Historical Investigation. To what extent did the dissolution of Austria-Hungary influence the independence of the cultures that once existed within the Empire?

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To what extent did the dissolution of Austria-Hungary influence the independence of the cultures that once existed within the Empire?

By: Genc Hoxha

Word Count: 1532

Number of Pages: 9


Section A: Plan of Investigation

In the autumn of 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy collapsed, and caused many declarations of independence in the months of September and October. A month later, the war concluded for Austria-Hungary as they entered the armistice on the third of November, and began to withdraw forces from allied territory. In order to determine the extent of Austria-Hungary’s influence on the independent states, the investigation will examine the reasons to how the cultures were able to proclaim independence, and how some of these countries were able to receive land that was once theirs. These independent states include:  Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia and Poland.

Word Count: 110


Section B: Summary of Evidence

Czechoslovakia:

  • Refers to the First Czechoslovak Republic.
  • Existed from 1918 to 1938.
  • Composed of Bohemia, Moravia, Czech Silesa, Slovakia and Supcarpathian Ruthenia.
  • The first republic lies in point 10 of Woodrow Wilson’s fourteen points.
  • Austria-Hungary was weak, and so Woodrow Wilson was able to help form the independent country of Czechoslovakia.
  • Austria-Hungary showed their weakness by attempting peace negotiations with the Entende.
  • Czech delegates, the Prime Minister presented their case to organize the revolution in order to build up the Czechoslovak army in Siberia. They used their diplomatic skill and honesty in order to gain recognition from the Allies.

Yugoslavia:

  • Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Yugoslav nationalism escalated.
  • These nationalists called for independence and unification of Yugoslav nationalities of Austria-Hungary and with the merging of Serbia and Montenegro to become a single Yugoslav state.
  • Ante Tumbi became an important figure during the war, and lobbied the Allies to support the creation of an independent Yugoslavia.
  • The Corfu Declaration was established in order to have Allied-back principles upon which the new state would be created and governed.
  • The Corfu Declaration in the 20th of July, 1917 was the first step towards creating the new state of Yugoslavia and in 1918, was finally declared independent.
  • This state was formally known as the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs.
  • The fact that Austria-Hungary was collapsing is why Yugoslavia was able to become an independent state.

Poland:

  • During World War One, Poland did not exist as an independent state.
  • Polish territory was split during partitions between Austria-Hungary, Germany and Russia.
  • After the Treaty of Brest-Litvosk, Germany and Austria-Hungary started a policy to create a “Central Europe”, and on the 5th of November in 1917, proclaimed the Kingdom of Poland as a “puppet state”.
  • However, in 1918, this “puppet state” became independent and was now internationally recognized as the Second Polish Republic.
  • Poland was able to become independent and internationally recognized due to the collapse of the Russian, German, and Austrio-Hungarian Empires.
  • Like Czechoslovakia, Woodrow’s Wilson’s Fourteen Points played an important role for Poland and met with opposition from European nations standing to lose power or territory.
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Word Count: 385


Section C. Evaluation of Sources:

Source A: My Czech Republic, http://www.myczechrepublic.com/czech-history/first-republic.html

The origin of Source A is a secondary source that is an internet document from the My Czech Republic website. The purpose of this source is to provide an overview of Czech history for those who would like to view it. Its value is that it is an overview, which provides a great amount of information in a brief amount of time and space.  Its limitations include the fact that it is a secondary source, there is no list of sources, and there are perspective issues. The ...

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