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) was an empire centred on what is modern day
Austria that lasted from
1804 to
1867.
The
Austrian empire is also used for the
Habsburg possessions 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
Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor 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.
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. A
peace treaty between France and Austria signed in
Pressburg (today
Bratislava,
Slovakia) on
December 26 1805 enlarged territories of the mentioned countries at the 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.
When, on
11 August 1804,
Francis II assumed the title of first
Emperor of Austria, the Empire spanned from
Italy to the
Netherlands and from
Poland to the
Balkans. The multi-national makeup of the nation is illustrated by the fact that the Empire's population included 6,500,000
Germans, 3,360,000
Czechs, 2,000,000
Walloons and
Flemings, 1,000,000
Poles, 900,000
Croats, 700,000
Serbs and numerous smaller nationalities. The Emperor ruled Austria as the namesake, but the
Hungarian possessions as
King of Hungary; leading to the Empire's multi-national army being styled the
Kaiserlich-königliche Armee: Imperial and Royal Army. Initially, the central government ruled the 'German' regions of the Empire whilst Hungary was ruled by its own
Diet which enjoyed independence to some extent, as did the Netherlands, Italian duchies and the
Tyrol.
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.
Despite military defeats - especially high magnitude losses like that at
Marengo,
Ulm,
Austerlitz and
Wagram - and consequently lost terriritory throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (
Treaty of Campo Formio in
1797,
Pressburg in
1806 and
Schönbrunn 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 was remarkable, and he became not only the premier statesman in Europe but virtual ruler of the Empire until
1848 - the
year of revolutions - and the rise of
liberalism equated to his political downfall.
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:
*
Habsburg*
Ausgleich*
Former countries in Europe after 1815Lalor, 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.
