The area of today's Austria was already settled during the
Paleolithic period. Around 400 BC, it was inhabited by the
Celts and then conquered by the
Roman Empire in the late 1st century BC.
Christianization in the region began in the 4th and 5th centuries, during the late Roman period, followed by the arrival of numerous
Germanic tribes during the
Migration Period. Austria, as a unified state, emerged from the remnants of the
Eastern and
Hungarian March at the end of the
first millennium, first as a
frontier march of the
Holy Roman Empire, it then developed into a
duchy in 1156, and was made an
Archduchy in 1453. Being the heartland of the
Habsburg monarchy since the late 13th century, Austria was a major imperial power in Central Europe for centuries and from the 16th century, Vienna was also serving as the Holy Roman Empire's administrative capital. Before the
dissolution of the empire two years later, in 1804, Austria established
its own empire, which became a
great power and one of the largest states in Europe during its whole existence. The empire's defeat in wars and the loss of territories in the 1860s paved the way for the
establishment of
Austria-Hungary in 1867.
Entries here consist of
Good and
Featured articles, which meet a core set of high editorial standards.
Image 1
Battle of Rossbach, unknown artist
The Battle of Rossbach took place on 5November 1757 during the
Third Silesian War (1756–1763, part of the
Seven Years' War) near the village of
Rossbach (Roßbach), in the
Electorate of Saxony. It is sometimes called the Battle of, or at,
Reichardtswerben, after a different nearby town. In this 90-minute battle,
Frederick the Great, king of
Prussia, defeated an Allied army composed of
French forces augmented by a contingent of the
Reichsarmee (Imperial Army) of the
Holy Roman Empire. The French and Imperial army included 41,110 men, opposing a considerably smaller Prussian force of 22,000. Despite overwhelming odds, Frederick managed to defeat the Imperials and the French.
The Battle of Rossbach marked a turning point in the Seven Years' War, not only for its stunning Prussian victory, but because France refused to send troops against Prussia again and Britain, noting Prussia's military success, increased its financial support for Frederick. Following the battle, Frederick immediately left Rossbach and marched for 13 days to the outskirts of
Breslau. There he met the Austrian army at the
Battle of Leuthen; he employed similar tactics to again defeat an army considerably larger than his own. (Full article...)
The U-1 class (also called the Lake-type) was a
class of two
submarines or
U-boats built for and operated by the
Austro-Hungarian Navy (
German: kaiserliche und königliche Kriegsmarine). The class comprised
U-1 and
U-2. The boats were built to an American design at the
Pola Navy Yard after domestic design proposals failed to impress the Navy. Constructed between 1907 and 1909, the class was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's efforts to competitively evaluate three foreign submarine designs.
Both U-1-class submarines were
launched in 1909. An experimental design, the submarines included unique features such as a
diving chamber and wheels for traveling along the
seabed. Extensive
sea trials were conducted in 1909 and 1910 to test these features as well as other components of the boats, including the
diving tanks and engines for each boat. Safety and efficiency problems related to the
gasoline engines of both submarines led the Navy to purchase new propulsion systems prior to
World War I. The design of the U-1 class has been described by naval historians as a failure, being rendered obsolete by the time both submarines were
commissioned into the Austro-Hungarian Navy in 1911. Despite this, tests of their design provided information that the Navy used to construct subsequent submarines. Both submarines of the U-1 class served as training boats through 1914, though they were
mobilized briefly during the
Balkan Wars. (Full article...)
Image 3
A painting of SMS Körös bombarding Belgrade in 1914
During the
World War IIGerman-led
Axisinvasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941, Morava was the flagship of the 2nd Mine Barrage Division, and operated on the River
Tisza. She fought off attacks by the Luftwaffe, and shot down one enemy aircraft, but was forced to withdraw to Belgrade. Due to high river levels and low bridges, navigating monitors was difficult, and she was
scuttled by her crew on 11 April. Some of her crew tried to escape cross-country towards the southern
Adriatic coast, but most surrendered on 14 April. The remainder made their way to the
Bay of Kotor, which was captured by the Italian
XVII Corps on 17 April. She was later raised by the
Navy of the Independent State of Croatia, an Axis puppet state, and continued in service as Bosna until June 1944, when she struck a mine and sank. (Full article...)
