History of Austria

The history of Austria covers the history of Austria and its predecessor states. In the late Iron Age Austria was occupied by people of the Hallstatt Celtic culture (c. 800 BC), they first organized as a Celtic kingdom referred to by the Romans as Noricum, dating from c. 800 to 400 BC. At the end of the 1st century BC, the lands south of the Danube became part of the Roman Empire. In the Migration Period, the 6th century, the Bavarii, a Germanic people, occupied these lands until it fell to the Frankish Empire establish by the Germanic Franks in the 9th century. The name ''Ostarrîchi'' (Austria) has been in use since 996 AD when it was a margravate of the Duchy of Bavaria and from 1156 an independent duchy (later archduchy) of the Holy Roman Empire (''Heiliges Römisches Reich'' 962–1806).

Austria was dominated by the House of Habsburg and House of Habsburg-Lorraine (''Haus Österreich'') from 1273 to 1918. In 1806, when Emperor Francis II of Austria dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, Austria became the Austrian Empire, and was also part of the German Confederation until the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. In 1867, Austria formed a dual monarchy with Hungary: the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918). When this empire collapsed after the end of World War I in 1918, Austria was reduced to the main, mostly German-speaking areas of the empire (its current frontiers), and adopted the name, The Republic of German-Austria. However, union with Germany and the chosen country name were forbidden by the Allies at the Treaty of Versailles. This led to the creation of the First Austrian Republic (1919–1933).

Following the First Republic, Austrofascism tried to keep Austria independent from the German Reich. Engelbert Dollfuss accepted that most Austrians were German and Austrian, but wanted Austria to remain independent from Germany. In 1938, Austrian-born Adolf Hitler annexed Austria to the German Reich under the ''Anschluss'' concept, which was supported by a large majority of the Austrian people. After the German defeat in World War II, the German identity in Austria was weakened. Ten years after the Second World War Austria again became an independent republic as the Second Austrian Republic in 1955. Austria joined the European Union in 1995.

Historiography

Since the territory understood by the term 'Austria' underwent drastic changes over time, dealing with a ''History of Austria'' raises a number of questions, e.g., whether it is confined to the current or former Republic of Austria, or extends also to all lands formerly ruled by the rulers of Austria. Furthermore, should Austrian history include the period 1938–1945, when it nominally did not exist? Of the lands now part of the second Republic of Austria, many were added over time – only two of the nine provinces or ''Bundesländer'' (Lower Austria and Upper Austria) are strictly 'Austria', while other parts of its former sovereign territory are now part of other countries e.g., Italy, Croatia, Slovenia and Czechia. Within Austria there are regionally and temporally varying affinities to adjacent countries.

Overview

Human habitation of the current territory of Austria can be traced back to the first farming communities of the early Stone Age ( Paleolithic era). In the late Iron Age it was occupied by people of the Hallstatt Celtic culture (c. 800 BC), one of the first Celtic cultures besides the La Tène culture in France. They first organized as a Celtic kingdom referred to by the Romans as Noricum, dating from c. 800 to 400 BC. At the end of the 1st century BC, the lands south of the Danube became part of the Roman Empire, and were incorporated as the Province of Noricum around 40 AD.

The most important Roman settlement was at Carnuntum, which can still be visited today as an excavation site. In the Migration Period, the 6th century, the Bavarii, a Germanic people, occupied these lands until it fell to the Frankish Empire in the 9th century. Around 800 AD, Charlemagne established the outpost of the Avar March (''Awarenmark'') in what is now Lower Austria, to hold back advances from Slavs and Avars.

In the 10th century an eastern (east of the River Enns) outpost of the Duchy of Bavaria, bordering Hungary, was established as the '' Marchia orientalis'' (March of the East) or 'Margraviate of Austria' in 976, ruled by the Margraves of Babenberg. This 'Eastern March' (borderland), in German was known as ''Ostarrîchi'' or 'Eastern Realm', hence 'Austria'. The first mention of ''Ostarrîchi'' occurs in a document of that name dated 996 CE. From 1156 the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa created an independent duchy (Privilegium Minus) under the House of Babenberg, until its extinction in 1246, corresponding to modern Lower Austria.

Following the Babenberg dynasty and a brief interregnum, Austria came under the rule of the German king Rudolf I of Habsburg (1276–1282), beginning a dynasty that would last through seven centuries becoming progressively distinct from neighbouring Bavaria, within the Holy Roman Empire. The 15th and early 16th century saw considerable expansion of the Habsburg territories through diplomacy and marriages to include Spain, the Netherlands and parts of Italy. This expansionism, together with French aspirations and the resultant Habsburg–French or Bourbon–Habsburg rivalry were important factors shaping European history for over 200 years (1516–1756).

