Austrian Empire
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- For the history of these states before 1804, see Holy Roman Empire, Habsburg Monarchy, and articles on each of the component countries. After 1867, see Austria-Hungary. See also Austrian empire (disambiguation).
The Austrian Empire (German: Kaisertum Österreich) is the name of Austria during the time from 1804 - 1867. Austrian empire can also be used for the Habsburg lands before 1804, which had no official collective name, although Austria is more frequent; it has also been used, incorrectly, of Austria-Hungary.
The Austrian Empire was founded by Holy Roman Emperor Francis II as a state comprising his personal lands within the larger Empire. This was a reaction to Napoleon I's proclamation of the First French Empire in 1804. Austria then fought against France during the Third Coalition, and, after meeting crushing defeat at Austerlitz, agreed to the Treaty of Pressburg, which in practice meant dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, weakening Austria and reorganizing Germany under a Napoleonic imprint.
On August 6, 1806, Francis II dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, due to the formation of Confederation of the Rhine by France; he did not want Napoleon to succeed him.
Although the office of Holy Roman Emperor was elective, the Habsburg dynasty had held title since 1440 (with one brief interruption); and Austria was the core of their territories.
The Austrian Empire had not originally included the Kingdom of Hungary, and its extensive dependent territories, which the Habsburgs had ruled since 1541; Hungary was incorporated after the defeat of the Hungarian war of independence of 1848-49. Much controversy ensued, including Hungarian efforts to obtain constitutional reform by declining to crown the new Emperor Franz Joseph as King of Hungary, After Austria was defeated in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and left the German Confederation, the Austrian Empire was transformed into the Austro-Hungarian Empire by the Ausgleich of 1867, which granted Hungary and the Hungarian lands equal status to the rest of Austria as a whole.
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The Rise of the Austrian Empire
Changes shaping a nature of the Austrian Empire took place during a conference in Rastatt (1797-1799) and Regensburg (1801-1803). On March 24 1803, the Imperial Recess (Reichsdeputationshauptschluss) was declared significantly reducing the number of clerical territories from 81 to only 3 and imperial cities from 51 to 6. This measure was aimed at replacing an 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 his consideration, Francis II left using the imperial title Holy Roman Emperor and created a new one called the Austrian Emperor.
The fall and dissolution of the Empire was accelerated by French intervention to the Holy Roman Empire in September 1805. On October 20 1805, Austrian army led by general Karl Mack von Leiberich was defeated by French armies near the town of Ulm. Great French victory resulting in a capture of 20 000 Austrian soldiers and many cannons earned a great attention in Europe. Napoleon’s army gave another example of brilliant strategy in the Battle of Austerlitz on December 2 1805. In light of those events, Francis was forced to negotiate with French from December 4 to December 6 1805. These negotiations were concluded by an armistice on December 6 1805.
French glorious victories encouraged sovereigns of certain imperial territories. On December 10 1805, the Duke of Bavaria, prince-elector (Kürfurst), proclaimed himself the king followed the Duke of Württemberg (Elector) on December 11 1805. Finally on December 12 1805, the Margrave of Baden was given the title of the grand duke. In addition, each of these countries signed a treaty with France and became French allies. Peace treaty between France and Austria signed in Pressburg (today Bratislava, Slovakia) on December 26 1805 enlarged territories of mentioned countries at an expense of defeated Austria.
On July 12 1806, the Confederation of the Rhine was established comprising of 16 sovereigns and countries. This confederation under French influence put an end to the Holy Roman Empire. On August 6 1806, even Francis recognized the new state of things and claimed dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.
Foreign Policy of the Austrian Empire
The years 1804-1815 in Austrian foreign policy were significantly determined by the Napoleonic Wars. After Prussia had signed the peace treaty with France on April 5, 1795, Austria was forced to carry the main burden of war with France for almost ten years. This situation led to a distortion of Austrian economy contributing Austrians perceived the war in a highly unpopular manner. With regard to the mentioned mood, the emperor Francis II refused to join the next war against Napoleonic France for long time. On the other hand, Francis II did not abandon a possibility of a revenge on France and therefore he entered into a secret military agreement with Russia in November 1804. This convention was to assure a 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 was overcome by British subsidies. Decisive defeat at Austerlitz put an end to Austrian membership in the Third Coalition. Although Austrian budget suffered from wartime expenditures and its international position was significantly undermined, the humiliating Treaty of Pressburg provided plenty of time to strengthening the army and economy. Moreover, an ambitious Archduke Charles of Austria 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 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. Metternich, located in Paris, called for careful advance in the case of the war against France. The defeat of French army at Bailén in Spain on July 27, 1808 triggered the war. On April 9, 1809, Austrian Army numbered 170 000 men attacked Bavaria.
Countries of the Austrian Empire
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See also
For the history of these states before 1804, see Holy Roman Empire, Habsburg Monarchy, and articles on each of the component countries. After 1867, see Austria-Hungary.
See also:
References
Lalor, John J. (Ed), 1881. Ecyclopædia of Political Science, Political Economy, and the Political History of the United States by the Best American and European Writers. New York, NY: Maynard, Merrill, and Co.
Manfred, Albert M., 1973. Napoleon Bonaparte. Prague, Czech Republic: Svoboda.
Skřivan, Aleš, 1999. European Politics 1648-1914 [Evropská politika 1648-1914]. Prague, Czech Republic: Aleš Skřivan.cs:Rakouské císařství de:Kaisertum Österreich es:Imperio Austríaco it:Impero austriaco he:האימפריה האוסטרית nl:Keizerrijk Oostenrijk ja:オーストリア帝国 pl:Cesarstwo Austriackie pt:Império Austríaco ru:Австрийская империя sr:Аустријско Царство zh:奧地利帝國
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