Austria travel guide

The Habsburg house grew their empire over the centuries that followed, through marriage, but also through war. They famously battled the Ottomans for control over Hungary and in 1699 Hungary succumbed to the Austrians. In the 18th century, Austria’s empire lost ground, and vied with France and Prussia, but it was a period of Baroque splendour for cities like Vienna, and the enlightenment under Empress Maria Theresa brought many advances.

In support of Marie Antoinette (one of their own) Austria (still under the Habsburgs) battled against Revolutionary France at the turn of the 19th century, and then Napoleon. The Holy Roman Empire was extinguished after a solid thousand-year run, and the Austrian Empire was created instead. In 1814, Austria invaded France alongside forces from Prussia and Russia, bringing the Napoleonic Wars to an end. The Austrian empire was now one of the most powerful in Europe.

In 1848, Franz Josef I become king. He would rule all the way up until 1916. Under his rule, the Austro-Hungary empire was founded. There were now two emperors – one in Hungary and one in Austria, effectively diminishing Habsburg power. The Industrial Revolution transformed the country, and by the turn of the 20th century, Vienna was an enormous, learned city. Intellectuals – from Freud to Jung, met in coffeehouses and argued over a creamy selection of patisserie, whilst from 1900, Klimt and the Secessionists covered the city in gold leafed-Art Nouveau designs. The Alps were by now a popular leisure destination for wealthy Europeans, with skiing appearing in the North Tyrol at the turn of the century.

The Austro-Hungry empire, as it was now known, rubbed up against other diminishing European powers, and war loomed. The assassination of Franz Ferdinand, an Austro-Hungarian archduke, is widely cited as the catalyst that started World War I. This war put an end to the Austro Hungary empire. Austria emerged as a country in 1918 – it was shrunk down to its current size as land was given to its surrounding nations. In this diminished state, Austria entered World War II on the side of the Axis. From 1938 Hitler’s forces annexed the country – an event known as the Anschluss.

Like much of Europe, Austria had a post-war slump. Austria was occupied by ally forces for a decade. Grahame Greene’s novel, The Third Man, uses post-war Vienna as its atmospheric setting. In recent years, Austria has been open about its involvement in World War II and started to examine its own Nazi legacy. Thanks to economic growth, wealth and industry, Austria prospered in the second half of the 20th century, and joined the EU in 1995, adopting the Euro in 1999.