From the late 18th century onwards, the territories acquired by the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy were called crown lands (). Initially ruled in personal union by the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, they played a vital role as constituent lands of the Habsburg nation-building and were ultimately reorganised as administrative divisions of the centralised Austrian Empire established in 1804. During the restoration period after the Revolutions of 1848, the Austrian crown lands were ruled by "Statthalter" governors directly subordinate to the Emperor according to the 1849 March Constitution.