What problem did the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the Ottoman Empire and subsequently the Soviet Union faced?

1 Answer
Aug 15, 2017

I would say the big number of different ethnic minorities composing each empire.

Explanation:

The Austro-Hungarian empire, as even the name implies, was formed by many ethnic groups sometimes not even speaking the same language and for most of them, as the Italians, related in terms of culture and traditions to another nation.

The Ottoman empire as well was composed by several different ethnic groups that had even different religions.

As for the Soviet Union this huge empire covered a vast amount of land comprising european like populations in the west up to asiatic ones in the far east displaying incredible differences and contrast. The possibility to enforce a common central political control in these conditions was quite arduous.

The contrasts between the various ethnic groups was a continuous centrifugal force tending to dismantle the precarious unity of these empires.