Egyem meg a szivedet (Austria/Hungary // Historical RP)

1848 Hungary (at that time an annexed territory of the Habsburg Empire), a group of Nationalist rebels riot the streets of what today is Budapest, seeking political independence from Austria and imposing a new government (The first Hungarian Republic) and the Magyar (Hungarian) language as official language over every ethnic group living in the territory. This however doesn’t last long, thanks to the help of Czar Nicolas of Russia, who sends an approximate number of 30, 000 troops against the Hungarian Republic ultimately crushing it. Austria regains control of Hungary in April 1849 and imposes ruthless martial law over the territory.

Nineteen years later the House of Habsburg acknowledging the Empire's decline on Italy after the loss of the Austro-Sardinian War (1859) and the German Confederation after the loss of the Austro-Prussian war (1866), pushes for reconciliation with Hungary to maintain its status.

The Hungarian Monarchy (and a vast majority of Hungarians), in spite of having supported the 1848 Revolution, agree to the coronation of Franz Joseph I of Austria as king of Hungary, in exchange for a separate parliament to be based in Budapest that would have power to enact laws over the Hungarian crown and over Hungarian territory without Austrian Intervention. The Austro-Hungarian Compromise is signed in 1867 outlining the independence of both the Austrian government and the Hungarian government, but inaugurating the new Empire’s dual military and joint financial policy. The Austro-Hungarian Empire is born.

The union lasts fifty years. But after Austria-Hungary’s strong involvement in World War I in Germany’s side, the ally countries with special intervention from the United States (in presidents Wilson’s 14th points) who no longer trust Austria to manage the situation demand for ‘opportunity of autonomous development’ which outlined that: No Ally country would offer help or armistice to Austria-Hungary if it continued to be a sole entity and if it held on to the territories of Slovakia, Slovenia and Czechoslovakia.

On October 31 Hungary, in need of financial help and following the pressure of politicians and nationalists officially terminated the personal union with Austria, ending so the Austro-Hungarian Empire and officially terminating the Hapsburg Empire which had ruled for over 400 years.

Note:
The Name of this RP: 'Egyem meg a szivedet', means 'I want to eat your heart'. A Hungarian saying which is said with great affection or likewise with hatred towards a person who has done you great good or great evil.

June 26 1918
Versailles, France.

Hungary looked at herself for the last time in the full body mirror of the room they had given her. It had been a long time since she wore clothes like these. Dresses like so conservative and rather luxurious, with the tight corset and the big skirt that were more than inconvenient for times of war and Hungary never liked them much anyway, she thought she had left them behind. But when she had presented herself before the allies with a simple skirt that could be easily be removed in case of battle and hid a pair of cotton pants underneath, they had all turned their heads and disapproved, even American who now saw girls showing their legs all over his country, gave her an angry look. She had also heard he wasn't even signing the treaty. England had stepped forward as biting in demeanor and speech as always and had told her something among the lines of: 'it's time for you to finally look like a proper lady, you are not an empire anymore'. It had made her blood boil with anger, but when all the countries that defeated you and forced you to give up land you had maintained for fifty years, agreed in some way or another or gave you sad faces the there was really nothing that could be done.

Alone in the room like this, she kept backtracking to the 'ifs'. Maybe if Austria and herself had just declared war on Serbia alone instead of asking for Germany's help. Maybe if they had remembered that Russia was likely to get involved or if they had known the type of warfare that would come out of this. Maybe if they had their decisions would have been different. Maybe they wouldn't be separated right now. Maybe she wouldn't have to finally admit that 'yes, hers and Austria's relationship had been a mistake and they were now permanently separated', even if she did not believe a word.

It wasn't like her relationship with Austria was easy. They had had a rocky beginning, she had felt betrayed by him and wanted her independence more than anything, but along the way there had been something like mutual understanding and Hungary found that as more of her demands were met, she couldn't find a reason to keep trying to shoo Austria away. And it became a sort of co-dependence, Hungary maintained Austria's so precious status as an Empire in the world while Austria gave her a strong military, it was in political terms a good alliance. But Hungary was not however, only Hungary, she was Elizabetha; Erzsébet in the language of her people and the alliance had also meant more to her than just politics, as much as she had cried a bit for her lost independence the day of her wedding, she had also been oddly happy. An alliance like this meant stability, something that her people hadn't had for a long time and they deserved it. The years had turned the feeling of contempt into care and then into love, and that had been were her problems really began, for she began to think with her heart and not her mind and that was a dangerous thing indeed. It would have been easy to give up the alliance had she not felt so much for Roderich.

She wanted to blame Ludwig and Gilbert for the war, she really did, they had been far more greedy and eager to fight than she and Austria, but they had supported them nonetheless, they had sought their help, they were not too suffering greatly because of it, they looked sick, pale and horribly thin. Ludwig's angry eyes were impossible to forget, and now they felt angrier than ever. She knew at the end it would all backtrack to them though and how they couldn't keep their territories in check so they didn't deserve having any.

She sighed again, there was no point on dwelling on such things, no point at all. The past couldn't be changed, the future was what they needed to face, and it wouldn't be easy. She smoothed the fabric of her skirt with her fingers one last time and removed the black ribbon that had held her hair up, letting it flow long and wild for the first time in years. She opened the door to the room and keenly aware of the sound her shoes made on the marble floor of the Palace of Versailles, she made her way to the Hall of Mirrors, only half ready to put her signature on what would signify an end to a part of her life.

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