I’m reading a book about the origins of WWI, and the diplomacy did seem more civilized in those days, although frequently wrong-headed, as events later confirmed. Austria-Hungary was actually thriving economically because of the imperial free trade regime. Cisleithania, the German part, had its own government, as did Transleithania, the Hungarian part, which was much more aggressive than the former in trying to impose Magyarization on the Slavs. The only imperial functions were defense and foreign affairs.