Home      Discussion      Topics      Dictionary      Almanac
Signup       Login
Austrian Empire

Austrian Empire

Overview
The Austrian Empire was a modern era
Periodization
Periodization is the attempt to categorize or divide time into named blocks. The result is a descriptive abstraction that provides a useful handle on periods of time with relatively stable characteristics...

 successor
Succession of states
Succession of states is a theory in international relations regarding the recognition and acceptance of a newly created state by other states, based on a perceived historical relationship the new state has with a prior state...

 empire
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium. Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy...

 founded on a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...

 centered on what is today's Austria that officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by combining the Royal House with that of Hungary creating the dual monarchy Austria–Hungary (also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867 to 1918), which was itself dissolved by the victors at the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...

 and broken into separate new states).

The term "Austrian Empire" is also used for the Habsburg possessions before 1804, which had no official collective name, although Austria is more frequent; the term of Austria–Hungary has also been used, incorrectly.

The Austrian Empire was founded by the Habsburg monarch Holy Roman Emperor Francis II
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...

 (who became Emperor Francis I of Austria), as a state
State (law)
State has several meanings in law:# in private international law and conflict of laws, State can refer to a well-defined jurisdiction, with its own set of laws and courts...

 comprising his personal lands within and outside of the Holy Roman Empire.

This was a reaction to Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...

's proclamation of the First French Empire
First French Empire
The French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or First French Empire, but more commonly known as the Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I in France...

 in 1804.

Austria and some parts of the Holy Roman Empire then took the field against France and its German allies during the Third Coalition
Third Coalition
The War of the Third Coalition spanning from 1803 to 1806 saw the defeat of an alliance of Austria, Portugal, Russia, and others by France and its client states under Napoleon I. Great Britain was the only country still at war with France after the Treaty of Pressburg and the resumption of...

 which lead to the crushing defeat at Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon Bonaparte's greatest victories, effectively destroying the Third Coalition against the French Empire...

 in early December 1805.
Discussion
Ask a question about 'Austrian Empire'
Start a new discussion about 'Austrian Empire'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum
 
Unanswered Questions
Encyclopedia
The Austrian Empire was a modern era
Periodization
Periodization is the attempt to categorize or divide time into named blocks. The result is a descriptive abstraction that provides a useful handle on periods of time with relatively stable characteristics...

 successor
Succession of states
Succession of states is a theory in international relations regarding the recognition and acceptance of a newly created state by other states, based on a perceived historical relationship the new state has with a prior state...

 empire
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium. Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy...

 founded on a remnant of the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...

 centered on what is today's Austria that officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by combining the Royal House with that of Hungary creating the dual monarchy Austria–Hungary (also known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867 to 1918), which was itself dissolved by the victors at the end of World War I
World War I
World War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...

 and broken into separate new states).

The term "Austrian Empire" is also used for the Habsburg possessions before 1804, which had no official collective name, although Austria is more frequent; the term of Austria–Hungary has also been used, incorrectly.

The Austrian Empire was founded by the Habsburg monarch Holy Roman Emperor Francis II
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...

 (who became Emperor Francis I of Austria), as a state
State (law)
State has several meanings in law:# in private international law and conflict of laws, State can refer to a well-defined jurisdiction, with its own set of laws and courts...

 comprising his personal lands within and outside of the Holy Roman Empire.

This was a reaction to Napoleon Bonaparte
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte later known as Napoleon I, and previously Napoleone di Buonaparte, was a military and political leader of France whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century.Born in Corsica and trained as an artillery officer in mainland France, Bonaparte rose to prominence...

's proclamation of the First French Empire
First French Empire
The French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or First French Empire, but more commonly known as the Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I in France...

 in 1804.

Austria and some parts of the Holy Roman Empire then took the field against France and its German allies during the Third Coalition
Third Coalition
The War of the Third Coalition spanning from 1803 to 1806 saw the defeat of an alliance of Austria, Portugal, Russia, and others by France and its client states under Napoleon I. Great Britain was the only country still at war with France after the Treaty of Pressburg and the resumption of...

 which lead to the crushing defeat at Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon Bonaparte's greatest victories, effectively destroying the Third Coalition against the French Empire...

 in early December 1805. By the fourth of that same month, a cease fire was in place and peace talks were being conducted nearby.

