History UsefulNotes / Austria

* '''Capital and largest city:''' Vienna ('''German:''' ''Wien'')

* '''Capital and largest city:''' Vienna (Wien)

* '''Capital and largest city:''' Vienna

*** Also Creator/JohannesBrahms, originally a [[UsefulNotes/{{Hamburg}} Hamburger]].[[note]]Doubly funny because Brahms was notoriously overweight.[[/note]]

A large portion of income in many parts of the country is tourism. Having both a rich history and beautiful nature (and skiing slopes) to show off, this is both understandable and a bit annoying for those Austrians who do not want to be associated with [[YodelLand Dirndls and Lederhosen and Yodeling]] (for ''that,'' see Switzerland or Bavaria), yet are backstabbed by their own tourism board. Curiously enough, many younger Austrians in rural areas go back to wearing lederhosen when going out drinking. The reason? They are durable and it is completely accepted if you smear your dirty hands all over them. It is even said that a lederhosen is only a real lederhosen when it is dirty and grimy enough to stand up for its own...

Austria itself is part of a thriving circuit of European musical theatre, along with Germany. Much of the non-English repertoire done in the rest of Europe originated in either Austria or Germany, and some musicals started out in one country to move to the other. Shows that have become well-known (and merited their own pages here on Wiki/TVTropes) include Theatre/{{Elisabeth}}, Theatre/{{Mozart}}, and Theatre/TanzDerVampire.

* '''Highest point:''' Grossglockner (3798 m/12,461 ft) (48th)

In 1278, the House of Habsburg, originally hailing from rural Switzerland, acquired rulership of the Duchy of Austria (the name ''Ostarrichi'' deriving from "Eastern Realm", being a former eastern province of the [[UsefulNotes/TheSixteenLandsOfDeutschland Margraviate of Bavaria]]), which lay at the eastern edge of the UsefulNotes/HolyRomanEmpire and form the North of the modern republic. Through marriage, the Habsburgs spread their control over large parts of Europe, including Spain, the Netherlands and large parts of Italy, and became Holy Roman Emperors. In 1522, the sprawling and difficult-to-defend Habsburg empire was divided by UsefulNotes/CharlesV, who assigned its eastern half to his younger brother, Ferdinand I. However, following the disastrous Battle of Mohács (1526), an early victory in the Ottoman Turks' Hungarian campaign which led to the occupation of most of Hungary and several sieges of Vienna, Ferdinand I would claim the kingdoms of Bohemia and Hungary for the Austrian Habsburgs. War between the Austrian and Ottoman Empires continued on and off until the end of the seventeenth century, when the Ottomans ceded most of Hungary.

** Chancellor: Sebastian Kurz

"Austria" had always been simply the name of a place, same as Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, etc. What bound the nation together had been loyalty to the Habsburgs. As an ethnicity, the Austrians had always thought of themselves as German. Almost immediately after the war, Austria attempted to unite with Germany, even naming the newly independent state "German Austria." The Entente vetoed this, and actually forbade Austria from referring to itself as "German." This displeased the Austrians, many of whom rejected the existence of any "Austrian" national identity separate from a German one. Austria remained independent for 20 years, but internal politics were at best fractious, and at worst the country was on the verge of civil war. It finally did reunite with Germany in 1938.

"Austria" had always been simply the name of a place, and what bound the nation together had been loyalty to the Habsburgs. As an ethnicity, the Austrians had always thought of themselves as German. Almost immediately after the war, Austria attempted to unite with Germany, even naming the newly independent state "German Austria." The Entente vetoed this, and actually forbade Austria from referring to itself as "German." This displeased the Austrians, many of whom rejected the existence of any "Austrian" national identity separate from a German one. Austria remained independent for 20 years, but internal politics were at best fractious, and at worst the country was on the verge of civil war. It finally did reunite with Germany in 1938.

* '''Highest point:''' Grossglockner (3798 m/12,461 ft) (67th)

* '''ISO-3166-1 Code:''' AT

"Austria" had always been simply the name of a place, and what bound the nation together had been loyalty to the Habsburgs. As an ethnicity, the Austrians had always thought of themselves as German. Almost immediately after the war, Austria attempted to unite with Germany, even naming the newly independent state "German Austria." The Entente vetoed this, and actually forbade Austria from referring to itself as "German." This displeased the Austrians, many of whom rejected the existence of any "Austrian" national identity separate from a German one. Austria remained independent for 20 years, but internal politics were at best fractious, at worst the country was on the verge of civil war. It finally did reunite with Germany in 1938.

"Austria" had always been simply the name of a place, and what bound the nation together had been loyalty to the Habsburgs. As an ethnicity, the Austrians had always thought of themselves as German. Almost immediately after the war, Austria attempted to unite with Germany, even naming the newly independent state "German Austria." The Entente vetoed this, and actually forbade Austria from referring to itself as "German." This displeased the Austrians, many of whom rejected the existence of any "Austrian" national identity separate from a German one. Austria remained independent for 20 years, but internal politics were at best fractious. At worst, the country was on the edge of civil war. It finally did reunite with Germany in 1938.

