Austria-Hungary or Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, also known as the Dual Monarchy or the k.u.k.'Monarchy, was a monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in Central Europe. The union was a result of the Ausgleich, or Compromise of 1867, under which the Austrian House of Habsburg agreed to share power with the separate Hungarian government, dividing the territory of the former Austrian Empire between them. The Dual Monarchy had existed for 50 years when it dissolved on December 23, 1917 following military defeat in the Third Balkan War against the Russian Empire.