Austria: history to 1920

From the Bronze Age onwards Austria was an important metal-working area, and salt from its salt mines was exported widely. The site of Hallstatt gave its name to the Hallstatt culture, which was widespread in northern and central Europe during the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age (9th-5th centuries BC). The earliest recorded inhabitants of Austria were a Celtic tribe called the Taurisci, who were succeeded by another Celtic tribe, the Norici. The Norici established a large kingdom south of the River Danube known as Noricum. In 14 BC the Romans conquered Noricum, while the lands north of the Danube passed into the hands of the Marcomanni tribe. Roman provinces were established in Noricum and neighbouring Pannonia, in the latter of which lay Vindobona, now Vienna. At this time Tirol formed part of the Roman province of Raetia.

An invasion by the Boii (another Celtic tribe) in the 5th century AD destroyed these boundaries, and a period of constant warfare and contention saw succeeding occupations by Germanic and other tribes - the Vandals, Goths, Huns, Lombards, and Avars. Subsequently the Lombards formed a division between the Avars on the one side and the Bavarians on the other.

The foundation of the East Mark In 791-96 Charlemagne conquered the Avars, and in order to hold his position in the region securely he established the East Mark, the nucleus of the future Austrian Empire. Subsequently the East Mark suffered almost complete obliteration at the hands of the Magyars (Hungarians). In 955, however, the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I defeated the Magyars at the Battle of Lechfeld, and restored the East Mark as a German-speaking bulwark against them. Later, in 973, he granted the East Mark to Leopold of Babenberg, with the title of margrave.

Under the Babenbergs, who ruled until 1246, the East Mark not only grew in strength but gained considerable additional territory. Between 1141 and 1177 the East Mark was united with the Lower Mark (the territory lying south of the River Enns), to form a dukedom under Henry Jasomirgott. The duchy was considerably extended by his successors, particularly by Leopold VI, who campaigned successfully against the Magyars and the Muslims. In 1246 his successor, Frederick, died in a battle with the Magyars, and the Babenberg dynasty became extinct.

The beginning of Habsburg rule For a time the country was without a ruler, and, in the confusion that followed, Austria, which now included Styria and Carniola to the south, was annexed by Ottakar of Bohemia. Ottaker opposed the control of Rudolph of Habsburg (who had become Holy Roman Emperor as Rudolph I in 1273), and met his death at the Battle of the Marchfeld in 1278. In 1282 the emperor passed the territory to his two sons, Rudolph and Albert, but shortly afterwards it was left in the sole possession of Albert. The long era of Habsburg rule now began. It was to last in Austria without a break until 1918.

Albert II, who succeeded in 1330, expanded the duchy considerably. Carinthia was acquired in 1335, and Tirol in 1363, during the reign of Albert III. Albert V, by marrying the daughter of the Emperor Sigismund, succeeded to Hungary and Bohemia, and became German king as Albert II in 1438. The Habsburg rulers of Austria were from this time (except for the years 1740-45) also elected as Holy Roman Emperors until the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. Thus the history of Austria from the time of Albert II is inextricably mixed with that of the rest of the Empire. Frederick III added to the importance of the country by giving it the rank of an archduchy (1453). The Austrian lands had now passed into Frederick's hands, and in 1493 his son succeeded him as Maximilian I.

The apogee of Habsburg power From the reign of Maximilian I onwards the Austrian Empire under the Habsburgs rapidly and remarkably extended its power. By a series of shrewd marriages the dominions leapt to the position of one of the greatest empires in the world. Maximilian himself married Mary, daughter of Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, thereby acquiring much of Burgundy and the Netherlands. Philip, their son, married Joanna of Spain.

Philip died in 1506, and his son, Charles V, inheriting the united countries of Austria and Spain, became Holy Roman Emperor, with possessions ranging from Spain in the southwest and the Netherlands in the northwest to the Hungarian frontiers in the east, and also including the vast territories that Spain was beginning to acquire in the New World. Charles subsequently passed his Austrian possessions to his brother Ferdinand. The latter also became, from 1526, ruler of Bohemia and those areas of Hungary that were not in the hands of the Turks or the princes of Transylvania. Throughout the 16th century Austria was a bulwark of resistance against the Ottoman Turks, who besieged Vienna in 1529 without success. It was also a bulwark of Catholicism against the spread of Protestantism from the Reformation onwards. Following the abdication of Charles V in 1556 Ferdinand succeeded to the imperial title as Ferdinand I.

