1.
History of Austria
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The history of Austria covers the history of Austria and its predecessor states, from the early Stone Age to the present state. The name Ostarrîchi has been in use since 996 AD when it was a margravate of the Duchy of Bavaria, Austria was dominated by the House of Habsburg from 1273 to 1806, when the Holy Roman Empire came to an end. When this empire collapsed in 1918, Austria was reduced to the main German speaking areas of the empire, however this union was forbidden by the Allies at the Treaty of Versailles. Following the First Republic, Austrofascism tried to keep Austria independent from the German Reich, but in 1938 it was annexed by Nazi Germany with the support of the large majority of the Austrian people. After the Second World War Austria again became an independent republic as the Second Republic in 1955, the history of Austria raises a number of questions. Should it be confined to the current Republic of Austria, or to all lands formerly ruled by the rulers of Austria, should Austrian history include 1938–1945 when it did not exist. Within Austria there are regional variations, and parts of Austria have at various times wished to become part of adjacent countries. Human habitation of current Austria can be traced back to the first farming communities of the early Stone Age. In the late Iron Age it was occupied by a Celtic culture, at the end of the 1st century BC this became part of the Roman Empires lands to the south of the Danube, and was incorporated as the Province of Noricum around 40 AD. The most important Roman settlement was at Carnuntum, in the 6th century, another Germanic people, the Bavarii occupied these lands until it fell to the Frankish Empire in the 9th century. Around 800 AD Charlemagne established the outpost of Avar March in what is now Lower Austria, to hold back advances from Slavs and Avars. In the 10th century an eastern outpost of the Duchy of Bavaria, bordering Hungary, was established as the Marchia orientalis or Margraviate of Austria in 976 and this Eastern March, in German was known as Ostarrîchi or Eastern Realm, hence Austria. The first mention of Ostarrîchi occurs in a document of that name dated 996 CE, from 1156 the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa created an independent duchy under the House of Babenberg, until its extinction in 1246, corresponding to modern Lower Austria. The 15th and early 16th century saw expansion of the Habsburg territories through diplomacy and marriages to include Spain. This expansionism, together with French aspirations and the resultant Habsburg-French or Bourbon-Habsburg rivalry were important factors shaping European History for 200 years, by 1526 Ferdinand had also inherited the kingdoms of Bohemia, and Hungary after the Battle of Mohács which partitioned the latter. However the Ottoman Empire now lay directly adjacent to the Austrian lands, even after the unsuccessful first Siege of Vienna by the Turks in 1529, the Ottoman threat persisted for another one and a half centuries. The 16th Century also saw the spread of the Reformation, from around 1600 the Habsburg policy of recatholicisation or Catholic Renewal eventually led to the Thirty Years War. Originally a religious war, it was also a struggle for power in central Europe, eventually the pressure of the anti-Habsburg coalition of France, Sweden, and most Protestant German states contained their authority to the Austrian and Czech lands in 1648
2.
Austria
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Austria, officially the Republic of Austria, is a federal republic and a landlocked country of over 8.7 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Hungary and Slovakia to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, the territory of Austria covers 83,879 km2. The terrain is mountainous, lying within the Alps, only 32% of the country is below 500 m. The majority of the population speaks local Bavarian dialects of German as their native language, other local official languages are Hungarian, Burgenland Croatian, and Slovene. The origins of modern-day Austria date back to the time of the Habsburg dynasty, from the time of the Reformation, many northern German princes, resenting the authority of the Emperor, used Protestantism as a flag of rebellion. Following Napoleons defeat, Prussia emerged as Austrias chief competitor for rule of a greater Germany, Austrias defeat by Prussia at the Battle of Königgrätz, during the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, cleared the way for Prussia to assert control over the rest of Germany. In 1867, the empire was reformed into Austria-Hungary, Austria was thus the first to go to war in the July Crisis, which would ultimately escalate into World War I. The First Austrian Republic was established in 1919, in 1938 Nazi Germany annexed Austria in the Anschluss. This lasted until the end of World War II in 1945, after which Germany was occupied by the Allies, in 1955, the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, ending the occupation. In the same year, the Austrian Parliament created the Declaration of Neutrality which declared that the Second Austrian Republic would become permanently neutral, today, Austria is a parliamentary representative democracy comprising nine federal states. The capital and largest city, with a population exceeding 1.7 million, is Vienna, other major urban areas of Austria include Graz, Linz, Salzburg and Innsbruck. Austria is one of the richest countries in the world, with a nominal per capita GDP of $43,724, the country has developed a high standard of living and in 2014 was ranked 21st in the world for its Human Development Index. Austria has been a member of the United Nations since 1955, joined the European Union in 1995, Austria also signed the Schengen Agreement in 1995, and adopted the euro currency in 1999. The German name for Austria, Österreich, meant eastern realm in Old High German, and is cognate with the word Ostarrîchi and this word is probably a translation of Medieval Latin Marchia orientalis into a local dialect. Austria was a prefecture of Bavaria created in 976, the word Austria is a Latinisation of the German name and was first recorded in the 12th century. Accordingly, Norig would essentially mean the same as Ostarrîchi and Österreich, the Celtic name was eventually Latinised to Noricum after the Romans conquered the area that encloses most of modern-day Austria, around 15 BC. Noricum later became a Roman province in the mid-first century AD, heers hypothesis is not accepted by linguists. Settled in ancient times, the Central European land that is now Austria was occupied in pre-Roman times by various Celtic tribes, the Celtic kingdom of Noricum was later claimed by the Roman Empire and made a province
3.
Hallstatt culture
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It is commonly associated with Proto-Celtic and Celtic populations in the Western Hallstatt zone and with Illyrians in the eastern Hallstatt zone. Parts of Britain and Iberia are included in the expansion of the culture. Social distinctions became increasingly important, with emerging elite classes of chieftains and warriors, society was organized on a tribal basis, though very little is known about this. Only a few of the largest settlements, like Heuneburg in the south of Germany, were rather than villages by modern standards. In 1846, Johann Georg Ramsauer discovered a prehistoric cemetery near Hallstatt, Austria. Eventually the excavation would yield 1,045 burials, although no settlement has yet been found and this may be covered by the later village, which has long occupied the whole narrow strip between the steep hillsides and the lake. Some 1,300 burials have been found, including around 2,000 individuals, with women and children, nor is there a princely burial, as often found near large settlements. The community at Hallstatt was untypical of the wider, mainly agricultural, culture and these had been worked from time to time since the Neolithic period, and in this period were extensively mined with a peak from the 8th to 5th centuries BC. The style and decoration of the goods found in the cemetery are very distinctive. Finds at Hallstatt extend from about 1200 BC until around 500 BC, in this period, people were cremated and buried in simple graves. In phase B, tumulus burial becomes common, and cremation predominates, little is known about this period in which the typical Celtic elements have not yet distinguished themselves from the earlier Villanova-culture. The Hallstatt period proper is restricted to HaC and HaD, corresponding to the early European Iron Age, Hallstatt lies in the area where the western and eastern zones of the Hallstatt culture meet, which is reflected in the finds from there. Hallstatt D is succeeded by the La Tène culture, Hallstatt C is characterized by the first appearance of iron swords mixed amongst the bronze ones. For the final phase, Hallstatt D, daggers, almost to the exclusion of swords, are found in western zone graves ranging from c, there are also differences in the pottery and brooches. Halstatt D has been divided into the sub-phases D1-D3, relating only to the western zone. Major activity at the site appears to have finished about 500 BC, many Hallstatt graves were robbed, probably at this time. There was widespread throughout the western Hallstatt zone, and the salt workings had by then become very deep. By then the focus of mining had shifted to the nearby Hallein Salt Mine, with graves at Dürrnberg nearby where there are significant finds from the late Hallstatt
4.
Pannonia (Roman province)
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Pannonia was an ancient province of the Roman Empire bounded north and east by the Danube, coterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. Julius Pokorny believes the name Pannonia is derived from Illyrian, from the Proto-Indo-European root *pen-, swamp, water, the Ionian Danube fleet reached as far as Boio-Aria, populated until the late 8th century CE by Celts and Slavs under Aryan rulers. Pliny the Elder, in Natural History, places the eastern regions of the Hercynium jugum and he also gives us some dramaticised description of its composition, in which the close proximity of the forest trees causes competitive struggle among them. But even he—if the passage in question is not an interpolated marginal gloss—is subject to the legends of the gloomy forest and he mentions unusual birds, which have feathers that shine like fires at night. Medieval bestiaries named these birds the Ercinee, the first inhabitants of this area known to history were the Pannonii, a group of Indo-European tribes akin to Illyrians. From the 4th century BC, it was invaded by various Celtic tribes, little is heard of Pannonia until 35 BC, when its inhabitants, allies of the Dalmatians, were attacked by Augustus, who conquered and occupied Siscia. The country was not, however, definitively subdued by the Romans until 9 BC, when it was incorporated into Illyricum, the frontier of which was thus extended as far as the Danube. After the rebellion was crushed in AD9, the province of Illyricum was dissolved, the date of the division is unknown, most certainly after AD20 but before AD50. The proximity of dangerous barbarian tribes necessitated the presence of a number of troops. Some time between the years 102 and 107, between the first and second Dacian wars, Trajan divided the province into Pannonia Superior, and Pannonia Inferior. According to Ptolemy, these divisions were separated by a line drawn from Arrabona in the north to Servitium in the south, later, the whole country was sometimes called the Pannonias. Pannonia Superior was under the legate, who had formerly administered the single province. Pannonia Inferior was at first under a praetorian legate with a single legion as the garrison, after Marcus Aurelius, it was under a consular legate, the frontier on the Danube was protected by the establishment of the two colonies Aelia Mursia and Aelia Aquincum by Hadrian. In the 4th-5th century, one of the dioceses of the Roman Empire was known as the Diocese of Pannonia. It had its capital in Sirmium and included all four provinces that were formed from historical Pannonia, as well as the provinces of Dalmatia, following the Migrations Period in the middle of the 5th century, Pannonia was ceded to the Huns by Theodosius II. After the collapse of the Hunnic empire in 454, large numbers of Ostrogoths were settled by Emperor Marcian in the province as foederati, afterwards, it was again invaded by the Avars in the 560s, the Slavs, who first settled c. This language and the culture became extinct with the arrival of the Magyars. The native settlements consisted of pagi containing a number of vici, the cities and towns in Pannonia were, The country was fairly productive, especially after the great forests had been cleared by Probus and Galerius
5.
Raetia
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Raetia was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the west with Transalpine Gaul and on south with Venetia et Histria. It thus comprised the districts occupied in modern times by eastern and central Switzerland, southern Bavaria and the Upper Swabia, Vorarlberg, the part of Tirol. Later Vindelicia formed part of Raetia, the northern border of Raetia during the times of Augustus and Tiberius was the River Danube. Later the Limes Germanicus marked the boundary, stretching for 166 km north of the Danube. Raetia linked to Italy across the Alps over the Reschen Pass, the Romansh people living in Southeast Switzerland are believed to be direct descendants of the Raetians. However, the lineage of the Romansh people remains incomplete. Little is known of the origin or history of the Raetians, livy states distinctly that they were of Etruscan origin. The Raetians are first mentioned by Polybius, and little is heard of them till after the end of the Republic, there is little doubt, however, that they retained their independence until their subjugation in 15 BC by Tiberius and Drusus. During the reign of Marcus Aurelius, Raetia was governed by the commander of the Legio III Italica, the boundary between them is not clearly defined, but may be stated generally as a line drawn eastwards from the lacus Brigantinus to the Oenus. Much of Raetia prima remained as a political unit, Raetia Curiensis, for several centuries. Some of the valleys, however, were rich and fertile, and produced wine, Augustus Caesar preferred Raetian wine to any other. Considerable trade in pitch, honey, wax, and cheese occurred, the chief towns of Raetia were Tridentum and Curia. The Rätikon mountain range derives its name from Raetia, Alpine regiments of the Roman army This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh, ed. Raetia. PC von Planta, Das alte Rätien T Mommsen in Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, iii. p.706 Joachim Marquardt, P. pp.16,161,196 Mary B Peaks, The General Civil and Military Administration of Noricum and Raetia. Bagnall, R. J. Drinkwater, A. Esmonde-Cleary, W. Harris, R. Knapp, S. Mitchell, S. Parker, C. Wells, J. Wilkes, R. Talbert, M. E. Downs, M. Joann McDaniel, B. Z. Lund, T. Elliott, cS1 maint, Multiple names, authors list
6.
