AUSTRIA :
HISTORY
In ancient times, much of the territory
later known collectively as "Austria" was called Rhaetia,
Noricum, and PANNONIA. These were organized as Roman provinces in the
1st century AD. Then, and for the next 10 centuries, the area served the
more civilized peoples of Europe--initially Roman, later Frankish and
German--as a defensive outpost against barbarian invasions from the
east. Roman control collapsed in the 4th century under wave after wave
of Germanic and Hunnish invaders.
In the 6th century, these tribes were
joined by SLAVS and AVARS, over whom the FRANKS under CHARLEMAGNE
established a brief ascendancy in the 8th century. Nomads from the east,
among them MAGYARS, continued to overrun the Danubian area until OTTO I,
later Holy Roman emperor, defeated them in the mid-10th century and
reorganized the eastern border region on a more permanent basis as a
dependency of the dukes of Bavaria. Under the rule of the Babenberg
margraves between 976 and 1246, Austria expanded eastward to the
Hungarian border and southward into Styria and Carniola. Christianity
was well entrenched by the early 12th century. The Babenberg lands were
occupied (1246-78) by OTTOKAR II of Bohemia. After his defeat by the
Habsburg German king RUDOLF I, they passed to the Habsburg family, which
provided all but one of the Holy Roman emperors from 1438 to 1806.
The Habsburgs turned Austria into one of
the most dynamic states of Europe. They steadily expanded their domains
in the 14th and 15th centuries, first by acquiring the Tyrol and
Vorarlberg near their hereditary holdings in Switzerland, then by the
addition of ISTRIA and TRIESTE to the south. By the marriage (1477) of
the future MAXIMILIAN I to MARY OF BURGUNDY, they acquired BURGUNDY and
the LOW COUNTRIES. Then the accession (1516) of the future emperor
CHARLES V to the Spanish throne brought Spain and its empire under
Habsburg rule. On his abdication (1555-56), however, Charles divided his
realm, leaving Spain and the Low Countries to his son Philip II and
Austria and the empire to his brother FERDINAND I. The Austrian line
then oriented its expansion eastward. Ferdinand's successors proved
unable after 1564 to rule coherently or fairly those parts of the empire
that had embraced the Protestant REFORMATION. This deficiency was
instrumental in causing the THIRTY YEARS' WAR (1618-48).
A weakened Austria was forced to
recognize the legitimacy of the reformed sects within the empire, but,
as the result of the success of the COUNTER-REFORMATION, Catholicism was
fully restored in Bohemia and Austria itself. The efforts of Emperor
LEOPOLD I (r. 1657-1705) to undo the Reformation in Hungary led to
renewed conflict with the Hungarians and their Turkish allies. In 1683
the Turks besieged Vienna, which was rescued only by the timely
intervention of German and Polish forces. A series of imperial victories
drove the Turks from Hungary, which Austria formally acquired by the
Peace of Karlowitz (1699). The Austrian empire reached its greatest
extent in the first half of the 18th century. Wars over the Spanish and
Polish successions brought the addition of the Spanish Netherlands
(Belgium) and, in Italy, of Milan, Mantua, Parma, Piacenza, and Tuscany.
The WAR OF THE AUSTRIAN SUCCESSION (1740-48) grew out of the refusal of
the powers to honor the PRAGMATIC SANCTION (issued 1713), the instrument
by which Emperor CHARLES VI sought to ensure the indivisibility of his
Habsburg possessions and the succession of his daughter MARIA-THERESA
(r. 1740-80).
Maria Theresa's most important
contribution lay in measures designed to centralize the administration
of an unwieldy empire. JOSEPH II (r. 1780-90) continued the centralizing
efforts of his mother, but he added a humanistic emphasis. He
emancipated the serfs, increased the rights of religious minorities, and
subordinated the Catholic church to the state. But his reign witnessed
losses to the Turks and a revolt in the Spanish Netherlands (1789).
Under his brother LEOPOLD II (r. 1790-92), the church and the regional
governing bodies won back many of their old powers. Austria's position
in Europe was temporarily shaken by the outbreak of the French
Revolution and by the political and geographic changes enacted by
NAPOLEON I.
In 1806, FRANCIS II
laid aside the old
imperial title of Holy Roman emperor, thereafter to reign simply as
Emperor Francis I of Austria until 1835. Briefly allied with France in
the invasion of Russia, Austria subsequently joined with the other
powers to defeat Napoleon in 1814. By the decisions of the Congress of
Vienna (1815; see VIENNA, CONGRESS OF), brilliantly orchestrated by the
Austrian foreign minister Prince Klemens von METTERNICH, Austria ceded
Belgium to the Netherlands but was compensated by new gains in LOMBARDY,
Venetia, and DALMATIA that made Austria predominant in Italy. Austria
also took over leadership of the newly formed GERMAN CONFEDERATION.
