Austria: timeline and key events
1st century BC
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Politics
Roman conquest of the eastern Alps
The armies of Drusus and Tiberius subdued the Alpine peoples, while the Celtic kingdom of Noricum, an ally of Rome, was absorbed into the Empire. The camp of Carnuntum on the Danube later became one of the great strongholds of the frontier.
10th century
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Politics
First mention of the name “Ostarrichi”
A charter of Emperor Otto III mentioned for the first time the region “commonly called Ostarrichi”, the origin of the name Austria (Österreich). The territory was then a march of the Empire, held by the Babenberg family since 976.
12th century
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Politics
Austria becomes a duchy
Through the Privilegium Minus, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa raised the March of Austria to a hereditary duchy for Henry II Jasomirgott, who made Vienna his residence.
13th century
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War
Battle on the Marchfeld: the Habsburgs take over
Rudolf I of Habsburg defeated King Ottokar II of Bohemia, who was killed in the battle, on the Marchfeld, north-east of Vienna. In 1282 he gave Austria to his sons: the Habsburg dynasty would rule there until 1918.
16th century
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War
First Ottoman siege of Vienna
Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent besieged Vienna but had to lift the siege as winter approached. For more than a century and a half, the city was the bulwark of Christian Europe against the Ottoman Empire.
17th century
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War
Battle of Vienna
Besieged for the second time by Kara Mustafa's Ottoman army, Vienna was relieved by a coalition army led by King John III Sobieski of Poland. The victory opened the way for the Habsburg reconquest of Hungary.
18th century
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Politics
Accession of Maria Theresa
On the death of her father Charles VI, Maria Theresa inherited the Habsburg lands. She had to defend her inheritance in the War of the Austrian Succession, lost Silesia to Prussia, then thoroughly modernised the administration and schooling.
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Religion
Joseph II's Patent of Toleration
An enlightened monarch, Joseph II granted freedom of private worship to Lutherans, Calvinists and Orthodox Christians. His reforms, often imposed from above, met strong resistance across his lands.
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Culture
Death of Mozart in Vienna
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna aged 35, a few weeks after the premiere of The Magic Flute. With Haydn, and then Beethoven, who settled in Vienna in 1792, he made the Habsburg capital the centre of classical music.
19th century
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Politics
Proclamation of the Austrian Empire
Faced with Napoleon, Francis II proclaimed himself hereditary Emperor of Austria as Francis I. In 1806 he laid down the crown of the Holy Roman Empire, which ceased to exist after more than eight centuries.
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Politics
Congress of Vienna
From September 1814 to June 1815, Europe's sovereigns and diplomats redrew the map of the continent after the Napoleonic Wars. Austrian Foreign Minister Metternich, the architect of the congress, made Vienna the centre of the European balance of power.
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Politics
Revolution of 1848
An uprising broke out in Vienna and forced Metternich to resign. The movement was crushed in the autumn, and the 18-year-old Franz Joseph ascended the throne in December; he would reign for 68 years.
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Politics
Austro-Hungarian Compromise
Weakened by its defeat to Prussia at Königgrätz in 1866, the monarchy reached a compromise with Hungary: the empire became Austria-Hungary, a dual monarchy in which Franz Joseph was both Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary.
20th century
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War
Sarajevo assassination
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne, was assassinated in Sarajevo by the Bosnian Serb nationalist Gavrilo Princip. A month later Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, triggering the First World War.
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Politics
End of the Empire, proclamation of the Republic
After defeat and the break-up of Austria-Hungary, Emperor Charles I renounced power and the Republic of German-Austria was proclaimed in Vienna. The Treaty of Saint-Germain (1919) reduced the country to a small Alpine state and banned it from uniting with Germany.
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Politics
Civil war and assassination of Dollfuss
Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss, who had ruled without Parliament since 1933, crushed a socialist uprising in February and established an authoritarian regime. He was assassinated on 25 July during an attempted coup by Austrian Nazis.
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Politics
Anschluss
German troops entered Austria, which was annexed to Hitler's Reich the next day; Hitler himself was born in Austria. During the war, some 65,000 Austrian Jews were murdered; the responsibility of many Austrians for Nazi crimes was only officially acknowledged in 1991.
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Politics
Birth of the Second Republic
After the Red Army took Vienna, a provisional government led by Karl Renner proclaimed the restoration of an independent Austria. The country nevertheless remained occupied by the four Allied powers for ten years.
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Politics
State Treaty and neutrality
Signed at the Belvedere Palace, the State Treaty restored Austria's full sovereignty and led to the withdrawal of the occupying troops. On 26 October, Parliament passed a law on the country's permanent neutrality; the date has become the national holiday.
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Politics
Joining the European Union
Approved by 66.6% of voters in the June 1994 referendum, Austria's membership of the European Union took effect, at the same time as that of Sweden and Finland.
