Austria

VI

History

At the beginning of the Christian era, Austria was sparsely inhabited by Illyrian and Celtic peoples who from time to time advanced into the northern plains of Italy.

A

Early Period

Much of the region south of the Danube was formerly known as Noricum. The western uplands region between the upper Rhine, the lower course of the River Inn, and the Bavarian and sub-alpine plateau was known as Rhaetia. The plains region in the east and south-east was known as Pannonia. The Romans invaded all three regions about 15 bc and made them provinces of the empire. Under Roman control, the provinces eventually became outposts for offensive and defensive action against various barbarian peoples. To a large extent Roman strategy was based on the fact that the region contains important passes through the eastern Alps and thus commands vital transport arteries between northern, southern, western, and eastern Europe. One of the first Roman military posts in the region was Vindobona (now Vienna), which was located on the site of a Celtic settlement on the edge of the eastern Alps and on an arm of the Danube. Vindobona became an important strategic crossroads for two main trade routes and for numerous roads leading into the fertile basin of Lower Austria. Carnuntum (now Petronell), built in ad 73, was another important Roman centre in the area.

As a result of periodic overpopulation and desire for land, combined with pressure from remote peoples and the attraction of the wealth of the peaceful Roman provinces, the Germanic peoples attacked the provincial frontiers at various times starting in ad 166. The frontiers completely broke down during the 4th century ad. Goths, Rugians, Lombards, Vandals, Ostrogoths, and Huns at one time or another crossed the Vienna Basin. The Alamanni advanced into Rhaetia, the Herulians captured Juvavum (now Salzburg), and the Goths advanced along the Drau River.

The Slavs and the Avars moved into Pannonia from the east and south-east at about the same time the Germans invaded the north-west. By the mid-6th century the Bavarians had occupied the Tirol, and the Alamanni had settled to the west. The Slavic peoples were split into northern and southern groups by Avars and Bavarians contending for control of the Danube valley. The Avars left only superficial traces in the country, but the Slovenes built settlements in the depopulated valleys of the eastern Alps. The Germans finally overwhelmed the Slovene settlements, which could not depend on a continuous stream of new settlers. In a few areas of what are now Carinthia and Styria the Slovenes managed to establish permanent settlements.

B

Medieval Era

During the 8th century, after fratricidal strife among the Germans, the Franks secured the throne of Bavaria. Fighting continued during that century between the Avars and the Bavarians in the Danube valley. At the end of the century Charlemagne devastated the territory of the Avars and established a series of military outposts of the empire in the country between the Enns and Rába rivers to serve as buffer territories against further encroachment from the east. One of these outposts was the Ostmark (Eastern March), which later became known as Ost Reich (Eastern Country) or Österreich (Austria). Other marches in the east and south-east were Carantania and Carniola, later Styria. These marches, however, were too weak to hold back intrusions from the east.

The Magyars, a nomadic people migrating slowly from the east, advanced easily along the Danube valley until they were finally defeated by the German King Otto I at Augsburg in 955 in the Battle of the Lechfeld. Otto I revived the Eastern March and gave the higher-status title of margrave to its administrator; these moves marked the emergence of Austria as a political entity. The boundary of the Eastern March was slowly extended eastwards until in the early 11th century it reached what is now called Moravia. The margrave of Austria was subordinate to the Duke of Bavaria, whose domain included this march. The main function of the margrave was the defence of the march and the outlying areas, and for that purpose the margraves enjoyed exceptional power. Between 976 and 1230 the Babenberg rulers of Austria contributed much to the growth of the march. They built cities and roads, encouraged trade, and enhanced their prestige by participation in the Crusades.

The death of the last Babenberg was followed by a period of trial and unrest. King Ottokar II of Bohemia occupied Austria, Styria, and Carniola during his reign from 1253 to 1278. His power was opposed by Rudolf von Habsburg (Rudolf I), who was crowned Holy Roman Emperor in 1273. In 1278 Ottokar was defeated and slain in battle by Rudolf’s forces. By 1283 most of the former domain of Ottokar had come under the rule of Rudolf’s son Albert I.

