The Vienna Ball was fun, but Roderick wishes they hadn't stopped doing the toast to the Emperor; he is interested in all things kaiserlich und königlich.
"Did you know," says Roderick at breakfast, "that from 1867 to 1918, the Habsburg monarch reigned simultaneously as the Emperor of Austria and as the King of Hungary, while the two territories were joined in a real union (akin to a two-state federation in this instance). The acts of the common government, which only was responsible for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Finance (financing only the two other ministries), were carried out in the name of 'His Imperial and Royal Majesty' and the central governmental bodies had their names prefixed with k. u. k.?"
Molly chews on some toast. "No," she says; "I had no idea."
Roderick holds up a book. "It says so right here in Interesting Things About Austria-Hungary. I found it in the Library."
He reads on:
Prior to 1867, the collection of territories under the control of the Habsburg monarch in Vienna used kaiserlich und königlich or the hyphenated kaiserlich-königlich interchangeably. Neither of the spellings defined a hierarchy among the Habsburg dynastic kingdoms, principalities, duchies, and other bodies politic."All that fuss and bother over the word und," says Molly.
The Habsburg monarchs ruled the kingdoms of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia as their Kings. The title Emperor applied to their role as heads of the conglomerate of the mostly German states called the Holy Roman Empire until 1806. The same title, Emperor, came to identify their role as rulers of the newly named Austrian Empire that the Habsburgs ruled from 1804.
After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, the Hungarians insisted on the und ("and"), not the hyphen, in all usage in line with the new autonomous status of the kingdom within the Habsburg lands. Use of the phrase "Kaiserlich und königlich" was decreed in a letter written by the Emperor on October 17, 1889 for the military, the navy and the institutions shared by the both parts of the empire.
Subsequently, the abbreviation k.k. did only refer to the institutions of the "Austrian" part of Austria-Hungary (Cisleithania.) The abbreviation m.k. (Hungarian: magyar királyi), or kgl. ung. (German: königlich ungarisch), both meaning "Royal Hungarian", was applied in reference to the governmental bodies of the Kingdom of Hungary (Transleithania.)
In official documents, the abbreviation used provides information on the lands targeted:
-- k.k. or k.-k., meaning "imperial (Austria) – royal (Bohemia)", pertains to the Austrian Empire before 1867 and to the Austrian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1867–1918
-- k.u.k., meaning "imperial (Austria) and royal (Hungary)", pertains to the Austro-Hungarian Empire 1867–1918
"Hungarians are sticklers," says Roderick. "I hear that Buda and Pest are still at odds. It's pretty much a forced marriage."
"What happened from 1867 to 1889, when the Emperor decreed use of the word und?"
"I'm not sure. I'm guessing that Austrians sometimes forgot the und, while Hungarians fumed."
Roderick shows Molly the Valentine from Emily. Molly shrugs.
"That picture's all over the place. I think she's posting it on bulletin boards."
On the way to Logic class, Roderick checks the bulletin boards. Sure enough, Emily's lady parts are on display everywhere, leaving no doubt concerning the question: does she wax, or doesn't she? Unlike Megan, Emily most certainly does.
