The Austro-Hungarian Empire was a union of the Empire of Austria and the Kingdom of Hungary. It was created as a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. Austria and Hungary each had separate parliaments and separate laws, with foreign affairs and the military being under joint control. Austria-Hungary was home to many ethnic groups other than German Austrians and Hungarians, such as Poles, Galicians, Czechs and Slovaks, Croats, Bosnians and other South Slavs, Romanians, and Italians. This multi-national composition often led to problems within the Empire. On June 28, 1914, the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, was assassinated at Sarajevo. This was the immediate cause of the First World War. Unfortunately for Austria-Hungary, its military was ill-prepared for a conflict on that scale (over the previous decades, Austria-Hungary's military spending had not grown as much as that of the other great powers) and military leadership was inept. Its first incursion into Serbia was a complete failure, as was its second. However, it did manage some successes later in the war, mostly with German assistance. By 1918, however, Austria-Hungary was on the verge of collapse due to economic problems, nationalism, and serious military threats on the Italian frontier. The Southern Slavs and Czechs declared independence, and Hungary dissolved the union with Austria. The now-disintegrated Austria-Hungary signed an armistice at Villa Giusti on November 3, 1918, ending the war for Austria-Hungary. Austro-Hungarian Emperor Charles (Charles I of Austria and Charles IV of Hungary) renounced his role as ruler on November 11. Under the Peace of Paris, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dismantled, with Austria and Hungary retaining only a small fraction of their original territory. The former territory of Austria-Hungary now composes parts of 13 different countries.