When Ferdinand I died in 1564 his territories were divided between his three sons. The eldest, Maximilian II, inherited the imperial crown, together with Austria, Hungary, and Bohemia. Ferdinand, the second son, received Tirol and Upper Austria, while Charles, the third son, was given Styria and Carinthia.

Religious conflict and the Thirty Years' War Maximilian II was succeeded in 1576 by Rudolph II, whose rule was both incompetent and marked by bitter religious conflicts. In 1608 he was compelled to surrender Hungary, Bohemia, and Austria to his brother, Matthias, who was succeeded in turn by his Styrian cousin, Ferdinand II.

The oppressive policies of Ferdinand II soon alienated the Bohemians, who in 1618 broke out in revolt and tried to replace him with the Elector Palatine, Frederick V, the leading power in the union of Protestant states in Germany. The Thirty Years' War resulted. At the Battle of the White Mountain in 1620 Ferdinand was victorious, and Bohemia was subjected to his rule. A severe and bitter persecution of the Protestants followed. After decades of bloodshed and the laying waste of much of Germany the war ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.

During the reign of Leopold I (1658-1705) the Turks mounted a second unsuccessful siege of Vienna in 1683. This was followed by the Austrian conquest of Turkish Hungary, a process completed by 1697, and recognized by the Ottoman Empire in the Treaty of Carlovitz (1699).

War and diplomacy in the 18th century The Habsburg Leopold I and the Bourbon king of France, Louis XIV, now clashed over their claims to Spain. The War of the Spanish Succession followed (1701-14), in the midst of which Leopold died. The war was carried on by Leopold's successor Joseph I, who, dying without issue, was succeeded in turn by his brother, Charles VI (the Habsburg claimant to the Spanish throne), in 1711. When the war ended Austria had gained the Spanish Netherlands (modern Belgium and Luxembourg), Milan, Naples, Mantua, and Sardinia, although the Spanish throne passed to the Bourbon claimant, Louis XIV's grandson Philip.

In 1740 the male line of the Habsburgs came to an end. Charles had earlier issued the ‘Pragmatic Sanction’ decreeing that all his possessions and titles should be passed on to his daughter Maria Theresa, and most other European states had promised Charles to support his daughter's claim to the imperial throne. But on Charles's death Frederick of Prussia immediately claimed Silesia from Austria, and the War of the Austrian Succession ensued, with Britain, Sardinia, and the Dutch supporting Austria, and France and Spain supporting Prussia. Maria Theresa became archduchess of Austria and queen of Hungary, but in 1742 the Elector of Bavaria was crowned king of Bohemia and elected emperor as Charles VII. Charles VII died in 1745, and Maria Theresa's husband, formerly the Duke of Lorraine, was elected emperor as Francis I. The fighting continued for another three years, finally ending with the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748, by which Austria remained almost intact, though Silesia was acknowledged as Prussian. Thereafter, Maria Theresa carried out reforms intended to ensure the effectiveness and survival of her empire.

In 1756 the Treaty of Versailles was concluded in which the long rivalry between the Habsburgs and the Bourbons came to an end. Chafing at the loss of Silesia, Maria Theresa, with the aid of France, Russia, Saxony, and Sweden, moved against Frederick (II) the Great of Prussia. The Seven Years' War ensued, following a pre-emptive strike against Saxony by Frederick the Great, at the end of which the Prussians still held Silesia.

In 1765 Joseph II became Holy Roman Emperor on the death of his father, Francis, and co-regent with Maria Theresa. In 1772 Austria gained territory from the first partition of Poland (Russia and Austria also gaining Polish territory), and in 1780 Maria Theresa died, leaving Joseph to rule alone. Joseph, often referred to as an ‘enlightened despot’, attempted wide-reaching reforms. Educational and health services were improved, the power of the church reduced, and religious toleration established. Serfdom was abolished, government and the army reformed, and the law codified. However, the sweeping nature of Joseph's changes provoked major discontent by those who lost privileges, especially in Hungary and the Austrian Netherlands. In the midst of this turmoil Joseph died (1790), after being forced to reverse many of his reforms.

The Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars Joseph was succeeded by his brother, Leopold II, who was successful in restoring peace in the Netherlands and Hungary. But it was becoming increasingly apparent that the Habsburg empire, centred on Vienna, was finding it more and more difficult to hold together the widely differing elements of which it consisted. The French Revolution, and the fate of Marie Antoinette (Leopold's sister) and her husband, Louis XVI, led Leopold to ally himself with Prussia against France. On Leopold's death in 1792, France declared war on his son, Francis, who became Holy Roman Emperor as Francis II. Austrian and Prussian forces invaded France, but were defeated and turned back, and French forces seized the Austrian Netherlands.

During the reign of Francis II the foreign policy of Austria owed most of its effectiveness to Metternich, the foreign minister, and for several decades the actual decline of Austria as a great power was successfully concealed. Austria continued to gain and lose territory: in 1795 it acquired more of Poland in the third and final partition of the country; but in 1797, by the Treaty of Campo-Formio, France gained Lombardy and formalized its annexation of the Austrian Netherlands, and in exchange Austria received Venetia. Two years later Francis II united forces with Russia, but in 1800 the Austrians were defeated by the French army under Napoleon at Marengo in Italy, and peace was made.

In 1804 Francis, anticipating the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire by Napoleon, abandoned the title of Holy Roman Emperor, and adopted that of hereditary emperor of Austria as Francis I. Napoleon's proclamation of himself as king of Italy in 1805 provoked Austria into war again, but the Austrians were defeated at Ulm (see Ulm, Battle of) and Austerlitz, and Vienna was occupied by the French. Following Napoleon's defeat of Prussia - the other major power in Germany - at Jena in 1806, the Holy Roman Empire was formally dissolved, and Napoleon reorganized much of Germany into the Confederation of the Rhine. In 1809 the Peace of Vienna much reduced Austrian territory, and Francis's daughter, Marie Louise, was virtually forced to marry Napoleon.

In 1812 Austria became an ally of Napoleon, without, however, rendering him much practical assistance. Following Napoleon's disastrous campaign in Russia, Austria joined the Grand Alliance against him, and at the Battle of the Nations in 1813 assisted in destroying his power. At the Congress of Vienna (1814-15) Austria regained Lombardy, Venetia, and Dalmatia, giving it access to the Mediterranean and a new opening for its foreign trade. However, it failed to recover the Austrian Netherlands.

The revolutions of 1848 A long period of external peace followed, but from 1815 onwards discontent within the Austrian Empire grew. In Austria itself there were demands for a liberal constitution, while in the extensive non-Austrian parts of the Empire the demands were nationalist as well as constitutionalist, with the Italians, Hungarians, and Bohemians (Czechs) all agitating for self-government. In 1848 revolutions broke out over all Europe, including many parts of the Austrian Empire, and even in Vienna itself. In the crisis Metternich (chancellor since 1821) fled to England. The situation became chaotic, but finally Austrian forces under the reactionary Field Marshal Windischgrätz crushed the Czech revolt in Prague, and then pacified Vienna itself.

In Italy, Austria recovered Lombardy from the nationalists, and finally, with Russian help, subdued the major revolt in Hungary in 1849. The Emperor Ferdinand, who had shown little ability during the crisis, then abdicated in favour of the young Franz Joseph. Under the command of Count Radetzky, Austrian forces retook the rest of northern Italy, culminating in the surrender of Venice in 1849. Meanwhile Austria strenuously opposed a projected confederation of German states under Prussia, thereby defeating, for the time being, the Prussian king in his wish to become emperor of Germany.

The Empire begins to crumble For the next ten years a policy of bureaucratic government was revived, and the constitutions that had been granted in 1849 were destroyed. While there were certain administrative reforms, the nationalist aspirations of the non-German-speaking peoples of the Empire were vigorously suppressed. Innumerable petty tyrannies only helped to increase the nationalist fervour of the Slavs, Hungarians, and Italians. At the same time Prussia was becoming increasingly influential in German affairs, although Austria was still able to assert its theoretical supremacy there.

The independent Italian kingdom of Sardinia had gained international prestige by joining the British and the French against the Russians in the Crimean War, indirectly weakening Austria's position in Italy. Subsequently, in alliance with Napoleon III, Sardinia-Piedmont defeated the Austrians at Solferino and Magenta (1859), and conquered all Austria's Italian territory except Venetia.

Prussia was swift to take advantage of Austria's obvious weakness, made very apparent by events in Italy. In 1866 war was declared (see Seven Weeks' War) and Austria suffered a heavy defeat at the Battle of Sadowa. Prussia now occupied the middle states of Germany - the states that had formerly supported Austria. At the conclusion of the struggle Austria's supremacy over Germany was brought to an end, and Sardinia-Piedmont, which had fought in alliance with Prussia, demanded and obtained the province of Venetia. Austrian influence in the west, so long successfully maintained, was now completely broken.