C

Austria Under the Habsburgs

The rise of Austria is closely linked to the House of Habsburg. During the 14th and 15th centuries the Habsburgs increased their holdings in the eastern part of the Holy Roman Empire. Archduke Rudolf IV proclaimed the indivisibility of Habsburg hereditary possessions, which corresponded roughly to the modern republic of Austria. From 1438 until 1806 (except for 1742-1745), the archdukes of Austria held the title of Holy Roman Emperor.

During the reign of Emperor Maximilian I from 1486 to 1519, the Habsburg empire became a great power, as its territory expanded because of several advantageous marriages. His own marriage to Mary of Burgundy brought a large part of that territory into the empire. He also arranged the marriage of his son Philip (later Philip I of Castile) to Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand V and Isabella I, thus establishing the Habsburg claim to Spain and its possessions in Italy and the Americas. Philip’s son Ferdinand I married into the ruling House of Bohemia and Hungary and became King of Bohemia in 1524. Ferdinand’s brother Charles had become Holy Roman Emperor as Charles V after the death of Maximilian in 1519. Ferdinand’s defeat by the Ottoman Turks in the Battle of Mohács of 1526, and the first siege of Vienna, which followed in 1529, initiated the Austrian phase of the Habsburg-Ottoman Wars, which were to have a defining influence on Austrian history.

Charles V combined under his rule the inheritances of his grandparents: Habsburg hereditary lands in Austria; the Low Countries; and Spain and its possessions. The extent of the Habsburg empire proved impossible for one monarch to rule. In 1521-1522 Charles gave Ferdinand lands in Austria and part of Germany. Division of the Habsburg dynasty into Spanish and Austrian branches was completed when Charles abdicated in 1556 as King of Spain in favour of his son Philip II and, in 1558, as Holy Roman Emperor in favour of his brother Ferdinand.

D

Civil and Foreign Wars

The Reformation quickly gained ground in the Holy Roman Empire, including Austria. Charles V had fought the Reformation on religious and political grounds. His struggle to preserve religious unity as a basis for Habsburg power led to war within the empire, which then became entwined with wars against France and the Ottoman Empire. The Peace of Augsburg (1555) brought some respite by establishing limited religious toleration in Germany for Lutherans and Roman Catholics based on the principle that each ruler had the right to determine his religion and that of his subjects. This settlement was respected by the Habsburgs until Ferdinand II, an uncompromising champion of the Counter-Reformation, attempted to reimpose Catholicism on his subjects. The Protestants in Bohemia rebelled in 1618, thus beginning the first phase of the Thirty Years’ War. After the rebels deposed Ferdinand in 1619, this internal Austrian conflict grew into a European war, fought mainly on German soil. The Habsburgs were defeated in battle, and the Peace of Westphalia (1648) weakened their control over the Holy Roman Empire by reducing it to a loose union of independent states.

A serious conflict arose in the 1680s when Turkey agreed to help Hungarian rebels against Habsburg rule. The climax came in 1682, when Vienna was besieged by the Turkish Grand Vizier Kara Mustapha Pasha. The city was rescued by an army of Poles and Germans under the Polish King John III Sobieski; one of the major Polish successes of the Polish-Turkish Wars. The imperial armies won major victories near the end of the century, led by Prince Eugene of Savoy, who drove the Turks out of Hungary.

In 1700 Charles II of Spain died without an heir. He left Spain, the Spanish Netherlands, and his possessions in Italy to Philip, Duke of Anjou, a grandson of Louis XIV, King of France. The Holy Roman Emperor Leopold I, a Habsburg from the Austrian line, claimed these lands for his son Joseph I; this led to war (see Spanish Succession, War of the). At the end of the war Philip was recognized as Philip IV, King of Spain, but Austria gained control of the Spanish Netherlands and Spanish possessions in northern Italy.

In 1713 the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI promulgated a so-called Pragmatic Sanction, which declared his possessions indivisible and hereditary in both the male and female line of the House of Austria. This was the first fundamental law common to all Habsburg lands, and was intended as a foundation for their gradual integration. Its unifying character was weakened in Hungary, which accepted it only after Charles confirmed the Hungarian constitution and autonomy, in effect strengthening Hungarian separatism. Most European monarchs pledged themselves to accept the Pragmatic Sanction in return for various concessions, but repudiated their pledges in 1740 when Charles died, leaving no male heirs.