International legal personality originally appeared as an attribute of states, however, from the 19^th century onwards, other entities were also considered to have it. Regarding the international status of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, created by Austria and Hungary in the 1867 Compromise, different views emerged. Although the Monarchy appeared as a contracting party in most of the international agreements concluded by Austria and Hungary during the dualist era, the majority of Hungarian legal literature disputed whether the joint entity would be a separate member of the international community. The Hungarian position was primarily determined by the so-called public law-oriented thinking governing the relationship with Austria, which saw the recognition of the Empire’s international legal personality as a questioning of the country’s independence.