications in Austria-Hungary are: Cracow and Przemysl in Galicia; Komárom, the centre of the inland fortifications, Pétervárad, Ó-Arad and Temesvár in Hungary; Serajewo, Mostar and Bilek in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Alpine frontiers, especially those in Tirol, have numerous fortifications, whose centre is formed by Trent and Franzensfeste; while all the military roads leading into Carinthia have been provided with strong defensive works, as at Malborgeth, Predil Pass, &c. The two capitals, Vienna and Budapest, are not fortified. On the Adriatic coast, the naval harbour of Pola is strongly fortified with sea and land defences; then come Trieste, and several places in Dalmatia, notably Zara and Cattaro.
Navy.—The Austro-Hungarian navy is mainly a coast defence force, and includes also a flotilla of monitors for the Danube. It is administered by the naval department of the ministry of war. It consisted in 1905 of 9 modern battleships, 3 armoured cruisers, 5 cruisers, 4 torpedo gunboats, 20 destroyers and 26 torpedo boats. There was in hand at the same time a naval programme to build 12 armourclads, 5 second-class cruisers, 6 third-class cruisers, and a number of torpedo boats. The headquarters of the fleet are at Pola, which is the principal naval arsenal and harbour of Austria; while another great naval station is Trieste.
Trade.—On the basis of the customs and commercial agreement between Austria and Hungary, concluded in 1867 and renewable every ten years, the following affairs, in addition to the common affairs of the monarchy, are in both states treated according to the same principles:—Commercial affairs, including customs legislation; legislation on the duties closely connected with industrial production—on beer, brandy, sugar and mineral oils; determination of legal tender and coinage, as also of the principles regulating the Austro-Hungarian Bank; ordinances in respect of such railways as affect the interests of both states. In conformity with the customs and commercial compact between the two states, renewed in 1899, the monarchy constitutes one identical customs and commercial territory, inclusive of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the principality of Liechtenstein.
The foreign trade of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy is shown in the following table:—
| Year. | Imports. | Exports. |
| 1900 | £70,666,000 | £80,916,000 |
| 1901 | 68,833,000 | 78,541,000 |
| 1902 | 71,666,000 | 79,708,000 |
| 1903 | 78,200,000 | 88,600,000 |
| 1904 | 85,200,000 | 86,200,000 |
| 1905 | 89,430,000 | 93,500,000 |
The following tables give the foreign trade of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy as regards raw material and manufactured goods:—
| Articles. | Value in Millions Sterling. | |||||
| 1900. | 1901. | 1902. | 1903. | 1904. | ||
|
Raw material (including |
41·5 | 40·5 | 41·8 | 45·9 | 51·9 | |
| Semi-manufactured goods | 9·6 | 9·6 | 10·3 | 10·6 | 10·8 | |
| Manufactured goods | 19·5 | 18·7 | 19·5 | 21·6 | 22·5 | |
| Articles. | Value in Millions Sterling. | ||||
| 1900. | 1901. | 1902. | 1903. | 1904. | |
| Raw material (as above) | 34·1 | 34·1 | 35·8 | 39 | 35·3 |
| Semi-manufactured goods | 12·6 | 11·1 | 11·1 | 12·4 | 12·6 |
| Manufactured goods. | 34·2 | 33·3 | 32·8 | 37·2 | 38·3 |
The most important place of derivation and of destination for the Austro-Hungarian trade is the German empire with about 40% of the imports, and about 60% of the exports. Next in importance comes Great Britain, afterwards India, Italy, the United States of America, Russia, France, Switzerland, Rumania, the Balkan states and South America in about the order named. The principal articles of import are cotton and cotton goods, wool and woollen goods, silk and silk goods, coffee, tobacco and metals. The principal articles of export are wood, sugar, cattle, glass and glassware, iron and ironware, eggs, cereals, millinery, fancy goods, earthenware and pottery, and leather goods.
The Austro-Hungarian Bank.—Common to the two states of the monarchy is the “Austro-Hungarian Bank,” which possesses a legal exclusive right to the issue of bank-notes. It was founded in 1816, and had the title of the Austrian National Bank until 1878, when it received its actual name. In virtue of the new bank statute of the year 1899 the bank is a joint-stock company, with a stock of £8,780,000. The bank’s notes of issue must be covered to the extent of two-fifths by legal specie (gold and current silver) in reserve; the rest of the paper circulation, according to bank usage. The state, under certain conditions, takes a portion of the clear profits of the bank. The management of the bank and the supervision exercised over it by the state are established on a footing of equality, both states having each the same influence. The accounts of the bank at the end of 1900 were as follows: capital, £8,750,000; reserve fund, £428,250; note circulation, £62,251,000; cash, £50,754,000. In 1907 the reserve fund was £548,041; note circulation, £84,501,000; cash, £60,036,625. The charter of the bank, which expired in 1897, was renewed until the end of 1910. In the Hungarian ministerial crisis of 1909 the question of the renewal of the charter played a conspicuous part, the more extreme members of the Independence party demanding the establishment of separate banks for Austria and Hungary with, at most, common superintendence (see History, below). (O. Br.)
History
I. The Whole Monarchy.
The empire of Austria, as the official designation of the territories ruled by the Habsburg monarchy, dates back only to 1804, when Francis II., the last of the Holy Roman emperors, proclaimed himself emperor of Austria as Francis I. His motive in doing so was to guard against the great house of The title “Emperor
of Austria.”Habsburg being relegated to a position inferior to the parvenus Bonapartes, in the event of the final collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, or of the possible election of Napoleon as his own successor on the throne of Charlemagne. The title emperor of Austria, then, replaced that of “Imperator Romanorum semper Augustus” when the Holy Empire came to an end in 1806. From the first, however, it was no more than a title, which represented but ill the actual relation of the Habsburg sovereigns to their several states.
