Hapsburg (Austrian) Empire
• Nations– Austria– Bohemia– Hungary– Romania– Poland– Ukraine– Northern Italy
• Ethnic Groups– Czechs– Slovaks– Poles– Ukrainians– Serbs– Croats– Slovenes
Questions ???• What problems might a
multinational empire face?
• What problems might Austria face its many ethnic groups?
Hapsburg Empire Declines• Hapsburg emperor ruled absolutely
–Crushed 1848 nationalist revolts• 1859 – Hapsburgs defeated by
Sardinia and France (unification of Italy)
• Limited reforms don’t appease ethnic groups
Dual Monarchy• 1866 – Austria defeated by Prussia
(German unification)
• Hapsburg Empire becomes Austria-Hungary Empire
• Other ethnic groups resent new arrangement
• By 1900, government paralyzed by nationalist unrest throughout empire
Questions ???• What event broke the balance
and order of the Hapsburg Empire?
• Why might other ethnic groups resent the Austria-Hungary agreement?
Ottoman Empire Collapses• Stretched from Eastern Europe and
the Balkans to North Africa and the Middle East
• Multinational empire
• 1830s – Serbia and southern Greece won independence
• Other ethnic groups try to follow
“The sick man of Europe”• Mid-1800s – European nations
race to claim territory of crumbling Ottoman Empire
• Balkan nations resent being controlled
• Wars break out in the Balkans–“Powder keg of Europe”