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Coordinates: 48°30′N 16°23′E

Cisleithania
Cisleithania (German: Cisleithanien, also Zisleithanien,
Slovene: Cislajtanija, Hungarian: Ciszlajtánia, Czech: The Kingdoms and Lands
Předlitavsko, Slovak: Predlitavsko, Polish: Przedlitawia, Represented in the Imperial
Croatian: Cislajtanija, Serbian: Цислајтанија, Romanian: Council
Cisleithania, Ukrainian: Цислейтанія, transliterated: Die im Reichsrat vertretenen
Tsysleitàniia, Italian: Cisleitania) was a common yet
Königreiche und Länder
unofficial name for the northern and western part of Austria-
Hungary, the Dual Monarchy created in the Compromise of 1867–1918
1867—as distinguished from Transleithania (i.e., the
Hungarian Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen east of
["beyond"] the Leitha River).

The Cisleithanian capital was Vienna, the residence of the

Austrian emperor. The territory had a population of
28,571,900 in 1910. It reached from Vorarlberg in the west to Flag Coat of Arms

the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria and the Duchy of (1915-1918)

Bukovina (today part of Ukraine and Romania) in the east, as
well as from the Kingdom of Bohemia in the north to the Motto: Indivisibiliter ac Inseparabiliter

Kingdom of Dalmatia (today part of Croatia) in the south. It "Indivisible and Inseparable"

comprised the current States of Austria (except for Anthem: None

Burgenland), as well as most of the territories of the Czech
Republic and Slovenia (except for Prekmurje), southern Imperial anthem

Poland and parts of Italy (Trieste, Gorizia, Tarvisio, Trentino, Gott erhalte, Gott beschütze / Unsern
and South Tyrol), Croatia (Istria, Dalmatia), Montenegro Kaiser, unser Land!

God Save, God Protect Our Emperor, Our

(Kotor Bay), Romania (Southern Bukovina), and Ukraine
Country!

(Northern Bukovina and Halychyna).

Contents
Term
Crown lands
Kingdoms
Archduchies
Grand duchies
Duchies Cisleithania (pink) within Austria-
Margraviates Hungary, the other parts being
Princely Counties Transleithania (green) and the
Condominium of Bosnia and
Free Cities Herzegovina (blue)
Condominium Status Constituent of
Politics Austria-
Hungary
Population
Capital Vienna
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See also and largest city

References Common languages German,

Slovene,
Czech, Polish,
Croatian,
Term Serbian,
Ukrainian,
The Latin name Cisleithania derives from that of the Leitha Romanian,
River,[1] a tributary of the Danube forming the historical Italian
boundary between the Archduchy of Austria and the Religion Roman
Hungarian Kingdom in the area southeast of Vienna (on the Catholic,
way to Budapest). Much of its territory lay west (or, from a Protestantism,
Viennese perspective, on "this" side) of the Leitha. Eastern
Orthodoxy,
After the constitutional changes of the Austro-Hungarian Judaism
Compromise of 1867, the Cisleithanian crown lands Government Constitutional
(Kronländer) continued to constitute the Austrian Empire, monarchy
but the latter term was rarely used to avoid confusion with Emperor  
the era before 1867, when the Kingdom of Hungary had been
• 1867–1916 Franz Joseph I
a constituent part of that empire. The somewhat cumbersome
• 1916–1918 Karl I
official name was Die im Reichsrat vertretenen Ministers-President  
Königreiche und Länder ("The Kingdoms and Lands
• 1867–1871 (first) Friedrich
represented in the Imperial Council"). The phrase was used Ferdinand von
by politicians and bureaucrats, but it had no official status Beust
until 1915; the press and the general public seldom used it • 1918 (last) Heinrich
and then with a derogatory connotation. In general, the lands Lammasch
were just called Austria, but the term "Austrian lands"
Legislature Imperial
(Österreichische Länder) originally did not apply to the Council
Lands of the Bohemian Crown (i.e., Bohemia proper, the
• Upper house House of Lords
Margraviate of Moravia and Duchy of Silesia) or to the
• Lower house House of
territories annexed in the 18th-century Partitions of Poland Deputies
(Galicia) or the former Venetian Dalmatia.
Historical era New
From 1867, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Imperialism
Croatia, the Kingdom of Slavonia and the Principality of • 1867 Compromise 30 March 1867
Transylvania were no longer "Austrian" crown lands. Rather, • Dissolution of 31 October
they constituted an autonomous state, officially called the Austria-Hungary 1918
"Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St Stephen" • Schönbrunn 11 November
(Hungarian: Szent István Koronájának Országai or A Declaration 1918
Magyar Szent Korona Országai, German: Länder der • Monarchy 12 November
Heiligen Ungarischen Stephanskrone) and commonly known abolished 1918
as Transleithania or just Hungary. The Condominium of Currency Gulden (1867–
Bosnia and Herzegovina, occupied in 1878, formed a separate 1892)
part. Both the "Austrian" and "Hungarian" lands of the Dual Krone (1892–
Monarchy had large Slavic-settled territories in the north 1918)
(Czechs, Slovaks, Poles and Ruthenians) as well as in the
south (Slovenes, Croats and Serbs). ISO 3166 code AT