Marcomanni
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According to Tacitus and Strabo they were Suebian. It is believed their name derives possibly from the Proto-Germanic forms of march and men, *Markōmanniz, the Marcomanni first appear in historical records as confederates of the Suebi of Ariovistus fighting against Julius Caesar in Gaul, having crossed the Rhine from present-day southern Germany. The exact position of their lands at this time is not known, the fact that their name existed before the Romans had territory near the Danube or Rhine raises the question of which border they lived near in order to explain their name. It has been suggested that they may have lived near the conjunction of Rhine and this was described as being within the Hercynian forest and was possibly in the region of modern Bohemia, although this is not certain. By 6 BC, their king, Maroboduus, had established a kingdom there that Augustus perceived as a threat to Rome. Before he could act, however, the revolt in Illyria intervened, eventually Maroboduus was deposed and exiled by Catualda. Catualda was in turn deposed by Vibilius of the Hermunduri the same year, around 50 AD, Vannius was himself also deposed by Vibilius, in coordination with his nephews Vangio and Sido. Tacitus, in the late 1st century mentions the Marcomanni as being under kings appointed by Rome, in the 2nd century AD, the Marcomanni entered into a confederation with other peoples including the Quadi, Vandals, and Sarmatians, against the Roman Empire. This was probably driven by movements of larger tribes, like the Goths, according to the historian Eutropius, the forces of the emperor, Marcus Aurelius, battled against the Marcomannic confederation for three years at the fortress of Carnuntum in Pannonia. Eutropius compared the war, and Aureliuss success against the Marcomanni and their allies, the comparison was apt in that this war marked a turning point and had significant Roman defeats, it caused the death of two Praetorian Guard commanders. The war lasted until Aureliuss death in 180 and it would prove to be only a limited success for Rome, the Danube river remained as the frontier of the empire until the final fall of the West. The Christianisation of the Marcomanni, at least into a Roman orthodox form of Christianity, seems to have occurred under their queen and she corresponded with Ambrose of Milan to bring about the conversion. This was the last clear evidence of the Marcomanni having a polity and it was possibly on the Roman side of the Danube by this time. Soon after, the Pannonian and Danubian area went into a period of turmoil. These Suevi were probably a mix of Suevian groups from the north of Danube and Pannonian basin such as the Marcomanni, Quadi. There, Hermeric swore fealty to the emperor in 410, bracara Augusta, the modern city of Braga in Portugal, previously the capital of Roman Gallaecia, now became the capital of the Suebic Kingdom. The Danubian area meanwhile became the core of Attila the Huns empire, one group of them managed to reform into an independent group after the Battle of Nedao in 454, like many other groups who emerged from Attilas confederation. These Suevi eventually came into conflict with the Ostrogoths, who had been on the side at Nadao
7.
Lombards
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The Lombards or Longobards were a Germanic people who ruled large parts of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. In the 1st century AD, they formed part of the Suebi, the Lombard king Audoin defeated the Gepid leader Thurisind in 551 or 552, his successor Alboin eventually destroyed the Gepids at the Battle of Asfeld in 567. The Lombards were joined by numerous Saxons, Heruls, Gepids, Bulgars, Thuringians, and Ostrogoths, by late 569 they had conquered all north of Italy and the principal cities north of the Po River except Pavia, which fell in 572. At the same time, they occupied areas in central Italy and they established a Lombard Kingdom in north and central Italy, later named Regnum Italicum, which reached its zenith under the 8th-century ruler Liutprand. In 774, the Kingdom was conquered by the Frankish King Charlemagne, however, Lombard nobles continued to rule southern parts of the Italian peninsula, well into the 11th century when they were conquered by the Normans and added to their County of Sicily. In this period, the part of Italy still under Longobardic domination was known by the name Langbarðaland in the Norse runestones. Their legacy is apparent in the regional name Lombardy. The fullest account of Lombard origins, history, and practices is the Historia Langobardorum of Paul the Deacon, pauls chief source for Lombard origins, however, is the 7th-century Origo Gentis Langobardorum. The Origo Gentis Langobardorum tells the story of a tribe called the Winnili dwelling in southern Scandinavia. The Winnili were split into three groups and one part left their land to seek foreign fields. The reason for the exodus was probably overpopulation, the departing people were led by the brothers Ybor and Aio and their mother Gambara and arrived in the lands of Scoringa, perhaps the Baltic coast or the Bardengau on the banks of the Elbe. Scoringa was ruled by the Vandals and their chieftains, the brothers Ambri and Assi, the Winnili were young and brave and refused to pay tribute, saying It is better to maintain liberty by arms than to stain it by the payment of tribute. The Vandals prepared for war and consulted Godan, who answered that he would give the victory to those whom he would see first at sunrise. The Winnili were fewer in number and Gambara sought help from Frea, at sunrise, Frea turned her husbands bed so that he was facing east, and woke him. So Godan spotted the Winnili first and asked, Who are these long-beards. and Frea replied, My lord, thou hast given them the name, from that moment onwards, the Winnili were known as the Longbeards. When Paul the Deacon wrote the Historia between 787 and 796 he was a Catholic monk and devoted Christian and he thought the pagan stories of his people silly and laughable. Paul explained that the name Langobard came from the length of their beards, a modern theory suggests that the name Langobard comes from Langbarðr, a name of Odin. Priester states that when the Winnili changed their name to Lombards, they changed their old agricultural fertility cult to a cult of Odin
8.
Bavarians
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Bavarians are an ethnographic group of Germans of the Bavaria region, a state within Germany. The groups dialect or speech is known as the Bavarian language, native to Altbayern, like the neighboring Swabians and Austrians, Bavarians are traditionally Catholic. There is no distinction between Bavarians and Austrians. The Bavarian language is divided into three dialects, Upper Palatinian is spoken in northern Bavaria. Danube Bavarian is spoken in central and south-eastern Bavaria and in Central, alpine Bavarian is spoken in south-western Bavaria, in southern Austria and in South Tyrol. On the southern side of the river Danube was the Roman controlled province of Raetia, Bavarians are first mentioned in the mid 6th century, in the foothills north of the Alps, on both sides of the Danube river. It is difficult to distinguish the mobile and mixing groups of the Danube in this period archaeologically and they seem to have been closely related to the Lombards who were developing as a force to the east of them. Their legal system shows heavy Roman influence, and their unification appears to have been under a Duke installed by the Franks, Elbe Germans, came from the Elbe river to the north, which was under Thuringian rule, and is where the Lombards had also been. But also more northern groups had moved along the Elbe from the direction of the North Sea, as did some Saxons who joined the Lombards, and possibly the Heruls. Also, East Germanic groups such as the Goths had entered the Pannonian region east of the Bavarians in the leading up to the empire of Attila. These peoples had not only contributed to the Hunnic empire, Slavs and Avars were settling to the north-east, and Goths and Langobards to the east and south were later displaced by Slavs and Magyars. A Diocese of Laureacum had been in existence since the 4th century, in the 8th century moved to Passau, the Bishopric of Regensburg was founded in 739 by Boniface. The Lex Baiuvariorum was a codex of Germanic law, comprising 23 articles of traditional law recorded in the 740s, Bavaria within the Carolingian Empire was bordering on Swabia in the west, Thuringia in the north, Lombardy in the south and Slavic Carinthia in the east. The Duchy of Bavaria was a duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, established in the 10th century. In the 14th and 15th centuries, upper and lower Bavaria were repeatedly subdivided, four Duchies existed after the division of 1392, Lower Bavaria-Straubing, lower Bavaria-Landshut, Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Bavaria-Munich. Munich, now the capital and cultural center of Bavaria, was founded in the medieval period. In 1503, Bavaria was re-united by Duke Albrecht IV of Bavaria-Munich, in 1623, Bavaria was elevated to Electorate. The Kingdom of Bavaria was established at the Peace of Pressburg, the kingdoms territory fluctuated greatly over the following years, eventually fixed at the Treaty of Paris, which established most of what remain the borders of the modern state
9.
Suebi
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The Suebi was a large group of related Germanic peoples who lived in Germania in the time of the Roman Empire. They were first mentioned by Julius Caesar in connection with his battles against Ariovistus in Gaul and they actually occupy more than half of Germania, and are divided into a number of distinct tribes under distinct names, though all generally are called Suebi. At one time, classical ethnography had applied the name Suevi to so many Germanic tribes that it appeared as if, in the first centuries AD, classical authors noted that the Suevic tribes, compared to other Germanic tribes, were very mobile and not reliant on agriculture. Various Suevic groups moved from the direction of the Baltic Sea, towards the end of the empire, the Alemanni, also referred to as Suebi, first settled in the Agri Decumates and then crossed the Rhine and occupied Alsace. An area in southwest Germany is still called Swabia, which derives from the Suebi. Other Suebi entered Gaul and some moved as far as Gallaecia, where they established the Kingdom of the Suebi, which lasted for 170 years until its integration into the Visigothic Kingdom. Notably, the Semnones, known to classical authors as one of the largest Suebian groups, also seem to have a name with this same meaning, alternatively, it may be borrowed from a Celtic word for vagabond. Caesar placed the Suebi east of the Ubii apparently near modern Hesse, in the position where later writers mention the Chatti, some commentators believe that Caesars Suebi were the later Chatti or possibly the Hermunduri, or Semnones. Later authors use the term Suebi more broadly, to cover a number of tribes in central Germany. Whether or not the Chatti were ever considered Suevi, both Tacitus and Strabo distinguish the two partly because the Chatti were more settled in one territory, whereas Suevi remained less settled. The definitions of the greater ethnic groupings within Germania were apparently not always consistent and clear, whereas Tacitus reported three main kinds of German peoples, Irminones, Istvaeones, and Ingaevones, Pliny specifically adds two more genera or kinds, the Bastarnae and the Vandili. The Vandals were tribes east of the Elbe, including the well-known Silingi, Goths, and Burgundians, the modern term Elbe Germanic similarly covers a large grouping of Germanic peoples that at least overlaps with the classical terms Suevi and Irminones. In the time of Caesar, southern Germany was Celtic, in addition, also near the Hercynian forest Caesar believed that the Celtic Tectosages had once lived. All of these peoples had for the most part moved by the time of Tacitus, nevertheless, Cassius Dio wrote that the Suebi, who dwelt across the Rhine, were called Celts, which could mean that some Celtic groups were absorbed by larger Germanic tribal confederations. Strabo, in Book IV of his Geography also associates the Suebi with the Hercynian Forest and the south of Germania north of the Danube. He describes a chain of mountains north of the Danube that is like an extension of the Alps, possibly the Swabian Alps. In Book VII Strabo specifically mentions as Suevic peoples the Marcomanni, some of these tribes were inside the forest and some outside of it. Tacitus confirms the name Boiemum, saying it was a survival marking the old population of the place
10.
Avars (Carpathians)
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The Pannonian Avars /ˈævɑːrz/ also known as the Obri, the Abaroi and Varchonitai, and the Pseudo-Avars and Varchonites, were a group of Eurasian nomads of unknown origin during the early Middle Ages. The name Pannonian Avars, is used to them from the Avars of the Caucasus – who may or may not have been an unrelated people. They established the Avar Khaganate, which spanned the Pannonian Basin and considerable areas of Central and they were ruled by a khagan, who was assisted by an entourage of professional warriors. The language or languages spoken by the Avars are now unknown, denis Sinor states that most of the Avar words used in contemporaneous Latin or Greek texts, appear to have their origins in Siberian languages, especially Tungusic languages and Mongolian. There is also evidence, however, that ruling and subject clans spoke a variety of languages, proposals by scholars include Caucasian, Iranian, Tungusic, Hungarian and Turkic. A few scholars suggest that Proto-Slavic became the lingua franca of the Avar Khaganate, according to Gyula László, the late 9th century Pannonian Avars spoke a variety of Old Hungarian, thereby forming an Avar-Hungarian continuity with then newly arrived Hungarians. The earliest clear reference to the Avar ethnonym comes from Priscus the Rhetor,463, the Šaragurs, Onogurs and Ogurs were attacked by the Sabirs, who had been attacked by the Avars. In turn, the Avars had been driven off by people fleeing man-eating griffins coming from the ocean, whilst Priscus accounts provide some information about the ethno-political situation in the Don-Kuban-Volga region after the demise of the Huns, no unequivocal conclusions can be reached. Denis Sinor has argued that whoever the Avars referred to by Priscus were, they differed from the Avars who appear a century later, during the time of Justinian. The next author of late antiquity to discuss the Avars, Menander Protector in the 6th century, each time, the Turks appear angered at the Byzantines for having made an alliance with the Avars, whom the Turks saw as their subjects and slaves. Turxanthos, a Turk prince, calls the Avars Varchonites and escaped slaves of the Turks, many more, but somewhat confusing, details come from Theophylact Simocatta, who wrote c. 629, but detailed the two decades of the 6th century. For it is by a misnomer that the barbarians on the Ister have assumed the appellation of Avars, so, when the Avars had been defeated some of them made their escape to those who inhabit Taugast. Taugast is a city, which is a total of one thousand five hundred miles distant from those who are called Turks. These make their habitations in the east, by the course of the river Til, the earliest leaders of this nation were named Var and Chunni, from them some parts of those nations were also accorded their nomenclature, being called Var and Chunni. Then, while the emperor Justinian was in possession of the royal power and these named themselves Avars and glorified their leader with the appellation of Chagan. Let us declare, without departing in the least from the truth, for this reason they honoured the fugitives with splendid gifts and supposed that they received from them security in exchange. In point of fact even up to our present times the Pseudo-Avars are divided in their ancestry, some bearing the time-honoured name of Var while others are called Chunni
11.
