Austro-Hungarian Empire
Since the outbreak of the World War, domestic contradictions within the Austro-Hungarian Empire had been ignited. The Hungarians seeking independence were met with fierce suppression by the Vienna government.
Yet this suppression did not make the Hungarians abandon their dream of independence. On the contrary, it only hardened their resolve.
But Hungary was no longer the Hungary of old. Large numbers of ethnic minorities had been peeled away from the Kingdom of Hungary and turned into territories directly administered by the central government.
The Vienna government had freed these ethnic minorities from the oppression of the Kingdom of Hungary. They immediately became staunch supporters of the central government and bore an extreme hatred for the Hungarians.
With the aid of these ethnic minorities, the situation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire had stabilized. Even if the Hungarians wanted independence, they simply did not have the strength for it now!
Ever since Britain and France had hoped to support the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a check on Bulgaria, no one abroad had supported Hungarian independence any longer. The Hungarians' goal of independence now seemed farther and farther away!
It was not as if they had never considered winning Bulgaria's support and thereby gaining independence. Unfortunately, the Hungarians had miscalculated. Ferdinand did not wish to shatter the peace and stability of Southern Europe, so he refused to support their independence!
As for whether the Austro-Hungarian Empire would grow too powerful? Anyone who understood the Austro-Hungarian Empire knew that unless its ethnic issues were resolved, it could never truly become strong!
It was not that the Austro-Hungarian Empire's ethnic problems had no solution, but that the Vienna government could not bring itself to make that decision. Otherwise, the issue would not have dragged on until now!
It could be said that once the Kingdom