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Austrian History
Austria can trace its history back to the dawn of civilization.
In pre-Roman times, the country was occupied by various Celtic tribes including
the Celtic kingdom of Noricum.
In Roman times, Noricum was annexed by the Romans and became a province of the
Empire. In fact, most of what is now Austria (all parts to the South of
the Danube River) were part of the Roman Empire.
When the Roman Empire collapsed in the 5th century, Austria was invaded
by tribes of Bavarians, Avars and Slavs. Most of Austria was eventually
conquered by the Charlemagne in 788, and eventually became part of
Eastern Francia ("Francia Orientalis"), and was given to Leopold of
Babenberg in 976.
The first reference to to the name "Österreich" comes from 996, where the term "Ostarrîchi"
is used to refer to the Babenberg lands (also known as "marchia Orientalis").
Beginning in the 14th century, the Habsburgs began to gain more and more land around Austria.
They also acquired more and more power in the Germany
(which at that time fell within the Holy Roman Empire - after 1438, every single emperor but one, of the Holy Roman Empire,
was a Habsburg). Eventually, through marriage, they also acquired
Spain, Spanish lands in
Italy,
Belgium,
the Netherlands,
and the New World. Additionally, their victories over the Ottoman Turks in 1526
at the Battle of Mohacs, and again in 1683 at the siege of Vienna,
eventually brought Hungary and Bohemia (the area that is today
the Czech Republic) under Habsburg control.
By the 18th century however, things had begun to change.
The last Spanish Habsburg, Charles II,
died childless in 1700, and rule of
Spain passed to the Bourbon,
Philippe of Anjou (King Philip V of Spain).
Moreover, following the War of Austrian Succession (1740 to 1748),
Prussia began to first match, and eventually displace, the Habsburg Empire
as the dominant power in German affairs.
In 1804 the Austrian Empire (German: Kaisertum Österreich)
was formed by Holy Roman emperor Francis II (who became Austrian emperor Franz I),
although the Holy Roman Empire itself came to an end in 1806 as a result of the Napoleonic Wars.
Despite many defeats at the hands of the French during the Napoleonic Wars, the
Austrian Empire eventually emerged on the winning side, and played an important part in that
victory, and ended up, together with Prussia, being a leading member of the German Confederation.
In 1864, Prussia and Austria cooperated in a war against Denmark in order
to free the Dutchies of Schleswig and Holstein from the Danish Crown. However, following the war, the two countries
could not agree on how these provinces hould be administered, and the Prussian-Austrian War of 1866 was a
result. As a result of its defeat in this war, Austria had to leave the German
Confederation, and end its participation in German politics.
In 1867, the
Ausgleich ("Compromise") was signed by emperor Franz Joseph and a Hungarian delegation led by
Ferenc Deák. The Ausgleich provided for a Hungarian government of near equal status to the Austrian
government in Vienna, presided over by a single monarch (Franz Joseph) who
had responsibility the military and foreign policy. This arrangement was known as the "dual monarch",
and by this arrangement the Austrian Empire became the Austria-Hungary.
 |
CISLEITHANIA
1. Bohemia
2. Bukovina
3. Carinthia
4. Carniola
5. Dalmatia
6. Galicia
7. Kustenland
8. Lower Austria
9. Moravia
10. Salzburg
11. Silesia
12. Styria
13. Tirol
14. Upper Austria
15. Vorarlberg
TRANSLEITHANIA
16. Hungary
17. Croatia & Slavonia
18. BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA |
The
1914
assassination of the Austrian Archduke, Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo, was the trigger
that led to World War I.
Austria-Hungary was among the defeated Central Powers, and the Empire broke up
along ethnic lines.
The German speaking parts of the Empire became the Republic of German Austria
(German: Republik Deutschösterreich), but the name was changed at the insistence of
the Entente powers to the Republic of Austria (German: Republik Österreich).
The new state was also forbidden to ever unite with Germany.
The First Austrian Republic came to an end in
1933,
when the Chancellor, Engelbert Dollfuß, shut down parliament and established an
authoritarian regime in an attempt to stabilize the country - paramilitary armies
belonging to the Social Democrats and Conservatives were fighting each other on
the streets, and a growing Nazi movement was advocating union with
Germany.
Engelbert Dollfuß was assassinated in
1934,
during an attempted Nazi coup, and succeeded by Kurt Schuschnigg. In
1938
however, German troops marched into Austria, and Adolf Hitler (who himself was Austrian)
proclaimed the "Anschluss", the annexation of Austria into
Greater
Germany.
At the close of World War II, with the defeat of the Nazi regime,
Austria,
like
Germany,
was divided into American, British, French and Soviet Occupation Zones. However,
just before the surrender, Austrian politican, Karl Renner, declared the separation
of Austria from
Germany,
and set up a Provisional Government in Vienna. This
government was in fact recognized by the Allies, and as a result,
Austria was treated as the first victim of the Third Reich.
In
1955,
as a result of the Austrian State Treaty
(German: Österreichischer Staatsvertrag) , the country regained its independence.
As part of the agreements surrounding this treaty,
Austria became permanently neutral, a status which it maintains to this day.
Austria joined the European Union in
1995,
and became part of the Eurozone which it was established in
1999.
Here are some books about the history of
Austria:
Disclosure: Products details and descriptions provided by Amazon.com. Our company may receive a payment if you purchase products from them after following a link from this website.