Samo
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Samo founded the first recorded political union of Slavic tribes, known as Samos Empire, stretching from Silesia to present-day Slovenia, ruling from 623 until his death in 658. In 631, Samo successfully defended his realm against the Frankish Kingdom in the three-day Battle of Wogastisburg, the dates for Samos rule are based on Fredegar, who says that he went to the Slavs in the fortieth year of Chlothar II and reigned for thirty five years. The Avars first arrived in the Pannonian Basin and subdued the local Slavs in the 560s, Samo may have been one of the merchants who supplied arms to the Slavs for their regular revolts. Whether he became king during a revolt of 623–24 or during one that followed the Avar defeat in 626. A string of victories over the Avars proved his utilitas to his subjects, Samo went on to secure his throne by marriage into the major Wendish families, wedding at least twelve women and fathering twenty-two sons and fifteen daughters. The most well-documented event of Samos career was his victory over the Frankish royal army under Dagobert I in 631 or 632. Provoked to action by a violent quarrel in the Pannonian kingdom of the Avars or Huns during his ninth year, the Franks were routed near Wogastisburg, an unidentified location meaning fortress/castle of Vogast. The majority of the armies were slaughtered, while the rest of the troops fled, leaving weapons. In the aftermath of the Wendish victory, Samo invaded Frankish Thuringia several times, the Sorbian prince Dervan abandoned the Franks and placed himself and his people under Samos realm. In 641 the rebellious duke of Thuringia, Radulf, sought an alliance with Samo against his sovereign, Samo also maintained long-distance trade relationships. On his death, however, his title was not inherited by his sons, ultimately, Samo can be credited with forging a Wendish identity by speaking on behalf of the community that recognised his authority. The main source of information on Samo and his empire is the Fredegarii Chronicon. Though theories of multiple authorship once abounded, the notion of a single Fredegar is now common scholarly fare, the last or only Fredegar was the author of a brief account of the Wends including the best, and only contemporary, information on Samo. According to Fredegar, Samo a Frank by birth from the Senonian province, although he was of Frankish origin, Samo demanded that an ambassador of Dagobert I put on Slavic clothes before entering his castle. All other sources for Samo are derived from Fredegar and are more recent. The Gesta Dagoberti I regis Francorum was written in the first third of the 9th century, the Conversio Bagoariorum et Carantanorum from Salzburg, written in 871–72, is a very tendentious source, as its name suggests. According mainly to the Conversio, Samo was a Karantanian merchant, the sources Fredegar used to compile his Wendish account are unknown. A few scholars have attacked the entire account as fictitious, but Fredegar displays a critical attitude and it is possible that he had an eyewitness in the person of Sicharius, the ambassador of Dagobert I to the Slavs
12.
Carantania
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Carantania, also known as Carentania, was a Slavic principality that emerged in the second half of the 7th century, in the territory of present-day southern Austria and north-eastern Slovenia. It was the predecessor of the March of Carinthia, created within the Carolingian Empire in 889, the name Carantania is of pre-Slavic origin. Paul the Deacon mentions Slavs in Carnuntum, which is erroneously called Carantanum and its Slovene name *korǫtanъ was adopted from the Latin *carantanum. The toponym Carinthia is also claimed to be related, deriving from pre-Slavic *carantia. Carantanias capital was most likely Karnburg in the Zollfeld Field, north of town of Klagenfurt. It most probably also included the territory of the modern Slovenian province of Carinthia, the few existing historical sources distinguish between two separate Slavic principalities in the Eastern Alpine area, Carantania and Carniola. The latter, which appears in records dating from the late 8th century, was situated in the central part of modern Slovenia. It was the predecessor of the later Duchy of Carniola, in the 4th century Chur became the seat of the first Christian bishopric north to the Alps. Despite a legend assigning its foundation to an alleged Briton king, St. Lucius, in the 6th century, the Alpine Slavs, who are reckoned to be among the ancestors of present-day Slovenes, settled the eastern areas of the Friulia region. They settled in the easternmost mountainous areas of Friuli, known as the Friulian Slavia, as well as the Karst Plateau, the northern part of Tyrol came under the influence of the Bavarii, while the west probably was part of Alamannia. In 568, the Langobards receded into Northern Italy, subsequently, in the last decades of the 6th century, Slavs settled in the depopulated territory with the help of their Avar overlords. In 588 they reached the area of the Upper Sava River and in 591 they arrived in the Upper Drava region, in 592 the Bavarians won, but three years later in 595 the Slavic-Avar army gained victory and thus consolidated the boundary between the Frankish and the Avar territories. By that time, todays East Tyrol and Carinthia came to be referred to in sources as Provincia Sclaborum. In the 6th century, the Alpine Slavs, who are reckoned to be among the ancestors of present-day Slovenes and they settled in the easternmost mountainous areas of Friuli, known as the Friulian Slavia, as well as the Kras Plateau and the area north and south from Gorizia. In the 6th century Chur was also conquered by the Franks, the territory settled by Slavs, however, was also inhabited by the remains of the indigenous Romanized population, which preserved Christianity. Slavs in both the Eastern Alps and the Pannonian region were subject to Avar rulers. After Avar rule weakened around 610, a relatively independent March of the Slavs, governed by a duke, historical sources mention Valuk as the duke of Slavs. In 623 Slavs of the Eastern Alps probably joined Samos Tribal Union, the year 626 brought an end to Avar dominance over Slavs, as the Avars were defeated at Constantinople
13.
East Francia
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East Francia or the Kingdom of the East Franks was a successor state of Charlemagnes empire and precursor of the Holy Roman Empire. Until 911 it was ruled by Carolingian dynasty and it was created after the 840-43 civil war between Charlemagnes grandchildren which ended with the Treaty of Verdun which divided the former empire into three kingdoms. In August 843, after three years of war following the death of emperor Louis the Pious on 20 June 840. The division of lands was based on the Meuse, Scheldt. The contemporary East Frankish Annales Fuldenses describes the kingdom being divided in three and Louis acceding to the eastern part, while West and Middle Francia contained the traditional Frankish heartlands, the East consisted mostly of lands only annexed to the Frankish empire in the eighth century. These included the duchies of Alemannia, Bavaria, Saxony and Thuringia, as well as the northern and eastern marches with the Danes, in 869 Lotharingia was divided between West and East Francia under the Treaty of Meersen. The short lived Middle Francia turned out to be the theatre of Franco-German wars up until the 20th century, all the Frankish lands were briefly reunited by Charles the Fat, but in 888 he was deposed by nobles and in East Francia Arnulf of Carinthia was elected king. The increasing weakness of royal power in East Francia meant that dukes of Bavaria, Swabia, Franconia, Saxony, Kings increasingly had to deal with regional rebellions. Because Conrad I was one of the dukes, he found it hard to establish his authority over them. Duke Henry of Saxony was in rebellion against Conrad I until 915 and struggle against Arnulf, on his deathbed Conrad I chose Henry of Saxony as the most capable successor. This kingship changed from Franks to Saxons, who had suffered greatly during the conquests of Charlemagne, by his death in July 936 Henry had prevented collapse of royal power as was happening in West Francia and left a much stronger kingdom to his successor Otto I. After Otto I was crowned as the Emperor in Rome in 962 the era of the Holy Roman Empire began, the term orientalis Francia originally referred to Franconia and orientales Franci to its inhabitants, the ethnic Franks living east of the Rhine. The use of the term in a sense, to refer to the eastern kingdom, was an innovation of Louis the Germans court. Since eastern Francia could be identified with old Austrasia, the Frankish heartland, under his grandson, Arnulf, the terminology was largely dropped and the kingdom, when it was referred to by name, was simply Francia. When it was necessary, as in the Treaty of Bonn with the West Franks, Henry I refers to himself as rex Francorum orientalium, king of the East Franks, in the treaty. By the 12th century, the historian Otto of Freising, in using the Carolingian terminology had to explain that the kingdom of the Franks was now called the kingdom of the Germans. The regalia of the Carolingian empire had divided by Louis the Pious on his deathbed between his two faithful sons, Charles the Bald and Lothair. Louis the German, then in rebellion, received nothing of the jewels or liturgical books associated with Carolingian kingship
14.
Duchy of Bavaria
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The Duchy of Bavaria was, from the sixth through the eighth century, a frontier region in the southeastern part of the Merovingian kingdom and was ruled by dukes under Frankish lordship. In the late ninth century a new duchy was created from this area and it was one of the stem duchies of the Kingdom of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire. Between 1070 and 1180 the Emperor was opposed by Bavaria, especially by the House of Welf, in the final conflict between the Duke Henry the Lion and the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick I, Frederick I triumphed and deprived Henry of his fiefs. Bavaria then passed over to the House of Wittelsbach, which held it until 1918, the origins of the older Bavarian duchy can be traced to the year 551/555. In his Getica, the chronicler Jordanes writes, That area of the Swabians has the Bavarii in the east, until the end of the first duchy, all rulers descended from the family of the Agilolfings. The first documented duke was Garibald I, a scion of the Frankish Agilolfings, at around 743, the Bavarian duke Odilo vassalised the Slavic princes of Carantania, who had asked him for protection against the invading Avars. The residence of the largely independent Agilolfing dukes was then Regensburg, in the adjacent Alamannic lands west of the Lech river, Augsburg was a bishops seat. When Boniface established the Diocese of Passau in 739, he could build on local Early Christian traditions. In the south, Saint Rupert had founded in 696 the Diocese of Salzburg, probably after he had baptized Duke Theodo of Bavaria at his court in Regensburg, becoming the Apostle of Bavaria. In 798 Pope Leo III created the Bavarian ecclesiastical province with Salzburg as metropolitan seat and Regensburg, Passau, Freising, in the west, the Carolingian mayor of the palace Carloman had suppressed the last Alamannic revolt at the 746 Blood court at Cannstatt. The last tribal stem duchy to be incorporated was Bavaria in 788, the conquest of the Lombard Kingdom by Charlemagne entailed the fall of Tassilo, who was deposed in 788. Bavaria was then administrated by Frankish prefects, from 825 Louis the German styled himself King of Bavaria in the territory that was to become the centre of his power. Carlomans natural son Arnulf of Carinthia, raised in the former Carantanian lands, secured possession of the March of Carinthia upon his fathers death in 880, Carinthia and Bavaria were the bases of his power, with Regensburg as the seat of his government. Due mainly to the support of the Bavarians, Arnulf could take the field against Charles in 887, in 899 Bavaria passed to Louis the Child, during whose reign continuous Hungarian ravages occurred. During the reign of Louis the Child, Luitpold, Count of Scheyern, the German king Conrad I unsuccessfully attacked Arnulf when the latter refused to acknowledge his royal supremacy. The Carolingian reign in East Francia ended in 911 when Arnulfs son, King Louis the Child, the discontinuation of the central authority led to a new strengthening of the German stem duchies. At the same time, East Francia was exposed to the threat from Hungarian invasions. In 907 the army of Luitpold, Margrave of Bavaria suffered a defeat at the Battle of Pressburg
15.