Image 4
Marshal Mortier at the battle of Durenstein in 1805, Auguste Sandoz
The Battle of Dürenstein (
German: Schlacht bei Dürnstein; also known as Dürrenstein, Dürnstein and Diernstein) or the Battle of Krems (
Russian: Сражение при Кремсе), on 11 November 1805, was an engagement in the
Napoleonic Wars during the
War of the Third Coalition. Dürenstein (modern
Dürnstein),
Austria, is located in the
Wachau valley, on the river
Danube, 73 kilometers (45 mi) upstream from
Vienna, Austria. The river makes a crescent-shaped curve between Dürnstein and nearby
Krems an der Donau, and the battle was fought in the flood plain between the river and the mountains.
At Dürenstein, a combined force of
Russian and
Austrian troops trapped a
French division commanded by
Théodore Maxime Gazan. The French division was part of the newly created
VIII Corps, the so-called Corps Mortier, under command of
Édouard Mortier. In pursuing the Austrian retreat from
Bavaria, Mortier had over-extended his three divisions along the north bank of the Danube.
Mikhail Kutuzov, commander of the Coalition force, enticed Mortier to send Gazan's division into a trap and French troops were caught in a valley between two Russian columns. They were rescued by the timely arrival of a second division, under command of
Pierre Dupont de l'Étang. The battle extended well into the night, after which both sides claimed victory. The French lost more than a third of their participants, and Gazan's division experienced over 40 percent losses. The Austrians and Russians also had heavy losses—close to 16 percent—but perhaps the most significant was the death in action of
Johann Heinrich von Schmitt, one of Austria's most capable chiefs of staff. (Full article...)
No particular triggering event started the war. Prussia cited its centuries-old dynastic claims on parts of Silesia as a casus belli, but Realpolitik and
geostrategic factors also played a role in provoking the conflict. Maria Theresa's contested succession to the
Habsburg monarchy provided an opportunity for Prussia to strengthen itself relative to regional rivals such as
Saxony and
Bavaria. (Full article...)
The
VH platform, which the Rapide uses, extensively incorporates aluminium throughout the body, reducing weight. In 2012, Aston Martin ended its partnership with Magna Steyr and shifted production to
Gaydon, a
Warwickshire village where the other VH platform cars—the
DB9, the
DBS, the
Vantage and the
second-generation Vanquish—were produced. In 2015, Aston Martin began developing an electric version of the car, named the "RapideE". The production-ready model debuted in 2019 but was never series produced. (Full article...)
Image 7
Taking one of the redoubts of Kehl by throwing rocks, 24 June 1796, Frédéric Regamey
In the early years of the French Revolutionary Wars, Klenau distinguished himself at the
Wissembourg lines, and led a battle-winning charge at
Handschuhsheim in 1795. As commander of the
Coalition's left flank in the
Adige campaign in northern Italy in 1799, he was instrumental in isolating the French-held fortresses on the
Po River by organizing and supporting a peasant uprising in the countryside. Afterward, Klenau became the youngest
lieutenant field marshal in the history of the Habsburg military. (Full article...)
The conflict has been viewed as a continuation of the
First Silesian War, which had concluded only two years before. After the
Treaty of Berlin ended hostilities between Austria and Prussia in 1742, the
Habsburg monarchy's fortunes improved greatly in the continuing War of the Austrian Succession. As Austria expanded its alliances with the 1743
Treaty of Worms, Prussia entered a renewed alliance with Austria's enemies in the League of Frankfurt and rejoined the war, hoping to prevent a resurgent Austria from taking back Silesia. (Full article...)
Kafka was born into a middle-class German-speaking
Czech Jewish family in Prague, the capital of the
Kingdom of Bohemia, then part of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire (today the capital of the Czech Republic). He trained as a lawyer, and after completing his legal education was employed full-time by an insurance company, forcing him to relegate writing to his spare time. Over the course of his life, Kafka wrote hundreds of letters to family and close friends, including his father, with whom he had a strained and formal relationship. He became engaged to several women but never married. He died in obscurity in 1924 at the age of 40 from
tuberculosis. (Full article...)
On 10 April 1809, Austrian forces under
Archduke Charles crossed the border of
Bavaria, a French client state. The French response, under
Louis-Alexandre Berthier, was disorganised but order was imposed with the arrival of Napoleon on 17 April. Napoleon led an advance to
Landshut, hoping to cut off the Austrian line of retreat and sweep into their rear. Charles crossed the Danube at
Regensburg, which allowed him to retreat eastwards, although he failed to reach the Austrian capital,
Vienna, before the French. A French assault across the Danube was repulsed on 21–22 May at the
Battle of Aspern-Essling but a repeat attack was successful in July. Napoleon won a major victory at the 5–6 July
Battle of Wagram, which forced the Austrians to sign the
Armistice of Znaim on 12 July. Austrian invasions of the Duchy of Warsaw and
Saxony (where they fought alongside the
Black Brunswickers) were repulsed and they were driven out of their territories in Italy. British forces
landed in Walcheren, in the French client state of
Holland, but were unable to seize their objective of capturing
Antwerp and were later withdrawn. (Full article...)