Crown lands

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Cisleithania consisted of 15 crown lands which had Preceded Succeeded by

representatives in the Imperial Council (Reichsrat), the by
Cisleithanian parliament in Vienna. The crown lands centered
Austrian Republic of
on the Archduchy of Austria (Erzherzogtum Österreich) were Empire German-
not states, but provinces in the modern sense. However, they Austria
were areas with unique historic political and legal First
characteristics and were therefore more than mere Czechoslovak
administrative districts. They have been conceived of as Republic
"historical-political entities". Kingdom of
Serbs, Croats
Each crown land had a regional assembly, the Landtag, which and Slovenes
enacted laws (Landesgesetze) on matters of regional and Second
mostly minor importance. Until 1848, the Landtage had been Polish
traditional diets (assemblies of the estates of the realm). They Republic
were disbanded after the Revolutions of 1848 and reformed Kingdom of
Romania
after 1860. Some members held their position as ex officio
West
members (e.g., bishops), while others were elected. There was
Ukrainian
no universal and equal suffrage, but a mixture of privilege People's
and limited franchise. The executive committee of a Landtag Republic
was called Landesausschuss and headed by a Kingdom of
Landeshauptmann, being president of the Landtag as well. Italy

From 1868 onwards Emperor Franz Joseph himself (in his

function as monarch of a crown land, being king, archduke,
grandduke, duke or count) and his Imperial–Royal (k.k.)
government headed by the Minister-President of Austria were
represented at the capital cities of the crown lands—except for
Vorarlberg which was administered with Tyrol, and Istria and
Gorizia-Gradisca which were administered together with Trieste
under the common name of Austro-Illyrian Littoral— by a
stadtholder (Statthalter), in few crown lands called
Landespräsident, who acted as chief executive.

Kingdoms
Kingdom of Bohemia (Land of the Bohemian Crown)
Kingdom of Dalmatia
Lesser coat of arms of the Austrian
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria lands from 1915, featuring the
double-headed Imperial Eagle with
red-white-red escutcheon, Imperial
Archduchies Crown and Imperial Regalia

Archduchy of Austria above the Enns (unofficially Upper

Austria)
Archduchy of Austria below the Enns (unofficially Lower Austria)

Grand duchies
Grand Duchy of Cracow (Subdivision of Galicia and Lodomeria)

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Duchies
Duchy of Bukovina
Duchy of Carinthia
Duchy of Carniola
Duchy of Salzburg
Duchy of Silesia (Land of the
Bohemian Crown)
Duchy of Styria

Margraviates
Margraviate of Istria (Part of the
Austrian Littoral)
Margraviate of Moravia (Land of
the Bohemian Crown) Austria–Hungary:

Cisleithania (Empire of Austria): 1. Bohemia, 2. Bukovina, 3.

Carinthia, 4. Carniola, 5. Dalmatia, 6. Galicia, 7. Austrian Littoral,
Princely Counties 8. Lower Austria, 9. Moravia, 10. Salzburg, 11. Silesia, 12. Styria,
13. Tyrol, 14. Upper Austria, 15. Vorarlberg;

Princely County of Gorizia and

Transleithania (Kingdom of Hungary): 16. Hungary proper 17.
Gradisca (Part of the Austrian Littoral)
Croatia-Slavonia;

Princely County of Tyrol Austrian-Hungarian Condominium: 18. Bosnia and Herzegovina

Princely County of Vorarlberg

Free Cities
Free City of Trieste (Part of the Austrian Littoral)

Condominium
Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Governed Jointly by Cisleithania and Transleithania)

Politics
According to the "December Constitution", a redraft of the emperor's 1861 February Patent, the
Austrian government was generally responsible in all affairs concerning the Cisleithanian lands,
except for the common Austro-Hungarian Army, the Austro-Hungarian Navy and the Foreign
Ministry, these k.u.k. matters remained reserved for the Imperial and Royal Ministers' Council for
Common Affairs of Austria-Hungary.

