History of Austria

Under the native Habsburg dynasty, Austria became one of the great powers of
Europe. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary. The
Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed in 1918 with the end of World War I. After
establishing the First Austrian Republic in 1919 Austria was de facto annexed into
Greater Germany by the Nazi regime in the so-called Anschluss in 1938.
[9]
This
lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Austria was occupied by
the Allies. In 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign
state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created
the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the country would become
permanently neutral.











Archduke Franz Ferdinand (right) with his family



The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914 by Gavrilo
Princip (a member of the Serbian nationalist group the Black Hand)
[31]
was used
by leading Austrian and Hungarian politicians and generals to persuade the
emperor to declare war on Serbia, thereby risking and prompting the outbreak of
World War I which led to the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Over
one million Austro-Hungarian soldiers died in World War I.
[32]

On October 21, 1918, the elected German members of the Reichsrat (parliament
of Imperial Austria) met in Vienna as the Provisional National Assembly for
German Austria. On October 30 the assembly founded the State of German
Austria by appointing a government, called Staatsrat. This new government was
invited by the emperor to take part in the decision on the planned armistice with
Italy, but refrained from this business; this left the responsibility for the end of
the war on November 3, 1918, solely to the emperor and his government. On
November 11 the emperor, counseled by ministers of the old and the new
government, declared he would not take part in state business anymore; on
November 12 German Austria, by law, declared itself to be a democratic republic
and part of the new German republic.


Ethno-linguistic map of AustriaHungary, 1910
The Treaty of Saint-Germain of 1919 (for Hungary the Treaty of Trianon of 1920)
confirmed and consolidated the new order of Central Europe which to a great
part had been established in November 1918, creating new states and resizing
others. Over 3-million German Austrians found themselves living outside of the
newborn Austrian Republic in the respective states
of Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, Hungary and Italy.
[33]


Cuisine


The Viennoise
Austria's cuisine is derived from that of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Austrian cuisine is mainly the
tradition of Royal-Cuisine ("Hofkche") delivered over centuries. It is famous for its well-balanced
variations of beef and pork and countless variations of vegetables. There is also the "Mehlspeisen"
Bakery, which created particular delicacies such as Sachertorte, "Krapfen" which are doughnuts usually
filled with apricot marmalade or custard, and "Strudel" such as "Apfelstrudel" filled with apple and
"Topfenstrudel" filled with sweetened sour cream.
In addition to native regional traditions, the cuisine has been influenced by Hungarian,
Bohemia Czech, Jewish, Italian, Balkan and French cuisine, from which both dishes and methods of food
preparation have often been borrowed. The Austrian cuisine is therefore one of the most multicultural
and transcultural in Europe.








Typical Austrian dishes include
WienerSchnitzel, Schweinsbraten, Kaiserschmarren, Kndel, Sachertorte and Tafelspitz. There is also
Krntner Kasnudeln, a cooked filled dough-bag with a type of cottage cheese and spearmint,
and Eierschwammerl dishes. The "Eierschwammerl", also known as "Pfifferling", are native yellow, tan
mushrooms. The candy Pezwas invented in Austria, as well as Mannerschnitten. Austria is also famous
for its Mozartkugeln, and its coffee tradition.

















Republic of Austria
Republik sterreich


Flag Coat of arms

Anthem: Land der Berge, Land am Strome (German)
Land of Mountains, Land by the River

Location of Austria (dark green)
on the European continent (light green & dark grey)
in the European Union (light green) [Legend]


Government Federal Parliamentary republic
-

President Heinz Fischer
- Chancellor Werner Faymann


























Coats of arms of the Habsburg Emperor in 1605



Battle of Vienna in 1683 broke the advance of the Ottoman Empire into Europe.


The Congress of Vienna by Jean-Baptiste Isabey, 1819









As a federal republic, Austria is divided into nine states (German: Bundeslnder).
[6]
These states are then
divided into districts (Bezirke) and statutory cities (Statutarstdte). Districts are subdivided into
municipalities (Gemeinden). Statutory Cities have the competencies otherwise granted to both districts
and municipalities. The states are not mere administrative divisions but have some legislative authority
distinct from the federal government, e.g. in matters of culture, social care, youth and nature
protection, hunting, building, and zoning ordinances. In recent years, it has been discussed whether
today it is appropriate for a small country to maintain ten parliaments.

State (Bundesland) Capital Area
Population
[63
]

Ran
k

1 Burgenland Eisenstadt
3,966
km
280,350 9
2 Carinthia (Krnten) Klagenfurt
9,536
km
560,753 6
3
Lower
Austria (Niedersterreich
)
St. Plten
19,17
4 km
1,588,545 2
4
Upper
Austria (Obersterreich)
Linz
11,98
0 km
1,405,986 3
5 Salzburg Salzburg
7,154
km
529,085 7
6 Styria (Steiermark) Graz
16,39
2 km
1,203,986 4
7 Tyrol (Tirol) Innsbruck
12,64
8 km
698,472 5
8 Vorarlberg Bregenz
2,601
km
364,611 8
9 Vienna (Wien)
Vienna (Wien
)
414.9
0 km
1,660,534 1