Austria Essay Research Paper AustriaHistoryThousands of years

Austria Essay, Research Paper Austria History 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