Czechoslovakia Prior To Wwi

Prior to World War One, Czechoslovakia was not a country. The area of land that became Czechoslovakia was the empire of Austria-Hungary prior to 1918. Austria-Hungary was located in central Europe and was the second largest country in Europe, second only to Russia. It is also the third most populous country in Europe preceded by Russia and Germany. In 1900, the population of Austria-Hungary was 45.2 million and in 1914, right before World War One, the population was 52.5 million.

This empire was composed of Austria, Hungary and other small countries that came together to form one of the largest European empires. It was ruled by the Austrian government, the Hungarian government and common foreign and military policy under the monarch. The monarch’s common government had responsibility for the army, the navy, foreign policy and the customs union. Overlapping responsibilities between Austria, Hungary and the monarch caused friction in the nation.

The capital of the Austria-Hungary Empire is the city of Vienna, located almost directly on the border between Austria and Hungary, putting it in a very central location. With modernization increasingly growing in Austria-Hungary, naturally this growth centered around Vienna, its major city. Budapest, another main city within the Austria-Hungary Empire, was a key city for trade. Austria had a lot of coast which helped it trade with many Mediterranean countries and Hungary’s access to the Danube was essential for trade. The southeast portion of Hungary was perfect for harvesting wheat and Hungarian agriculture was focused around this region.

Austria’s economy really took off in the late 18th century, during the Dual Monarchy. Hungary’s economy really didn’t take off until the 19th century. Even though both countries had booming economies, they were still behind compared to the other powers.

As Austria-Hungary grew, so did its rail transportation. Between 1879 and 1900 over 25,000 kilometers of rail were installed in Hungary alone. They had to do a lot of catch up for time they had missed during their depression.

Germany, a neighbor just northwest of Austria-Hungary, had a lot of influence in the empire. Because of this, there was a lot of pressure for that national language to be German, and the Germans had a hard time accepting the Slavic language as equal to German. 24% if Austria-Hungary’s population spoke German. 20% spoke Hungarian and 13% spoke Czech. The remaining people spoke either Polish, Ruthenian, Romanian, Croatian, Slovak, Serbian or Italian.

Austria had a lot of influence on the religious structure of the empire. Over 90% of the Austrian population was Catholic and 76.6% of the Austria-Hungary Empire was Catholic. 8.9% were Protestant and 8.7% were Eastern Orthodox. The other 5% were Jewish or Muslim.

Since the Austria-Hungary Empire was compromised of smaller states, each minority wanted to link up with neighboring states to create some sort of autonomy. Serbia, just south of Austria-Hungary, became the leader of Slav unification. This jeopardized the 300 miles of Adriatic coastline that Austria-Hungary had control of. This area of coast was a huge advantage for Austria. It allowed trade across the Adriatic Sea to Italy and other Mediterranean countries. Serbia wanted to be in control of Bosnia, part of Hungary, in order to increase the amount of sheep and cattle it could export.

Throughout World War One, Austria-Hungary, Germany, the Ottoman Empire and Bulgaria, as well as their allies, were referred to as the Central Powers. Even before World War One, Germany knew how important it was to have the allegiance of Austria-Hungary. In the middle of 1914,