Австро-Мажар империясының Венгрия территорияларының ресми атауы

Official name for the Hungarian territories of Austria Hungary

The Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen (a Szent Korona Országai), informally Transleithania (meaning the lands or region "beyond" the Leitha River), were the Hungarian territories of Austria Hungary, throughout the latter's entire existence (30 March 1867 – 16 November 1918), and which disintegrated following its dissolution. The name referenced the historic coronation crown of Hungary, known as the Crown of Saint Stephen of Hungary, which had a symbolic importance to the Kingdom of Hungary. According to the First Article of the Croatian–Hungarian Settlement of 1868, this territory, also called Arch Kingdom of Hungary (Archiregnum Hungaricum, pursuant to Medieval Latin terminology), was officially defined as "a state union of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia". Though Dalmatia actually lay outside the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen, being part of Cisleithania, the Austrian half of the empire, it was nevertheless included in its name, due to a long political campaign seeking recognition of the Triune Kingdom, which consisted of a united Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia.

Transleithania (Lajtántúl, Transleithanien, , Zalitawia, , ) was an unofficial term for the Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen. The Latin name Transleithania referred to the parts of the empire "beyond" (trans) the Leitha (or Lajta) River, as most of its area lay to the east of that river – or "beyond" it, from an Austrian perspective. Cisleithania, the Habsburg lands of the Dual Monarchy that had been part of the Holy Roman Empire, along with Galicia and Dalmatia, lay to the west (on "this" side) of the Leitha River. The territory reached from the arc of the Carpathian Mountains in present day Slovakia to the Croatian coast of the Adriatic Sea. The capital of Transleithania was Budapest.

After the Austro Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Transleithania consisted of the Kingdom of Hungary (which included Hungary proper as well as the territories of the former Principality of Transylvania (Erdélyi Fejedelemség) and the former Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar), the internally self governed Kingdom of Croatia Slavonia, and the free port of Rijeka (Fiume). The Military Frontier was under separate administration until 1873–1882, when it was abolished and incorporated into the Kingdom of Hungary and the Kingdom of Croatia Slavonia.

The Compromise of 1867, which created the Dual Monarchy, gave the Hungarian government more control of its domestic affairs than it had possessed at any time since the Battle of Mohács (see fig. 4). However, the new government faced severe economic problems and the growing restiveness of ethnic minorities. The First World War led to the disintegration of Austria Hungary, and in the aftermath of the war, a series of governments—including a communist regime—assumed power in Buda and Pest (in 1872 the cities of Buda and Pest united to become Budapest).

The Transleithanian lands were under the rule of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I as Apostolic King of Hungary and King of Croatia and Slavonia. He was succeeded by his grand nephew Emperor Charles I (King Charles IV) in 1916. Once again a Habsburg emperor became king of Hungary, but the compromise strictly limited his power over the country's internal affairs, and the Hungarian government assumed control over its domestic affairs. The Hungarian government consisted of a prime minister and cabinet appointed by the emperor but responsible to the Diet of Hungary, a bicameral parliament elected by a narrow franchise. The Diet was convened by Minister President Count Gyula Andrássy on 18 February 1867,

Joint Austro Hungarian affairs were managed through "common" ministries of foreign affairs, defense, and finance. The respective ministers were responsible to delegations representing separate Austrian and Hungarian parliaments. Although the "common" ministry of defense administered the imperial and royal armies, the emperor acted as their commander in chief, and German remained the language of command in the military as a whole. The compromise designated that commercial and monetary policy, tariffs, the railroad, and indirect taxation were "common" concerns to be negotiated every ten years. The compromise also returned Transylvania to Hungary's jurisdiction. At Franz Joseph's insistence, Hungary and Croatia reached a similar compromise in 1868, the Nagodba, giving Croatia a special status in the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown. In fact, this half of Austria Hungary was officially defined (art. 1) as "a state union of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia". The agreement recognized Croatia's distinct identity and granted Croatia autonomy over its internal affairs, exercised by the Sabor (assembly) of the former Kingdom of Croatia. The Sabor gained partial authority to legislate in the areas of justice, education and religious matters, and interior affairs. In practice, however, this autonomy was fairly limited. The Croatian Ban would now be nominated by the Hungarian prime minister and appointed by the king. Areas of common policies included finance, currency matters, commercial policy, the post office, and the railroads. Croatian became the official language of Croatia's government, and Croatian representatives discussing "common" affairs before the Hungarian diet were permitted to speak Croatian. Transleithania did not have its own flag. According to the Nagodba (art. 62 and 63), in all joint Croatian and Hungarian affairs symbols of both Croatia and Hungary respectively had to be used. For instance, whenever the joint Hungarian Croatian Parliament held a session, the Croatian flag and Hungarian flag were both hoisted on the parliament building in Budapest. In Vienna, in front of Schönbrunn Palace, a black and yellow flag was flown for Cisleithania, but both Croatian and Hungarian flags were flown for Transleithania. Vienna responded quickly and included the Croatian coat of arms. Since it was too late to reform the Imperial and Royal monarchy, on 29 October 1918 the Croatian Parliament (Sabor) in Zagreb unified the Croatian lands and ended the union and all ties with Austria and Hungary (particularly Article 1 of the Nagodba of 1868) and decided to join the National Council of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs (on 1 December 1918 it united with the Kingdom of Serbia to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes). The city of Fiume became the short lived Free State of Fiume until 1924, when it was ceded to Italy. The territories of the southern Hungarian counties in Banat, Bácska and Baranya (the west of Temes County, Torontál County, Bács Bodrog County and Baranya County) as a Province of Banat, Bačka and Baranja became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In desperation, Charles appointed Mihály Károlyi, who advocated looser ties between Austria and Hungary, as prime minister. Under Károlyi's prodding, the Hungarian parliament terminated the Austro Hungarian Compromise as of 31 October 1918. On 13 November, Charles announced that he accepted Hungary's right to determine the form of the state, and relinquished his right to take part in Hungary's politics. He also released the officials in the Hungarian half of the monarchy from their oath of loyalty to him. Although it is sometimes reckoned as an abdication, Charles deliberately avoided using the term in the event the Hungarian people recalled him. However, Károlyi and his government were unwilling to wait; they proclaimed the Hungarian Democratic Republic on 16 November. However, King Charles IV never abdicated, and from 1920 until 1944 the nominally restored Kingdom of Hungary was governed by Miklós Horthy as a regent.