Under Metternich's aegis, conservatism reigned triumphant over much of
the continent for more than 30 years. The repressive atmosphere
prevailing in the empire, however, could not permanently dampen the
liberal or nationalist sentiment that increasingly asserted itself in
Hungary, Italy, and the Slavic lands. Dissatisfaction erupted during the
REVOLUTIONS OF 1848, forcing Metternich to resign and the emperor to
agree to the election of a constituent assembly, and power was restored
to the emperor, now FRANCIS JOSEPH (r. 1848-1916).
Austria once more set its course in the
direction of centralized, absolutist government, modernized and reformed
just enough to make it palatable. Major setbacks followed. Austria was
defeated (1859) in a war with Italy and France, leading to the loss of
Lombardy to the newly unified kingdom of ITALY. Next came defeat in the
SEVEN WEEKS' WAR (1866) against PRUSSIA, which carried with it the loss
of Venetia and a number of German territories. Prussia then unified all
the German states except Austria into the German Empire in 1871. Austria
responded to these events by reshaping its constitutional framework so
as to make the Hungarians equal partners in the Austrian Empire. The
Compromise (Ausgleich) of 1867 created the Dual Monarchy of
AUSTRIA-HUNGARY. Austria remained plagued by the conflicting interests
of its multiple nationalities. Its occupation of the Turkish provinces
of BOSNIA AND HERCEGOVINA in 1878 and rivalry with Russia for control
over the BALKANS in the wake of the Ottoman Empire's decline inevitably
intensified the nationalism of the empire's large Slavic
minorities.
Six years after Austria's outright
annexation of Bosnia-Hercegovina, a Serbian nationalist assassinated
(June 28, 1914) Archduke FRANZ FERDINAND in Sarajevo. This event led to
WORLD WAR I, in which Austria was allied with Germany (see TRIPLE
ALLIANCE). Austria emerged beaten and shorn of the territories that had
contributed to its 1,000-year imperial history. The new Austrian
republic was reduced to its essential Germanic core, a quarter of its
former size. At the same time, the victorious Allies prohibited 
Austria
from uniting with its potentially still powerful German neighbor, even
by means of a customs union. Austria did not adjust well to its
straightened postwar circumstances. Politically oriented private armies
representing both socialists and conservatives increased the potential
for internal strife. The failure of Austria's largest bank in 1931
plunged the nation into economic crisis. Encouraged by Benito MUSSOLINI,
Austria's protector until 1936, Chancellor Engelbert DOLLFUSS assumed
dictatorial powers in 1933. He dissolved all rival parties in 1934.
Socialist resistance to this measure led to the government's bombardment
of Vienna's large socialist quarter in February 1934. Dollfuss, a
proto-Fascist who was nevertheless determined to keep Austria
independent of Germany, was murdered on July 25, 1934. But an attempted
takeover by Austrian Nazis collapsed when Mussolini dispatched troops to
the Austrian border as a warning to Adolf HITLER to keep hands off.
Dollfuss was succeeded by Kurt von SCHUSCHNIGG, who was unable to stop
the growth of Nazi Germany's influence in Austria.
Following his resignation,
German troops
entered (Mar. 12, 1938) the country, and the union (Anschluss) of
Austria and Germany was proclaimed. During World War II, Austria's
fortunes were identified with those of Germany. Following its liberation
by Allied troops in the spring of 1945, Austria was reestablished within
its prewar boundaries under a provisional government. This soon gave way
to a coalition government that included members of both the Socialist
and People's parties. The country was divided into four administrative
zones for occupation by U.S., Soviet, British, and French forces. The
four powers stayed until 1955. Austria joined the United Nations later
the same year.
In the postwar era, Austria was governed
by coalition governments up to 1966, when a People's party
administration led by Joseph Klaus took power. It was succeeded in 1970
by a Socialist government under Bruno KREISKY. In 1971 the Socialists
won a majority of seats in parliament. During Kreisky's long
chancellorship (1970-83), Vienna grew in stature as an international
center, becoming, along with New York and Geneva, one of the world
headquarters of the United Nations. When his party lost its majority in
April 1983, Kreisky stepped down to make way for a coalition government
under another Socialist, Fred Sinowatz (1983-86), followed by Franz
Vranitzky (1986-97). Former UN secretary general Kurt
WALDHEIM, who was
elected to the presidency in 1986, became a subject of controversy when
it was revealed that he had lied about the extent of his activities in
the German army during World War II, and that Yugoslav sources had
accused him of complicity in war crimes. A committee of historians
declared the latter charge unproven in 1988, and Waldheim ignored calls
for his resignation.
