Hungarian Defence Forces
In April 1867, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was established. Franz Josef, the head of the ancient Habsburg dynasty, was recognized as both Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. Nevertheless, the issue of what form the Hungarian military would take remained a matter of serious contention between Hungarian patriots and Austrian leaders. As the impasse threatened the political union, Emperor Franz Josef ordered a council of generals in November of the same year. Ultimately, the leaders resolved on the following solution: in addition to the joint (k.u.k.) army, Hungary would have its own defence force, whose members would swear their oath to the King of Hungary (who was also Emperor of Austria) and the national constitution, use the Hungarian language of command, and display their own flags and insignia. (Austria would also form its own parallel national defence force, the "Landwehr".) As a result of these negotiations, on 5 December 1868, the Royal Hungarian Landwehr ("Magyar Kiralyi Honvédség", or Defence Force) was established.
Austria-Este
Although the first heir, Archduke Franz Ferdinand (1863-1914), was not a descendant of the last Este duchess, Mary Beatrice of Modena), he took the name Austria-Este. In 1896 he became the heir presumptive of the Austrian Empire and, according to the terms of the secundogeniture, could not combine the Austria-Este inheritance with that of the main line of the House of Habsburg (i.e., the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but he was assassinated 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo before becoming emperor. Because Franz Ferdinand's children were born in morganatic marriage (see House of Hohenberg), on 16 April 1917 Emperor Charles I of Austria, as head of the House of Habsburg, issued letters patent conferring the name, arms and patrimony of Austria-Este on his son, Archduke Robert, and his future issue according to masculine primogeniture. Through his mother Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Robert happened to be a descendant of Duke Ercole III of Modena as well, and thus the blood of the last Este dukes was joined with the name Austria-Este.