Austria - national flag
According to a2zgov, the flag was officially adopted in its current form in 1945, but as a
heraldic mark, the white bar in red can be traced back to the 1200's. It is thus
one of the oldest flags in the world. Originally, it was rather a dynastic and
military banner. In 1786 it became the basis for Austria's first real national
flag with a coat of arms in the middle. Since 1919, the flag without coat of
arms has been Austria's national flag except for the period 1938-45.
- Countryaah:
What does the flag of Austria look like? Follow this link, then you will see
the image in PNG format and flag meaning description about this country.
Austria - prehistory
The oldest finds are from the culture moustérien, approximately 100,000 years
old. From the Late Paleolithic, after 35,000 BC, there are several layers at
Willendorf with the cultures of aurignacia and gravetti, where Venus from
Willendorf is linked to the latter. In mammoth ivory, two more female figures
from Willendorf are known. Agriculture was introduced approximately 5500
BC with ribbon ceramic culture. From approximately 4800 BC the Lengyel culture in
Lower Austria performs with painted ceramics and ribbon ceramic
culture. Attached to this are a large number of circular ramparts and ditches of
considerable size, often of several concentric rings and with palisades. These
facilities presumably served cult-ritual purposes. approximately 4000 BC appeared
Baden culture and with funnel cup culture related groups. Here we meet Austria's
first traces of copper craftsmanship. 2800 BC Austria was covered by string
ceramic culture and later by bell goblet culture. The Bronze Age began
approximately 2200 BC, associated with the Aunjetitz culture. From 1600 BC Austria
was part of the high grave culture and from 1300 BC. in the urnmark culture,
which 700 BC. continued in the Hallstatt culture, named after the rich burial
ground at Hallstatt in Upper Austria. Important has been found a cult carriage
from Strettweg near Graz, on which is seen a cult procession of small bronze
figures with riders and persons leading deer around a larger figure, presumably
a female deity. From early La Tčne culture, rich grave finds still emerge at
Hallstatt, but before and around 400 BC. took over the area at
Hallein-Dürrnberg, also near Salzburg, the leading position in the extraction of
salt from mines, and a Celtic center of trade and crafts emerged. Wealth is
reflected in the graves, where warriors were buried with rich weapons. Among the
drinking equipment was a bronze beak jug with fantasy animals in early Celtic
style as well as an imported drinking cup, a kylix, from Athens. I 100-tfKr. the
Celtic oppidum on Magdalensberg occupied a key position.
-
AbbreviationFinder: Check three-letter abbreviation for each country in the world,
such as AUS which represents the official name of Austria.

Austria - history
In 15 BC. the Alpine region south of the Danube was conquered by the
Romans; in the 40's AD. under Emperor Claudius, the province of Noricum was
established, the extent of which is largely similar to present-day
Austria; Tyrol, however, was part of the province of Raetia. The easternmost
part belonged to the province of Pannonia; here the Romans established the
legion camp Vindobona at the border of the Roman Empire, and the civil
settlement that arose in connection with it developed into the present capital,
Vienna. From the end of 100-teKr. practiced Germanic tribes a hard pressure
against the frontier, and as a result of the attacks of the Ostro and Visigoths
in the early 400-t. the Romans lost control of the area.
The Middle Ages
I 500-600-t. penetrated the Germanic bajuvars into the Danube and Alpine
lands. At the same time, the southeasternmost part of present-day Austria was
populated by Slavic tribes, the ancestors of modern-day Slovenes. The Bajuvar
tribal area came under the influence of the Frankish Empire and was expanded to
the east and southeast, after Charlemagne 791-96 had crushed the kingdom of the
Avars in present-day Hungary. The Germanic new acquisitions went in the late
800-t. lost to the advancing Magyars, but when Otto I the Great in 955 had
inflicted a decisive defeat on the Magyars, frontier fields were re-established
for German colonization.