By the Edict of Worms (''Wormser Vertrag'') of 28 April 1521, the Emperor Charles V (Archduke of Austria 1519–1521) split the dynasty, bestowing the hereditary Austrian lands (''Österreichische Länder'') on his brother, Ferdinand I (1521–1564) and the first central administrative structures were established. By 1526 Ferdinand had also inherited the kingdoms of Bohemia, and Hungary after the Battle of Mohács which partitioned the latter. However the Ottoman Empire now lay directly adjacent to the Austrian lands. Even after the unsuccessful first Siege of Vienna by the Turks in 1529, the Ottoman threat persisted for another one and a half centuries. There was a battle where the Christian Polish king, John III Sobieski stopped the Muslim attack against Christians and the city Vienna in 1683.

The 16th century also saw the spread of the Reformation. From around 1600 the Habsburg policy of recatholicization or Catholic Renewal (''Rekatholisierung'') eventually led to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). Originally a religious war, it was also a struggle for power in central Europe, particularly the French opposition to the Habsburg Holy Roman Empire. Eventually, the pressure of the anti-Habsburg coalition of France, Sweden, and most Protestant German states contained their authority to the Austrian and Czech lands in 1648.

In 1683, the Ottoman forces were beaten back from Vienna a second time and eventually, in the Great Turkish War (1683–1699), pushed back beyond Belgrade. When the main (Spanish) line of the Habsburgs died out in 1700, it precipitated the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714) between the Habsburgs and King Louis XIV of France. Subsequently, Austria gained control, through the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht, of the Spanish Netherlands, Naples and Lombardy.

These acquisitions together with conquests in the Balkans gave Austria its greatest territorial extent to date. 1713 also saw the Pragmatic Sanction, designed to prevent any further division of the territory. But when Charles VI (Archduke 1711–1740) died and was succeeded by his daughter, Maria Theresa (1740–1780) Austria was perceived as weak, leading to the War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) and the Seven Years' War (1756–1763). Subsequently, Austria lost Silesia to Prussia. Austria also lost prior conquests from the Ottomans except Banat of Temeswar and Syrmia in the Austro-Russian–Turkish War despite being allied with Russia.

These Silesian Wars initiated a long-standing tension between Austria and Prussia. Maria Theresa effectively reigned as Empress through her husband, Francis Stephen of Lorraine (d. 1765) and they founded the new dynasty of Habsburg-Lorraine. During her reign, extensive reforms were initiated, and when Francis died in 1765, these were continued by her son, Joseph II (Emperor 1765–1790; Archduke 1780–1790). However, his successor, his brother, Leopold II (1790–1792), was much more conservative.

The next emperor, his son Francis II (1792–1835), found himself at war with France in the First (1792–1797) and Second (1798–1802) Coalition wars, the prelude to the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), in which Austria lost further territory. Following further Austrian losses in the Third Coalition War (1803–1806) the future of the Habsburg Empire looked increasingly uncertain. Napoleon had declared himself Emperor of France in May 1804 and was busy reorganising much of the lands of the Holy Roman Empire, and looked to be assuming the title of emperor too, as a second Charlemagne. Francis II responded by proclaiming the Empire of Austria in August, taking the new title of Emperor. In 1806, having held both titles in the interim, he resigned the imperial crown of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which then ceased to exist.

Following the Congress of Vienna, Austria became part of the German Confederation till the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. In the 19th century nationalist movements within the empire became increasingly evident, and the German element became increasingly weakened, whilst most of Austria's Italian-speaking lands were gained by the new Kingdom of Italy. With Austria's expulsion from the German Confederation following its defeat by Prussia in the war in 1866 the Dual Monarchy with Hungary was created by the Austro-Hungarian Compromise in 1867. This succeeded in reducing but not removing nationalist tensions as it left mostly Slavic peoples and Romanians dissatisfied; dissatisfactions which were to boil over with the 1914 assassination of the heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, and the ensuing chain reaction resulting in the First World War. The losses of the war resulted in the collapse of the empire and dynasty in 1918.

The non-German ethnic groups broke away leaving Austria's current boundaries as German Austria, which was proclaimed an independent republic. The severe global economic crisis coupled with domestic political tensions led to civil strife in February 1934, with the May Constitution of 1934 resulting in an authoritarian corporate state. Just two months later the Austrian Nazis staged the July coup, wanting to annex the country to into Nazi Germany, resulting in the assassination of Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss. While the coup failed, Adolf Hitler succeeded in annexing Austria on 12 March 1938 as ''Ostmark'', until 1945. Austria was divided into four occupation zones after the Second World War and then in 1955 became the independent sovereign state ( Second Republic) that has existed to the present day. In 1995, Austria joined the European Union.

Geography and geology

The modern state of Austria is considered to have three geographic zones. The biggest consists of the Alps, which covers 62.8% of the country's landmass. In the north, across the Danube, is the Austrian (southern) portion of the Bohemian Massif, called the "''Böhmerwald''" or Bohemian Forest, a relatively lower mountain range of granite that makes up another 10% of the Austrian land area. The remaining parts of the country are the Pannonian lowlands along the border with Hungary (11.3%) and the Vienna Basin (4.4%).