In 1866, the notorious [[UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck Bismarck]] tricked them into declaring war on UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} and their arses were promptly handed to them in the UsefulNotes/AustroPrussianWar. In the chaos that ensued, the Hungarians managed to gain autonomy for their half and the Empire became Austro-Hungarian. There was talk of granting greater autonomy to the other nationalities as well, but the Hungarians were determined to remain top dogs over the Slovaks, Ruthenians, Transylvanians and Croats.

In 1866, the notorious [[UsefulNotes/OttoVonBismarck Bismarck]] tricked them into declaring war on UsefulNotes/{{Prussia}} and their arses were promptly handed to them in the UsefulNotes/AustroPrussianWar. In the chaos that ensued, the Hungarians managed to gain autonomy for their half and the Empire became Austro-Hungarian.

In 1914, [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI all hell]] broke loose over a little place called Bosnia[[note]]Allegedly predicted by Bismarck when he said it would come about from "some damn fool thing in the Balkans"[[/note]], then a part of the Empire. At the same time, the Austrian half of the Empire had become more and more decentralised, while the Hungarians were determined to remain top dogs over the Slovaks, Ruthenians, Transylvanians and Croats. This led to the Empire breaking down and being divided, according to the Treaty of Trianon (1920), between Italy, Poland, Romania, Yugoslavia and the new independent nations of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Austria.

"Austria" had always been simply the name of a place, and what bound the nation together had been loyalty to the Habsburgs. As an ethnicity, the Austrians had always thought of themselves as German. Almost immediately after the war, Austria attempted to unite with Germany, even naming the newly independent state "German Austria." The Entente vetoed this, and actually forbade Austria from referring to itself as "German." Austria remained independent for 20 years, until it finally did reunite with Germany in 1938. Austrian politics in the interwar years was pretty much a shitshow with - at the very least - a significant minority of the population ''openly rejecting the existence of an Austrian state''. While [[UsefulNotes/Hungary the other half of Austria-Hungary]] had an attempt at Habsburg restoration (Miklos Horthy, the dictator of Hungary throughout that period officially called himself "regent" on behalf of an absent / yet to be chosen King of Hungary, but carefully avoided actually installing a King) no such thing ever got off the ground in Austria and there was even a law forbidding members of the House of Habsburg from even living in Austria. Still, the left (strong in Vienna and to a lesser extent other major cities) and the right (strong everywhere else) were frequently at loggerheads - often violently so. At times this even escalated into shooting and a Vienna public housing project (fittingly named "Creator/KarlMarx Höfe") was even ''shelled with artillery'' by the right wing government to get the left wing inhabitants to give up. There were furthermore divisions within the right wing between pro-German ("Anschluss") factions (most of them turning to more or less open Nazism after 1933) and more Austrian-Catholic conservative factions. In 1933 The chancellor, Engelbert Dollfuß used some InsaneTrollLogic to declare that the Parliament had "dissolved itself and voluntarily abrogated its power" after an attempt to force him to resign thru the subsequent resignation of the top three leaders in parliament backfired horribly. Dollfuß was killed by Nazis during an attempted Coup d'Etat the following year (despite his regime being labelled "Austrofascism" by leftists, showing that the political right ''did not'' see eye to eye in those days). His successor Kurt Schuschnigg maintained a similar Catholic-Conservative political outlook and tried to keep Austria independent from Nazi Germany while brutally suppressing both Nazi and Social Democrat opposition to his regime. When Benito Mussolini was finally driven into an alliance with Hitler over the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar and international condemnation of Italian war crimes in Ethiopia, Mussolini gave up his pro-Austrian independence stance and Hitler was free to march into Austria, annexing it in front of jubilant crowds, holding a sham "plebiscite" with over 90% "yes" votes, as was Hitler's style at the time. The Austrian President at the time remained silent on Dollfuß's and Schuschnigg's unconstitutional activities because he thought he couldn't do anything about it, but he lodged his disapproval in his private notes and diary.