Historical overview |
ca. 100,000 BC |
mustard culture |
approx. 35,000 BC |
aurignacien and gravettien cultures |
approx. 5500 BC |
agriculture is introduced |
approx. 2200-800 BC |
Bronze Age; high grave and urn field culture |
approx. 700-450 BC |
Iron Age; Hallstatt and La Tčne cultures dominate |
15 BC |
the Romans conquer the Austrian territories south of the Danube and
later form the provinces of Raetia, Noricum and Pannonia |
400-t. |
the Romans lose control of the area after ostrich and visigothic
attacks |
500-600-t. |
Germanic bajuvars penetrate the northern part of present-day
Austria, Slavic tribes penetrate the southern part |
700-t. |
the Bajuvars come under Frankish influence |
955 |
Otto I the Great establishes the Margrave "Ostmark", later
"Ostarrichi", as part of the frontier of German colonization |
1452-1806 |
The House of Habsburg is the holder of the German-Roman imperial
dignity |
1453 |
Austria becomes archduchy |
1526 |
Ferdinand of Habsburg is elected King of Bohemia and Hungary; the
connection between Austria, Bohemia and Hungary lasts until 1918 |
1529 |
the Ottomans besiege Vienna |
1555 |
The Augsburg religious peace will be the beginning of a longer
recatholisation in Austria and Bohemia |
1618-48 |
The Thirty Years' War; Austria is strengthening its position in
Central Europe |
1683 |
2nd Ottoman siege of Vienna |
1699 |
after the Peace of Karlowitz, the Sultan cedes Hungary, Transylvania
and Slavonia to Austria, which becomes the new great power in Central
Europe |
1701-14 |
The Spanish Succession War; Milan and the Spanish Netherlands come
under the Habsburg crown |
1740-48 |
The Austrian Succession War; Maria Theresia is guaranteed the
Austrian heritage, but loses Silesia |
1756-63 |
The Seven Years' War; Austria does not achieve the desired recapture
of Silesia, but consolidates its position as a major power in Central
Europe |
1772 |
in the first partition of Poland, Maopolska and Galicia go to
Austria |
1804 |
Francis II proclaims himself heir to the throne of Austria under the
name Francis I and abolishes the German-Roman Empire two years later |
1814-15 |
at the Congress of Vienna the European balance of power system is
reorganized with Austria as the dominant power in Central Europe |
1848-49 |
popular uprising; Emperor Ferdinand I abdicates in favor of his
nephew, Francis Joseph I. |
1864 |
sm Prussia defeats Austria Denmark |
1866 |
Austria loses the war against Prussia |
1867-1918 |
The Austro-Hungarian Dual Monarchy |
1879 |
Austria-Hungary and Germany in defense alliance, which three years
later expands with Italy and becomes the Triple Alliance |
1908 |
Austria-Hungary annexes Bosnia and Herzegovina |
1914 |
the Habsburg heirs are murdered in Sarajevo; the murder is the
immediate cause of World War I. |
1918 |
The Entente forces force Austria-Hungary to a ceasefire; Charles I
abdicates, the empire dissolves, and the Republic of Austria is
proclaimed |
1919 |
With the conclusion of the Treaty of Saint-Germain, Austria must
renounce the Sudetenland and South Tyrol and renounce its unification
with Germany |
1920-38 |
first Austrian republic |
1933 |
Chancellor Dollfuß repeals the constitution |
1938 |
Connection; Austria is incorporated into Germany, 1939-42 under the
name Ostmark |
1939-45 |
Austria participates in World War II as part of Germany |
1945 |
Soviet and American troops conquer Austria and occupy the country
along with France and Britain; the Constitution of 1920 is reintroduced |
1947-66 |
SPÖ and ÖVP form a coalition government |
1955 |
a state agreement ends the occupation of Austria; the country must
in future be neutral and must not be united with Germany; Austria
becomes a member of the UN |
1960 |
Austria becomes a member of EFTA |
1995 |
Austria becomes a member of the EU |
2000 |
The ÖVP and the right-wing nationalist FPÖ form a coalition
government |
One of the field counties was Ostmark, which from 996 is referred
to as Ostarrichi. Others were Styria and Krain, while Carinthia in 976
was separated from Bavaria as an independent duchy. The leading German noble
family in the area were the Babenbergs, who from 1156 could call themselves
Dukes of Austria and in 1192 acquired the Duchy of Styria. When the family died
out in 1246, the Bohemian king Přemysl Ottokar II occupied both Austria and
Styria, and in 1269 he inherited Carinthia and Krain. The Czech dynasty's
attempt to extend Bohemia's power to the Adriatic was thwarted by the German
king Rudolf I of Habsburg, who in 1278 defeated Ottokar in a decisive battle at
Dürnkrut north of Vienna. In 1282, Rudolf endowed his sons with the duchies of
Austria and Styria.
