Actually, it was more of a disunity than anything else. Austria conquered Hungary from the Ottomans in the 1700s, and ruled over it until 1866, when the Austro-Prussian War was fought. Ending after 6 weeks, it was a debacle for the Empire, one which the Hungarians capitalized on. Since 1849, when the Hungarian Revolution was crushed, Hungarian Nationalism had only grown. In 1867, the Hungarian nobility were able to force Emperor Franz-Joseph to make an Ausgleich, or Compromise, that would make the empire a dual monarchy: Franz Joseph would be Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary. Hungary gained greater political representation, and it's own national guard, the Honved.