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Thousands of years ago, the great valley of the Danube River was an important pathway for the tribes who came to Europe from the east. Settled in prehistoric times, the central European land that is now Austria was overrun in pre-Roman times by various tribes, including the Celts. Traders also came from the north, carrying goods to trade in Rome and Alexandria. The route from the north and the route from the east crossed at a place in the Danube valley in the region now called Austria. A settlement called Carnuntum grew up at this crossroads. Another, called Vindobona, was soon established about twenty-four miles to the west.
When the Romans took control of the Danube Valley, they set up strong forts at Carnuntum and Vindobona. But in the late A. D. 300 s, Germanic tribes from the east swept through Austria. After the fall of the Roman Empire, of which Austria was part, the area was invaded by Bavarians and Slavic Avars. By A. D. 600, Slavs from the east had occupied all of modern Styria, Lower Austria, and Carinthia Austria became a border province of Charlemagne's empire in A.
D 788. Charlemagne set up the first Austrian March in the present Upper and Lower Austria, to halt the inroads of the Avars. Colonization was encouraged, and Christianity (which had been introduced under the Romans) was again spread energetically. After Charlemagne's death (814) the march soon fell to the Moravians and later to the Magyars, from whom it was taken (955) by Emperor Otto. In 976, Otto II bestowed it as a separate fief on Leopold, founder of the first Austrian dynasty. Emperor Frederick I raised Austria to a duchy in 1156, and in 1192, Styria also passed under Babenberg rule.
Soon the settlement at Vindobona was renamed Vienna. Charlemagne's empire was divided among his grandchildren, and Austria became part of the Holy Roman Empire. At that time it was given the name of sterreich (kingdom of the east). From 1282 until 1918, the history of Austria is completely tied to the history of the Hapsburg family. Rudolf I of Hapsburg was chosen King of the Germans in 1273. After a war with the King of Bohemia, Rudolf gave the duchies of Austria, Styria, and Carniola to his sons.
In 1353, Rudolf IV took the title of Archduke of Austria. In the 1500 s, Emperor Maximilian I arranged a marriage between his son and the daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain. Maximilian s grandson became King Charles I of Spain in 1516, and, three years later, was elected Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V. Until Charles V gave up his throne in 1556, he ruled over Austria, Spain, The Netherlands, much of Italy, and large possessions in the Americas. Charles V gave Austria to his brother Ferdinand. Ferdinand also had been elected King of Hungary and Bohemia in 1526.
His family controlled Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary until the end of World War I in 1918. After many internal wars from 1848 to 1866, Austria was very weak in 1867. Hungarian nationalists took advantage of Austria's weakness and forced Francis Joseph I to sign an agreement giving Hungary equal rights with Austria. In the new Austria-Hungary, often called the Dual Monarchy, the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary were united under one ruler. Foreign affairs, war, and the treasury were combined for both countries, but each had a separate national government. The division of the government left the Slavic peoples in the empire under the control of the German-speaking peoples of Austria and the Magyars of Hungary.
The Slavs struggled to obtain the right to govern themselves. The independent country of Serbia, south of Hungary, claimed to be the leader of the Slavic movement. On June 28, 1914, Serbian patriots shot Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the nephew of Emperor Francis Joseph and heir to the Austrian throne. This set off World War I, in which Austria-Hungary joined with Germany and other allies to form the Central Powers. After the Central Powers were crushed in World War I, Austria proclaimed itself a separate state, called German Austria, on November 12, 1918. Many Austrians wanted to make German Austria a federal state of the new German Republic.
But the victorious Allies announced that Austria and Germany would not be allowed to unite. The name of the country was changed to the Republic of Austria. Austria's new boundaries were established by the Treaty of Saint Germain, which was signed in 1919. After World War II, Austria was divided into American, British, French, and Russian zones of occupation. The constitution of 1920 (a democratic constitution) was declared to be in force again, and the Austrians were allowed to set up a provisional government. To check the power of Nazis advocating union with Germany, Chancellor Engelbert Dolfuss in 1933 established a dictatorship, but was assassinated by the Nazis on July 25, 1934.
Kurt von Schuschnigg, his successor, struggled to keep Austria independent, but on March 12, 1938, German troops occupied the country, and Hitler proclaimed its Anschluss (union) with Germany, annexing it to the Third Reich. In 1945, elections for a National Council and provincial assemblies were held, and the four occupying powers recognized the new government. The occupying powers held many talks trying to draw up an Austrian treaty of independence, but the Russians prolonged the occupation. Finally Austria concluded a state treaty with the U. S. S.
R. and the other occupying powers and regained its independence on May 15, 1955. The United States, Great Britain, France, and Russia signed a treaty to end the Allied occupation of Austria. To obtain its freedom, Austria agreed to become a neutral nation.
Austria joined the United Nations in 1955, the Council of Europe in 1956, and the European Free Trade Association in 1959. On June 8, 1986, former UN Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim was elected to the ceremonial office of president in a campaign marked by controversy over his alleged links to Nazi war crimes in Yugoslavia (he was replaced by diplomat Thomas Klestil in 1992). On Jan. 1, 1995, Austria became a member of the European Union. Despite the membership, it retained its strict constitutional neutrality and forbade the stationing of foreign troops on its soil.
In 1998, Austria discussed the return of hundreds of art objects now owned by Austria that had been confiscated by the Nazi regime from their former, primarily Jewish, owners. Deadly avalanches struck several Austrian villages in Feb. 1999, the worst avalanches in the Alps since 1970. In Aug. 1999, Austrian police arrested Gen. Movie Topic, the highest-ranking Bosnian Serb military official, wanted by the UN on war crimes charges.
In Feb. 2000 the conservative People's Party formed a coalition with the far-right Freedom Party, headed by Jan Haider. A nationalist against immigration, Haider had made several controversial remarks praising some Nazi policies, which he had since recanted. His gradual rise to power from 5 % in 1983 to 28 % in the October 1999 election was credited to voters weary of decades of stasis under the rule of the Social Democrats. The European Union condemned Austria's new coalition and froze diplomatic contacts, accusing Haider of being a racist, xenophobe, and a Nazi-sympathizer. Large demonstrations in Austria and throughout Europe followed. Haider did not join the government, but he was expected to wield influence from the sidelines.
At the end of February, however, he resigned from the party, claiming he would concentrate on his role as governor of the Carinthia province. Few inside or outside of Austria doubted that he would remain the eminence guide behind his party. Austria is in the central part of Europe, and has no seaports. Its neighbors are Germany, Switzerland, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic. Austria's geographic coordinates are 47 20 N, 13 20 E. Its total area is 83, 858 sq.
km, its land area is 82, 738 sq. km, and its water area is 1, 120 sq. km. Comparatively speaking, it is slightly smaller than Maine. Its borders are 2, 562 km. The borders are: Czech Republic 362 km, Germany 784 km, Hungary 366 km, Italy 430 km, Liechtenstein 35 km, Slovakia 91 km, Slovenia 330 km, Switzerland 164 km.
Few countries in Europe have more mountains than Austria. The Alps cross Austria from the west to the east, covering the southern and central parts of the country. The Danube Valley and the open Vienna Basin are in the northeast part of Austria. The mountains and hills are covered with trees, meadows, and pastures. There are many mirrorlike lakes and green valleys. Neusiedler Lake, southeast of Vienna on the border between Austria and Hungary, covers an area of about 130 square miles.
The scenery and climate in Austria are much...
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