Why did nationalist movements break out in the hapsburg empire?

Answer 1

The Hapsburg Empire was a multi-ethnic state, meaning that a number of distinct peoples were under Hapsburg rule. Today, most of Europe is consisted of nation-states, where the political boundaries match up with ethnic or cultural ones, but this was not always the case. The empires that dominated Europe in centuries past had the challenge of ruling many different peoples, who usually spoke different languages, had different traditions, and sometimes followed different religions.

Multi-ethnic states have been successful in many cases (particularly in the Americas), but have also failed spectacularly in some cases. The Austria-Hungarian Empire's collapse after the First World War and Yugoslavia's violent breakup in the 1990s are good examples of what could go wrong with multi-ethnic states that do not manage their internal differences well. The Ottoman Empire, which fell apart due to ethnic conflict, but was a major power for centuries, is an example of a state which was able to manage internal division well for a time, before ultimately being consumed by nationalism.

Answer 2

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