Subsequently, Francis II agreed to the humiliating Treaty of Pressburg (December 1805), which in practice meant dissolution of the long-lived Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...

 with a reorganization of the lost German territories under a Napoleonic imprint into a precursor state of what became modern Germany, those possessions nominally having been part of the Holy Roman Empire within the present boundaries of Germany, as well as other measures weakening Austria and the Habsburgs in other ways. Certain Austrian holdings in Germany were passed to French allies—the King of Bavaria
King of Bavaria
King of Bavaria was a title held by the hereditary Wittelsbach rulers of Bavaria in the state known as the Kingdom of Bavaria from 1805 until 1918, when the kingdom was abolished...

, the King of Württemberg and the Elector of Baden. Austrian claims on those German states were renounced without exception.

One consequence of that was eight months later on 6 August 1806, Francis II dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, due to the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation was a client state of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the...

 by France; as he did not want Napoleon to succeed him. This action was unrecognized by George III of the United Kingdom
George III of the United Kingdom
George III was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of these two countries on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until his death...

 who was also the Elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors....

 of Hanover who had also lost his German territories around Hanover to Napoleon. The English claims were settled by the creation of the Kingdom of Hanover
Kingdom of Hanover
The Kingdom of Hanover was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era...

 which was held by George's British heirs until Queen Victoria
Victoria of the United Kingdom
Victoria was the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837, and the first Empress of India of the British Raj from 1 May 1876, until her death...

's ascension, after which point it split into the British and Hanoverian royal families.

Although the office of Holy Roman Emperor was elective, the House of Habsburg had held the title since 1440 (with one brief interruption) and Austria was the core of their territories.

The Austrian Empire did not originally include the Kingdom of Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary , emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from Monarchy to Republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946, ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary...

, which the Habsburgs had ruled since 1526; Hungary was incorporated after the defeat of the revolutionaries during the 1848/49 revolution
Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas
From March 1848 through July 1849, the Habsburg Austrian Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements. Much of the revolutionary activity was of a nationalist character: the empire, ruled from Vienna, included Austrian Germans, Hungarians, Slovenes, Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Ruthenians,...

. Much controversy ensued, including Hungarian efforts to obtain constitutional reform by declining to crown the new Emperor Francis Joseph
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I , reigned as Emperor of Austria and King of Bohemia from 1848 until 1916 and as King of Hungary and Crotia from 1848 until 1916 .-Early life:Franz Joseph was born in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the oldest son of...

 as King of Hungary. After Austria was defeated in the Austro-Prussian War
Austro-Prussian War
The Austro-Prussian War was a war fought in 1866 between the Austrian Empire and its German allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia with its German allies and Italy on the other, that...

 of 1866, and left the German Confederation
German Confederation
The German Confederation was the association of Central European states created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to serve as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, which had been abolished in 1806. In 1848, revolutions by liberals and nationalists occurred in an attempt to...

, the Austrian Empire was transformed into the Austro-Hungarian Empire by the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, which granted Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary , emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from Monarchy to Republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946, ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary...

 and the Hungarian lands equal status to the rest of Austria as a whole.

Creation


Changes shaping the nature of the Austrian Empire took place during conferences in Rastatt
Rastatt
Rastatt is a city in the District of Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the Murg river, 6 km above its junction with the Rhine and has a population of over 47,000...

 (1797–1799) and Regensburg
Regensburg
Regensburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany, located at the confluence of the Danube and Regen rivers, at the northernmost bend in the Danube. To the east lies the Bavarian Forest. Regensburg is the capital of the Bavarian administrative region Upper Palatinate...

 (1801–1803). On 24 March 1803, the Imperial was declared, which greatly reduced the number of clerical territories from 81 to only 3 and imperial cities from 51 to 6. This measure was aimed at replacing the old constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, but the actual consequence of the Imperial Recess was the end of the Holy Roman Empire. Taking this significant change into consideration, Francis II created the title Emperor of Austria, for himself and his successors, abandoning the title of Holy Roman Emperor later in 1806.

The fall and dissolution of the Empire was accelerated by French intervention in the Empire in September 1805. On 20 October 1805, an Austrian army led by general Karl Mack von Leiberich
Karl Mack von Leiberich
Karl Freiherr Mack von Leiberich , Austrian soldier, was born at Nenslingen, in Bavaria.In 1770 he joined an Austrian cavalry regiment, in which his uncle, Leiberich, was a squadron commander, becoming an officer seven years later...

 was defeated by French armies near the town of Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the German Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and traditions...

