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| Die Presse: New compromise treaty in the works; Austro-Hungarian News Thread | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Oct 11 2009, 02:33 PM (404 Views) | |
| Austria-Hungary | Oct 11 2009, 02:33 PM Post #1 |
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![]() Reliable German-language news from Vienna Edited by Austria-Hungary, Mar 12 2010, 06:20 PM.
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| Austria-Hungary | Oct 11 2009, 02:49 PM Post #2 |
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MINISTER-PRESIDENT STÜRGKH IN HUNGARY ROW Public fears new constitutional crisis with Hungary in immediate future Vienna (Austria) - Karl, Reichsgraf von Stürgkh, Minister-President of Austria has publicly condemned Hungary's "abusive participation" in the Dual Monarchy during a ball at the Hofburg Imperial Palace. Von Stürgkh, an advent proponent of a stronger and more centralised Austro-Hungarian Empire, used the opportunity to attack the Hungarian nationalist government straight at the face of their Minister-President, who was also attending. "It is unacceptable that Hungary gets to enjoy benefits equal to Austria, but on the other hand, it enjoys unique and unfair benefits such as contributing less than half the expenses of the common government" Stürgkh said. "This abusive participation needs to be terminated and Hungary should either accept full equality with Austria, or accept powers proportional to its financial and other contribution to the state" said the ill-tempered Austrian minister-president. Héderváry allegedly responded brutally and stated that "Hungary has striven for its independence from Austria and it shall never return under Austrian control." The argument was interrupted with the personal intervention of the Imperial Chancellor Count von Aehrenthal and the Emperor himself, who disarmed the situation with cunning political and diplomatic expertise. In a rare event, Emperor Franz Joseph accepted to comment to die Presse's journalists on the situation. "Count von Stürgkh and Mr. Khuen-Héderváry had a moment of ill-temper during supper at Hofburg, but the situation was defused without continuation" His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty said. "I am very disappointed at their behaviour, but Count von Stürgkh's allegations are, indeed, serious and they are worthy of consideration. As such, I shall be personally leading an extraordinary summit of the Imperial Cabinet in the Reichsrat building in order to study the situation more closely and find a mutually acceptable solution." The Hungarian parliament, dominated by Magyar nobility, condemned von Stürgkh's comments and threatened with "sanctions" should the situation "persist." Everyone's attention is now at the upcoming Imperial Cabinet summit in the Reichsrat building, which might as well bring about dramatic events after Stürgkh's Hungary row. |
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| Austria-Hungary | Oct 12 2009, 12:10 PM Post #3 |
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VON STÜRGKH ADDRESSES REICHSRAT Minister-President calls for "new national identity" "in the name of Emperor and country" Vienna (Austria) - One day before the extraordinary Imperial Cabinet summit at the halls of the Reichsrat building in Vienna, Cisleithanian Minister-President Karl Reichsgraf von Stürgkh addressed the Reichsrat in its ordinary summit of both the upper and lower houses as they convened. The Minister-President addressed matters of what he explained to be of "vital importance" and called for the Reichsrat to approve an upcoming package of reforms he means to propose the coming days, after tomorrow's extraordinary Imperial Cabinet summit. Von Stürgkh criticised the splintering of the Reichsrat in many fractions and, for the first time in decades, publicly condemned the Reichsrat "as a whole" for its failure as a legislative organ. "The introduction of universal male suffrage in the 1907 elections was vastly counter-productive" von Stürgkh stated, "and today we see the Reichsrat splintering in, what, 33 political parties? The two largest parties, the Christian-Socials and the Social-Democrats, control only 182 of the 516 seats. No party can even ally with another to pass legislation." As the situation stands, the counter-productive situation means everyone can block everyone else's proposed legislation and that nobody can find enough political partners to pass legislation of their own. "We need a stronger, fairer Reichsrat that will assure us that it will govern in the name of the Kingdoms and Lands represented in it, and not serve as a forum for pointless bickering" von Stürgkh commented. Even the traditional opponents of the German politicians, the Bohemians, agreed with von Stürgkh in a rare moment of political stability for the country. Minister-President von Stürgkh called for a package of reforms as following:
As expected, von Stürgkh's last proposal sparked vocal responses, especially from the Bohemian, Moravian and Italian representatives. A discussion followed and Count von Stürgkh made a wonderful speech, part of which die Presse releases for its readers to comment on: "On one hand we have an autocratic regime and bigger failure than our own country, the Russian Empire, which wishes to absorb the Poles and Ruthenians into its state and turn them into the same serfs their cousins across the border is. On the other hand we have Italy, which we all know it encroaches around Southern Tirol, the Coastland and Dalmatia with aggressive moods, and few would like to forcibly shift under such a regime; let us remember that Italy didn't back its German allies like we did, but the Entente powers during the Morocco crises. In the west we have the arrogant and militant German Empire, which can benefit from the continued lack of operation of this country and easily absorb Silesia, Bohemia, Moravia and German Austria into its empire as though we are lesser beings. And to the south we have Serbia, with its nationalist and coup-backed King, which poses a grave threat not just to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Dalmatia, but even the troublesome Magyar partners of ours. "If we continue bickering all we will achieve is dissolve this great state, and