The creation of Austria-Hungary With Austria thus weakened, Hungary's demand to be recognized as a separate and distinct country was now pressed forward, and in 1867 the ‘Dual Monarchy’ came into existence through the legislation known as the Ausgleich (or Compromise). Austria and Hungary each obtained separate constitutions, and the emperor of Austria also became king of Hungary.

Developments now took a different course in the two halves of the Dual Monarchy, and there was much friction between them, especially over economic and military issues. In Hungary great advances took place in military organization, and public life ran comparatively harmoniously. Underlying tensions were, however, developing, both between the dominant Magyar (Hungarian) culture and those of the other nationalities in Hungary, and between the ruling nobility and the population at large.

In the rest of the Empire - conventionally called ‘Austria’, but technically the ‘kingdom and lands represented in the Reichsrat’ (the Vienna parliament) - measures for greater constitutional freedom were enacted, and these considerably liberalized political life. But though there were periods of ordered government, notably under Count Edward Taaffe (prime minister 1879-93), the conflicting claims of national groups, above all in Bohemia, contributed towards frequent upheavals. This period also witnessed the rise of mass political movements, such as social democracy, and universal suffrage was introduced to Austria (though not to Hungary) in 1907. At the same time as (perhaps because of) its political turmoil, Austria experienced a golden age of cuture: Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler, Johann Strauss, Antonín Dvorák, Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, Franz Kafka, Rainer Maria Rilke, Sigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, and many others were active there in these years.

Foreign affairs up to World War I The aim of Austrian foreign policy after 1867 was to foster ties with Germany and Russia. An informal agreement with Germany was reached in 1879. Bismarck visited Vienna and arranged a treaty by which Germany bound itself to support Austria against Russia, while Austria-Hungary promised to assist Germany against a combined attack from France and Russia.

During the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78 tensions were aggravated by a tendency on the part of the Magyars to sympathize with the Turks. The position was further complicated by the problem of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Balkans. The Treaty of Berlin in 1878 gave Austria the administration of these two states, though they remained nominally within the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire. Austria knew that Russia was fostering Slav aspirations to independence in Bosnia-Herzegovina in order to extend its own influence in the Balkans. By the early 20th century successive Austro-Russian agreements were wearing thin, especially as friction grew between Austria and Serbia (the latter being closely allied to Russia), and the Ottoman Empire neared complete collapse. In 1908 the Austrian foreign minister, Count Aehrenthal, made the provocative move of annexing Bosnia-Herzegovina, although war did not ensue because on this occasion Russia backed down.

The road to war The security of Austria-Hungary's international position before World War I was founded largely on the maintenance of the alliance with Germany. By 1914 Germany, however, was seeking further ways to expand its territory and influence. Austria's plans for turning the Dual Monarchy into a Triple Monarchy - the third element to consist of the Bosnian Serbs and Croats - met with no enthusiasm. The Serbs in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, encouraged by Serbia and Russia, were no longer interested in remaining within it, even on terms of equality with the Magyars and Austrians, and demanded full self-determination.

When the Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand (a leading supporter of the Triple Monarchy plan) and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo in June 1914 by a Serbian nationalist, it became clear that Austria-Hungary would receive the full support of Germany in its ill-considered reaction - which was a desire to crush Serbia entirely. Germany at once recognized in the situation a favourable combination of circumstances for breaking through the ‘iron ring’ that it claimed its neighbours were forging around it. Austria was, in fact, a nation urged on to its doom by the machinations of its far more powerful and ambitious neighbour, which was not really concerned with Austria-Hungary's own interests.

Austria-Hungary sent an ultimatum to Serbia on 23 July, and thereafter events moved rapidly. Alhough the Serbian government undertook to comply with the demands of Austria-Hungary, and offered to refer all disputed points to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague or to a conference of powers, the Austro-Hungarian government disregarded the reply and mobilized its army. Within a week of Austria's formal declaration of war against Serbia (28 July), Germany, Austria, Russia, and France were in a state of war, soon followed by Great Britain. By the end of the first week of August, Austria had formally declared war against Russia.

Austria in World War I For more detailed accounts of Austrian campaigns see World War I.