"Austria" had always been simply the name of a place, and what bound the nation together had been loyalty to the Habsburgs. As an ethnicity, the Austrians had always thought of themselves as German. Almost immediately after the war, Austria attempted to unite with Germany, even naming the newly independent state "German Austria." The Entente vetoed this, and actually forbade Austria from referring to itself as "German." Austria remained independent for 20 years, until it finally did reunite with Germany in 1938. Austrian politics in the interwar years was pretty much a shitshow with - at the very least - a significant minority of the population ''openly rejecting the existence of an Austrian state''. While [[UsefulNotes/Hungary the other half of Austria-Hungary]] had an attempt at Habsburg restoration (Miklos Horthy, the dictator of Hungary throughout that period officially called himself "regent" on behalf of an absent / yet to be chosen King of Hungary, but carefully avoided actually installing a King) no such thing ever got off the ground in Austria and there was even a law forbidding members of the House of Habsburg from even living in Austria. Still, the left (strong in Vienna and to a lesser extent other major cities) and the right (strong everywhere else) were frequently at loggerheads - often violently so. At times this even escalated into shooting and a Vienna public housing project (fittingly named "Creator/KarlMarx Höfe") was even ''shelled with artillery'' by the right wing government to get the left wing inhabitants to give up. There were furthermore divisions within the right wing between pro-German ("Anschluss") factions (most of them turning to more or less open Nazism after 1933) and more Austrian-Catholic conservative factions. In 1933 The chancellor, Engelbert Dollfuß used some InsaneTrollLogic to declare that the Parliament had "dissolved itself and voluntarily abrogated its power" after an attempt to force him to resign thru the subsequent resignation of the top three leaders in parliament backfired horribly. Dollfuß was killed by Nazis during an attempted Coup d'Etat the following year (despite his regime being labelled "Austrofascism" by leftists, showing that the political right ''did not'' see eye to eye in those days). His successor Kurt Schuschnigg maintained a similar Catholic-Conservative political outlook and tried to keep Austria independent from Nazi Germany while brutally suppressing both Nazi and Social Democrat opposition to his regime. When Benito Mussolini was finally driven into an alliance with Hitler over the UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar and international condemnation of Italian war crimes in Ethiopia, Mussolini gave up his pro-Austrian independence stance and Hitler was free to march into Austria, annexing it in front of jubilant crowds, holding a sham "plebiscite" with over 90% "yes" votes, as was Hitler's style at the time.

Following the Second World War, Austrians became much more keen to distance themselves from Germany for... obvious reasons. Whether Austria was a Nazi conquest or willing ''Reichsgau'' is a sore issue, especially given UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler was originally Austrian. One of Hitler's motives was to unify [[TheOldCountry his Austrian homeland]] with his German dominion. Many would like to present Austria as "Hitler's first victim," but when looked at historically it just doesn't hold up. There is still a certain amount of denial going on about it. This was in large part because with the concept of Austrian nationalism being such a new thing, it was widely felt that acknowledging how many Austrians had been willing collaborators would tear their fragile national identity apart.

"Austria" had always been simply the name of a place, and what bound the nation together had been loyalty to the Habsburgs. As an ethnicity, the Austrians had always thought of themselves as German. Almost immediately after the war, Austria attempted to unite with Germany, even naming the newly independent state "German Austria." The Entente vetoed this, and actually forbade Austria from referring to itself as "German." Austria remained independent for 20 years, until it finally did reunite with Germany in 1938.

Following the Second World War, Austrians became much more keen to distance themselves from Germany for... obvious reasons. Whether Austria was a Nazi conquest or willing ''Reichsgau'' is a sore issue, especially given UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler was originally Austrian. One of Hitler's motives was to unify [[TheOldCountry his Austian homeland]] with his German dominion. Many would like to present Austria as "Hitler's first victim," but when looked at historically it just doesn't hold up. There is still a certain amount of denial going on about it. This was in large part because with the concept of Austrian nationalism being such a new thing, it was widely felt that acknowledging how many Austrians had been willing collaborators would tear their fragile national identity apart.

Following the Second World War, Austrians became much more keen to distance themselves from Germany for... obvious reasons. Whether Austria was a Nazi conquest or willing ''Reichsgau'' is a sore issue, especially given UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler was originally Austrian. Many would like to present Austria as "Hitler's first victim," but when looked at historically it just doesn't hold up. There is still a certain amount of denial going on about it. This was in large part because with the concept of Austrian nationalism being such a new thing, it was widely felt that acknowledging how many Austrians had been willing collaborators would tear their fragile national identity apart.

** Christoph Waltz was born in Austria, but has a German citizenship, as well as an Austrian citizenship since 2010.

Yet, Austrians are generally considered to be more right-wing than Germans, both socially, culturally and politically. In reality, however, the strongest party is the social democratic SPÖ, as opposed to the conservative CDU in Germany. This is mainly caused by the fact that most cities, especially Vienna, have been prime examples of social welfare done right in the past, which lead to left-winged parties, like the SPÖ or Die Grünen gaining power, while the countryside kept their more conservative world view, which lead to right-winged parties, like the ÖVP and FPÖ, keeping the majority.

* Actors including Creator/ChristophWaltz, Creator/MaximilianSchell, Klaus Maria (sic) Brandauer and Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger (though Schwarzenegger and Austria have pretty much disowned each other. He had a bad childhood there, and has said some unflattering things about the country. His hometown originally named a stadium after him, but changed it after both an execution in California and Schwarza's request for a rename)

* '''Area:''' 83,879 sq km (32,386 sq mi) (113th)

* '''Area:''' 83,879 km (32,386 sq mi) (113th)

* '''Area:''' 83,879 km
(32,386 sq mi)

* '''Area:''' 83,879 km km
(32,386 sq mi)