. The French victory resulted in the capture of 20,000 Austrian soldiers and many cannons. Napoleon’s army won another victory in the Battle of Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon Bonaparte's greatest victories, effectively destroying the Third Coalition against the French Empire...

 on 2 December 1805. In light of those events, Francis was forced to negotiate with the French from 4 December to 6 December 1805. These negotiations were concluded by an armistice on 6 December 1805.

The French victories encouraged rulers of certain imperial territories to assert their formal independence from the Empire. On 10 December 1805, the prince-elector
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors....

 Duke of Bavaria proclaimed himself King, followed by the elector Duke of Württemberg on 11 December. Finally, on 12 December, the Margrave
Margrave
A Margrave was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active military forces...

 of Baden
Baden
Baden is a historical state on the east bank of the Rhine River in the southwest of Germany, now the western part of the Baden-Württemberg of Germany....

 was given the title of Grand Duke
Grand Duke
The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Grand duke is also the usual and established translation of grand prince in languages which do not...

. In addition, each of these new countries signed a treaty with France and became French allies. The Treaty of Pressburg between France and Austria, signed in Pressburg (today Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of the Slovak Republic and, with a population of about 429,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River...

, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe with a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia borders the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south. The largest city is its capital, Bratislava...

) on 26 December, enlarged the territory of Napoleon's German allies at the expense of defeated Austria.

On 12 July 1806, the Confederation of the Rhine
Confederation of the Rhine
The Confederation of the Rhine or Rhine Confederation was a client state of the First French Empire. It was formed initially from 16 German states by Napoleon after he defeated Austria's Francis II and Russia's Alexander I in the Battle of Austerlitz. The Treaty of Pressburg, in effect, led to the...

 was established comprising 16 sovereigns and countries. This confederation, under French influence, put an end to the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...

. On 6 August 1806, even Francis recognized the new state of things and claimed the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.

When, on 11 August 1804, Francis II
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor
Francis II was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz...

 assumed the title of first Emperor of Austria
Emperor of Austria
The phrase Emperor of Austria describes an hereditary imperial title and position proclaimed in 1804 by the Austrian Habsburg Holy Roman Emperor Francis II and continually held by him and his immediate successors until the Habsburg dynasty was overthrown in 1918.In the face of aggressions by...

, the empire spanned from present-day Italy to present-day Poland and to the Balkans
Balkans
The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

. The multi-national makeup of the empire is illustrated by the fact that its population included Germans
Germans
The German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...

, Czechs, Poles
Poles
The Polish people, or Poles , are a Western Slavic ethnic group of Central Europe, living predominantly in Poland. Poles are sometimes defined as people who share a common Polish culture and are of Polish descent. Their religion is predominantly Roman Catholic...

, Romanians
Romanians
The Romanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian ; they are the majority inhabitants of România.In one prominent interpretation of the census results in Moldova, Moldovans are counted as Romanians, which would...

, Hungarians, Italians, Ukrainians
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group primarily living in Ukraine, or more broadly—citizens of Ukraine...

, Croats
Croats
Croats are a South Slavic ethnic group mostly living in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and nearby countries. There are around 5 million Croats living in the southern Central Europe region, along the east bank of the Adriatic Sea and an estimated 9 million throughout the world...

, Slovaks
Slovaks
The Slovaks are a western Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language....

, Serbs
Serbs
Serbs are a South Slavic people living in the Central Europe and the Balkans , between the Balkan- and Carpathian mountains in the east and the Adriatic sea in the west. They are located mainly in Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and, to a lesser extent, in Croatia...

, Slovenes and numerous smaller nationalities. The emperor ruled Austria as the namesake, but also held the title of King of Hungary
King of Hungary
The King of Hungary was the head of state of the Kingdom of Hungary from 1000 to 1918.After 1688, the principle of hereditary monarchy was enacted, and the son was typically crowned after his father's death.-Beginnings:...

, Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands, currently the Czech Republic...

, Croatia
Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)
The Kingdom of Croatia was an administrative division that existed between 1527 and 1868 within the in the Habsburg Monarchy . The Kingdom was a part of the Lands of the Crown of St...