The Bohemian Massif and its foothills were formed in the Variscan orogeny of the late Paleozoic era. Another important element of Austrian geology and geography is the late Mesozoic Alpine orogeny, and the subsequent formation of the Paratethys ocean and Molasse Basin in the Cretaceous era.

The extensive alpine regions are sparsely populated, and form a barrier to the passage of peoples apart from strategic passes providing access to Italy. Austria is positioned between the eastern European countries and central-western Europe, a position that has dictated much of its history. The Danube Valley has always been an important corridor from the West to the Balkans and the Orient.

Prehistory and early history

Paleolithic

The Alps were inaccessible during the Ice Age, so human habitation dates no earlier than the Middle Paleolithic era, during the time of the Neanderthals. The oldest traces of human habitation in Austria, more than 250,000 years ago, were found in the Repolust Cave at Badl, near Peggau in the Graz-Umgebung district of Styria. These include stone tools, bone tools, and pottery fragments together with mammalian remains. Some 70,000-year-old evidence was found in the Gudenus Cave in northwestern Lower Austria.

Upper Paleolithic remains are more numerous in Lower Austria. The best known are in the Wachau region, including the sites of the two oldest pieces of art in Austria. These are figurative representations of women, the Venus of Galgenberg found near Stratzing and thought to be 32,000 years old, and the nearby Venus of Willendorf (26,000 years old) found at Willendorf, near Krems an der Donau. In 2005 in the same area, a double infant burial site was discovered at Krems-Wachtberg, dating from Gravettian culture (27,000 years old), the oldest burial ground found in Austria to date.

Mesolithic

Mesolithic remains include rock shelters (abris) from Lake Constance and the Alpine Rhine Valley, a funeral site at Elsbethen and a few other sites with microlithic artifacts which demonstrate the transition from living as hunter-gatherers and sedentary farmers and ranchers.

Neolithic

During the Neolithic era, most of those areas of Austria that were amenable to agriculture and were sources of raw materials were settled. Remains include those of the Linear pottery culture, one of the first agrarian cultures in Europe. The first recorded rural settlement from this time was at Brunn am Gebirge in Mödling. Austria's first industrial monument, the chert mine at ''Mauer-Antonshöhe'' in the Mauer neighborhood of the southern Vienna district of Liesing dates from this period. In the Lengyel culture, which followed Linear Pottery in Lower Austria, circular ditches were constructed.

Copper Age

Traces of the Copper Age (Chalcolithic era) in Austria were identified in the Carpathian Basin hoard at Stollhof, Hohe Wand, Lower Austria. Hilltop settlements from this era are common in eastern Austria. During this time the inhabitants sought out and developed raw materials in the central Alpine areas. The most important find is considered to be the Iceman Ötzi a well-preserved mummy of a man frozen in the Alps dating from approximately 3,300 BC, although these finds are now in Italy on the Austrian border. Another culture is the Mondsee group, represented by stilt houses in the Alpine lakes.

Bronze Age

By the beginning of the Bronze Age fortifications were appearing, protecting the commercial centers of the mining, processing, and trading of copper and tin. This flourishing culture is reflected in the grave artifacts, such as at Pitten, in Nußdorf ob der Traisen, Lower Austria. In the late Bronze Age appeared the Urnfield culture, in which salt mining commenced in the northern salt mines at Hallstatt.

Iron Age

The Iron Age in Austria is represented by the Hallstatt culture, which succeeded the Urnfield culture, under influences from the Mediterranean civilizations and Steppe peoples. This gradually transitioned into the Celtic La Tène culture.

Hallstatt culture

This early Iron Age culture is named after Hallstatt the type site in Upper Austria. The culture is often described in two zones, Western and Eastern, through which flowed the rivers Enns, Ybbs and Inn. The West Hallstatt area was in contact with the Greek colonies on the Ligurian coast. In the Alps, contacts with the Etruscans and under Greek influence regions in Italy were maintained. The East had close links with the Steppe Peoples who had passed over the Carpathian Basin from the southern Russian steppes.

The population of Hallstatt drew its wealth from the salt industry. Imports of luxury goods stretching from the North and Baltic seas to Africa have been discovered in the cemetery at Hallstatt. The oldest evidence of an Austrian wine industry was discovered in Zagersdorf, Burgenland in a grave mound. The Cult Wagon of Strettweg, Styria is evidence of contemporary religious life.

La Tène (Celtic) culture

In the later Iron Age, the Celtic La Tène culture spread to Austria. This culture gave rise to the first-recorded local tribal (Taurisci, Ambidravi, Ambisontes) and place names. Out of this arose Noricum (2nd century to ''c''. 15 ) – a confederation of Alpine Celtic tribes (traditionally twelve) under the leadership of the Norici. It was confined to present-day southern and eastern Austria and part of Slovenia. The West was settled by the Raeti.