By A. J. P. Taylor
University Of Chicago Press
Paperback (280 pages)
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First published in 1941, The Habsburg Monarchy has become indispensable to students of nineteenth-century European history. Not only a chronological report of actions and changes, Taylor's work is a provocative exploration into the historical process of the most eventful hundred years of the Habsburg monarchy. |
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By Lonnie Johnson
Ariadne Pr
Paperback (196 pages)
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INTRODUCING AUSTRIA provides in compact form a comprehensive overview of the country's rich past and present. The first half of the book deals with Austria before 1918. Each chapter and subchapter approaches Austria's diverse, thousand-year-old heritage from a different perspective to illuminate its essential features. The second half of the book deals with Austria's turbulent history from 1918 to the present. Controversial issues are presented objectively and without oversimplification. Overall the book conveys a differentiated picture of the country and its people and should give readers a feeling for the continuity and change of the Austrian idea. |
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By Gordon Brook-Shepherd
Basic Books
Paperback (512 pages)
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This is a masterful survey of Austria's controversial place at the heart of European history. From the Reformation through the Napoleonic and Cold Wars to European Union, a superb history of Austria's central role in uniting Western civilization is covered. 24 pages of photographs and maps are included. "Connoisseurs of Austria and its delightful and infuriating inhabitants will agree that Mr. Brook-Shepherd has got it just about right.'—The Wall Street Journal "Engrossing, elegantly written history.'—Publishers Weekly |
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Camden House
Paperback (366 pages)
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20th-century Austrian literature boasts many outstanding writers: Schnitzler, Musil, Rilke, Kraus, Celan, Canetti, Bernhard, Jelinek. These and others feature in broader accounts of German literature, but it is desirable to see how the Austrian literary scene -- and Austrian society itself -- shaped their writing. This volume thus surveys Austrian writers of drama, prose fiction, and lyric poetry; relates them to the distinctive history of modern Austria, a democratic republic that was overtaken by civil war and authoritarian rule, absorbed into Nazi Germany, and re-established as a neutral state; and examines their response to controversial events such as the collusion with Nazism, the Waldheim affair, and the rise of Haider and the extreme right. In addition to confronting controversy in the relations between literature, history, and politics, the volume examines popular culture in line with current trends. CONTRIBUTORS: JUDITH BENISTON, JANET STEWART, ANDREW BARKER, MURRAY HALL, ANTHONY BUSHELL, DAGMAR LORENZ, JULIANE VOGEL, JONATHAN LONG, JOSEPH MCVEIGH, ALLYSON FIDDLER. |
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By A. J. P. Taylor
Macmillan and Co., Ltd.
Hardcover
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By William M. Johnston
University of California Press
Paperback (530 pages)
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'The Austrian Mind' is the first book in English or in German to analyze both in depth and in breadth the intellectual history of the Hapsburg Monarchy between 1848 and 1938. Based upon an impressive command of primary and secondary published sources, Johnston's book is a tour de force. In 400 pages of text the author evaluates the contributions of Austro-Hungarian intellectuals to economic, legal, and social theory, to the arts, to philosophy, to literature and criticism, and to medicine. |
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Berghahn Books
Hardcover (248 pages)
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The growing internationalization of the world poses a fundamental question, i.e., through what mechanisms does culture diffuse across political boundaries and what is the role of politics in shaping this diffusion? This volume offers some answers through the case study of the relationship between two quite different states during the Cold War era - Austria, a small neutral country, and the United States, the reigning superpower. The authors challenge naive notions of cultural diffusion that posit the submission of small "peripheral" areas to the dictates of hegemonic powers at the "core." "Americanization" has no doubt taken place since 1945; however, local forces crucially shaped this process, and Austrian elites enjoyed considerable leeway in pursuing "Austrian" political objectives. On the other hand, with the expulsion of Vienna's cultural and intellectual elite after the AnschluA , the United States, more than any othercountry, became heir to the rich cultural legacy of "Vienna 1900," which profoundly shaped politics and culture in both its "high" and popular forms in postwar America. The relationship climaxed and came full circle with the unfolding of the Waldheim affair, which forced Americans and Austrians to reinterpret the meaning of the Nazi era for their own history in a confrontation with the "other." |
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By Alan John Percivale Taylor
Univ of Chicago Pr
Paperback
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Mcgill Queens Univ Pr
Paperback (199 pages)
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Canadians of Austrian origin have helped define the Canadian cultural mosaic of the 20th century, making important contributions to their adopted home in virtually every field - from cultural and intellectual to scientific and commercial. Yet they seldom appear as a definable group in the Canadian ethnic spectrum, or in the literature relating to it. This threshold publication is one of two to emerge from an interdisciplinary research project undertaken during 1994 and 1995 to commemorate the millennium of Austria in 1996. The first major study in any language of Austrian migration to Canada, it documents the whole Austrian immigrant experience, combining new archival research, extensive personal interviews conducted across Canada and a nation-wide survey of Austrian-Canadians. Nine scholars from Austria and Canada bring together the diverse themes of this complex experience; their work recounts the history of the some 70,000 Austrian migrants and refugees who have found their place in the Canadian family tree. The companion to this volume is entitled Austrian Immigration to Canada: Selected Essays. |
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Ungar Pub Co
Hardcover (345 pages)
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