Margraviate of Austria
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The Margraviate of Austria was a southeastern frontier march of the Holy Roman Empire created in 976 out of the territory on the border with the Kingdom of Hungary. Originally under the overlordship of the Dukes of Bavaria, it was ruled by margraves of the Franconian Babenberg dynasty and it became an Imperial State in its own right, when the Babenbergs were elevated to Dukes of Austria in 1156. In contemporary Latin, the entity was called the marcha Orientalis, marchia Austriae, the Old High German name Ostarrîchi first appeared on a famous deed of donation issued by Emperor Otto III at Bruchsal in November 996. Later the march was called the Margraviate of Austria or the Bavarian Eastern March to differentiate it from the Saxon Eastern March in the northeast. During the Anschluss period of 1938–45 the Nazi authorities tried to replace the term Austria with Ostmark, the march comprised the lands north and south of the Danube river, with the Enns tributary in the west forming the border with the Traungau shire of the Bavarian stem duchy. The eastern frontier with the Hungarian settlement area in the Pannonian Basin ran along the Morava and Leitha rivers, with the Gyepű borderland beyond. In the north, the march bordered on the Bohemian duchy of the Přemyslids, the early march corresponded closely to the modern region of Lower Austria. The initial Babenberger residence was probably at Pöchlarn on the former Roman limes, but maybe already Melk, the original march coincided with the modern Wachau, but was shortly enlarged eastwards at least as far as the Wienerwald. Under Margrave Ernest the Brave, the colonisation of the northern Waldviertel up to the Thaya river and the Bohemian march of Moravia was begun, the margraves residence later was moved down the Danube to Klosterneuburg until in 1142 Vienna became the official capital. The Babenbergs had a system of several castles built in the Wienerwald mountain range and along the Danube river. In the Austrian Alps some valleys retained their Rhaeto-Romance speakers until the 17th century, the first marches covering approximately the territory that would become Austria and Slovenia were the Avar March and the adjacent March of Carantania in the south. Both were established in the late 8th century by Charlemagne upon the incorporation of the territory of the Agilolfing dukes of Bavaria against the invasions of the Avars. When the Avars disappeared in the 820s, they were replaced largely by West Slavs, the March of Pannonia was set apart from the Duchy of Friuli in 828 and set up as a march against Moravia within the East Frankish regnum of Bavaria. These march, already called marcha orientalis, corresponded to a frontier along the Danube from the Traungau to Szombathely, by the 890s, the Pannonian march seems to have disappeared, along with the threat from Great Moravia, during the Hungarian invasions of Europe. Upon the defeat of Margrave Luitpold of Bavaria at the 907 Battle of Pressburg, in 955 King Otto I of Germany had started the reconquest with his victory at the 955 Battle of Lechfeld. However, much of Pannonia was still conquered by the Magyars and he appointed the Babenberg count Leopold the Illustrious from the House of Babenberg margrave in turn for his support. Leopold replaced one Burchard, whose status is not well known, margravial Austria reached its greatest height under Leopold III, a great friend of the church and founder of abbeys. He patronised towns and developed a level of territorial independence
16.
House of Babenberg
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The House of Babenberg was a noble dynasty of Austrian margraves and dukes. Also called Popponids after their progenitor Count Poppo of Grapfeld, they were related to the Frankish Robertian dynasty and ancestors of the Franconian Counts of Henneberg, 2) The Austrian Babenbergs, descendants of Margrave Leopold I, who ruled Austria from 976 onwards. This second group claimed to have originated from the first, however, today, a direct lineal descent from the Bavarian House of Luitpolding is assumed. Like the French royal Capetian dynasty, the Elder Babenbergs descended from the Robertians, the earliest known Babenberg count Poppo was first mentioned as a ruler in the Gau of Grabfeld, a historic region in northeastern Franconia bordering on Thuringia, in 819 AD. He may be a descendant of the Robertian count Cancor of Hesbaye, one of Poppos sons, Henry, served as princeps militiae under King Louis the Younger and was sometimes called margrave and duke in Franconia under King Charles the Fat of East Francia. He was killed fighting against the Vikings during the Siege of Paris in 886, another son, Poppo II, was margrave in Thuringia from 880 to 892, when he was deposed by King Charles successor Arnulf of Carinthia. The leaders of the Babenbergs were the sons of Duke Henry, the city of Bamberg was built around the ancestral castle of the family. The Conradines were led by Conrad the Elder and his brothers Rudolf and Gebhard, the struggle intensified at the beginning of the 10th century during the troubled reign of Arnulfs son King Louis the Child. Clashes of arms occurred in 902, when the Conradine laid siege to Babenburg Castle, the next year, Adalhard was executed at the Reichstag of Forchheim, in return, the Babenbergs occupied the city of Würzburg and expelled Bishop Rudolf. Meanwhile Rudolfs brother Gebhard was appointed Duke of Lotharingia in 903 where he had to both with revolting nobles and the continuing attacks by Babenberg forces. Both sides met in the battle of Fritzlar on 27 February 906, two of the Babenberg brothers were also killed. The third, Adalbert of Prague, was summoned before the court by the regent Archbishop Hatto I of Mainz. He refused to appear, held his own for a time in his castle at Theres against the forces, but surrendered in 906. Conrad the Younger became Duke of Franconia in 906 and King of East Francia in 911, in 962 the Bavarian count Leopold I, possibly a descendant of the Luitpolding duke Arnulf of Bavaria, was first mentioned as a faithful follower of Emperor Otto I. Adalbert expanded the Austrian territory up to the present borders on the Leitha, March and he was succeeded in 1055 by his nephew, Ernest. Leopold II, margrave from 1075, quarrelled with Emperor Henry IV during the Investiture Controversy, Leopold III supported Henry V, the son of Emperor Henry IV, in his rising against his father, but was soon drawn over to the emperors side. In 1106 he married the daughter of Henry IV, Agnes, in 1125 he declined the royal crown in favour of Lothair of Supplinburg. His zeal in founding monasteries, such as Klosterneuburg Monastery, earned for him his surname the Pious and he is regarded as the patron saint of Lower and Upper Austria
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House of Habsburg
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The House of Habsburg, also called House of Hapsburg, or House of Austria, was one of the most influential royal houses of Europe. The throne of the Holy Roman Empire was continuously occupied by the Habsburgs between 1438 and 1740, from the sixteenth century, following the reign of Charles V, the dynasty was split between its Austrian and Spanish branches. Although they ruled distinct territories, they maintained close relations. The House takes its name from Habsburg Castle, a built in the 1020s in present-day Switzerland, in the canton of Aargau, by Count Radbot of Klettgau. His grandson Otto II was the first to take the name as his own. The House of Habsburg gathered dynastic momentum through the 11th, 12th, by 1276, Count Radbots seventh generation descendant Rudolph of Habsburg had moved the familys power base from Habsburg Castle to the Duchy of Austria. Rudolph had become King of Germany in 1273, and the dynasty of the House of Habsburg was truly entrenched in 1276 when Rudolph became ruler of Austria, which the Habsburgs ruled until 1918. A series of dynastic marriages enabled the family to expand its domains to include Burgundy, Spain and its colonial empire, Bohemia, Hungary. In the 16th century, the separated into the senior Habsburg Spain and the junior Habsburg Monarchy branches. The House of Habsburg became extinct in the 18th century, the senior Spanish branch ended upon the death of Charles II of Spain in 1700 and was replaced by the House of Bourbon. It was succeeded by the Vaudemont branch of the House of Lorraine, the new successor house styled itself formally as the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, although it was often referred to as simply the House of Habsburg. His grandson Radbot, Count of Habsburg founded the Habsburg Castle, the origins of the castles name, located in what is now the Swiss canton of Aargau, are uncertain. There is disagreement on whether the name is derived from the High German Habichtsburg, or from the Middle High German word hab/hap meaning ford, the first documented use of the name by the dynasty itself has been traced to the year 1108. The Habsburg Castle was the seat in the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries. The Habsburgs expanded their influence through arranged marriages and by gaining political privileges, in the 13th century, the house aimed its marriage policy at families in Upper Alsace and Swabia. They were also able to high positions in the church hierarchy for their members. Territorially, they often profited from the extinction of other families such as the House of Kyburg. By the second half of the 13th century, count Rudolph IV had become one of the most influential territorial lords in the area between the Vosges Mountains and Lake Constance
18.
Holy Roman Empire
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The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806. On 25 December 800, Pope Leo III crowned the Frankish king Charlemagne as Emperor, reviving the title in Western Europe, more than three centuries after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The title was revived in 962 when Otto I was crowned emperor, fashioning himself as the successor of Charlemagne, some historians refer to the coronation of Charlemagne as the origin of the empire, while others prefer the coronation of Otto I as its beginning. Scholars generally concur, however, in relating an evolution of the institutions and principles constituting the empire, the office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. Emperor Francis II dissolved the empire on 6 August 1806, after the creation of the Confederation of the Rhine by Napoleon, before 1157, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. In a decree following the 1512 Diet of Cologne, the name was changed to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, by the end of the 18th century, the term Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation had fallen out of official use. As Roman power in Gaul declined during the 5th century, local Germanic tribes assumed control, by the middle of the 8th century, however, the Merovingians had been reduced to figureheads, and the Carolingians, led by Charles Martel, had become the de facto rulers. In 751, Martel’s son Pepin became King of the Franks, the Carolingians would maintain a close alliance with the Papacy. In 768 Pepin’s son Charlemagne became King of the Franks and began an expansion of the realm. He eventually incorporated the territories of present-day France, Germany, northern Italy, on Christmas Day of 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne emperor, restoring the title in the west for the first time in over three centuries. After the death of Charles the Fat in 888, however, the Carolingian Empire broke apart, according to Regino of Prüm, the parts of the realm spewed forth kinglets, and each part elected a kinglet from its own bowels. After the death of Charles the Fat, those crowned emperor by the pope controlled only territories in Italy, the last such emperor was Berengar I of Italy, who died in 924. Around 900, autonomous stem duchies reemerged in East Francia, on his deathbed, Conrad yielded the crown to his main rival, Henry the Fowler of Saxony, who was elected king at the Diet of Fritzlar in 919. Henry reached a truce with the raiding Magyars, and in 933 he won a first victory against them in the Battle of Riade, Henry died in 936, but his descendants, the Liudolfing dynasty, would continue to rule the Eastern kingdom for roughly a century. Upon Henry the Fowlers death, Otto, his son and designated successor, was elected King in Aachen in 936 and he overcame a series of revolts from an elder brother and from several dukes. After that, the managed to control the appointment of dukes. In 951, Otto came to the aid of Adelaide, the queen of Italy, defeating her enemies, marrying her. In 955, Otto won a victory over the Magyars in the Battle of Lechfeld
19.
Kingdom of Germany
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The Kingdom of Germany or German Kingdom developed out of the eastern half of the former Carolingian Empire. Like Anglo-Saxon England and medieval France, it began as a conglomerate, East Francia was formed by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, and was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911, after which the kingship was elective. The initial electors were the rulers of the duchies, who generally chose one of their own. After 962, when Otto I was crowned emperor, the formed the bulk of the Holy Roman Empire. The term rex teutonicorum first came into use in the chancery of Pope Gregory VII during the Investiture Controversy, in the twelfth century, in order to stress the imperial and transnational character of their office, the emperors began to employ the title rex Romanorum on their election. Distinct titulature for Germany, Italy and Burgundy, which traditionally had their own courts, laws, there are nevertheless relatively few references to a German realm and an instability in the terms use. The eastern division of the Treaty of Verdun was called the regnum Francorum Orientalium or Francia Orientalis and it was the eastern half of the old Merovingian regnum Austrasiorum. The east Franks themselves were the people of Franconia, which had settled by Franks. Foreign kings and ecclesiastics continued to refer to the regnum Alemanniae, the term regnum Germaniae begins to appear even in German sources at the beginning of the fourteenth century. Therefore, throughout the Middle Ages, the convention was that the king of Germany was also Emperor of the Romans and his title was royal from his election to his coronation in Rome by the Pope, thereafter, he was emperor. After the death of Frederick II in 1250, the trend toward a clearly conceived German kingdom found no real consolidation. The title of king of the Romans became less and less reserved for the emperor-elect but uncrowned in Rome, the reign was dated to begin either on the day of election or the day of the coronation. The election day became the starting date permanently with Sigismund, ultimately, Maximilian I changed the style of the emperor in 1508, with papal approval, after his German coronation, his style was Dei gratia Romanorum imperator electus semper augustus. That is, he was emperor elect, a term that did not imply that he was emperor-in-waiting or not yet fully emperor, at the same time, the custom of having the heir-apparent elected as king of the Romans in the emperors lifetime resumed. For this reason, the king of the Romans came to mean heir-apparent. The Archbishop of Mainz was ex officio arch-chancellor of Germany, as his colleagues the Archbishop of Cologne and Archbishop of Trier were, respectively, arch-chancellors of Italy and these titles continued in use until the end of the empire, but only the German chancery actually existed. The tripartite division of the Carolingian Empire effected by the Treaty of Verdun was challenged early on with the death of the Emperor Lothair I in 855. He had divided his kingdom of Middle Francia between his three sons and immediately the northernmost of the three divisions, Lotharingia, was disputed between the kings of East and West Francia, the war over Lotharingia lasted until 925
20.