, Slavonia
Kingdom of Slavonia
The Kingdom of Slavonia was a province of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Austrian Empire in the 18th and 19th century. The province included northern parts of present-day regions of Slavonia and Syrmia...

 and Dalmatia
Dalmatia
Dalmatia , is a region on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and is situated in modern Croatia. It spreads between the island of Rab in the northwest and the Bay of Kotor, in Montenegro, in the southeast...

, leading to the Empire's multi-national army being styled the Kaiserlich-königliche Armee (Imperial-Royal Army). The Empire had a centralist structure, although some degree of autonomy was left to Hungary
Kingdom of Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary , emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from Monarchy to Republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946, ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary...

 which was ruled by its own Diet
Diet (assembly)
In politics, a diet is a formal deliberative assembly. The term is derived from Medieval Latin dietas, and ultimately comes from the Latin dies, "day". The word came to be used in this sense because assemblies met on a daily basis which is reflected in the German language use of Tagung and -tag...

, and to Tyrol
German Tyrol
German Tyrol is a historical region in the Alps now divided between Austria and Italy. It includes largely ethnic German areas of historical County of Tyrol: the Austrian state of Tyrol and the Italian region known as the Alto Adige/Südtirol but not the largely Italian-speaking Trentino...

.

Foreign policy


The years 1804–1815 in Austrian foreign policy were significantly determined by the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of conflicts declared against Napoleon's French Empire and changing sets of European allies by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionized European armies and played...

. After Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries this state had substantial influence on German and European history...

 signed a peace treaty with France on 5 April 1795, Austria was forced to carry the main burden of war with the French Republic/Empire
First French Empire
The French Empire , also known as the Greater French Empire or First French Empire, but more commonly known as the Napoleonic Empire, was the empire of Napoleon I in France...

 for almost ten years. This situation led to a distortion of the Austrian economy contributing to the Austrians perceiving the war in a highly unpopular manner. With regard to the mentioned mood, Emperor Francis II refused to join in the next war against Napoleonic France for a long time. On the other hand, Francis II did not abandon a possibility of revenge on France and therefore he entered into a secret military agreement with the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

 in November 1804. This convention was to assure mutual cooperation between Austria and Russia in the case of a new war against France.

An apparent unwillingness of Austria to join the Third Coalition
Third Coalition
The War of the Third Coalition spanning from 1803 to 1806 saw the defeat of an alliance of Austria, Portugal, Russia, and others by France and its client states under Napoleon I. Great Britain was the only country still at war with France after the Treaty of Pressburg and the resumption of...

 was overcome by British
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was the formal name and the state form of the United Kingdom from 1 January 1801 until 12 April 1927...

 subsidies. A decisive defeat at Battle of Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon Bonaparte's greatest victories, effectively destroying the Third Coalition against the French Empire...

 put an end to Austrian membership in the Third Coalition
Third Coalition
The War of the Third Coalition spanning from 1803 to 1806 saw the defeat of an alliance of Austria, Portugal, Russia, and others by France and its client states under Napoleon I. Great Britain was the only country still at war with France after the Treaty of Pressburg and the resumption of...

. Although the Austrian budget
Budget
A budget is generally a list of all planned expenses and revenues. It is a plan for saving and spending. A budget is an important concept in microeconomics, which uses a budget line to illustrate the trade-offs between two or more goods...

 suffered from wartime expenditures and its international position was significantly undermined, the humiliating Treaty of Pressburg provided plenty of time to strengthen the army and economy. Moreover, an ambitious Archduke Charles
Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen
Archduke Charles of Austria, Duke of Teschen was an Austrian field-marshal, the son of emperor Leopold II and his wife Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain...

 together with Johann Philipp von Stadion pursued a new war with France.

Archduke Charles of Austria served as the Head of the Council of War and Commander in Chief of the Austrian army. Endowed with the enlarged powers, he reformed the Austrian Army to preparedness for another war. Johann Philipp von Stadion, the foreign minister, personally hated Napoleon due to an experience of confiscation of his possessions in France by Napoleon. In addition, the third wife of Francis II, Marie Ludovika of Austria-Este, agreed with Stadion's efforts to begin a new war. Klemens Wenzel von Metternich
Klemens Wenzel von Metternich
Klemens Wenzel, Prince von Metternich was a German-Austrian politician and statesman and was one of the most important diplomats of his era. He was a major figure in the negotiations before and during the Congress of Vienna and is considered both a paradigm of foreign-policy management and a...

