of Prague (August 23, 1866) the emperor surrendered the position
in Germany which his ancestors had held for so many centuries; Austria and
Tirol, Bohemia and Salzburg, ceased to be German, and eight million Germans
were cut off from all political union with their fellow-countrymen. At the
same time the surrender of Venetia completed the work of 1859, and the last
remnant of the old-established Habsburg domination in Italy ceased. The war
was immediately followed by a reorganization of the government. The Magyar
nation, as well as the Czechs, had refused to recognize the validity of the
constitution of 1861 which had established a common parliament for the
whole empire; they demanded that the independence of the kingdom of Hungary
should be restored. Even before the war the necessity of coming to terms
with the Hungarians had been recognized. In June 1865 the emperor Francis
Joseph visited Pest and replaced the chancellors of Transylvania and
Hungary, Counts Francis Zichy and Nadasdy, supporters of the February
constitution, by Count Majlath, a leader of the old conservative magnates.
This was at once followed by the resignation of Schmerling, who was
succeeded by Count Richard Belcredi. On the 20th of September the
Reichsrath was prorogued, which was equivalent to the suspension of the
constitution; and in December the emperor opened the Hungarian diet in
person, with a speech from the throne that recognized the validity of the
laws of 1848. Before any definite arrangement as to their re-introduction
could be made, however, the war broke out; and after the defeats on the
field of battle the Hungarian diet was able to make its own terms. They
recognized no union between their country and the other parts of the
monarchy except that which was based on the Pragmatic Sanction.[5] All
recent innovations, all attempts made during the last hundred years to
absorb Hungary in a greater Austria, were revoked. An agreement was made by
which the emperor was to be crowned at Pest and take the ancient oath to
the Golden Bull; Hungary (including Transylvania and Croatia) was to have
its own parliament and its own ministry; Magyar was to be the official
language; the emperor was to rule as king; there was to be complete
separation of the finances; not even a common nationality was recognized
between the Hungarians and the other subjects of the emperor; a Hungarian
was to be a foreigner in Vienna, an Austrian a foreigner in Budapest. A
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