Dürrnberg and Hallein (Salzburg) were Celtic salt settlements. In eastern Styria and the Burgenland (e.g., Oberpullendorf) high-quality iron ore was mined and processed, then exported to the Romans as ''ferrum noricum'' ( Noric iron). This led to the creation of a Roman trading outpost on the Magdalensberg in the early 1st century , later replaced by the Roman town Virunum. Fortified hilltop settlements ('' oppida''), e.g. Kulm (east Styria), Idunum (mod. Villach), Burg ( Schwarzenbach), and Braunsberg ( Hainburg), were centers of public life. Some cities such as Linz (''Lentos'') date back to this period also.

Roman era

Although Noricum and Rome had been active trading partners and had formed military alliances, around 15 BC the majority of what we now know as Austria was annexed to the Roman Empire, beginning 500 years of so-called "Austria Romana" (as it became known in the 19th century). Noricum became a province of the Roman Empire.

During the reign of the Emperor Claudius (41–54 AD), the Roman province of Noricum had as its boundaries to the north the Danube, to the north-east the Vienna Woods, and in the east approximately the current eastern border of Styria, while in the south-east and south it was bounded by the Eisack and Drava rivers. Later, under Diocletian (284–305), the province was divided along the main Alpine ridge into a northern (''Noricum ripense'') and a southern (''Noricum Mediterraneum''). Across the Ziller in the west, corresponding to the present provinces of Vorarlberg and Tyrol, lay the province of Raetia, incorporating the earlier territory of Vindelicia. In the east lay Pannonia, including what is today the Burgenland. To the south was Region 10, ''Venetia et Histria''. The Danube river formed the Danubian ''limes'' (''limes Danubii''), a defensive line separating Upper and Lower Austria from the Germanic tribes of the Marcomanni and Quadi.

The Romans built many cities that survive today. They include Vindobona (Vienna), Juvavum (Salzburg), Valdidena (Innsbruck), and Brigantium (Bregenz). Other important towns were Virunum (north of the modern Klagenfurt), Teurnia (near Spittal), and Lauriacum ( Enns). Significant archaeological sites from the Roman period include Kleinklein (Styria) and Zollfeld (Magdalensberg).

Christianity appeared in Austria in the 2nd century AD, prompting Church organization that can be traced back to the 4th century AD. After the arrival of the Bavarii, Austria became the object of missionary efforts, such as Rupert and Virgil of the Hiberno-Scottish mission.

Migration period

First phase: Goths, 300–500 AD

The Great Migration (''Völkerwanderung'') sealed the decline of Roman power in Austria. In the First Phase (300–500 AD) the Roman Empire was increasingly harassed by Germanic tribes from the 5th Century, including Goths and Vandals. As the fabric of the Roman Empire crumbled, the ability of Raetia, Noricum, and Pannonia to defend themselves became increasingly problematic. Radagaisus overran part of the country in 405. (Géza Alföldy pp. 213–4). After several raids on Italy, the Visigoths arrived in 408, under Alaric I. Zosimus, ''Historia Nova'', Book five, 1814 translation by Green and Chaplin. For which, see Thermantia

As described by Zosimus, Alaric set out from Emona (modern Ljubljana) which lay between Pannonia Superior and Noricum over the Carnic Alps arriving at Virunum in Noricum, as had been agreed to by the Roman general Stilicho, following several skirmishes between the two. Alaric was voted a large amount of money to maintain peace, by the Roman Senate, at Stilicho's instigation. From there he directed his operations against Italy, demanding Noricum among another territory, finally sacking Rome in 410 but dying on the route home that year.

The Visigoths eventually moved on, allowing a short period of stability apart from domestic disturbances in 431. (Alföldy p. 214). 451 saw the Huns pour through the land, and in 433, Pannonia had had to be evacuated under the Hun attacks. The death of Attila in 453 allowed the Ostrogoths to scatter his Hunnish empire. Many tribes, formerly under the Huns now started to settle along the Danube basin and assert their independence. Among these were the Rugii, who formed their own lands (Rugiland) across the Danube and started to impose their will on Noricum.

From 472 Ostrogoths and Alamanni invaded the area but did not subdue it. Even after Odoacer had overthrown the last Western Roman Emperor in 476, there remained remnants of the Roman administration in the provinces before the final collapse of Late Antiquity in this area (see Severinus of Noricum and Flaccitheus). Noricum was eventually abandoned in 488, while Raetia was abandoned by the Romans to the Alamanni.

Abandoned and devastated towns and buildings slowly fell into disarray during the 4th and 5th centuries. By 493 the area was part of the lands of the Ostrogoth king Theodoric and there were no remaining Roman influences. The collapse of the Ostrogothic empire began with his death in 526.

Second phase: Slavs and Bavarii, 500–700 AD

During the second phase of the Migration Period (500–700 AD) the Langobardii (Lombards) made a brief appearance in the northern and eastern regions around 500 AD, but had been driven south into northern Italy by the Avars by 567. The Avars and their vassal Slavs had established themselves from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans. After the Avars suffered setbacks in the east in 626, the Slavs rebelled, establishing their own territories. The Alpine Slavs (Carantanii) elected a Bavarian, Odilo, as their count and successfully resisted further Avar subjugation.

