Habsburg Monarchy - Terminology

Terminology

Names of the territory that (with some exceptions) finally became Austria-Hungary:

  • Habsburg monarchy or Austrian monarchy (1526–1867): This was an unofficial, but very frequent name – even at that time. The entity had no official name. Note that technically the term "Habsburg monarchy" can also refer to the period 1276–1918 when the Habsburgs ruled in the monarchy (archduchy) centred in present-day Austria and "Austrian monarchy" can refer to the monarchy centered in present-day Austria 1156–1867, but both terms are usually not used this way.
  • Austrian Empire (1804–1867): This was the official name. Note that the German version is Kaisertum Österreich, i.e. the English translation empire refers to a territory ruled by an emperor, not just to a "widespreading domain", more accurately the "Emperordom of Austria".
  • Austria-Hungary or Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918): This was the official name. An unofficial popular name was the Danubian Monarchy (German: Donaumonarchie) also often used was the term Doppel-Monarchie ("Double Monarchy") meaning two states under one crowned ruler.
  • Crownlands or crown lands (Kronländer) (1849–1918): This is the name of all the individual parts of the Austrian Empire (since 1849) and then of Austria-Hungary. The Kingdom of Hungary (more exactly the Lands of the Hungarian Crown) was not considered a "crownland" after the establishment of Austria-Hungary 1867, so that the "crownlands" became identical with what was called the Kingdoms and Lands represented in the Imperial Council (Die im Reichsrate vertretenen Königreiche und Länder).

The Hungarian parts of the Empire were called "Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen" or "Lands of Holy (St.) Stephen's Crown" (Länder der Heiligen Stephans Krone). The Bohemian (Czech) Lands were called "Lands of the St. Wenceslaus' Crown" (Länder der Wenzels-Krone).

Part of a series on the
History of Austria
Early history
  • Hallstatt culture
  • Noricum
  • Marcomanni
  • Samo's Realm
  • Carantania
  • March of Austria
  • Babenberger
  • Privilegium Minus
Habsburg era
  • House of Habsburg
  • Holy Roman Empire
  • Archduchy of Austria
  • Habsburg Monarchy
  • Austrian Empire
  • German Confederation
  • Austria-Hungary
World War I
  • Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
  • World War I
Interwar years
  • German Austria
  • First Republic of Austria
  • Austrofascism
  • Federal State of Austria
  • Anschluss
World War II
  • National Socialism
  • World War II
Post-war Austria
  • Allied-occupied Austria
  • Second Austrian Republic
Austria portal

Names of some smaller territories:

  • Austrian lands (Österreichische Länder) or "Archduchies of Austria" (Erzherzogtümer von Österreich) - Lands up and below the Enns (ober und unter der Enns) (996–1918): This is the historical name of the parts of the Archduchy of Austria that became the present-day Republic of Austria (Republik Österreich) on 12 November 1918 (after Emperor Charles I had abdicated the throne). Modern day Austria is a semi-federal republic of nine states (Bundesländer) that are: Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Tyrol, Styria, Salzburg, Carinthia, Vorarlberg and Burgenland and the Capital of Vienna that is a state of its own. Burgenland came to Austria in 1921 from Hungary. Salzburg finally became Austrian in 1816 after Napoleonic wars (before it was ruled by prince-archbishops of Salzburg as a sovereign territory).
Vienna, Austria's capital became a state January 1, 1922, after being residence and capital of the Austrian Empire (Reichshaupt und Residenzstadt Wien) for the Habsburg monarchs for centuries. Upper and Lower Austria, historically, were split into "Austria above the Enns" and "Austria below the Enns" (the Enns river is the state-border between Upper- and Lower Austria). Upper Austria was enlarged after the Treaty of Teschen (1779) following the "War of the Bavarian Succession" by the so-called Innviertel ("Inn Quarter"), formerly part of Bavaria.
  • Hereditary Lands (Erblande or Erbländer; mostly used Österreichische Erblande) or German Hereditary Lands (in the Austrian monarchy) or Austrian Hereditary Lands (Middle Ages – 1849/1918): In a narrower sense these were the "original" Habsburg Austrian territories, i.e. basically the Austrian lands and Carniola (not Galicia, Italian territories or the Austrian Netherlands).
    In a wider sense the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were also included in (from 1526; definitely from 1620/27) the Hereditary lands. The term was replaced by the term "Crownlands" (see above) in the 1849 March Constitution, but it was also used afterwards.
    The Erblande also included lots of small and smallest territories that were principalities, duchies or counties etc. some of them can namely be found in the reigning titles of the Habsburg monarchs like Graf (Earl/Count of) von Tyrol etc.

Read more about this topic:  Habsburg Monarchy