shift the balance of power dramatically. We need a stronger, common national identity, one which we can use not just against any external threat, but also against internal threats and dissent. We need a common national identity with which we can encounter the Magyars, and similarly adopt a fairer and less burdensome, for our state, settlement, so that we can both better the funding of the common government and military, but also lessen the burden at the shoulders of Austrian people through our overwhelming financial support. "The majority of us here are Catholics, but we also have Greeks and Protestants among us. Religion is not our forte; but we all are loyal to the same Emperor, the same dynasty, and the same Two-headed Eagle. Although we have ten major ethnic groups across the empire, six of which residing mostly or exclusively in Cisleithania, we all can speak German to a certain extent. We have common characteristics and a common culture, like we have a common desire for self-rule of our Lands. I call the Reichsrat: give us a common name! I call the Reichsrat: give us a common tongue! "The Kingdoms and Lands represented in the Imperial Council" is a burdensome and unnecessary name. Great Austria has become the laughing stock of other major powers; we are financially dependent on the Germans, French and British, we are the only Great Power without colonies and overseas possessions, and we are lucky to have some land in Tientsin. We are indebted, and bad governance both within Austria and with our Hungarian partners burdens our military to unacceptable levels. "We need a single, unitary name for all our lands: the Empire of Austria! For we are all Austrians: German Austrians, Czech Austrians, Ruthenian Austrians and Italian Austrians. "We need a lingua franca for our administration, people and military, German! For we all speak German to an extent, and making it official will free up tremendous amounts of funds to repay our national debt and reform our military. We need to support the adoption of German as an Austrian-wide language of communication, and back the official language of each state to support non-native German speakers protect their cultures. We need to seriously back our country and work together, protect each other's individuality and use it magnificently like the Americans have. Else, our neighbours will convert us to their cultures, and all will forever be lost. "And last, but not least, tomorrow we must demand a fairer settlement with Hungary on financial matters, even if it means relinquishing some of our independence at the hands of His Imperial Majesty, Franz Joseph!" Von Stürgkh's speech was universally applauded by the Reichsrat despite reservations from nationalist parties, especially including those of the Czechs, Italians and Poles, but also others. Everyone's attention is now fixed to tomorrow's summit of the Imperial Cabinet, which is set to officially bring up the matter of Common Government funding by Austria and Hungary and even the word of command for the military. |
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| Austria-Hungary | Oct 13 2009, 06:03 PM Post #4 |
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HUNGARY TO INCREASE BUDGET CONTRIBUTION Hungary will now contribute 50% rather than 37% of common expenditure Vienna (Austria) - Following an eight-hour meeting in the halls of the Reichsrat building in Vienna among His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty, Emperor Franz Joseph, and their Excellencies the members of the Imperial and Royal Government, talks have ended regarding the financial contributions of Hungary for common expenditure. Through tough political talks and concessions from both sides to each other, Austria and Hungary have agreed to further increase financial cooperation and treat each other equally rather than a junior partner. Hungarian Minister-President Mr. Khuen-Héderváry himself announced that starting in 1912, Hungary would increase its contributions to the joint government budget from just under 37% to 50%, the figures meaning to be equal to Austria's. "I have given the go to this venture with the aim of securing Hungary's position as an equal partner in the Dual Monarchy" the Hungarian politician commented. "We also discussed and came into agreement regarding a wide array of necessary measures which needed to be resolved and, as such, I am proud to claim today that the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy is witnessing a rare turning point towards infinite betterment." The measures agreed upon by the Imperial and Royal Government were as following:
The news of making German official wasn't welcomed by nationalists and especially Czechs, Rumanians, Italians and Poles, however Magyar nationalist opposition was curbed by the public and perhaps even secret concessions. Count von Stürgkh, Minister-president of Austria, stated he would meet with representatives of the Bohemian and Moravian diets to discuss about the matter of languages. "The linguistic status of Czech, Italian and Polish, and any other language in the Austrian portion of the Empire, is in absolutely no danger" he assured. "The reform simply serves to reduce unnecessary administrative expenditure and increase the effectiveness of our joint military forces, in order to protect Austro-Hungarian independence and sovereignty from alien threats. As minister-president of Cisleithania I am prepared to make teaching of the first language of all lands compulsory, like German has become, in all schools regardless of their first language. That way we can better-promote our multiculturalism and benefit from it." Romanian and Croatian concerns over continued Magyar dominance of Hungary are expected to be presented before the Hungarian diet tomorrow, along with nationalist Magyar concerns over "giving away too much ground" to Austria. Given the status quo, however, it is very unlikely Austria or the joint government will pursue interfering in Hungary's interior affairs and try to enforce a system similar to Count von Stürgkh's proposals. |
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| Austria-Hungary | Oct 16 2009, 09:09 AM Post #5 |