Image 12
Gustav Mahler (German:[ˈɡʊstafˈmaːlɐ]; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian
Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the
modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect, which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the
Nazi era. After 1945 his compositions were rediscovered by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century.
Born in
Bohemia (then part of the
Austrian Empire) to
Jewish parents of humble origins, the German-speaking Mahler displayed his musical gifts at an early age. After graduating from the
Vienna Conservatory in 1878, he held a succession of conducting posts of rising importance in the opera houses of Europe, culminating in his appointment in 1897 as director of the
Vienna Court Opera (Hofoper). During his ten years in Vienna, Mahler—who had converted to
Catholicism to secure the post—experienced regular opposition and hostility from the
anti-Semitic press. Nevertheless,
his innovative productions and insistence on the highest performance standards ensured his reputation as one of the greatest of opera conductors, particularly as an interpreter of the stage works of
Wagner,
Mozart, and
Tchaikovsky. Late in his life he was briefly director of New York's
Metropolitan Opera and the
New York Philharmonic. (Full article...)
The terrain complicated battle tactics for both sides, but the Russians and the Austrians, having arrived in the area first, were able to overcome many of its difficulties by strengthening a causeway between two small ponds. They had also devised a solution to Frederick's deadly modus operandi, the
oblique order. Although Frederick's troops initially gained the upper hand in the battle, his limited scouting, combined with the strong defensive preparations of the Allied troops, gave the Russians and Austrians an advantage. By afternoon, when the combatants were exhausted, fresh Austrian troops thrown into the fray secured the Allied victory. (Full article...)
Image 14
Duke of Marlborough signing the Despatch at Blenheim
The Battle of Blenheim (German: Zweite Schlacht bei Höchstädt; French: Bataille de Höchstädt; Dutch: Slag bij Blenheim) fought on 13 August [
O.S. 2 August] 1704, was a major battle of the
War of the Spanish Succession. The overwhelming Allied victory ensured the safety of
Vienna from the Franco-Bavarian army, thus preventing the collapse of the
reconstituted Grand Alliance.
Friedrich der Grosse und der Feldscher,
Bernhard Rode
The War of the Bavarian Succession (
German: Bayerischer Erbfolgekrieg; 3 July 1778 – 13 May 1779) was a dispute between the Austrian
Habsburg monarchy and an alliance of
Saxony and
Prussia over succession to the
Electorate of Bavaria after the extinction of the Bavarian branch of the
House of Wittelsbach. The Habsburgs sought to acquire Bavaria, and the alliance opposed them, favoring another branch of the Wittelsbachs. Both sides mobilized large armies, but the only fighting in the war was a few minor skirmishes. However, thousands of soldiers died from disease and starvation, earning the conflict the name Kartoffelkrieg (Potato War) in Prussia and Saxony; in Habsburg Austria, it was sometimes called the Zwetschgenrummel (Plum Fuss).
On 30 December 1777,
Maximilian III Joseph, the last of the
junior Wittelsbach line, died of
smallpox, leaving no children.
Charles Theodore, a scion of a senior branch of the House of Wittelsbach, held the closest claim of kinship, but he also had no legitimate children to succeed him. His cousin,
Charles II August, Duke of Zweibrücken, therefore had a legitimate legal claim as Charles Theodore's
heir presumptive. Across Bavaria's southern border,
Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor coveted the Bavarian territory and had married Maximilian Joseph's sister
Maria Josepha in 1765 to strengthen any claim he could extend. His agreement with the heir, Charles Theodore, to partition the territory neglected any claims of the heir presumptive, Charles August. (Full article...)
Popper is known for his attempt to repudiate the classical observationalist/
inductivist form of
scientific method in favour of
empirical falsification. He is also known for his opposition to the classical
justificationist account of knowledge which he replaced with
critical rationalism, "the first non justificational philosophy of criticism in the history of philosophy". As well, he is known for his vigorous defence of
liberal democracy and the principles of
social criticism that he came to believe made a flourishing "
open society" possible.
... that a priest refused to perform the wedding ceremony for Austrian socialist Josef Peskoller and his fiancée Maria Griel on political grounds in 1928?
... that Rockstar Vienna was the largest video game developer in Austria when it closed in 2006?
... that the novel Mama Dear by Christine Haidegger details her childhood in post–World War II Austria?