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Monday, May 18, 2015

Austria, Cool Facts #32

31. Liechtenstein <=                                                                                                   => 33. Switzerland


1. House of Habsburg 650 years in power 

The House of Habsburg ruled in Austria from 1278 until 1918, the end of World War II. The Habsburg's power collapsed after the world war and Austria-Hungary fell apart, Austria kept only its German-speaking areas. Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia became independent. For centuries it was one of the most mighty Empires of Europe and Vienna was the capital city for the ruling Habsburg family for 650 years.

Ferdinand Zvonimir Habsburg (born in -97)


2. Separation from the Germans

The German Confederation was established after the Congress of Vienna in 1815. The aim was to unify the German-speaking areas. It replaced the Holy Roman Empire which collapsed in 1806 to a defeat for France in the Napoleon wars. The Confederation consisted of 39 separate German-speaking states and there was a struggle between the two most powerful ones, Austria and Prussia. First Austria and Prussia fought together against Denmark in 1864 to secure their independence but just two years later in 1866 there was the Austro-Prussian War which resulted in the collapse of the German Confederation. Austria lost the war and had to leave the Confederation, Germany became the North German Confederation 1867-1871 and then the German Empire 1871-1918. Austria instead became Austria-Hungary in 1871.

1806 Holy Roman Empire collapses
1815 German Confederation established
1848 Revolution
1864 War against Denmark
1866 Austro-Prussian War
1867-1871 North German Confederation
1871-1918 German Empire
1867-1918 Austria-Hungary




3. Austria-Hungary 

Austria-Hungary was one of the world's great powers at its time between 1867-1918. It consisted of the monarchies of Austria and Hungary and the autonomous region of Croatia-Slavonia under the Hungarian crown. After two wars the Habsburg family was on the verge to collapse, they had a massive amount of debt and huge financial problems, so as a result they reconciled with Hungary to save their dynasty.

Here are some impressive facts about the Empire: 

2nd largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire, at 621,538 square meters of area
3rd most populous European country after Russia and the German Empire
4th largest machine building industry of the world, after the USA, Germany and UK

Countries at the area of the former Austria-Hungary

Austria
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Croatia
Czech Republic
Hungary
Italy
Montenegro
Poland
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
Ukraine
Austria-Hungary area

4. Legend behind the Flag

After Denmark's Dannebrog Austria has the oldest flag still in use. According to the legend the Duke Leopold V of Austria invented the flag during the battle Siege of Acre in 1189-1191. After fighting his white surcoat was completely stained with blood and when he removed his belt, the cloth underneath it was untouched and revealed a combination of red-white-red which impressed him so much that he adopted the colors and scheme as his banner. This incident was documented in 1260 but it's not clear how much of it is true.



5. Famous Austrians of the History 

Wolfgand Amadeus Mozart - Legendary composer
Michael Haydn - Composer, younger brother of Joseph Haydn
Joseph Haydn - Composer
Franz Schubert - Composer
Johann Strauss, Sr - Composer
Johann Strauss, Jr - Composer

Ludwig Boltzmann - Physicist and philosopher
Christian Doppler - Doppler effect inventor, mathematician and physicist
Erwin Schrödinger - Nobel Prize winning physicist
Gregor Mendel - Father of genetics, German-speaking Moravian scientist
Hans Asperger - Pediatrician, Asperger Syndrome was named after him
Sigmund Freud - Neurologist, father of the psychoanalysis

Ludwig Wittgenstein - British-Austria philosopher
Arnold Schwarzennegger - Legendary body builder, actor, businessman and politician
Hermann Maier - Legendary Alpine Ski Racer
Niki Lauda - 3 World Championships in Formula 1
Josef Madersperger - Invented the sewing machine in 1818
Ferdinand Porsche - Founder of Porsche, designed the Volkswagen also


This is Austria: 
























Timeline

400 BC Noricum Kingdom of the Celts 
9 BC Roman provinces of Raetia, Noricum and Pannonia at the area of current Austria 
400 Rome collapses, Germanic tribes conquer the area
500 Bavarian and Slavic tribes settle at the area 
791 King of Franks, Charlemagne, establishes Ostmark which is ruled by the Bavarian dukes
976 Badenberg dynasty comes to power
1156 The area separates from the Bavarian rule 
1246 The Badenberg dynasty falls, The king of Bohemia, Ottokar II, becomes the ruler 
1278 Ottokar II dies in a battle, the Habsburg come into power and rule until 1918 in Austria
1477 Maximilian I marries Maria from House of Burgundy, so the power of Habsburg reaches Burgundy and the Netherlands, as their son Philip married Joanna of Spain, Spain with its colonies becomes part of the Habsburg dynasty
1526 Bohemia, Moravia and parts of Hungary are attached to the Habsburg Empire
1556 The Habsburg lands are divided into the Spanish and Austrian branches when Charles V abdicates the crown
1600 The 30 Year War
1683 The Turkish are beaten and their areas are attached from Hungary to Austria
1815 The German Confederation which is led by Austria
1866 Prussia forces Austria to resign from the German Confederation when the North German Confederation is established
1867 The Austro-Hungarian Empire is established consisting of two monarchies
1908 Bosnia-Herzegovina is given to Austria, a fatal decision because in 1914 a Serbian nationalist assassinated the king of Austria, Franz Ferdinand in Bosnia
1914 After the assassination Austria declares war to Serbia 
1278-1918 Habsburg rule 
1938 Hitler occupies the country
1945-55 Occupying forces at the country, Austria is forbidden to join Germany or to let the Habsburgs rise back to power

Sources: 
Maailman liput maat ja historia - Kimmo Kiljunen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria-Hungary - History of Austria-Hungary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolutions_of_1848_in_the_German_states
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Austria
http://www.eupedia.com/austria/trivia.shtml

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