Archduchy of Austria
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The Archduchy of Austria was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the nucleus of the Habsburg Monarchy. With its capital at Vienna, the archduchy was centered at the Empires southeastern periphery, the Archduchy developed out of the Bavarian Margraviate of Austria, elevated to the Duchy of Austria according to the 1156 Privilegium Minus by Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The House of Habsburg came to the Austrian throne in Vienna in 1282 and in 1453 Emperor Frederick III, also Austrian ruler, the Archduchys history as an Imperial State ended with the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. It was replaced with the Lower and Upper Austria crown lands of the Austrian Empire, located in the Danube basin, Austria bordered on the Kingdom of Hungary beyond the March and Leitha rivers in the east. In the west, the Upper Austrian part bordered on the Bavarian stem duchy, in the course of the German mediatisation in 1803, the Austrian archdukes also acquired the rule over the Electorate of Salzburg and the Berchtesgaden Provostry. After Austria was detached from Bavaria and established as an Imperial estate in 1156, in 1358/59 the Habsburg duke Rudolf IV, in response of the Golden Bull of 1356, already claimed the archducal title by forging the Privilegium Maius. By the 1379 Treaty of Neuberg, his heirs divided the Habsburg lands, on Epiphany 1453 Emperor Frederick III, regent of Austria for his minor Albertinian cousin Ladislaus the Posthumous, finally acknowledged the archducal title. It was then conferred to all Habsburg emperors and rulers, as well as to the princes of the dynasty, however. Frederick further promoted the rise of the Habsburg dynasty into European dimensions with the arrangement of the marriage between his son Maximilian I and Mary the Rich, heiress of Burgundy in 1477. After Maximilians son Philip the Handsome in 1496 had married Joanna the Mad, Queen of Castile, by marrying Princess Anna of Bohemia and Hungary, Ferdinand inherited both kingdoms in 1526. The Archduchy of Austria continued to exist as a constituent crown land within the empire, history of Austria List of rulers of Austria
21.
Habsburg Monarchy
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The Monarchy was a composite state composed of territories within and outside the Holy Roman Empire, united only in the person of the monarch. The dynastic capital was Vienna, except from 1583 to 1611, from 1804 to 1867 the Habsburg Monarchy was formally unified as the Austrian Empire, and from 1867 to 1918 as the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The two entities were never coterminous, as the Habsburg Monarchy covered many lands beyond the Holy Roman Empire, the monarchy had no official name. The entity had no official name, Austrian Empire, This was the official name. Note that the German version is Kaisertum Österreich, i. e. the English translation empire refers to a territory ruled by an emperor, Austria-Hungary, This was the official name. An unofficial popular name was the Danubian Monarchy also often used was the term Doppel-Monarchie meaning two states under one crowned ruler, Crownlands or crown lands, This is the name of all the individual parts of the Austrian Empire, and then of Austria-Hungary from 1867 on. The Hungarian parts of the Empire were called Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen or Lands of Holy Stephens Crown, the Bohemian Lands were called Lands of the St. Wenceslaus Crown. Burgenland came to Austria in 1921 from Hungary, Salzburg finally became Austrian in 1816 after the Napoleonic wars. Vienna, Austrias capital became a state January 1,1922, after being residence, Upper and Lower Austria, historically, were split into Austria above the Enns and Austria below the Enns. Upper Austria was enlarged after the Treaty of Teschen following the War of the Bavarian Succession by the so-called Innviertel, formerly part of Bavaria. Hereditary Lands or German Hereditary Lands or Austrian Hereditary Lands, In a narrower sense these were the original Habsburg Austrian territories, i. e. basically the Austrian lands, in a wider sense the Lands of the Bohemian Crown were also included in the Hereditary lands. The term was replaced by the term Crownlands in the 1849 March Constitution, within the Habsburg Monarchy, each province was governed according to its own particular customs. Until the mid 17th century, not all of the provinces were even necessarily ruled by the same members of the family often ruled portions of the Hereditary Lands as private apanages. An even greater attempt at centralization began in 1849 following the suppression of the revolutions of 1848. For the first time, ministers tried to transform the monarchy into a bureaucratic state ruled from Vienna. The Kingdom of Hungary, in particular, ceased to exist as a separate entity, in this system, the Kingdom of Hungary was given sovereignty and a parliament, with only a personal union and a joint foreign and military policy connecting it to the other Habsburg lands. When Bosnia and Herzegovina was annexed, it was not incorporated into either half of the monarchy, instead, it was governed by the joint Ministry of Finance. Austria-Hungary collapsed under the weight of the various unsolved ethnic problems that came to a head with its defeat in World War I, to these were added in 1779 the Inn Quarter of Bavaria, and in 1803 the Bishoprics of Trent and Brixen
22.
Austrian Empire
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The Austrian Empire was an empire in Central Europe created out of the realms of the Habsburgs by proclamation in 1804. It was an empire and one of Europes great powers. Geographically it was the second largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire and it was also the third most populous after Russia and France, as well as the largest and strongest country in the German Confederation. Proclaimed in response to the First French Empire, it overlapped with the Holy Roman Empire until the dissolution in 1806. The Ausgleich of 1867 elevated Hungarys status and it became a separate entity from the Empire entirely, joining with it in the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Changes shaping the nature of the Holy Roman Empire took place during conferences in Rastatt, on 24 March 1803, the Imperial Recess was declared, which reduced the number of ecclesiastical states from 81 to only 3 and the free imperial cities from 51 to 6. This measure was aimed at replacing the old constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, taking this significant change into consideration, the German Emperor Francis II created the title Emperor of Austria, for himself and his successors. In 1804 the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, who was ruler of the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy, founded the Empire of Austria. In doing so he created a formal overarching structure for the Habsburg Monarchy, to safeguard his dynastys imperial status he adopted the additional hereditary title of Emperor of Austria. Hungarys affairs remained administered by its own institutions as they had been beforehand, thus under the new arrangements no Imperial institutions were involved in its internal government. The fall and dissolution of the Holy Roman 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 was defeated by French armies near the town of Ulm. The French victory resulted in the capture of 20,000 Austrian soldiers, Napoleons army won another victory at Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. Francis was forced into negotiations with the French from 4 to 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 Duke of Bavaria proclaimed himself King, finally, on 12 December, the Margrave of Baden was given the title of Grand Duke. In addition, each of these new countries signed a treaty with France, the Treaty of Pressburg between France and Austria, signed in Pressburg on 26 December, enlarged the territory of Napoleons German allies at the expense of defeated Austria. Certain Austrian holdings in Germany were passed to French allies—the King of Bavaria, the King of Württemberg, Austrian claims on those German states were renounced without exception. On 12 July 1806, the Confederation of the Rhine was established, comprising 16 sovereigns and this confederation, under French influence, put an end to the Holy Roman Empire. On 6 August 1806, even Francis recognized the new state of things and proclaimed the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, as he did not want Napoleon to succeed him
23.
German Confederation
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Most historians have judged the Confederation to have been weak and ineffective, as well as an obstacle to the creation of a German nation-state. It collapsed due to the rivalry between Prussia and Austria, warfare, the 1848 revolution, and the inability of the members to compromise. In 1848, revolutions by liberals and nationalists were an attempt to establish a unified German state. Talks between the German states failed in 1848, and the Confederation briefly dissolved, but was re-established shortly after and it decidedly fell apart only after the Prussian victory in the Seven Weeks War of 1866. This led to the creation of the North German Confederation under Prussian leadership in 1867, a number of South German states remained independent until they joined the North German Confederation, which was renamed the German Empire. The War of the Third Coalition lasted from about 1803 to 1806, following defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz by the French under Napoleon in December 1805, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II abdicated, and the Empire was dissolved on 6 August 1806. The resulting Treaty of Pressburg established the Confederation of the Rhine in July 1806, after the Battle of Jena–Auerstedt of October 1806 in the War of the Fourth Coalition, various other German states, including Saxony and Westphalia, also joined the Confederation. Only Austria, Prussia, Danish Holstein, Swedish Pomerania and the French-occupied Principality of Erfurt stayed outside the Confederation of the Rhine and these nations would later join in the War of the Sixth Coalition from 1812 to 1814. The German Confederation was created by the 9th Act of the Congress of Vienna on 8 June 1815 after being alluded to in Article 6 of the 1814 Treaty of Paris, ending the War of the Sixth Coalition. The Confederation was formally created by a treaty, the Final Act of the Ministerial Conference to Complete and Consolidate the Organization of the German Confederation. This treaty was not concluded and signed by the parties until 15 May 1820, States joined the German Confederation by becoming parties to the second treaty. The German Confederation ended as a result of the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 between Austrian Empire and its allies on one side and the Kingdom of Prussia and its allies on the other. In the Prague peace treaty, on 23 August 1866, Austria had to accept that the Confederation was considered to be dissolved, the following day, the remaining member states confirmed the dissolution. The treaty allowed Prussia to create a new Bundesverhältnis in the North of Germany, the South German states were proposed to create a South German Confederation but this did not come into existence. Prussia and its allies created the North German Confederation in 1867, because of French intervention it had to exclude, besides Austria, the South German states Bavaria, Württemberg, Baden and Hesse-Darmstadt. During November 1870 the four states joined the North German Confederation by treaty. The North German Confederation Reichstag and Bundesrat accepted to rename the North German Confederation as the German Empire, the new constitution of the state, the Constitution of the German Confederation, introduced the new name and title on 1 January 1871. The Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia were the largest, Austria and Prussia each had one vote in the Federal Assembly
24.
Austria-Hungary
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The union was a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and came into existence on 30 March 1867. Austria-Hungary consisted of two monarchies, and one region, the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia under the Hungarian crown. It was ruled by the House of Habsburg, and constituted the last phase in the evolution of the Habsburg Monarchy. Following the 1867 reforms, the Austrian and the Hungarian states were co-equal, Foreign affairs and the military came under joint oversight, but all other governmental faculties were divided between respective states. Austria-Hungary was a state and one of the worlds great powers at the time. Austria-Hungary was geographically the second-largest country in Europe after the Russian Empire, at 621,538 km2, the Empire built up the fourth-largest machine building industry of the world, after the United States, Germany, and the United Kingdom. After 1878, Bosnia and Herzegovina was under Austro-Hungarian military and civilian rule until it was annexed in 1908. The annexation of Bosnia also led to Islam being recognized as a state religion due to Bosnias Muslim population. Austria-Hungary was one of the Central Powers in World War I and it was already effectively dissolved by the time the military authorities signed the armistice of Villa Giusti on 3 November 1918. The realms full, official name was The Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council, each enjoyed considerable sovereignty with only a few joint affairs. Certain regions, such as Polish Galicia within Cisleithania and Croatia within Transleithania, enjoyed autonomous status, the division between Austria and Hungary was so marked that there was no common citizenship, one was either an Austrian citizen or a Hungarian citizen, never both. This also meant that there were always separate Austrian and Hungarian passports, however, neither Austrian nor Hungarian passports were used in the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia-Dalmatia. Instead, the Kingdom issued its own passports which were written in Croatian and French and it is not known what kind of passports were used in Bosnia-Herzegovina, which was under the control of both Austria and Hungary. The Kingdom of Hungary had always maintained a separate parliament, the Diet of Hungary, the administration and government of the Kingdom of Hungary remained largely untouched by the government structure of the overarching Austrian Empire. Hungarys central government structures remained well separated from the Austrian imperial government, the country was governed by the Council of Lieutenancy of Hungary – located in Pressburg and later in Pest – and by the Hungarian Royal Court Chancellery in Vienna. The Hungarian government and Hungarian parliament were suspended after the Hungarian revolution of 1848, despite Austria and Hungary sharing a common currency, they were fiscally sovereign and independent entities. Since the beginnings of the union, the government of the Kingdom of Hungary could preserve its separated. After the revolution of 1848–1849, the Hungarian budget was amalgamated with the Austrian, from 1527 to 1851, the Kingdom of Hungary maintained its own customs controls, which separated her from the other parts of the Habsburg-ruled territories
25.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
26.
