Fra timori e speranze: le Grandi Potenze e la nascita della Duplice Monarchia

[Autom. eng. transl.] The Ausgleich of 1867 not only involves a realignment (albeit unsatisfactory) of the balance of power within the 'old' Habsburg Empire in favor of the Magyar element but also an equally important one within the German world, with the definitive imposition of Bismarckian Prussia as a hegemonic subject at the expense of the House of Austria. In the international arena, the sum of these two factors, combined with the substantial expulsion of the Monarchy from Italian space, contributes to favoring its progressive 'in-stance' and the emergence of an attention towards the Balkans that would have fueled a rivalry that would have long been incurable with tsarist Russia. In this process, the relationship with Berlin (interested, within the framework of its security policy, to 'hold together' the conflicting ambitions of Vienna and St. Petersburg as much as possible) would have become increasingly important. At the same time, the same process would have led Germany to increasingly shape itself as the true protector of the Ottoman Empire and as its major European referent, laying the foundations for the 'global' ambitions of the Wilhelmine Weltpolitik. A position, the latter, which in the long run would have proved to be intentional but which in the short would have offered an important factor of stability to a dual set-up not particularly appreciated either in the hereditary lands or in those of the Crown of Santo Stefano.