Under Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II, Austria had arguably been part of the continent-wide movement of reform associated with the Enlightenment, take for example their legislation to remove many of the restrictions placed on the Jewish population.īut the twin forces of nationalism and democracy were such a threat to a multinational polity that from this point onwards the Hapsburgs and the empire they led, became a reactionary force, embodied in the machinations of their legendary Foreign Minister, Klemens von Metternich (foreign minister from 1809 to 1848). The French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars (1789-1815) unleashed the ideas of nationalism and democracy across Europe, both of which struck at the heart of the multi-ethnic and hierarchical structure of the Empire. During this period, Poland was partitioned and Austria was given from it the southern province of Galicia, which she retained right up till the end of the Great War. But her power in central Europe was challenged by Hohenzollern Prussia under Frederick the Great (1740-86). The long rule of the Empress Maria Theresa (1740-80) saw her undertake reform and centralisation of the administration. The Turkish threat had effectively been repulsed by the start of the 18th century and the Hapsburgs embarked on their new role in Europe which was to act as a counterweight to ambitious France, starting with the War of Spanish Succession (1702-14). Twice, in 15, the Turks laid siege to Vienna, a very under-reported and under-appreciated part of European history. This leads to a Big Historical Idea: just as the countries of the West were beginning to develop the idea of the nation state, central Europe was going down a different path, towards a multi-national empire.Įven more decisive was the role the Hapsburgs played in defending Europe from the Turks. Now the Hapsburg administration had to take account of various non-German nations with their own independent histories. This marked a turning point because up till then all Hapsburg land had been German-speaking. When King Louis II of Bohemia and Hungary died without issue in 1526, both his crowns passed to the Hapsburgs. In the 15th another Hapsburg was elected emperor and from 1438 till the Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by Napoleon in 1806 the Crown remained almost continuously in their house. In the 14th century the Hapsburgs acquired Carinthia, Carniola, Tyrol, Istria and Trieste to their domain. In 1273 the electors of the Holy Roman Empire elected Rudolf of Hapsburg to the office of Holy Roman Emperor. Meanwhile, the eastern March – the Oster Reich – of Charlemagne’s massive empire was granted to the Babenberg family in the tenth century and they held it for the next 300 years.
During the eleventh century the knights from this castle extended their power to build up a position of growing influence in south Germany. The name ‘Hapsburg’ derives from Habichtsburg meaning ‘Castle of the Hawks’, located in what is now the Swiss canton of Aargau. This gave Hungary more autonomy and respect than it had previously had.
In 1867 (following Hungary’s defeat to Prussia in the war of 1866) the state was organised into the so-called Dual Monarchy, with the Hapsburg ruler titled the Emperor of Austria and the King of Hungary. It was a dynastic creation, never attached to a specific country. The Hapsburg monarchy lasted 640 years from 1278 to 1918. The Hapsburg Monarchy in European History
#League of three emperors 1873 significance how to
This one opens by summarising the central challenge faced by the Austro-Hungarian Empire as it entered the twentieth century: how to take forward a fragmented, multi-cultural empire based on traditional dynastic and semi-feudal personal ties into the age of nationalism and democracy where every individual was, in theory at least, a citizen, equal before the law. It’s a very useful format for school or college students to give you a quick, punchy overview of a historical issue. These all follow the same layout: 100 or so pages of text divided up into brisk, logical chapters, followed by a short Assessment section, and then a small selection of original source documents from the period. This is another very short book, one of the popular Seminar Studies in History series.
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