'Cisleithania' (
German: ''Cisleithanien'',
Czech: ''Předlitavsko'') was the name of the
Austrian part of
Austria-Hungary, the Dual monarchy created in
1867 and dissolved in
1918. The Cisleithanian lands continued to constitute the
Empire of Austria. The somewhat cumbersome official name was "''Die im
Reichsrat vertretenen Königreiche und Länder''" ("The Kingdoms and States represented in the Imperial Council").
The Cisleithanian capital was
Vienna. The territory had a population of 28,571,900 in
1910.
The
Latin name Cisleithania derives from the
Leitha river- most of its territory lay west (or on "this" side, from an Austrian perspective) of it.
Transleithania, the lands of the
Kingdom of Hungary in the Dual Monarchy, lay to the east across the Leitha river.
Neither "Cisleithania" nor "Transleithania" were terms in use within Austria.
Provinces
Cisleithania consisted of 15 crownlands which had representatives in the ''Reichsrat'' (Cisleithanian parliament):

Map of Austria-Hungary. 'Cisleithania': 1. Bohemia, 2. Bukovina, 3. Carinthia, 4. Carniola, 5. Dalmatia, 6. Galicia, 7. Kustenland, 8. Lower Austria, 9. Moravia, 10. Salzburg, 11. Silesia, 12. Styria, 13. Tirol, 14. Upper Austria, 15. Vorarlberg; 'Transleithania': 16. Hungary, 17. Croatia and Slavonia; 18. 'Bosnia and Herzegovina'
Politics
Each crownland had a regional assembly, the ''
Landtag'', which sent representatives to the
Reichsrat until 1873, when the population was granted universal suffrage based on class differences (high classes got more influence during elections).
The Reichsrat (with 498 members) was a stage of nationalist struggle between
Germans and the
Slavs of the Empire, especially the
Czechs. At first Germans dominated, but the Slavs gained a majority after an 1907 electoral reform which abolished class-based
suffrage.
For representation in federal matters (finance, defences) the Reichsrat appointed a delegation of 60 members to discuss these matters with the Emperor.
Politics were frequently paralysed because of the tensions between different nationalities.
From 1909 onward, Emperor
Franz Joseph autocratically ruled through imperial decrees.
The Reichsrat was prorogued in March 1914 and did not meet again until after the accession of
Karl I in 1916.
Ethnic composition of the population (1910)
See also
★
Austria-Hungary
★
Transleithania
References
★ ''Allgemeines Verzeichnis der Ortsgemeinden und Ortschaften Österreichs nach den Ergebnissen der Volkszählung vom 31. Dezember 1910'' (ed. by K.K. Statistische Zentralkommission, Vienna, 1915) (the latest Austrian
gazetteer, register of political communities, giving the results of the 1910 census)