, located in Paris, called for careful advance in the case of the war against France. The defeat of French army at the Battle of Bailén
Battle of Bailén
The Battle of Bailén was contested in 1808 between the Spanish Army of Andalusia, led by Generals Francisco Castaños and Theodor von Reding, and a corps of the Imperial French Army under General Pierre Dupont...

 in Spain on 27 July 1808 triggered the war. On 9 April 1809, an Austrian force of 170,000 men attacked Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria , with an area of and almost 12.5 million inhabitants, is located in the southeast of Germany and is the largest state of Germany by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

.

Despite military defeats—especially high magnitude losses like those at the Battles of Marengo, Ulm
Battle of Ulm
The Battle of Ulm was a series of minor skirmishes at the end of Napoleon Bonaparte's Ulm Campaign, culminating in the surrender of an entire Austrian army near Ulm in Württemberg....

, Austerlitz
Battle of Austerlitz
The Battle of Austerlitz also known as the Battle of the Three Emperors, was one of Napoleon Bonaparte's greatest victories, effectively destroying the Third Coalition against the French Empire...

 and Wagram
Battle of Wagram
The Battle of Wagram was the most important military engagement of the War of the Fifth Coalition and took place on the Marchfeld plain, on the north bank of the Danube. An important site of the battle was the village of Deutsch-Wagram, 10 kilometres northeast of Vienna, which would give its name...

—and consequently lost territory throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (the Treaties of Campo Formio
Treaty of Campo Formio
The Treaty of Campo Formio or Peace of Campo Formio was signed on 17 October 1797 by Napoleon Bonaparte and Count Ludwig von Cobenzl as representatives of France and Austria...

 in 1797, Pressburg in 1806, and Schönbrunn
Treaty of Schönbrunn
The Treaty of Schönbrunn , sometimes known as the Treaty of Vienna, was signed between France and Austria at the Schönbrunn Palace of Vienna on 14 October 1809. This treaty ended the Fifth Coalition during the Napoleonic Wars...

 in 1809), Austria played a decisive part in the overthrow of Napoleon in the campaigns of 1813–14.

The latter period of Napoleonic Wars featured Metternich exerting a large degree of influence over foreign policy in the Austrian Empire, a matter nominally decided by the Emperor. Metternich initially supported an alliance with France, arranging the marriage between Napoleon and the Francis II's daughter, Marie-Louise; however, by the 1812 campaign, he had realised the inevitability of Napoleon's downfall and took Austria to war against France. Metternich's influence at the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by the Austrian statesman Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from November, 1814 to June, 1815. Its objective was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic...

 was remarkable, and he became not only the premier statesman in Europe but virtual ruler of the Empire until 1848—the Year of Revolutions
Revolutions of 1848
The European Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Spring of Nations, Springtime of the Peoples or the Year of Revolution, were a series of political upheavals throughout the European continent...

—and the rise of liberalism
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of individual freedom. This belief is widely accepted today throughout the world, and was recognized as an important value by many philosophers throughout history...

 equated to his political downfall.

Constituent lands

  • Kingdom of Bohemia
    Kingdom of Bohemia
    The Kingdom of Bohemia was a country in Central Europe, a de-facto independent member of the Holy Roman Empire and thereafter a part of the Austrian Empire.-History:...

     (Königreich Böhmen)
  • Kingdom of Hungary
    Kingdom of Hungary
    The Kingdom of Hungary , emerged in 1000, when the Principality of Hungary, founded in 896, was recognized as a Kingdom. The form of government was changed from Monarchy to Republic briefly in 1918 and again in 1946, ending the Kingdom and creating the Republic of Hungary...

     (Königreich Ungarn)
  • Kingdom of Illyria
    Kingdom of Illyria
    The Kingdom of Illyria was an administrative unit of the Austrian Empire from 1816 to 1849. Its administrative centre was Laibach and it included the western and central part of present-day Slovenia, the present Austrian state of Carinthia, as well as some territories in north-western Croatia and...

  • Kingdom of Dalmatia
    Kingdom of Dalmatia
    The Kingdom of Dalmatia was an administrative division of the Habsburg Monarchy from 1815 to 1918. Its capital was Zadar.-History:...

     (Königreich Dalmatien)
  • Kingdom of Croatia
    Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg)
    The Kingdom of Croatia was an administrative division that existed between 1527 and 1868 within the in the Habsburg Monarchy . The Kingdom was a part of the Lands of the Crown of St...

