Kriza dualizma u Austro-Ugarskoj 1903. godine
THE 1903 CRISIS OF DUALISM IN AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

Summary/Abstract: The paper deals with the political crisis of dualism in multi-ethnic Austria-Hungary caused by the strengthening political opposition of Hungarian magnates in the Hungarian Parliament, who demanded the introduction of the Hungarian language as command language of the Hungarian troops. The implication thereof was a separation of the joint army and a disproval of the joint supreme commander, Emperor Franz Josef. The Hungarian language issue was therefore primarily political, and in the final instance it meant further weakening of connections with the Western part of the Monarchy until the final Hungarian secession, but also a possibility of further Hungarisation within the Hungarian borders. The Emperor opposed this by announcing a new electoral law aimed at depriving the Hungarian minority of its supremacy over the non-Hungarian majority in Hungary. He was supported by the liberal party led by István Tisza, who rightly estimated that dualism was first and foremost protective of Hungarian interests in Hungary. Fear of the new electoral law sobered up the Hungarian nationalists and they gave up on the revision of the Austro-Hungarian compromise. Subsequently, the Emperor, driven by immediate political interests, decided not to enact the law on universal suffrage in Hungary despite the fact that, under certain favourable political circumstances, which were, unfortunately, lacking, precisely such a law could potentially have become the foundation not for bringing down, but for preserving Austria-Hungary.

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