History UsefulNotes / TheSoundOfMartialMusic

** It is unhealthy to try to rob steal Silesia from a [[MariaTheresa sweet helpless princess]] . After all, you might find that [[YouWouldntLikeMeWhenImAngry You Wouldn't Like Her When She's Angry]].

* FoeYay: First with [[NapoleonicWars France]], then [[PrussiaAndAllThatLot Prussia]].

Rather amazingly the last Austrian Crown Prince, Otto von Habsburg (or Otto Habsburg-Lothringen in Austria) is still alive at the age of 97. Had he actually succeeded his father on the throne he would have [[LongRunner reigned for 88 years.]] A EuropeanUnion politician, he allegedly once punched [[TheTroubles Ian Paisley]] after the later made derogatory remarks about the Pope in the European Parliament.

** Better yet, any attack on Catholicism is likely to provoke this.

-> "That extraordinary empire known as the Austrian-Hungarian dual monarchy is less an Empire or a Kingdom or a State than the ''personal property'' of the Hapsburgs, whose hereditary talent for the acquisition of land is recorded on the map of Europe today!"
-->-- '''American ambassador before the First World War.'''

-> "That extraordinary empire is less a kingdom or state than the ''personal property'' of the Hapsburgs, whose hereditary talent for the acquisition of land is recorded on the map of Europe today!"

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/AustroHungarianArmy.jpg

->Bella gerant alii; tu, felix Austria, nube!
->Nam quæ Mars aliis, dat tibi regna Venus.

->Let others make war; thou, happy Austria, marry!
->For those kingdoms Mars gives to others, Venus gives to thee.
-->-- '''''Famous description of Habsburg foreign policy'''''

->''Bella gerant alii; tu, felix Austria, nube!''
->''Nam quæ Mars aliis, dat tibi regna Venus.''

->''Let others make war; thou, happy Austria, marry!''
->''For those kingdoms Mars gives to others, Venus gives to thee.''

-->-- ''''American ambassador before the First World War.''''

-->-- American ambassador before the First World War.

After that the Habsburg forces mostly just scraped by. They could always field a decent army, but rarely a BadassArmy, though exceptional generals like Tilly, Eugene of Savoy, or Archduke Charles of Austria-Teschen occasionally won outstanding victories. It was, however, always a colorful force and had as one of its most interesting features a number of [[ProudWarriorRace Proud Warrior Races]] from the Balkans, such as the Hussars from Hungary and the Croats. Slightly less romantic were the rather stolid [[WeAreNotTheWehrmacht ethnic Germans]] from Austria and allied states. They won few spectacular battles, but they did keep the Empire together until WorldWarI which ushered in the end of the Habsburgs as a state and the end of their military. One rather odd victory they had was Lissa, in which they defeated the Italian fleet in the war with Prussia and Italy in the nineteenth century -- probably the only naval victory the Central-European Habsburgs ever won. Another peculiarity noted by historians was that by the end of WWI, the Austro-Hungarian Army "laid down their arms" (rather than ''surrendered''); they ''outlasted the Empire they served.''

* {{Ruritania}} : Often thought to have inspired this trope. Justified a bit, but more often than not, even it's contemporaries [[DidNotDoTheResearch didn't do the research]] and thought of the country as far more backwards, ignorant and undeveloping [[RealityIsUnrealistic than it was in reality]].

* ''AxisPowersHetalia'' also follows the embodiments of Austria and Hungary from the Renaissance through the WarOfAustrianSuccession and beyond. Of course, knowing history, we all know how it will [[WorldWarI all]] [[{{Tearjerker}} end]]...

* NiceJobBreakingItHero : But overlaps a little with MisBlaimed. They unwillingly gave their ally, ImperialGermany, a PretextForWar by trying to avenge the assasination of Franz Ferdinand via a short war with Serbia (which had funded some of the assasins, including Gavrillo Princip). [[{{Irony}} Ironically]], if Franz Ferdinand was alive, he'd never approve of vengeance like this. Needless to say, everybody was crossing their fingers and hoping "the Serbian episode" would be over quickly. Tough luck. In a few days, the rest of the European powers and alliances had already hopped on the bandwagon, hoping that the [[DarkestHour long-feared]] [[WorldWarOne Great War]] [[HopeSpot will be over]] [[HarsherInHindsight by Christmas]].

* KnightTemplarParent : Many of the Habsburg rulers, Maria Theresia, Francz I. and Franz Joseph being shining examples of this trope.

* SecretPolice/MIB: The Habsburgs possessed what was apparently the most incompetent and amiable secret police in Europe. ''Apparently,'' this doesn't mention how efficient it was (at what they did anyway) despite the incompetence. Or consistent. Or oddly humane in contrast to the ones that came after. In fact, they tended to simply "ignore" their opponents out of relevance rather than make them "disappear."

* FoeYay: First with France, then Prussia.

* The Habsburg Empire exists in ''EuropaUniversalis'' and is a fan favourite.

* ProudWarriorRace: Several Balkan nations (and the Hungarians) contributed these.

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