The Slavic tribe of the Carantanians migrated westward along the Drava into the Eastern Alps in the wake of the expansion of their Avar overlords during the 7th century, mixed with the Celto-Romanic population, and established the realm of Carantania (later Carinthia), which covered much of eastern and central Austrian territory and was the first independent Slavic state in Europe, centred at Zollfeld. Together with the indigenous population they were able to resist further encroachment of the neighboring Franks and Avars in the southeastern Alps.

In the meantime, the Germanic tribe of the Bavarii (Bavarians), vassals of the Franks, had developed in the 5th and 6th century in the west of the country and in what is now known as Bavaria, while what is today Vorarlberg had been settled by the Alemans. In the northern alps the Bavarians had become established as a stem dukedom around 550 AD, under the rule of the Agilolfings until 788 as an eastern outpost of the Frankish Empire. At that time the lands occupied by the Bavarians extended south to current South Tyrol, and east to the river Enns. The administrative center was at Regensburg. Those groups mixed with the Rhaeto-Romanic population and pushed it up into the mountains along the Puster Valley.Gordon Brook-Shepherd, ''The Austrians: a thousand-year odyssey'' (1998).

In the south of present-day Austria, the Slavic tribes had settled in the valleys of the Drava, Mura and Save by 600 AD. The westward Slavic migration stopped further Bavarian migration eastwards by 610. Their most westward expansion was reached in 650 at the Puster Valley (Pustertal), but gradually fell back to the Enns River by 780. The settlement boundary between Slavs and Bavarians roughly corresponds to a line from Freistadt through Linz, Salzburg (Lungau), to East Tyrol (Lesachtal), with Avars and Slavs occupying eastern Austria and modern-day Bohemia.

Carantania, under pressure of the Avars, became a vassal state to Bavaria in 745 and was later incorporated into the Carolingian empire, first as a tribal margravate under Slavic dukes, and after the failed rebellion of Ljudevit Posavski in the early 9th century, under Frankish-appointed noblemen. During the following centuries, Bavarian settlers went down the Danube and up the Alps, a process through which Austria was to become the mostly German-speaking country it is today. Only in southern Carinthia, the Slavic population maintained its language and identity until the early 20th century, when a process of assimilation reduced their number to a small minority.

Middle Ages

Early Middle Ages: Duchy of Bavaria (8th–10th centuries)

Bavarian relationship with the Franks varied, achieving temporary independence by 717 AD, only to be subjugated by Charles Martel. Finally Charlemagne (Emperor 800–814) deposed the last Agilolfing duke, Tassilo III, assuming direct Carolingian control in 788 AD, with non-hereditary Bavarian kings. Charlemagne subsequently led the Franks and Bavarians against the eastern Avars in 791, so that by 803 they had fallen back to the east of the Fischa and Leitha rivers. These conquests enabled the establishment of a system of defensive marches (military borderlands) from the Danube to the Adriatic. By around 800 AD, Österreich, the "Kingdom of the East," had been joined to the Holy Roman Empire.

Among these was an eastern march, the Avar March (''Awarenmark''), corresponding roughly to present day Lower Austria, bordered by the rivers Enns, Raab and Drava, while to the south lay the March of Carinthia. Both marches were collectively referred to as the Marcha orientalis (Eastern March), a prefecture of the Duchy of Bavaria. In 805, the Avars, with Charlemagne's permission, led by the Avar Khagan, settled south-eastward from Vienna.Clifford J. Rogers, Bernard S. Bachrach, Kelly DeVries
''The Journal of Medieval Military History''
Boydell Press, 2003, pp. 58–59

A new threat appeared in 862, the Hungarians, following the pattern of displacement from more eastern territories by superior forces. By 896 the Hungarians were present in large numbers on the Hungarian Plain from which they raided the Frankish domains. They defeated the Moravians and in 907 defeated the Bavarians at the Battle of Pressburg and by 909 had overrun the marches forcing the Franks and Bavarians back to the Enns River.

Bavaria became a Margraviate under Engeldeo (890–895) and was re-established as a Duchy under Arnulf the Bad (907–937) who united it with the Duchy of Carinthia, occupying most of the eastern alps. This proved short lived. His son Eberhard (937–938) found himself in conflict with the German King, Otto I (Otto the Great) who deposed him. The next Duke was Henry I (947–955), who was Otto's brother. In 955 Otto successfully forced back the Hungarians at the Battle of Lechfeld, beginning a slow reconquest of the eastern lands, including Istria and Carniola.

During the reign of Henry's son, Henry II (the Quarrelsome) (955–976) Otto became the first Holy Roman Emperor (962) and Bavaria became a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire. Otto I re-established the eastern march, and was succeeded by Otto II in 967, and found himself in conflict with Henry who he deposed, allowing him to re-organise the duchies of his empire.

Otto considerably reduced Bavaria, re-establishing Carinthia to the south. To the east, he established a new Bavarian Eastern March, subsequently known as Austria, under Leopold (''Luitpold''), count of Babenberg in 976. Leopold I, also known as Leopold the Illustrious (''Luitpold der Erlauchte'') ruled Austria from 976 to 994.