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GANZ SEES INFLUX OF FOREIGN CAPITAL British and Reich-Germans invest at Ganz & Co. shipyards in Budapest and Fiume Budapest (Hungary) - Hungarian shipbuilding and electrics giant Ganz & Co., owner of the Danubius Shipyards in Budapest and Fiume, has seen the influx of foreign capital by two chief foreign shipbuilding companies. Ganz & Co. is the contractor for the fourth Tegetthoff class battleship Szent Istvan, which it builds in its shipyard in the Croatian town of Fiume on the Dalmatian coastline. The arrival of foreign capital and expertise is expected to improve Ganz's facilities, decrease the building time for the Szent Istvan, and allow the company to further expand its Fiume shipyard to better compete with the Austrian shipbuilding giants and traditional national shipbuilding leaders like Stabilimento Tecnico Triestino. The British Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company and the Reich-German Kaiserliche Werft Danzig have invested in the shipyards, which are known to construct various small and large commercial and war ships to date. Currently, the Szent Istvan is the largest and most hopeful project undertaken by Ganz & Co. Danubius Shipyards, and upon its completion it will be the pride of the company. Further foreign investment is expected, with some 21% of the Budapest and 8% of the Fiume shipyards offered to foreign investment. Earlier claims of Russian firms interested have not yet been confirmed. |
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| Austria-Hungary | Mar 11 2010, 01:42 PM Post #6 |
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DANUBIUS LAUNCHES FOURTH DREADNOUGHT SMS Szent István was launched today 17 January from the Ganz & Co. Danubius Shipyards in Fiume Fiume (Hungary) - The launch of the new Tegetthoff class dreadnought battleship of the Imperial & Royal Navy, the SMS Szent István, took place today in Fiume, amidst celebrations and concentrations of crowds. SMS Szent István is the fourth ship of her class, following her sister ships SMS Viribus Unitis, SMS Tegetthoff and SMS Prinz Eugen in Navy service. Sponsored by Archduchess Maria Theresa of Austria, the new ship cost K60,6 million to construct, and took two years since the beginning of operations. Most notable, during its construction, Ganz & Co. received major British and Reich-German investments in both its Fiume and Budapest yards. The Tegetthoff class, whose lead ship SMS Viribus Unitis entered commission in 5 December 1912, represents the pinnacle of Austro-Hungarian naval technology and it is among the first battleship classes in the world to feature triple gun turrets. The class exceeds 20.000 tons in displacement, and three of the four units produced are in active service. The Szent István will be formally commissioned following military trials in the Adriatic Sea, along the Littoral and Dalmatian coastline, while it is expected to make its first-ever port call in the city of Trieste as part of its maritime trials. The class is expected to be discontinued and followed by a newer and further improved type of dreadnought battleship, which is allegedly already under design, although the name and specifications of the class have, thus far, not been released. It is expected to be included in the 1914 budget, however, along with continued increase of military expenditure. Common budget has been dramatically increased since the 1912 compromise between Austria and Hungary on finances, which granted the common government complete independence and control in financial issues and increased Hungarian contribution to 50 percent from 36,4 percent of the common total. |
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| Austria-Hungary | Mar 12 2010, 06:03 PM Post #7 |
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KAISER, STÜRGKH AND TISZA PLAN NEW COMPROMISE TREATY Promises for a stronger and functional central government attract public attention Vienna (Austria) - The Minister-President of Austria Count von Stürgkh and the Minister-President of Hungary Count Tisza are officially meeting with Emperor Franz Joseph in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna and negotiating a new compromise between the Austrian and Hungarian parts of the Dual Monarchy. The news come amidst public pressure from Austria over the dysfunctional Reichsrat, which has been partly resolved on a local scale by the introduction of new election laws in 1912 and 1913, and strong disputes between the ruling Magyars and the strong Romanian and Serbo-Croat communities in Hungary. Count Karl von Stürgkh entered the talks with a firm attitude, certain of improvement in the situation. "I hope to resolve out constitutional crises once and for all, with a new compromise that will iron out a new and fair Monarchy for all its subjects" he stated. Count Tisza, on the other hand, appeared more reserved and stated that "Hungary will review the proposals from the Cisleithanian part of the monarchy carefully." Count Tisza was one of the supporters of the 1867 compromise and an experienced politician known of non-extremist attitude. The challenge will be to find common ground, with Tisza and von Stürgkh having conflicting interests and an unyielding Emperor to settle their scores with. The main problems identified with centralisation are difference with electoral systems -Austria has universal suffrage, while Hungary does not- and conflicting interests of the German, Czech and Magyar elites of the monarchy. In any case, sources from the Imperial Household suggest that Archduke Franz Ferdinand will be taking part in the talks, and try to settle the scores of the nationalities of the empire once and for all. From what has been leaked thus far, however, it seems that the new compromise, if it is approved, will entail a more centralised common government; a "dramatic" change in the official terminology of the country, which implies a name-change for the Austrian or both parts of the empire; and financial and military independence for the common government. Thus far both Ministers-President have been supportive of stronger military preparations, but traditional squabbling between the Austrian and Hungarian parliaments has limited the independence of the joint War and Finance ministers despite attempts in 1912 and 1913 to improve the situation. |
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8:33 PM Jul 11