Republic of German-Austria
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The Republic of German-Austria was created following World War I as the initial rump state for areas with a predominantly German-speaking population within what had been the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In Habsburg Austria-Hungary, German-Austria was a term for the areas of the empire inhabited by Austrian Germans. On October 12,1918 Emperor Charles I met with the leaders of the largest German parties, on October 16,1918 Emperor Charles I published a manifesto which offered to change Austria-Hungary into a federation of nationalities. This came too late as Czechs and Southern Slavs were well on their way to creating independent states, however, this gave an impulse to the Reichsrat of German inhabited areas to meet. It elected Franz Dinghofer of the German National Movement, Jodok Fink of the Christian Social Party, the assembly included representatives from Bohemia, Moravia, and Austrian Silesia who refused to submit to the new state of Czechoslovakia which had been declared on October 28,1918. On October 25 Provisional Assembly called on all German inhabited Lands to form their own provisional assemblies, during its second meeting on October 30 the Provisional National Assembly created the basic institutions of the new state. The legislative power was assumed by the Provisional National Assembly while the power was entrusted to the newly created German-Austrian State Council. On November 11,1918, Emperor Charles I in all but name abdicated, the next day, November 12, the National Assembly officially declared German-Austria a republic, and named Social Democrat Karl Renner as provisional chancellor. On the same day it drafted a constitution that stated that German-Austria is a democratic republic. This was enforced by the refusal of Hungary to sell grain, Social Democrat Karl Renner became Chancellor, Victor Adler Foreign Minister. Social Democrats co-opted newly created soldier and worker councils and used their control over labour unions to implement social policies that reduced risks of Bolshevik revolution, elections to the Constituent Assembly were held on February 16,1919 and for the first time women were allowed to vote. Out of the 38 German inhabited constituencies only 25 participated and 159 deputies were elected to the 170 seats with Social Democrats as the largest party, Social Democrats won 72 seats, Christians Socials 69 and German Nationalists 26. The Constituent National Assembly first met on March 4,1919 and on March 15 a new government was formed, Austrian Social Democrats, despite being one of the leading Marxist parties with its Austromarxism current, did not attempt to seize power or to institute socialism. However, the majority of conservative, Catholic politicians still distrusted them, Social Democrat leader Otto Bauer wrote, “German-Austria is not an organism which has followed the laws of historical growth. It is nothing but the remnant of what remained of the old Empire after other nations had broken away from it. It remained as a bundle of divergent Lands. ”On November 13,1918 Germany-Austria asked Germany to start negotiations of union and on November 15 sent a telegram to President Wilson to support union of Germany. This was grounded in the view that Austria had never been a nation in the true sense. While the Austrian territory had existed in one form or another for over 700 years within the Holy Roman Empire and later the German Confederation, apart from being German inhabited, these Lands had no common ‘Austrian’ identity and there had never been an Austrian state before
27.
First Austrian Republic
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The Republics constitution was enacted in October 1,1920 and amended on December 7,1929. The republican period was marked by violent strife between those with left-wing and right-wing views, leading to the July Revolt of 1927 and the Austrian Civil War of 1934. Despite Austrian protests this treaty also forbade Anschluss, or union of Austria with Germany, the new Republic was created by the will of Allies who did not want the defeated Germany to expand its borders. The new state managed to prevent two land claims from being taken by their neighbours, the first was the south-eastern part of Carinthia, which was inhabited partly by Slovenians. It was prevented from being taken over by the new SHS-state through a Carinthian plebiscite on October 10,1920, the second prevented land-claim was Hungarys claim to Burgenland, which, under the name Western Hungary, had been part of the Hungarian kingdom since 1647. It was inhabited mostly by a German-speaking population, but had also Croat-, through the Treaty of St. Germain it became part of the Austrian Republic in 1921. However, after a plebiscite which was disputed by Austria, the capital city of Sopron remained in Hungary. Many of them felt that with the loss of 60% of the territory of the prewar empire, Austria was no longer economically and politically viable as a separate state without union with Germany. In the country of 6.5 million, Vienna, with its population of almost 2 million, was left as a capital without an empire to feed it. For much of the early 1920s, Austrias survival was very much in doubt and this was partly because Austria had never been a German/Austrian nation state in the true sense of the term. The Federal President was elected for a four year tearm in a session of both houses, while Chancellor was elected by the Nationalrat. After 1920, Austrias government was dominated by the anti-Anschluss Christian Social Party which retained close ties to the Roman Catholic Church, the partys first Chancellor Ignaz Seipel came to power in May 1922 and attempted to forge a political alliance between wealthy industrialists and the Roman Catholic Church. After the legislative elections of October 17,1920 Social Democrats lost parliamentary majority and remained in the opposition until 1934, Christian Socials won 85, Social Democrats 69, Greater Germany Party 20 and Peasants Union 8 seats. Michael Hainisch was elected Federal President, after October 1923 elections Ignaz Seipel stayed in power and resigned in November 1924 when he was succeeded by Rudolf Ramek. After the 1930 legislative elections Social Democrats emerged as the largest party with 72 seats, country was dividen between conservative population of country side and Social Democrat controlled Red Vienna. In 1927, during a clash in Schattendorf, an old man. On July 14,1927 the shooters were acquitted and left-wing supporters began a massive protest during which the Ministry of Justice building was burned, to restore order police and army shot and killed 89 people and injured 600. The huge protest is known as the July Revolt of 1927, Social Democrats called for a general strike which lasted four days
28.
Austrofascism
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It was based on a ruling party, the Fatherland Front and the Heimwehr paramilitary militia. Austrofascism, which was Catholic, corporatist and espoused Austrian nationalism, must be contrasted with Austrian National Socialism, the Austrofascist movements origin lies in the Korneuburg Oath, a declaration released by the Christian Social paramilitary organization Heimwehr on 18 May 1930. The declaration condemned both, the Marxist class struggle, and the structures of liberal-capitalism. Furthermore, it rejected the Western democratic parliamentary system and -party state. Ideologically, Austrofascism was partly based on a fusion of Italian fascism, as expounded by Giovanni Gentile, to prevent its loss of power, the government sought to replace Austrian democracy with an authoritarian system. These efforts were supported from abroad by Benito Mussolini, the opportunity for such a transition arrived on 4 March 1933 when the national parliament was paralysed by procedural disputes. Dollfuss branded this as the self-elimination of the Parliament and proceeded to rule on the basis of the Wartime Economy Authority Law and this law had been passed in 1917 during World War I to enable the government to issue decrees ensuring the supply of necessities. The law had never been revoked and was now used by the Dollfuss government to inaugurate an authoritarian state. On 7 March 1933 the Council of Ministers issued a ban on assembly, press regulations were also levied by the Wartime Economy Authority Law and touted as economic safeguards. This allowed for censorship of the press, but the government was eager to avoid the appearance of open censorship, the opposition made a final attempt to reverse the changes in parliament, which was met by police power on 15 March 1933. On 31 March the government dissolved the Republican Schutzbund, on 10 April 1933 the Glöckel-Erlass, authored by former Social Democratic Education Minister Otto Glöckel, was abolished, the new law made participation in Catholic lessons in schools mandatory. On 10 May, all federal, state and local elections were cancelled, the Communist Party of Austria was dissolved on 26 May, the National Socialist Workers Party on 19 June, and the Free Thinkers Guild on 20 June. The Hotel Schiff, an asylum of the Social Democrats in Linz, was raided by the police in February 1934, the Social Democrats resisted, leading to the Austrian Civil War, which was quelled with military and paramilitary force. Afterward, the Social Democratic Party was banned in Austria, on 30 April 1934 the national parliament, in its last session, passed a law that authorised the government with all the powers previously held by parliament. The Federal Council was retained, though only as a significantly limited check on the Federal government, the National Council lost its power to initiate legislation but was still expected to approve decrees from the government. All essential power lay with the Federal Chancellor, who appointed his government single-handedly, and the Federal President, Chancellor Dollfuss was killed in July 1934, during an attempt by Austrias National Socialist Party to topple the regime and proclaim a Nazi government under Ambassador to Rome Anton Rintelen. The assassination of Dollfuss was accompanied by Nazi uprisings in many regions in Austria, in Carinthia a large contingent of northern German Nazis tried to grab power but were subdued by the loyalist Heimwehr units. The Nazi assassins holding the Federal Chancellery Vienna surrendered after threats to dynamite the building and were executed before the end of July, support for the Nazi movement in Austria was surpassed only by that in Germany, allegedly amounting to 75% in some areas
29.
Federal State of Austria
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The Federal State of Austria was a continuation of the First Austrian Republic between 1934 and 1938 when it was a one-party state led by the clerico-fascist Fatherland Front. The Ständestaat concept, derived from the notion of Stände, was advocated by leading regime politicians such as Engelbert Dollfuss. The result was a government based on a mix of conservative Catholic. Strongly referring to the doctrine of Catholic social teaching, the CS agitated against the Austrian labour movement led by the Social Democratic Party of Austria, the CS also spread antisemitic prejudices, albeit never as virulent as the Nazis eventually became. Dollfuss called the incident a self-elimination of the parliament and had the meeting on 15 March forcibly prorogued by the forces of the Vienna police department. His party fellow, President Wilhelm Miklas, with regard to Adolf Hitlers victory in the German elections of 5 March 1933 did not take any action to restore democracy. Instead on 20 May 1933 he had established the Fatherlands Front as a unity party of an autonomous, Christian, German, on 12 February 1934 the governments attempts to enforce the ban of the Schutzbund at the Hotel Schiff in Linz sparked the Austrian Civil War. The revolt was suppressed with support by the Bundesheer and right-wing Heimwehr troops under Ernst Rüdiger Starhemberg, ending with the ban of the Social Democratic Party and the trade unions. The path to dictatorship completed on 1 May 1934, when the Constitution was recast into a severely authoritarian document by a rump National Council, Dollfuss continued to rule by emergency measures until his assassination during the Nazi July Putsch on 25 July 1934. Although the coup initially had the encouragement of Hitler, it was suppressed and his education minister, Kurt Schuschnigg. Hitler officially denied any involvement in the coup détat, nevertheless, he continued to destabilize the Austrian government system by secretly supporting Nazi sympathizers like Arthur Seyss-Inquart and Edmund Glaise-Horstenau. In turn Austria under Schuschnigg sought the backing by its southern neighbour, tables turned after the Second Italo-Abyssinian War in 1935/36, when Mussolini, internationally isolated, approached Hitler. According to the Hossbach Memorandum, Hitler in November 1937 declared his plans for an Austrian campaign in a meeting with Wehrmacht commanders. Schuschnigg, impressed by the presence of OKW chief General Wilhelm Keitel, gave in, Hitler reacted with the mobilization of Wehrmacht troops at the Austrian border and demanded the appointment of Seyss-Inquart as Austrian chancellor. On 11 March Austrian Nazis stormed the Federal Chancellery and forced Schuschnigg to resign, Seyss-Inquart was sworn in as his successor by Miklas and the next day Wehrmacht troops crossed the border meeting no resistance. Hitler had originally intended to retain Austria as a puppet state headed by Seyss-Inquart, however, the enthusiastic support for Hitler led him to change his stance and support a full Anschluss between Austria and Nazi Germany. On 13 March Seyss-Inquart formally decreed the Anschluss, though President Miklas avoided signing the law by resigning immediately, Seyss-Inquart then took over most of Miklas duties and signed the Anschluss bill into law. Two days later in his speech at the Vienna Heldenplatz, Hitler proclaimed the accession of my homeland to the German Reich
30.