Babenberg Austria (976–1246)

Margraviate (976–1156)

The marches were overseen by a ''comes'' or ''dux'' as appointed by the emperor. These titles are usually translated as count or duke, but these terms conveyed very different meanings in the Early Middle Ages, so the Latin versions are to be preferred . In Lombardic speaking countries, the title was eventually regularized to ''margrave'' (German: ''markgraf'') i.e. "count of the mark".

The first recorded instance of the name 'Austria' appeared in 996, in a document of King Otto III written as ''Ostarrîchi'', referring to the territory of the Babenberg March. In addition, for a long time the form ''Osterlant'' (''Ostland'' or 'Eastland') was in use, the inhabitants being referred to as ''Ostermann'' or ''Osterfrau''. The Latinized name ''Austria'' applied to this area appears in the 12th Century writings in the time of Leopold III (1095–1136). (compare ''Austrasia'' as the name for the north-eastern part of the Frankish Empire). The term ''Ostmark'' is not historically certain and appears to be a translation of ''marchia orientalis'' that came up only much later.

The Babenbergs pursued a policy of settling the country, clearing forests and founding towns and monasteries. They ruled the March from Pöchlarn initially, and later from Melk, continually expanding the territory eastward along the Danube valley, so that by 1002 it reached Vienna. The eastward expansion was finally halted by the newly Christianized Hungarians in 1030, when King Stephen (1001–1038) of Hungary defeated the Emperor, Conrad II (1024–1039) at Vienna.

A 'core' territory had finally been established. The land contained the remnant of many prior civilisations, but the Bavarians predominated, except in the Lake Constance area to the west occupied by the Alemanni (Vorarlberg). Pockets of the Celto-Romanic population (''Walchen'' or ''Welsche'') persisted, such as around Salzburg, and Roman place names persisted, such as Juvavum (Salzburg). In addition this population was distinguished by Christianity and by their language, a Latin dialect ( Romansch). Salzburg was already a bishopric (739), and by 798 an archbishopric.

Although the Germanic Bavarians steadily replaced Romansch as the main language, they adopted many Roman customs and became increasingly Christianized. Similarly in the east, German replaced the Slavic language. The March of Austria's neighbours were the Duchy of Bavaria to the west, the Kingdoms of Bohemia and Poland to the North, the Kingdom of Hungary to the east and the Duchy of Carinthia to the south. In this setting, Austria, still subject to Bavaria was a relatively small player.

The Babenberg Margraves controlled very little of modern Austria. Salzburg, historically part of Bavaria became an ecclesiastical territory, while Styria was part of the Carinthian Duchy. The Babenbergs had relatively small holdings, with not only Salzburg but the lands of the Diocese of Passau lying in the hands of the church, and the nobility controlling much of the rest. However they embarked on a programme of consolidating their power base. One such method was to employ indentures servants such as the ''Kuenringern'' family as ''Ministeriales'' and given considerable military and administrative duties. They survived as a dynasty through good fortune and skill at power politics, in that era dominated by the continual struggle between emperor and papacy.

The path was not always smooth. The fifth Margrave, Leopold II 'The Fair' (''Luitpold der Schöne'') (1075–1095) was temporarily deposed by the Emperor Henry IV (1084–1105) after finding himself on the wrong side of the Investiture Dispute. However Leopold's son, Leopold III 'The Good' (''Luitpold der Heilige'') (1095–1136) backed Henry's rebellious son, Henry V (1111–1125), contributed to his victory and was rewarded with the hand of Henry's sister Agnes von Waiblingen in 1106, thus allying himself with the Imperial family. Leopold then concentrated on pacifying the nobility. His monastic foundations, particularly Klosterneuburg and Heiligenkreuz, led to his posthumous canonisation in 1458, and he became Austria's patron saint.

Union with Bavaria 1139

Leopold III was succeeded by his son, Leopold IV 'The Generous' (''Luitpold der Freigiebige'') (1137–1141). Leopold further enhanced the status of Austria by also becoming Duke of Bavaria in 1139, as Leopold I. Bavaria itself had been in the hands of the Welf (Guelph) dynasty, who were pitted against the Hohenstaufen. The latter came to the imperial throne in 1138 in the person of Conrad III (1138–1152); the Duke of Bavaria, Henry the Proud, was himself a candidate for the imperial crown and disputed the election of Conrad, and was subsequently deprived of the Duchy, which was given to Leopold IV. When Leopold died, his lands were inherited by his brother Henry II (Heinrich Jasomirgott) (1141–1177).

In the meantime, Conrad had been succeeded as emperor by his nephew Frederick I Barbarossa (1155–1190), who was descended from both the Welfs and Hohenstauffens and sought to end the conflicts within Germany. To this end he returned Bavaria to the Welfs in 1156, but as compensation elevated Austria to a duchy through an instrument known as the Privilegium Minus. Henry II thus became Duke of Austria in exchange for losing the title of Duke of Bavaria.

