Austria History

Austria was won by Rudolf of Hapsburg in 1278 and remained largely under the control of the Hapsburg House until World War I. In 1815 after the Congress of Vienna the country emerged as the dominant power of the continent, a position further strengthened by the "Ausgleich" of 1867 which established dual sovereignty between the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary.

The dominance and rule of the Austro-Hungarian Empire over diverse and increasingly nationalistic lands including German, Serbian, Romanian and many others, created increasing tensions and difficulties. Eventually these tensions errupted in the form of the assassination by a young Serbian nationalist of Archduke Francis Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914. This act is widely regarded as having been a catalyst leading to World War I, which in itself was the beginning of the end of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

At the time of the first world war, Austria-Hungary had been one of the dominant central powers along with Germany, and Turkey. The result of the war was however to leave the country in political chaos and economically crippled. Austria and Hungary were separated after the war once more, and the newly formed country of Austria was declared a republic in 1918.

In the 1930s when the strength of the Nazis in Germany became evident as did their wish to establish a union between Austria and Germany, the then Austria Chancellor Engelbert Dolfuss established a dictatorship in an attempt to prevent the building of any such union. In July 1934 Dolfuss was assassinated by the Nazis. Von Schuschnigg, Dolfuss's successor continued to struggle with the aim of maintaining and independent Austria, however his attempts failed when in March 1938, German troops occupied the country. Hitler thereafter proudly announced Austria's Anschluss (Union) with Germany and consequently with the emerging 'Third Reich'.

Following the end of World War II, despite the official liberation of the country from the Nazia, the Russians continued the occupation of Austria. It wasn't until May 1955 when Austria finally regained full independence from the USSR's occupying forces, and started the history of modern Austria as we know it today.

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