Anschluss
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Anschluss is the term used to describe the annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in March 1938. German spelling, until the German orthography reform of 1996, was Anschluß, the idea of an Anschluss began after the Unification of Germany excluded Austria and the Austrian Germans from the Prussian-dominated German nation-state in 1871. Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany on 12 March 1938, there had been several years of pressure from supporters in Austria and Germany for the Heim ins Reich movement. Earlier, Nazi Germany had provided support for the Austrian National Socialist Party in its bid to seize power from Austrias Fatherland Front government. Infuriated, on 11 March, Adolf Hitler threatened invasion of Austria, and demanded Chancellor von Schuschniggs resignation, Hitlers plan was for Seyss-Inquart to call immediately for German troops to rush to Austrias aid, restoring order and giving the invasion an air of legitimacy. In the face of threat, Schuschnigg informed Seyss-Inquart that the plebiscite would be cancelled. Nevertheless, the German Führer underestimated his opposition, Schuschnigg did resign on the evening of 11 March, but President Wilhelm Miklas refused to appoint Seyss-Inquart as Chancellor. At 8,45 pm, Hitler, tired of waiting, around 10 pm, a forged telegram was sent in Seyss-Inquarts name asking for German troops, since he was not yet Chancellor and was unable to do so himself. Seyss-Inquart was not installed as Chancellor until after midnight, when Miklas resigned himself to the inevitable, clearly it was Hitler, and not Schuschnigg, who was terrified by the potential results of the scheduled plebiscite, and that was the best indication of where Austrians loyalty lay. The newly installed Nazis, within two days, transferred power to Germany, and Wehrmacht troops entered Austria to enforce the Anschluss, Austrian citizens of Jewish origin were not allowed to vote. No military confrontation took place, and even the strongest voices against the annexation, particularly Fascist Italy, France, the loudest verbal protest was voiced by the government of Mexico. Although Austria had never been a part of the German Empire, Austria was predominantly ethnically German, prior to annexing Austria in 1938, Nazi Germany had remilitarized the Rhineland, and the Saar region was returned to Germany after 15 years of occupation through a plebiscite. In March 1939, Hitler then dismantled Czechoslovakia by recognising the independence of Slovakia and that same year, Memelland was returned from Lithuania. With the Anschluss, the Republic of Austria ceased to exist as an independent state, at the end of World War II, a Provisional Austrian Government under Karl Renner was set up by conservatives, social democrats and communists on 27 April 1945. It cancelled the Anschluss the same day and was recognized by the Allies in the following months. In 1955 the Austrian State Treaty re-established Austria as a sovereign state, the idea of grouping all Germans into a nation-state country had been the subject of debate in the 19th century from the ending of the Holy Roman Empire until the ending of the German Confederation. Austria had wanted a Großdeutsche Lösung, whereby the German states would be united under the leadership of the Austrian Germans and this solution would include all the German states, but Prussia would have to take second place. This controversy, called dualism, dominated Prusso-Austrian diplomacy and the politics of the German states, by 1871, the decision was to form a kleindeutsch German Empire based on Prussia and excluding Austria
31.
Ostmark (Austria)
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Ostmark was the name used by Nazi propaganda from 1938 to 1942 to replace that of the formerly independent Federal State of Austria after the Anschluss with Nazi Germany. The change of name was meant to refer to Austria as now being the eastern march of the Reich, in August 1938, the Donau-Zeitung proudly referred to Passau as the cradle of the new Ostmark. e. North Tyrol, with the district of Vorarlberg Vienna, i. e. Greater Vienna. A Reichsgau was a new, simple administrative sub-division institution which replaced the states in the otherwise completely centralized Third Reich. From 1942, as the term Ostmark was still too reminiscent of the old, independent state of Austria, in the course of the Allied occupation after World War II, the Austrian state was restored in its pre-1938 borders according to the 1943 Moscow Declaration. Anschluss Areas annexed by Nazi Germany Austria in the time of National Socialism
32.
Austria in the time of National Socialism
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Austria in the time of National Socialism describes the period of Austrian history from March 12,1938 when Austria was annexed by the German Third Reich until the end of World War II in spring 1945. At the time, smaller parties such as the Communist Party of Austria, SDAP, GVP, and DNSAP were clearly, although for different reasons, in favour a union of German Austria with the German state, which was also a republic by that time. The CS also tended to favour the union, but differed at first on a different subject - they were split on the idea of continuing the monarchy instead of a republic. Life and politics in the years were marked by serious economic problems. From 1918 to 1920 the government was led by the Social Democratic Party, on May 31,1922, prelate Ignaz Seipel became Chancellor of the Christian Social government. He succeeded in improving the situation with the financial help of the League of Nations. The military of Austria was restricted to 30,000 men by the allies, already by 1918 the first homeguards were established like the Kärntner Abwehrkampf. In 1920 in Tirol the first Heimwehr was put in duty under the command of Richard Steidle with the help of the Bavarian organisation Escherich, in 1923 members of the Monarchist “Ostara” shot a worker dead and the Social Democrats founded their own protective organization. Other paramilitary groups were the formed from active soldiers and members of the Roman Catholic Church. The “Vaterländische Schutzbund” were National Socialists though their swastikas were at first not taken seriously, later they started the Austrian SA. The “German Workers Party” had already founded in Bohemia as early as 1903. It was then part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and it supported German nationalism and anti-clericalism but at first was not particularly anti-Semitic. This party stood mainly for making Austria and the Austrian Germans a part of Germany, in 1909 lawyer, Walter Riehl joined the party and he became leader in 1918. Soon after that the name was changed to the German National Socialist Workers Party, after the fall of the monarchy, the party split into a Czechoslovakian party and an Austrian party under Riehl. From 1920 onwards this Austrian party cooperated closely with the German Workers Party or German National Socialist workers party formed in Munich which Adolf Hitler led after 1921, in 1923 Riehl’s party had about 23,000 members and was a marginal factor in Austrian politics. In 1924 there was split and Karl Schulz led a splinter group. In 1926 Richard Suchenwirth founded the Austrian branch of Hitler’s German National Socialist party in Vienna, around that time Benito Mussolini formed his Fascist dictatorship in Italy and became an important ally of the far right. The Austrian National Socialists linked to Hitler got only 779 votes in the 1927 General Election, the strongest grouping besides the Social Democrats was the Unity Coalition led by the Christian Social Party but including German Nationalists and the groups of Riehl and Schulz
33.
Allied-occupied Austria
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The Allied occupation of Austria lasted from 1945 to 1955. In the immediate aftermath of the war, Austria, like Germany, was divided into four zones and jointly occupied by the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom. Vienna, like Berlin, was subdivided but the central district was administered jointly by the Allied Control Council. After Austrian promises of perpetual neutrality, Austria was accorded full independence on 12 May 1955, at the 1943 Moscow Conference, the allies had jointly decided that the German annexation of Austria in 1938 would be considered null and void. As well, all administrative and legal measures since 1938 would be ignored, on 29 March 1945 the Soviet commander Fyodor Tolbukhins troops crossed the former Austrian border at Klostermarienberg in Burgenland. On 3 April, at the beginning of the Vienna Offensive, Joseph Stalin had already established a would-be future Austrian cabinet from the countrys communists in exile, but Tolbukhins telegram changed Stalins mind in favor of Renner. On 20 April 1945, the Soviets, without asking their Western allies, seven days later Renners cabinet took office, declared the independence of Austria from Nazi Germany and called for the creation of a democratic state along the lines of the First Austrian Republic. Renner and his ministers were guarded and watched by NKVD bodyguards, one-third of State Chancellor Renners cabinet, including crucial seats of the Secretary of State of the Interior and the Secretary of State for Education, was staffed by Austrian Communists. The Western allies suspected the usual Soviet pattern of setting up puppet states, the British were particularly hostile, even Harry Truman, who believed that Renner was a trustworthy politician rather than a token front for the Kremlin, denied him recognition. But Renner had secured inter-party control by designating two Under-Secretaries of State in each of the ministries, appointed by the two parties not placing the Secretary of State. As soon as Hitlers armies were pushed back into Germany, the Red Army, by 23 May they reported arrests of 268 former Red Army men,1,208 Wehrmacht men and 1,655 civilians. In the following weeks the British surrendered over 40,000 Cossacks who had fled to Western Austria to the Soviet authorities, in July and August, the Soviets brought in four regiments of NKVD troops to mop up Vienna and seal the Czechoslovak border. The Red Army lost 17,000 lives in the Battle of Vienna, but the reputation of the Soviet soldiers was immediately ruined by the vast amount of sexual violence against women, which occurred in the first days and weeks after the Soviet victory. Repressions against civilians harmed Red Army reputation to such an extent that on 28 September 1945 Moscow issued an order forbidding violent interrogations. Red Army morale fell as soldiers prepared to be sent home, throughout 1945 and 1946, all levels of Soviet command tried, in vain, to contain desertion and plunder by rank and file. According to Austrian police records for 1946, men in Soviet uniform, usually drunk, at the same time, the Soviet governors resisted the expansion and arming of the Austrian police force. The American 11th Armored division crossed the Austrian border on April 26, French troops on 29 April, until the end of July 1945 none of the Western allies had first-hand intelligence from Eastern Austria. On 9 July 1945 the Allies agreed on the borders of their occupation zones, the French and American zones bordered those countries zones in Germany, and the Soviet zone bordered future Warsaw Pact states
34.
History of the Jews in Austria
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The history of the Jews in Austria probably begins with the exodus of Jews from Judea under Roman occupation. Jews have been in Austria since at least the 3rd century AD and it is considered to be the earliest surviving evidence of a Jewish presence in what is now Austria. It is hypothesized that the first Jews immigrated to Austria following the Roman legions after the Roman occupation of Israel, the existence of a Jewish community in the area is only known for sure after the start of the 12th century, when two synagogues were created. In the same century, the Jewish settlement in Vienna increased with the absorption of Jewish settlers from Bavaria, at the start of the 13th century, the Jewish community began to flourish. This bill of rights affected other kingdoms in Europe such as Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Silesia and Bohemia, during this period, the Jewish population mainly dealt with commerce and the collection of taxes and also gained key positions in many other aspects of life in Austria. In 1204, the first documented synagogue in Austria was constructed, in addition, Jews went through a period of religious prosperity and a group of notable rabbis settled in Vienna and were later referred to as the wise men of Vienna. The group established a beth midrash and it was considered to be the largest Talmudic school in Europe during that period, the prosperity of the Jewish community caused increased jealousy from the Christian population and hostility from the church. In 1282, when the area controlled by the Catholic House of Habsburg. Jews were largely hated because they acted as tax collectors and moneylenders, the earliest evidence of Jews collecting taxes appears in a document from 1320. During the same time, riots occurred against the Jews in the area, the Jewish population continued to decline in middle of the 14th century and at the start of the 15th century during the regime of Albert the Third and Leopold III. This period was characterized in the cancellations of many debts that would have collected by Jews, the confiscation of Jewish assets. In 1420, the status of the Jewish community hit a low point when a Jew from Upper Austria was charged with the desecration of the sacramental bread and this led Albert V to order the imprisonment of all of the Jews in Austria. Two hundred ten Jews were burnt alive in public and the rest were deported from Austria, leaving their belongings behind. In 1469, the order was cancelled by Frederick the Third. He allowed Jews to return and settle in all the cities of Styria and Carinthia, under his regime, the Jews gained a short period of peace. Jews also had to bear different laws—one of which permitted only first-born children to marry, although Leopold the First treated the Jewish population severely, he had Samson Wertheimer, a Jewish economic advisor, working for him. Although the empress was known for her hatred of Jews, several Jews did work for her at her court, the empress made it mandatory that the Jewish population would start going to the general elementary schools, and in addition permitted them to join universities. Jewish schools did not exist yet during that time, after Maria Theresas death in 1780, her son Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor succeeded her and started working on the integration of the Jewish population into Austrian society
35.