At the very outset of the war Austria had to bear the brunt of the conflict against Russia, and suffered severe defeats in Galicia in 1914-15. Austria might in fact have been forced to surrender comparatively early in the war but for the transfer by the German high command of large forces from the Western to the Eastern Front. In Serbia, however, despite slow initial progress, Austria was eventually more successful and overran the country.

Italian intervention on the Allied side from 1915 (with the promise of gaining the South Tirol and the Trieste region from Austria) opened up another front on which Austria had to fight (see Trentino Campaign). Despite this strategic blow, the Austrian armies decisively defeated Italy at Caporetto in 1917 (see Caporetto, Battle of).

Within the Empire itself internal discontent among the national minorities, and among liberal and left-wing elements in Austria proper, was rising. The war was revealing Austria's serious administrative and economic weaknesses, as well as its political sterility. The Allied blockade seriously affected Austria early in the war, but as long as Emperor Franz Joseph lived the Empire held together.

Franz Joseph died in 1916, and was succeeded by the Emperor Charles. Charles at first hoped to hold the Empire together by converting it into a four-fold kingdom, consisting of Austria, Hungary, the Serbs, and the Czechoslovaks. But the situation among the Slav minorities had deteriorated too far to allow this to work, and the Czechs and Croats were now only interested in independence.

In 1917 Austria made peace overtures to the Allies, but these were rejected. Meanwhile, attempts at placating the Slavs having failed, Austro-Hungarian dominance was again asserted in domestic affairs. In 1918 Austria, urged on by Germany, launched a large-scale offensive on the Hungarian front. It was a disastrous failure. At the same time unrest among the minorities was reaching its climax, and by now the Poles in the Empire had joined the Serbs and Czechs in their demand for independence. Very soon national councils of the various subject nationalities were formed in the Allied countries. Pan-Slavic congresses had been held in Prague and Zagreb in the winter of 1917-18. These were followed by the historic Congress of Oppressed Nationalities, convened in Rome in April 1918.

The Allies now openly took up the cause of these nationalities, and armies of Poles and Czechoslovaks were aligned with the Allied troops. At a meeting of the Supreme War Council in Versailles in June, the British, French, and Italian premiers adopted resolutions to the effect that a united and independent Polish state was a necessary condition of peace. The complete independence of Czechoslovakia was also formally recognized by the principal Allies (including the USA) in the early autumn.

Still the tottering Empire survived, but in October 1918 the Italians launched a crushing offensive on a front from the River Piave to the Alps (see Piave, Battles of the). Within a fortnight the Austrians were completely overwhelmed; Trento and Trieste were captured, and 300,000 Austro-Hungarian prisoners, together with nearly all their stores and 5,000 guns, were taken. An Austrian mission then went to the headquarters of the Italian commander-in-chief, Gen Armando Diaz, and offered unconditional surrender; an armistice was signed on 3 November - without awaiting the outcome of the simultaneous German armistice negotiations on the Western Front.

The break-up of the Empire This enormous blow to the Austro-Hungarian armies quickly led to the final dissolution of the Dual Monarchy. In October Czechoslovakia's independence had been declared in Paris, and very soon a constitution was drafted for the new republic, with Tomás Masaryk as president, and the first National Assembly was convened in Prague to ratify the new regime. Also in October the Croatians formally declared the deposition of the Emperor Charles, and the formation of the new Kingdom of Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes (later renamed Yugoslavia), with King Peter of Serbia as king. The Romanians of Transylvania and Bukovina in their turn seceded from Austria and Hungary, and negotiated for union with Romania. In Hungary itself, where liberal elements were now in control, Count Mihály Károlyi was appointed prime minister of Hungary, and announced that the Magyars were freed from further allegiance to the Emperor Charles and would form an independent republic. The Dual Monarchy was thus, at long last, at an end.

The final blow to the Empire was delivered in Vienna, where a mass demonstration of students and workers called for a democratic administration. On 11 November Charles announced that he was giving up all his powers, but refused to abdicate. On the following day the National Assembly in Vienna assumed the power of government, formally declared the Republic of Austria, and appointed a provisional cabinet. The new Austrian republic comprised only Vienna and its immediately surrounding provinces. The Treaty of St Germain, signed in September 1919 by Austria and the Allies, declared Austria an independent state, and established its present boundaries, giving it an area roughly one-eighth the size of the old Austria-Hungary.

For coverage of Austrian history after 1920, see Austria.