Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/171

AUSTRIA 151 same time declared that the Cisleithan prov- inces would not be fully satisfied until they should receive the same guarantee of their constitutional rights which had been given to the Hungarians. The majority of the Reichs- rath demanded, in particular, a revision of the concordat, which in the opinion of the fcberal party gave to the pope and the bishops privi- leges not compatible with a constitutional mon- archy. The numerous manifestations for and against a revision of the concordat produced a profound agitation ; but, though Beust un- mistakably leaned toward the side of the lib- erals, he prevented definite action on the sub- ject. On June 8 Francis Joseph was solemnly crowned as constitutional king of Hungary in the ancient capital, Buda. The relations with foreign powers remained peaceful ; neither the publication of the secret treaties which Prussia after the peace of Prague had concluded with the south German states, nor the visit of the French emperor (August, 1867) at Salzburg, who desired to bring about an anti-Prussian alliance, could shake Beust's conviction that the preservation of peace was indispensably necessary for completing the work of reorgan- ization at home. The greatest difficulty in the negotiations between the two delegations which had been appointed by the Keichsrath and by the Hungarian diet for regulating the relations between the two great divisions of the empire, was the proportionate distribution among them of the expenditures for the common affairs of the empire and of the public debt. The agree- ment finally arrived at, according to which 70 per cent, of the expenditures anil debt was to be borne by the Cisleithan provinces, and 30 per cent, by Hungary, met with a strong op- position in the Reichsrath, as it was regarded to be too partial to Hungary ; hut the convic- tion that a full understanding with Hungary was necessary for the definite reconstruction of Cisleithan Austria upon a constitutional basis outweighed all other considerations, and in December, 1867, all the propositions of the two delegations were agreed to. Both houses of the Reichsrath in the meanwhile (the lower house on Oct. 17, the upper on Dec. 2) had adopted four fundamental laws of the state (Staatsgrundgesetze), which in many points modified the constitution of February, 1861, and secured to the Cisleithan provinces a truly constitutional form of government. The laws were sanctioned by the emperor on Dec. 21 ; and then the reconstitution of the empire on the dualistic basis of a division into Cisleithan and Transleithan provinces was completed. On Dec. 24 the emperor appointed an impe- rial ministry (ReichsrninMerium) for the com- mon affairs of the empire, consisting of Count Beust as minister of foreign affairs, Herr von Becke as minister of finance, and Gen. von John as minister of war. The first ministry of Cisleithania was announced in the official gazette of Vienna on Jan. 1, 1868. Prince Carlos Auersperg was its president, and among its members it counted some of the prominent leaders of the liberal party in the Reichsrath, such as Dr. Giskra, minister of the interior, Dr. Herbst, minister of justice, and Dr. Bres- tel, minister of finance. Beust, upon whom the emperor in recognition of his services had conferred the titles of count and chancellor of the empire, remained for nearly four years (December, 1867, to November, 1871) at the helm of the foreign affairs of the empire. During all this time the peaceable relations with other powers were not disturbed, and Beust gained at home and abroad the reputa- tion of being one of the ablest statesmen of Europe. In July, 1870, the peaceable policy of Austria was put to a severe test by the out- break of the war between France and Ger- many. The ministry of the empire, whose meetings at this time were also attended by the prime ministers of Cisleithania and Hun- gary, and presided over by the emperor, de- clared on July 18 in favor of an attentive neu- trality, which, as Beust explained, did not ex- clude the duty of watching for the safety of the monarchy, and of providing against all possible dangers. The continuance of peace enabled the ministers of Cisleithania and of Hungary to devote their whole attention to internal reforms. One of the first acts of the Cisleithan ministers was to demand from all public officers an oath to support the constitu- tion. The gaps which still existed in the con- stitution were gradually filled up. A law on the responsibility of the ministry was adopted by a large majority of both houses. The mili- tary offices which had been directly dependent upon the emperor were abolished. Thus the archduke Albrecht was relieved from the chief command of the army, and as inspector of the standing army placed under the minister of war. The command of the navy was taken from Archduke Rainer and conferred upon Admiral Tegetthoff. One of the most impor- tant reforms was the reorganization of the army on a basis substantially identical with that of the military organization of Prussia. The law, which passed the house of deputies by the large majority of 118 votes against 29 (Nov. 18, 1868), provided in particular for a general liability of all classes of the people to military service, and regulated the appointment to military offices. The financial condition of the empire steadily improved, and although the annual budgets were not yet free from deficits, the productivity and taxability of the country so rapidly advanced as to diffuse everywhere new confidence in the financial future of the empire. But in spite of so much that looked encouraging, two great conflicts never ceased to darken the horizon of Cisleithan Austria. One of these concerned the regulation of the religious and school affairs. On May 25, 1868, the government sanctioned three laws adopted by both houses of the Reichsrath, which, in accordance with the views of the liberal party, abolished the jurisdiction of the ecclesiastical