[ News
| Homes
| Life
| Entertainment
| History
| Science
| Community
| Shop ]
| Sport
| Culture
| Cars
| Money
| Broadband
| Learning
| Health
| Dating
| Games ]
[ Text Only: Homepage ]
[ Graphical: Channel4 Homepage ]
The Series | Credits | Shop
Home | Overview | Controversies | Timeline | Combatants | Biographies | Glossary | Learn More
Combatant States - Central powers | Austro - Hungary | Germany | Turkey (Ottoman Empire) | Bulgaria
Combatant States - Allies | Serbia | Russia | France | Belgium | United Kingdom | Australia | Canada | India | New Zealand | Rhodesia | Union of South Africa | United States of America| Italy | Romania | Greece | Montenegro | Portugal | Japan
Entered War : 28 July 1914 (declared war on Serbia).
Political system : Dual monarchy and empire. The kingdoms of Austria and Hungary were united in 1867.
Leader : Franz Josef I: emperor, 1848-1916
Karl I: emperor, 1916-18
Population : 51 million (1910).
Army : 325,000 men in the Imperial and Royal Army (drawn from all parts of the empire), 40,000 men in the Austrian territorial army and 30,000 in the Hungarian territorial army (1914). When the war started, Austria-Hungary mobilised 2.25 million men. A total of 7.8 million were mobilised for army service during the war.
Navy : 15 battleships, 7 cruisers, 18 destroyers, 5 submarines, 90 torpedo boats (1914).
Air Force : 250 aircraft (1916)
Recent Diplomacy : With Germany and Italy, Austria-Hungary was a member of the Triple Alliance , formed in 1882, which was meant to protect its member countries against attack by Russia or France. It was renewed every five years.
There was, however, underlying tension with Italy - a number of ethnic Italians lived within the empire.
Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia in 1908 drew it into conflict with Serbia. The Serbs wished to see Austria-Hungary expelled from the Balkans.
Additional information : Austria-Hungary was a multi-national, multi-lingual and multi-ethnic empire. The Austrians and the Hungarians constituted the largest groups, but it also included Poles, Croats, Bosnians, Serbs, Italians, Czechs and numerous others. This ethnic and linguistic diversity weakened the power of the Austro-Hungarian military - 80% of all officers spoke German, but only 30% of other ranks.
Casualties by 1918 : 925,000 dead, 3.6 million wounded; 1.2 million were taken prisoner.