Duchy of Austria (1156–1246)

Austria was now an independent dominion within the Holy Roman Empire, and Henry moved his official residence to Vienna that year.

= Leopold the Virtuous and union with Styria (1177–1194)

=
In 1186 the Georgenberg Pact bequeathed Austria's southern neighbour, the Duchy of Styria to Austria upon the death of the childless Duke of Styria, Ottokar IV, which occurred in 1192. Styria had been carved out of the northern marches of Carinthia, and only raised to the status of Duchy in 1180. However the territory of the Duchy of Styria extended far beyond the current state of Styria, including parts of present-day Slovenia (Lower Styria), and also parts of Upper Austria (the Traungau, the area around Wels and Steyr) and Lower Austria (the county of Pitten, today's districts of Wiener Neustadt and Neunkirchen).

The second Duke of Austria, Henry II's son Leopold V the Virtuous (''Luitpold der Tugendhafte'') (1177–1194) became Duke of these combined territories. Leopold is perhaps best known for his imprisonment of the British king, Richard I following the Third Crusade (1189–1192), in 1192 at Dürnstein. The ransom money he received helped finance many of his projects.

At that time, the Babenberg Dukes came to be one of the most influential ruling families in the region, peaking in the reign of Henry's grandson Leopold VI the Glorious (''Luitpold der Glorreiche'') (1198–1230), the fourth Duke. under whom the culture of the High Middle Ages flourished, including the introduction of Gothic art.

= Frederick the Quarrelsome: Division of the land and end of a dynasty (1230–1246)

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On Leopold's death, he was succeeded by his son Frederick II the Quarrelsome (''Friedrich der Streitbare'') (1230–1246). In 1238 he divided the land into two areas divided by the River Enns. That part above the Enns became ''Ob(erhalb) der Enns'' (Above the Enns) or 'Upper Austria' (''Oberösterreich''), although other names such as ''supra anasum'' (from an old Latin name for the river), and ''Austria superior'' were also in use. Those lands below the Enns or ''unter der Enns'' became known as Lower Austria (''Niederösterreich''). The Traungau and Steyr were made part of Upper Austria rather than Styria. Another of Frederick's achievements was a Patent of Protection for Jews in 1244.

However Frederick was killed in the Battle of the Leitha River against the Hungarians, and had no surviving children. Thus the Babenburg dynasty became extinct in 1246.

Interregnum (1246–1278)

What followed was an ''interregnum'', a period of several decades during which the status of the country was disputed, and during which Frederick II's duchy fell victim to a prolonged power play between rival forces. During this time there were multiple claimants to the title, including Vladislaus, Margrave of Moravia son of King Wenceslaus I of Bohemia. King Wenceslaus aimed at acquiring the Duchy of Austria by arranging the marriage of Vladislaus to the last Duke's niece Gertrud, herself a potential heir and claimant.

According to the Privilegium Minus issued by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1156, the Austrian lands could be bequeathed through the female line. Vladislaus received the homage of the Austrian nobility, but died shortly afterwards, on 3 January 1247, before he could take possession of the duchy. Next came Herman of Baden in 1248. He also made claim by seeking Gertrud's hand but did not have the support of the nobility. Herman died in 1250, and his claim was taken up by his son Frederick, but his claim was thwarted by the Bohemian invasion of Austria.

In an attempt to end the turmoil a group of Austrian nobles invited the king of Bohemia, Ottokar II Přemysl, Vladislaus' brother, to become Austria's ruler in 1251. His father had attempted to invade Austria in 1250. Ottokar then proceeded to ally himself to the Babenbergs by marrying Margaret, Duke Frederick II's sister and daughter to Leopold VI, therefore making him a potential claimant to the throne, in 1252. He subdued the quarrelsome nobles and made himself ruler of most of the area, including Austria, Styria (which was previously under the rule of Hungary) as well as Carniola and Carinthia, both of which he had claimed by a dubious right of inheritance.

Ottokar was a lawmaker and builder. Among his achievements was the founding of the Hofburg Palace in Vienna. Ottokar was in a position to establish a new empire, given the weakness of the Holy Roman Empire on the death of Frederick II (1220–1250) particularly after the Hohenstauffen dynasty was ended in 1254 with the death of Conrad IV and the ensuing ''Imperial interregnum'' (1254–1273). Thus Ottokar put himself forward as a candidate for the imperial throne, but was unsuccessful.

Religious persecution

During the interregnum, Austria was the scene of intense persecution of heretics by the Inquisition. The first instances appear in 1260 in over forty parishes in the southern Danube region between the Salzkammergut and the Vienna Woods, and were mainly directed against the Waldensians.