The Habsburg expansion
1282-1918, the history of Austria was inextricably linked with
the Habsburg dynasty. The oldest possessions of the genus were in present-day
Switzerland and southwestern Germany, but during the late Middle Ages the
Habsburgs came to regard the Austrian lands as the basis of their house power. Haus
Österreich became a synonym for Habsburg. In 1335 they acquired Carinthia
and Krain, in 1363 Tyrol. The Habsburgs were then able to control important
trade routes between Germany and Italy, and the rich ore deposits in the
inherited lands formed the basis for the growth of the mining industry. With the
economic recovery came increased political prestige in the German-Roman
Empire; in the period 1452-1806 Habsburg was a permanent holder of the
German-Roman imperial dignity (except for the years 1742-45), and in 1453
Austria was elevated to the archdiocese. A serious crisis occurred when the
Hungarian king Matthias Corvinus 1485-87 conquered most of Austria with the
capital Vienna. Emperor Maximilian I, however, reunited the Austrian heritage
lands in 1493 and continued the Habsburg expansion by means of a far-sighted
marriage policy. Through Maximilian's marriage to Mary of Burgundy, the house of
Habsburg acquired The Netherlands and Burgundy as well as Spain and the
Spanish possessions in southern Italy and America. Other marriage treaties with
Bohemia and Hungary opened up opportunities for a Habsburg succession to the
throne in these countries. When the young King Louis II of Bohemia and Hungary
in 1526 died childless after the Battle of Mohács, elected the Bohemian estates
and part of the Hungarian nobility Ferdinand of Habsburg king. This created a
historic connection to Bohemia and Hungary, which was not dissolved until 1918.
Turkish wars and counter-reformation
By his older brother Charles V, Ferdinand had in 1521 been given control of
the Austrian heritage, which after the Ottoman victory at Mohács was given a
vulnerable position as the bulwark of Christianity against Islam. Ferdinand I
succeeded in averting the siege of Vienna by the Turks in 1529. However, he
failed to take possession of all of Hungary, where the majority of the nobility
had elected a national counter-king, János Szapolyai (1487-1540), supported by
Sultan Süleyman 1.
After his victorious campaign in 1541, Süleyman incorporated central and
southern Hungary into the Ottoman Empire, while Transylvania gained the status
of a tributary principality. Ferdinand, too, had to suffer the tort of paying
tribute to the Sultan for his possession of western and northern Hungary. In
return, he could adorn himself with the title of German-Roman emperor after the
abdication of Charles V in 1556. The Augsburg religious peaceheralded a
long-term recatolation campaign in Austria and Bohemia. The Jesuit order was
convened, and the domestic policy of the Habsburgs then aimed to centralize
power by strengthening the Catholic monarchy at the expense of the predominantly
Protestant estates. Strongest was the opposition of the Bohemian estates, which
fought to preserve the uniqueness of the Czech Church and the language of the
Czech administration. In 1618 they rose up for armed uprising, triggering
the Thirty Years' War. The defeat of the Czechs in the Battle of the White
Mountain in 1620 and the introduction of the Verneuerte Landesordnungin
1627 signified the victory of Habsburg absolutism over the empire of the estates
and the victory of Catholicism over Protestantism in both Austria and
Bohemia. In Hungary, the Protestants enjoyed the protection of the Sultan, but
after the failed siege of Vienna in 1683, the Ottomans were gradually pushed
south, and at the Peace of Karlowitz in 1699, the Sultan had to cede Hungary,
Transylvania and Slavonia to Austria, becoming the dominant power in Central
Europe.
