ABSTRACT
The ‘Austrian-Hungarian’ Monarchy, or ‘Austria-Hungary’ for short, is the name given to that state which constitutionally speaking was created on 8 February 1867 by the so-called ‘Compromise’, and which ceased to exist on 11 November 1918 after the defeat of the First World War and following the renunciation on the part of the Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, Charles I, of the right of government. A number of characteristics make the now long-defunct Habsburg Empire of special interest as a demographic test tube for students of the fertility transition. In 1869 on the occasion of the first census after the ‘compromise’ the monarchy had a total population of 35.9 million, including 20.4 million in the Austrian Crown Lands and 15.5 million in Hungary, or 56.8 per cent and 43.2 per cent respectively of the combined total.