Habsburg ascent and death of Ottokar (1273–1278)

Ottokar again contested the Imperial Throne in 1273, being almost alone in this position in the electoral college. This time he refused to accept the authority of the successful candidate, Rudolf of Habsburg (Emperor 1273–1291). In November 1274 the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg ruled that all crown estates seized since the death of the Emperor Frederick II (1250) must be restored, and that King Ottokar II must answer to the Diet for not recognising the new emperor, Rudolf. Ottokar refused either to appear or to restore the duchies of Austria, Styria and Carinthia with the March of Carniola, which he had claimed through his first wife, a Babenberg heiress, and which he had seized while disputing them with another Babenberg heir, Margrave Hermann VI of Baden.

Rudolph refuted Ottokar's succession to the Babenberg patrimony, declaring that the provinces must revert to the Imperial crown due to the lack of male-line heirs (a position that however conflicted with the provisions of the Austrian ''Privilegium Minus''). King Ottokar was placed under the imperial ban; and in June 1276 war was declared against him, Rudolf laying siege to Vienna. Having persuaded Ottokar's former ally Duke Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria to switch sides, Rudolph compelled the Bohemian king to cede the four provinces to the control of the imperial administration in November 1276.

Ottokar having relinquished his territories outside of the Czech lands, Rudolph re-invested him with the Kingdom of Bohemia, betrothed his youngest daughter, Judith of Habsburg, (to Ottokar's son Wenceslaus II), and made a triumphal entry into Vienna. Ottokar, however, raised questions about the execution of the treaty, made an alliance with some Piast chiefs of Poland, and procured the support of several German princes, again including Henry XIII of Lower Bavaria. To meet this coalition, Rudolph formed an alliance with King Ladislaus IV of Hungary and gave additional privileges to the Vienna citizens.

On 26 August 1278, the rival armies met at the Battle on the Marchfeld, northeast of Vienna, where Ottokar was defeated and killed. The Margraviate of Moravia was subdued and its government entrusted to Rudolph's representatives, leaving Ottokar's widow Kunigunda of Slavonia, in control of only the province surrounding Prague, while the young Wenceslaus II was again betrothed to Judith.

Rudolf was thus able to assume sole control over Austria, as Duke of Austria and Styria (1278–1282) which remained under Habsburg rule for over six centuries, until 1918.

The establishment of the Habsburg dynasty: Duchy of Austria (1278–1453)

Thus Austria and the Empire came under a single Habsburg crown, and after a few centuries (1438) would remain so almost continuously (see below) till 1806, when the empire was dissolved, obviating the frequent conflicts that had occurred previously.

Rudolph I and primogeniture (1278–1358)

Rudolf I spent several years establishing his authority in Austria, finding some difficulty in establishing his family as successors to the rule of the province. At length the hostility of the princes was overcome and he was able to bequeath Austria to his two sons. In December 1282, at the Diet of Augsburg, Rudolph invested the duchies of Austria and Styria on his sons, Albert I (1282–1308) and Rudolph II the Debonair (1282–1283) as co-rulers "jointly and severally", and so laid the foundation of the House of Habsburg. Rudolf continued his campaigns subduing and subjugating and adding to his domains, dying in 1291, but leaving dynastic instability in Austria, where frequently the Duchy of Austria was shared between family members. However Rudolf was unsuccessful in ensuring the succession to the imperial throne for the Dukes of Austria and Styria.

The conjoint dukedom lasted only a year until the Treaty of Rheinfelden (''Rheinfelder Hausordnung'') in 1283 established the Habsburg order of succession subsequently murdered his uncle Albert I in 1308. For a brief period, Albert I also shared the duchies with Rudolph III the Good (1298–1307), and finally achieved the imperial throne in 1298.

On Albert I's death, the duchy but not the empire passed to his son, Frederick the Fair (1308–1330), at least not until 1314 when he became co-ruler of the empire with Louis IV. Frederick also had to share the duchy with his brother Leopold I the Glorious (1308–1326). Yet another brother, Albert II the Lame (1330–1358) succeeded Frederick.

The pattern of corule persisted, since Albert had to share the role with another younger brother Otto I the Merry (1330–1339), although he did attempt to unsuccessfully lay down the rules of succession in the "Albertinian House Rule" (''Albertinische Hausordnung''). When Otto died in 1339, his two sons, Frederick II and Leopold II replaced him, making three simultaneous Dukes of Austria from 1339 to 1344 when both of them died in their teens without issue. Single rule in the Duchy of Austria finally returned when his son, Rudolph IV succeeded him in 1358.

In the 14th century the Habsburgs began to accumulate other provinces in the vicinity of the Duchy of Austria, which had remained a small territory along the Danube, and Styria, which they had acquired with Austria from Ottokar. In 1335 Albert II inherited the Duchy of Carinthia and the March of Carniola from the then rulers, the House of Gorizia.

Rudolph IV and the ''Privilegium Maius'' (1358–1365)

Rudolf IV the Founder (1358–1365) was the first to claim the title of Archduke of Austria, through the Privilegium Maius of 1359, which was actually a forgery and not recognized outside of Austria till 1453. However it would have placed him on a level footing with the other Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. Rudolph was one of the most active rulers of his time, initiating many measures and elevating the importance of the City of Vienna.

At that time Vienna was ecclesiastically subordinate to the Diocese of Passau

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