The Austrian Reichsrat, a bicameral legislature implemented in 1861, became the Cisleithanian
parliament. Originally consisting of delegates of the Landtage, in 1873 direct election of the House of
Deputies (Abgeordnetenhaus) was introduced with a four-class franchise suffrage for male
landowners and bourgeois. Equal, direct, secret and universal suffrage—for men—was not introduced
until a 1907 electoral reform. In this Lower House (with 353 members in 1873 and 516 in 1907), at
first German-speaking deputies dominated, but with the extension of the suffrage the Slavs gained a

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majority. An ethnic nationalist struggle between German-

speaking and Slavic deputies, especially in the context of
the Czech National Revival, was played out. Leaders of
the movement like František Palacký advocated the
emancipation of the Slavic population within the
Monarchy (Austroslavism), while politicians of the Young
Czech Party principally denied the right of the Reichsrat
to put any decisions relevant for the "Czech lands", and
used means of filibustering as well as absence to torpedo
its work. They were antagonized by radical German
nationalists led by Georg von Schönerer, demanding the
dissolution of the Monarchy and the unification of the
"German Austrian" lands with the German Empire. Initial meeting of the Abgeordnetenhaus in
1907
After 1893, no k.k. government was able to rely on a
parliamentary majority. Nevertheless, Polish members of
parliament and politicians like Count Kasimir Felix Badeni achieved some success involving Galician
Poles by special regulations for this "developing country"; thence the Polenklub played a constructive
role most of the time. Politics were frequently paralysed because of the tensions between different
nationalities. When Czech obstruction at the Reichsrat prevented the parliament from working, the
emperor went on to rule autocratically through imperial decrees (Kaiserliche Verordnungen)
submitted by his government. The Reichsrat was prorogued in March 1914 at the behest of Minister-
President Count Karl von Stürgkh, it did not meet during the July Crisis and was not reconvened until
May 1917, after the accession of Emperor Karl in 1916.

For representation in matters relevant to the whole real union of Austria-Hungary (foreign affairs,
defence, and the financing thereof) the Reichsrat appointed delegations of 60 members to discuss
these matters parallel to Hungarian delegations of the same size and to come, in separate votes, to the
same conclusion on the recommendation of the responsible common ministry. In Cisleithania, the 60
delegates consisted of 40 elected members of the House of Representatives (Abgeordnetenhaus) and
20 members of the Upper House (Herrenhaus). The delegations convened simultaneously, both
either in Vienna or in Budapest, though spatially divided. In case of not getting the same decision in
three attempts, the law permitted the summoning of a common session of both delegations and the
eventual counting of the votes in total, but the Hungarians, who averted any Imperial "roof" over their
part of the dual monarchy, as well as the common ministers, carefully avoided reaching this situation.
Austria-Hungary as a common entity had not own jurisdiction and legislative power, which was
shaped by the fact that there was no common parliament. The common diplomatic and military
affairs were managed by delegations from the Imperial Council and the Hungarian parliament.
According to the compromise, the members of the delegates from the two parliaments had no right to
debate, they had no right to introduce new perspectives and own ideas during the meetings, they were
nothing more than the extended arms of their own parliaments. All decisions had to be ratify by the
Imperial council in Vienna and by the Hungarian parliament in Budapest. Without the Austrian and
Hungarian parliamentary ratifications, the decisions of the delegates were not valid in Austria or in
Kingdom of Hungary.[2]

Population
The largest group within Cisleithania were Austrian Germans (including Yiddish-speaking Jews), who
made up around a third of the population. German-speakers and Czechs made up a majority of the
population.[3] Almost 60% of Cisleithania's population was ethnically Slavic.
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Ethnic composition of the Cisleithanian population (1910)

Ethnicity % of total population
Germans 33%
Czechs 22%
Poles 15%
Ruthenians (Ukrainians) 12%
Slovenes 5%
Italians 3%
Croats 3%
Other 7%
Source: Allgemeines Verzeichnis der Ortsgemeinden und Ortschaften Österreichs nach den
Ergebnissen der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1910 (ed. by K.K. Statistische
Zentralkommission, Vienna, 1915) (the latest Austrian gazetteer, register of political communities,
giving the results of the 1910 census)

See also
Imperial Crown of Austria
Republic of German-Austria

References
1. "Austro-Hungarian Monarchy" (http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-AustroHu.html). The
Columbia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
2. István Bibó (2015). The Art of Peacemaking: Political Essays by István Bibó (https://books.google.
com/books?id=Q0TwBQAAQBAJ&q=%22Austria-Hungary%22+%22common+parliament%22&pg
=PA208). Yale University Press. p. 208. ISBN 9780300210262.
3. GERMAN AUSTRIA.
(https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1918/08/11/97016200.pdf), The New York
Times, August 11, 1918 (PDF)

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