     (Königreich Kroatien) including the Military Frontier
    Military Frontier
    The Military Frontier was a borderland of Habsburg Austria and later the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, which acted as the cordon sanitaire against Turkish incursions from the Ottoman Empire...

     (Militärgrenze) from 1578–1871
    • Kingdom of Slavonia
      Kingdom of Slavonia
      The Kingdom of Slavonia was a province of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Austrian Empire in the 18th and 19th century. The province included northern parts of present-day regions of Slavonia and Syrmia...

       (Königreich Slowenien) subordinate to Croatia 1744-1849; independent subdivision 1849-1868
  • Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
    Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
    The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria official ) was a kingdom dependent to the Habsburg Monarchy, the Austrian Empire and Austria–Hungary from 1772 to 1917; independent from July 26, 1917 to November 14, 1918. This historical region in eastern Central Europe is currently divided between Poland and...

     (Königreich Galizien und Lodomerien)
  • Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia
    Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia
    The Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia was a kingdom in northern Italy, and part of the Austrian Empire. It was established after the defeat of Napoleon, according to the decisions of the Congress of Vienna, on 9 June 1815...

     (Lombardo-Venezianisches Königreich)
  • Archduchy of Austria
    Archduchy of Austria
    The Archduchy of Austria , one of the most important states within the Holy Roman Empire, was the center of the Habsburg Monarchy and the predecessor of the Austrian Empire. Over nearly 700 years, it evolved from a margravate to the center of an empire...

     (Erzherzogtum Österreich)
  • Duchy of Carinthia
    Duchy of Carinthia
    The Duchy of Carinthia was a duchy located in southern Austria and parts of northern Slovenia. It was part of the Holy Roman Empire from 976 until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806, and a crownland of Austria-Hungary until its dissolution in 1918...

     (Herzogtum Kärnten)
  • Duchy of Carniola
    Duchy of Carniola
    The Duchy of Carniola was an administrative unit of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy from 1364 to 1918. Its capital was Ljubljana...

     (Herzogtum Krain)
  • Duchy of Salzburg
    Duchy of Salzburg
    The Duchy of Salzburg was a Cisleithanian Kronland of the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary from 1849–1918. Its capital was Salzburg, while other towns in the duchy included Zell am See and Gastein....

     (Herzogtum Salzburg)
  • Duchy of Silesia
    Austrian Silesia
    The Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia was an autonomous region of the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Austrian Empire. It is also known as Austrian Silesia , and despite the official name it only included parts of Upper Silesia, while none of Lower Silesia was within its borders...

     (Herzogtum Schlesien)
  • Duchy of Styria
    Duchy of Styria
    The history of Styria concerns the region roughly corresponding to the modern state of Styria from its settlement by Slavs in the Dark Ages until the present...

     (Herzogtum Steiermark)
  • Duchy of Bukovina (Herzogtum Bukowina)
  • Grand Principality of Transylvania (Großfürstentum Siebenbürgen)
  • Margraviate of Moravia (Markgrafschaft Mähren)
  • Princely County of Tyrol (Gefürstete Grafschaft Tirol)
  • County of Gorizia and Gradisca
    Gorizia and Gradisca
    Gorizia and Gradisca was a Habsburg county in Central Europe, in what is now a multilingual border area of Italy and Slovenia. It was named for its two major urban centers, Gorizia and Gradisca d'Isonzo.-Province of the Habsburg Empire:...

     (Grafschaft Görz und Gradisca)
  • Vorarlberg
    Vorarlberg
    Vorarlberg is the westernmost and wealthiest state of Austria. Though it is the second smallest in terms of area it borders three countries: Germany , Switzerland and Liechtenstein. The only Austrian federal state that shares a border with Vorarlberg is Tyrol to the east...

  • Istria
    Istria
    Croatian Istria , formerly Histria , is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. The peninsula is located at the head of the Adriatic between the Gulf of Trieste and the Bay of Kvarner...

     (Istrien)
  • Imperial Free City of Trieste
    Trieste
    Trieste is a city and seaport in north eastern Italy. It is situated towards the end of a narrow strip of land lying between the Adriatic Sea and Italy's border with Slovenia, which lies almost immediately south, east and north of the city...

  • Serbian Voivodeship and Banat of Temeschwar (Die serbische Wojwodschaft und das temeser Banat)

  • External links