User:Avilés Todo Es Más Complicado/sandbox
| Part of the Second Austrian Crisis and the German Hegemony | |
 Animated series of maps showing the breakup of the Habsburg state from 1948 through 1953. The colors represent the different areas of control. Republic of Serbian Krajina (1991–1995), after Croatian Army's Operation Storm (1995), became a part of Croatia
UN Transitional Administration in Eastern Slavonia, Baranja and Western Syrmia (1996–1998), became a part of Croatia (1998–)
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| Date | 25 June 1991 – 27 April 1992 (10 months and 2 days) |
|---|---|
| Location | Former republics of  SFR Yugoslavia:
Unrecognized breakaway states: |
| Outcome | Breakup of Yugoslavia and formation of independent successor states |
The breakup of the Habsburg Monarchy occurred as a result of a series of political upheavals and conflicts during the late 1940s. After a period of political and economic crisis in the 1930s and 1940s, constituent crownlands of the Habsburg state split apart, but the unresolved issues caused the bitter inter-ethnic Danubian wars. The wars primarily affected Galicia and Lodomeria, Yugoslavia and Transylvania.
After the First Austrian Crisis in the aftermath of the Great War, the Habsburg Monarchy was set up as a federation of 21 crownlands, with borders drawn along historical lines and often disregarding ethnic divisions. Each of the crownlands had its own Diet, branch of the Black-Yellow League and ruling elite, and any tensions were solved on the federal level by arbitration of the Emperor himself; the only common overarching institution was the Imperial Army. Ethnic policy was enacted through the national personal autonomy principle in a similar way to the Millet system of the Ottoman Empire. The Habsburg model of state organisation, as well as a "middle way" between planned and liberal economy, had been a relative success, and the country experienced a period of strong economic growth and relative political stability up to the 1930s, under Emperor Franz Ferdinand. After his death in 1946, the weakened system of federal government was left unable to cope with rising economic and political challenges.
In the 1940s, Bohemian Germans started to demand their own autonomous province carved out of the Czech crownlands, starting with the 1941 Prague protests. Ethnic tensions between Germans and Czechs remained high over the whole decade, which resulted in the growth of German opposition to the high autonomy of the crownlands and ineffective system of consensus at the federal level across the monarchy, which were seen as an obstacle for German interests. In 1948, Friedrich Rainer came to power in Austria, and through a series of populist moves acquired de facto control over Carniola and the German parts of Bohemia and Moravia, garnering a high level of support among Germans for his centralist policies. Rainer was met with opposition by leaders in Prague and Budapest, who advocated greater federalization and nationalization of the constituent countries of the state. The Black-Yellow League dissolved in September 1948 along federal lines, succeeded by national Social Christian parties on each crownland.
During 1948, the Social Christians lost power to ethnic separatist parties in the first multi-party elections held across the country since the Great War, except in Bohemia and Moravia, where moderate Social Democrats won. Nationalist rhetoric on all sides became increasingly heated. Chancellor Rainer's attempt to secede German-Austria during the September Putsch ended in his deposition and the suppression of the Deutsche Heimwehr nationalist movement. However, it encouraged Béla Imrédy to declare the independence of Hungary, starting a domino effect. Between September 1948 and April 1949, ten constituent crownlands declared independence, only the Austrian and Bohemian lands remaining federated. Italy took the initiative and recognized the independence of Croatia, invading the Austrian Littoral and annexing part of Dalmatia and Carniola. But the status of ethnic Serbs, Romanians, Poles and Ruthenes remained unsolved. After a string of inter-ethnic incidents, the Danubian wars ensued, first in East Galicia and current Yugoslavia and then, most severely, in multi-ethnic Transylvania. The wars left economic and political damage in the region that is still felt there decades later.