Until the founding of the empire
Even before the conclusion of the peace, the Hungarian nobility had been
promised to retain its old privileges (see Tripartite) in exchange for
recognizing Habsburg's inheritance rights to the Hungarian crown. Transylvania
(Transylvania) also received guarantees for its medieval
constitution. Administratively, the multiethnic Habsburg Empire was very
disparate compared to the rival superpowers, of which France was the main
enemy. After the War of the Spanish Succession acquired Habsburg Milan and
the Spanish Netherlands (now Belgium and Luxembourg), after 1713 called the
Austrian Netherlands. France now sought to encircle Austria by forming alliances
with the Ottoman Empire, Poland and Sweden. In return, in 1726, Austria gained
an important ally in the new great power in the east, Russia, which showed its
value as an ally as early as the 1730's wars in the Balkans and in
Poland. Habsburg's greatest weakness then was the uncertainty about the
succession to the throne. Since the Pragmatic Sanction in 1713, Charles VI had
worked for an international recognition of the female succession to the throne
in the dynasty. However, when his daughter Maria Theresia took over the rule in
the hereditary lands after his death in 1740, the scheme was challenged by
e.g. the Prussian king Frederik II the Great. The result wasThe Austrian
Succession War. Prussia managed to maintain the conquest of strategically and
economically important Silesia even after the Seven Years' War 1756-63. Thus
arose the German dualism, i.e. the antagonism between the great powers
Austria and Prussia. At the first partition of Poland in 1772, Frederick the
Great obtained West Prussia, while Maria Theresia took care of Małopolska
and Galicia.. Internally, she carried out a centralist reform of the state
administration, which, however, only affected the main bastions of absolutism,
Bohemia and Austria itself. Inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, in 1774
she ordained the first compulsory peasant school system in Europe; it led to a
rapid spread of literacy and thus created fertile ground for national
revivals. In the same direction worked the radical reform policy initiated by
her son and successor, Joseph II, who gave freedom of religion to the religious
minorities and intervened against the oppression of the peasants. His regime of
1780-90 met with fierce opposition, especially in Hungary and the Netherlands,
because he neglected the special rights of the regions and made German the only
administrative language. Many of his 17,000 new ordinances therefore had to be
revoked later. But his enlightened autocracy gained lasting significance by
placing the Catholic Church under state control; a third of the monasteries were
closed down, and the secularized estates were part of a "religious fund," the
funds of which were used for the construction of schools and hospitals. He also
created a uniform and zealous office, whose legal norms were based on the legal
codifications of 1787-88. The French Revolution and the Coalition Wars led to
the loss of the Netherlands and caused a domestic political upheaval, with
Joseph II's followers distancing themselves from the
Enlightenment ideas and embarking on a conservative course. As a consequence of
Napoleon's reorganization of Germany, Francis II proclaimed himself heir to the
throne of Austria in 1804 as Francis I, and two years later he abolished the
German-Roman imperial crown.
The Empire 1804-1867
The Empire's debut in the European arena was marred by the severe defeats of
the battles of Austerlitz in 1805 and Wagram in 1809. However, it managed to
escape the Napoleonic Wars without significant territorial losses. At
the Congress of Vienna 1814-15, the Austrian Foreign Minister, von Metternich,
was able to act as chief designer of the new map of Europe, which gave Austria a
dominant influence in Germany and Italy. Under his leadership, Austria pursued a
foreign policy aimed at maintaining the status quo in Europe. Austria's domestic
policy was also extremely conservative, seeking to stifle all reform ideas and
national movements by strict censorship and police violence.
The year of the revolution of 1848 shook the regime for the first
time. Violent demonstrations in Vienna forced Metternich to flee, and there were
also popular uprisings in Bohemia, Hungary and northern Italy. Thanks to the
loyalty of the Croatian troops, the military managed to control the situation in
the cities. Emperor Ferdinand I abdicated in favor of his young nephew Francis
I, but the Hungarian rebel army was not defeated until 1849 by Russian
forces. Thereafter, Hungary lost its long-established special status. Military
humiliations in Italy in 1859 forced the authoritarian regime to constitutional
experiments (see October diploma and February patent), which, however, did not
remove the dissatisfaction of nationalities. After the joint victory over
Denmark in 1864, disagreement arose between Austria and Prussia over the future
of Schleswig-Holstein. A war between the two German great powers resulted in the
defeat of Austria in 1866 and its reconciliation with Hungary at the
landmark Ausgleich in 1867.
