A History of Modern Europe - From the Renaissance to the Present

National Awakenings in the Habsburg Lands 679

aristocrats, who lacked the influence and political role enjoyed by German
speakers who had benefited from the Bach system.
Anton von Schmerling (1805-1893), minister of the interior, drafted the
February Patent of 1861, a constitution that established a bicameral parlia­
ment in which all the empire’s nationalities were to be represented. Yet the
number of non-German representatives, as elected by the diets of the
respective crown lands, would not equal those of the Germans, as electoral
restrictions favored urban elites. Magyars, Croats, and Italians refused to
participate in the first election, and Schmerling dissolved the regional par­
liaments. The February Patent perpetuated the most salient elements of
Bach’s neo-absolutism, placing virtually no constitutional limitations on
the emperor’s power. Francis Joseph even suspended the constitution in
1865.
While Bach’s neo-absolutism made internal enemies, foreign policy fail­
ures seriously undermined the monarchy’s international position. The Habs­
burg monarchy’s status as a power in European affairs declined as relations
with Russia and Prussia deteriorated. In 1863, Schmerling expressed sym­
pathy for the Poles in their struggle against Russia (in contrast to Bismarck’s
response, as we have seen). This pleased the Poles within the Habsburg
Empire but angered Tsar Alexander II. When Francis Joseph went to war
with Prussia in 1866, he could not look for support from the tsar, or from
the British or French, who resented the fact that Austria had joined Prussia
against Denmark two years earlier.
Prussia’s victory over Austria cast doubt on the efficiency of Bach’s neo­
absolutism and encouraged the other preeminent nationalities—particularly
the Magyars, but also the Croats and Poles—to demand a greater share of
political power, since the monarchy seemed to be floundering under the
domination of German speakers. Humiliated twice in seven years on the
field of battle, some of Francis Joseph’s subjects blamed the authoritarian
structure of neo-absolutism for the defeat. Liberals called for the imple­
mentation of constitutional government.

Creation of the Dual Monarchy

The empire’s military defeats heightened Magyar demands for more power.
Fearing the possible alliance of German liberals with the Magyars, Francis
Joseph in 1865, a year before the defeat at the hands of Prussia, met the
Magyar demand for the reincorporation of Transylvania into Hungary. He
had already asked Ferenc Deak (1803-1876) to propose a solution that
would reconcile Magyar demands with imperial power. Deak, a wealthy
Magyar noble and lawyer, believed that Hungary’s identity as a nation
depended on the continued existence of the Habsburg monarchy. The
emperor realized that as long as the Magyars remained dissatisfied and
uncooperative, he could not contemplate a war of revenge against Prussia.