The Double Monarchy 1867-1918
With this reconciliation, Austria and Hungary became two independent,
constitutional monarchies with a common head of state and common ministries of
foreign, military and fiscal policy (see Austria-Hungary). The Austrian partner
of this union was called Zisleithania and had its parliament (Reichsrat) in
Vienna. The new system gave the Poles regional autonomy in Galicia, and here,
from 1869, Polish was equated with German in administration, school and
judiciary. Ausgleich, however, was a great disappointment to the Czechs. They
had hoped to gain the same independence as the Hungarians and chose to boycott
the parliament in Vienna until 1879, when they, together with the Poles and
German conservatives, formed the basis of Eduard von Taaffe's national
reconciliation government 1879-93. By the language decrees of Bohemia and
Moravia in 1880, Czech was equated with German in administration and judiciary,
and an electoral amendment in the same year ensured the Czech middle class a
solid majority in the Bohemian parliament. The University of Prague was divided
into a Czech and a German, and thereafter the Czechs had control over their own
education system. The Slovenian minority was also catered for by
Taaffe. Nevertheless, national tensions increased. The anti-Semitic agitator
Georg von Schönerer (1842-1921) and other leading opponents of Taaffe
andAustroslavism in 1882 drew up a pantyhose program proposing a union with the
German Empire.
Economically, the years after 1867 were marked by a marked recovery. This entrepreneurial
eraended with the stock market crash of 1873, which fueled popular
anti-Semitism. During Taaffe's reign, the wheels began to turn again. The
protectionist tariff (1879) and the rapid expansion of the state railway
network, together with the opening of new markets in the Balkans, meant that
industrial production doubled in 1880-95 and tripled in 1880-1913. Austria was a
technological leader in the brewing, glassworks and textile industries, but in
line with the arms race, heavy industry became the most important sector,
especially in Styria and Bohemia-Moravia. Although in 1910 the Czech lands
accounted for only 36% of the population of Zisleithania, they made up 65% of
the industrial workforce and 68% of the machinery; The Škoda factories became
the main manufacturer of machinery and weapons.
Economic development brought new mass parties onto the scene. In 1889, the
labor leader Victor Adler founded the Austrian Social Democratic Party, which in
1911 was split into a German and a Czech party. In 1893, Karl Lueger founded the
Christian Social Party, which was based on the peasants and the lower
bourgeoisie. Following the Democratic Electoral Act of 1906, these parties
became dominant in parliament and social issues were put at the top of the
political agenda. See also Austro-Marxism.
Frans Josef I was from 1848 emperor of Austria and from 1867 also king of
Hungary until his death in 1916. Empress Elisabeth (Sisi or Sissi) was murdered
in 1898 by an anarchist. Their son, Crown Prince Rudolf, committed suicide in
1889 (see the Mayerling drama).
After the defeat in 1866, foreign policy was directed primarily to the
southeast. The most important rival was Russia, which with
its pan-Slavicism appealed to the Slavic peoples of the Balkans and of
Austria-Hungary itself. Russia's reorganization of the Balkan states at the
Peace of San Stefano in 1878 was overthrown the same year at the Berlin
Congress, which left the administration of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the dual
monarchy. This laid the groundwork for a conflict with Serbia, which from 1906
began to pursue a nationalist foreign policy facing Habsburg. Vienna's decision
to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908 excited both Serbs and Croats. The South
Slavic minorities in Austria-Hungary now linked their dreams of freedom to the
self-conscious Serbia, which in 1912-13 emerged strengthened from the Balkan
warsagainst Turkey and Bulgaria. The assassination of the Habsburg heirs in
Sarajevo on Serbian National Day, June 28, 1914, triggered World War I, leading
to the abdication of Emperor Charles I in 1918 and the abolition of the
monarchy. With the Treaty of Saint-Germain in 1919, the Austrian Republic had to
abandon the German-speaking Sudetenland and South Tyrol, as well as the hope of
being united with Germany.
|