History of the Jews in Vienna
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The history of the Jews in Vienna, Austria, goes back over eight hundred years. There is evidence of a Jewish presence in Vienna from the 12th century onwards, since 1945, Jewish culture and society have gradually been recovering in the city. Proof exists of a Jewish presence in Vienna since 1194, the first named individual was Schlom, Duke Frederick I’s Münzmeister. In 1238, emperor Frederick II granted the Jews a privilege, the first Jews lived in the area near the Seitenstettengasse, from around 1280, they also lived around the modern-day Judenplatz. The centre of Jewish cultural and religious life was located here from the 13th to the 15th century, until the Vienna Gesera of 1420/21, jews’ rights were further restricted in 1637, leading to the second expulsion of Vienna’s Jewish population in 1669/70 under Leopold I. The second Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683 however led to Samuel Oppenheimer’s appointment as a financier to the court, oppenheimer was able to help Samson Wertheimer from Worms to come to Vienna in 1684. From 1736, there was a small Sephardic population in Vienna, the majority Ashkenazi population only obtained the same status much later under Franz Joseph I. Influenced by the Enlightenment, emperor Joseph II decreed his Edict of Tolerance, for the first time in history, Jews received certain rights already accorded to Gentiles, and discriminatory laws were struck from the books. They were however still forbidden to form a community and to hold religious services in public. In 1824, Michael Lazar Biedermann’s recommendation led to Rabbi Isaak Mannheimer being brought from Copenhagen to Vienna, as there was still officially no Jewish religious community, Mannheimer was employed as the “Director of the imperially approved public Israelite religious school of Vienna”. With Lazar Horowitz, who was summoned to Vienna as a Rabbi in 1828, the merchant Isaak Löw Hofmann also played a leading role in Vienna’s Jewish community from 1806 until his death in 1849. On 12 December 1825, Mannheimer laid the stone for the Stadttempel in the Seitensteingasse. The synagogue, which had designed by Joseph Kornhäusel, was sanctified by Mannheimer on 9 April 1826. In the same year, Salomon Sulzer from Hohenems was appointed hazzan at the synagogue, the Revolution of 1848 was seen by many Jewish intellectuals as a welcome opportunity to agitate for the emancipation of their community. For the first time in their history, Jews were accorded the right to reside. Vienna’s 2nd district, Leopoldstadt, developed into the centre of Vienna’s Jewish life at this time, the Jewish population in this area of the city soon represented half of the entire population in the district. The neighbouring districts of Brigittenau and Alsergrund equally had high proportions of Jews, wealthy Jews lived for the most part in the villa suburbs of Döbling and Hietzing, and in the city centre, the Innere Stadt. Theodor Herzl responded to the spread of Antisemitism during this period with the creation of political Zionism
36.
Military history of Austria
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The Military Frontier was an important way in which Austria defended itself against the Ottomans. The following shown below is a history of the Austrian military history, from 1804 to 1867, the Imperial and Royal Army, as well as the navy were members of the Austrian Empire. Imperial and Royal Army during the Napoleonic Wars From 1867 to 1918 and it was composed of the common army, the Austrian Landwehr, and the Hungarian Honvéd. These are official names in German, Regiments of the army were Imperial and Royal - kaiserlich und königlich The Austrian Landwehr regiments were Imperial Royal - kaiserlich-königlich. The Hungarian Honvéd regiments were Royal Hungarian - königlich ungarisch This army existed from the establishment of the Dual Monarchy in 1867 until the end of World War I in 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Navy was the naval force of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Its official name in German was the Kaiserlich und königliche Kriegsmarine, between 1918 and 1921, the military forces were known as Volkswehr. From 1921 to the present, the name of the Military of Austria is Bundesheer, the branches are Land Forces and Air Forces. In 1955, Austria declared its neutrality and made neutrality a constitutional law. The main purpose of the Austrian military, since then, has been the protection of Austrias neutrality
37.
Music of Austria
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Vienna has been an important center of musical innovation. 18- and 19th-century composers were drawn to the city due to the patronage of the Habsburgs, joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert and Johann Strauss II, among others, were associated with the city, with Schubert being born in Vienna. During the Baroque period, Slavic and Hungarian folk forms influenced Austrian music, viennas status began its rise as a cultural center in the early 16th century, and was focused around instruments including the lute. Yodeling, a form of singing that involves rapid and repeated changes of register, was developed in the Alps, what Austria called it was juchizn. Falco was the most popular Austrian solo artist throughout the 1980s and his song Rock Me Amadeus reached the Billboard Hot 100 in 1986. His sudden death in 1998 in the Dominican Republic catapulted his music from the 1980s once again into the spotlight, although Austria is not exactly the biggest exporter of international rock and pop-bands, there are a few notable musicians and bands. Opus also made it in the charts worldwide as well, in the last few years, several music groups toured Europe and had commercial success in the international charts. The most prominent being Christina Stürmer, sheSays, who supported Bryan Adams on his European tour and some other bands like AOR, and Cornerstone, are notable for their recent contributions. Christian Fennesz is an Austrian electronic musician, other electronic musicians who call Austria home include Der Blutharsch, active in the Neofolk scene, as are Sturmpercht. Drummer Thomas Lang was born in Vienna in 1967, and has played artists such as Robert Fripp, Geri Halliwell. One of the few international touring bands is Killed By 9V Batteries from Vienna, yearly the Waves Vienna Music Festival & Conference takes place in October. This festival is a festival for European pop music acts. The Vienna Philharmonic is a classical music ensemble and tours throughout the year all over the world. Their New Years Day concert held in Vienna every year in the Musikverein is one of Europes most important classical concerts during the year, there is a vital electronic music scene in Austria. Groups and artists include Parov Stelar, Kruder and Dorfmeister and Elektro Guzzi, drum n Bass also has a healthy reputation, with internationally successful Artists like Camo & Krooked, Disaszt, Ill. Skillz and Mefjus. Neue Deutsche Härte is most popular in Austria and the rest of German-speaking Europe, notable bands include Stahlhammer and LÂme Immortelle, both of which have had some international success. The German band Samsas Traum is now based in Austria as well, at 2014, Conchita Wurst won the Eurovision Song Contest representing Austria. Conchita Wurst is a drag queen portrayed by Thomas Tom Neuwirth, following the win, the 60th anniversary Eurovision was held in Vienna in 2015
38.
History of Slovenia
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The history of Slovenia chronicles the period of the Slovene territory from the 5th century BC to the present. In the Early Bronze Age, Proto-Illyrian tribes settled an area stretching from present-day Albania to the city of Trieste, Alpine Slavs, ancestors of modern-day Slovenes, settled the area in the late 6th Century A. D. The Holy Roman Empire controlled the land for nearly 1,000 years, in 1918, Slovenes joined Yugoslavia, while the west of the country was annexed to Italy. Between 1945 and 1990, Slovenia was under SFRJ, the country gained its independence from Yugoslavia in June 1991, and is today a member of the European Union and NATO. The worlds oldest securely dated wooden wheel and axle was found near the Ljubljana Marshes in 2002, in the transition period between the Bronze age to the Iron age, the Urnfield culture flourished. Numerous archeological remains dating from the Hallstatt period have been found in Slovenia, with important settlements in Most na Soči, Vače, and Šentvid pri Stični. Novo Mesto in Lower Carniola, one of the most important archaeological sites of the Hallstatt culture, has nicknamed the City of Situlas after numerous situlas found in the area. In the Iron Age, present-day Slovenia was inhabited by Illyrian and Celtic tribes until the 1st century BC, what is now western Slovenia was included directly under Roman Italia as part of the X region Venetia et Histria. Important Roman towns located in present-day Slovenia included Emona, Celeia, other important settlements were Nauportus, Neviodunum, Haliaetum, Atrans, and Stridon. During the migration period, the region suffered invasions of many barbarian armies, rome finally abandoned the region at the end of the 4th century. Most cities were destroyed, while the local population moved to the highland areas. In the 5th century, the region was part of the Ostrogothic kingdom, the Slavic ancestors of present-day Slovenes settled in the East Alpine area at the end of the 6th century. Coming from two directions, North, settling in the area of todays Carinthia and west Styria and South and this Slavic tribe, also known as the Alpine Slavs, was submitted to Avar rule before joining the Slavic King Samos tribal union in 623 AD. After Samos death, the Slavs of Carniola again fell to Avar rule, while the Slavs north of the Karavanke range established the independent principality of Carantania, the eastern part of Carantania was ruled again by Avars between 745 and 795. Under Emperor Arnulf of Carinthia, Carantania, now ruled by a mixed Bavarian-Slav nobility, shortly emerged as a regional power, the first mentions of a common Slovene ethnic identity, transcending regional boundaries, date from the 16th century. During the 14th century, most of the Slovene Lands passed under the Habsburg rule, Slovenes also inhabited most of the territory of the Imperial Free City of Trieste, although representing the minority of its population. In the 16th century, the Protestant Reformation spread throughout the Slovene Lands, in the second half of the 16th century, numerous books were printed in Slovene, including an integral translation of the Bible by Jurij Dalmatin. During the Counter-Reformation in the late 16th and 17th centuries, led by the bishop of Ljubljana Thomas Chrön and Seckau Martin Brenner, nevertheless, they left a strong legacy in the tradition of Slovene culture, which was partially incorporated in the Catholic Counter-Reformation in the 17th century
39.
Slovenia
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Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a nation state in southern Central Europe, located at the crossroads of main European cultural and trade routes. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and it covers 20,273 square kilometers and has a population of 2.06 million. It is a republic and a member of the United Nations, European Union. The capital and largest city is Ljubljana, additionally, the Dinaric Alps and the Pannonian Plain meet on the territory of Slovenia. The country, marked by a significant biological diversity, is one of the most water-rich in Europe, with a river network, a rich aquifer system. Over half of the territory is covered by forest, the human settlement of Slovenia is dispersed and uneven. Slovenia has historically been the crossroads of South Slavic, Germanic, Romance, although the population is not homogeneous, the majority is Slovene. Slovene is the language throughout the country. Slovenia is a largely secularized country, but its culture and identity have been influenced by Catholicism as well as Lutheranism. The economy of Slovenia is small, open, and export-oriented and has strongly influenced by international conditions. It has been hurt by the Eurozone crisis, started in the late 2000s. The main economic field is services, followed by industry and construction, Historically, the current territory of Slovenia was part of many different state formations, including the Roman Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, followed by the Habsburg Monarchy. In October 1918, the Slovenes exercised self-determination for the first time by co-founding the State of Slovenes, Croats, in December 1918, they merged with the Kingdom of Serbia into the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. During World War II, Slovenia was occupied and annexed by Germany, Italy, and Hungary, with a tiny area transferred to the Independent State of Croatia, in June 1991, after the introduction of multi-party representative democracy, Slovenia split from Yugoslavia and became an independent country. Present-day Slovenia has been inhabited since prehistoric times, and there is evidence of habitation from around 250,000 years ago. A pierced cave bear bone, dating from 43100 ±700 BP, in the 1920s and 1930s, artifacts belonging to the Cro-Magnon such as pierced bones, bone points, and needle were found by archaeologist Srečko Brodar in Potok Cave. It shows that wooden wheels appeared almost simultaneously in Mesopotamia and Europe, in the transition period between the Bronze age to the Iron age, the Urnfield culture flourished. Archaeological remains dating from the Hallstatt period have been found, particularly in southeastern Slovenia, among them a number of situlas in Novo Mesto, in the Iron Age, present-day Slovenia was inhabited by Illyrian and Celtic tribes until the 1st century BC
40.
Italy (Roman Empire)
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Roman Italy was created officially by the Roman emperor Augustus with the Latin name Italia. It was the first time in history that the Italian Peninsula was united under the same name, in the year 292, the three islands of Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily were added to Roman Italy by Diocletian. Roman Italy remained united until the sixth century, when it was divided between the Byzantine Empire and territories of the Germanic peoples, since then, Italia remained divided for nearly thirteen centuries until 1861 when it was reunited in a similar way in the modern Kingdom of Italy. Italy was the name of the division of the Italian Peninsula during the Roman era. It was not a province, but became the territory of the city of Rome, following the end of the Social War, Rome had allowed its Italian allies full rights in Roman society and granted the Roman citizenship to all the Italic peoples. Although not founded as a city in 330, Constantinople gained in importance. It finally gained the rank of capital when given an urban prefect in 359. In 402, the capital was moved to Ravenna from Milan, the name Italia covered an area whose borders evolved over time. Under Augustus, the peoples of todays Aosta Valley and of the western and northern Alps were subjugated, and the Italian eastern border was brought to the Arsia in Istria. Finally, in the late 3rd century, Italy came to include the islands of Corsica and Sardinia and Sicily, as well as Raetia, the city of Emona was the easternmost town of Italy. At the beginning of the era, Italy was a collection of territories with different political statuses. Some cities, called municipia, had independence from Rome, while others. The Italian economy flourished, agriculture, handicraft and industry had a sensible growth, the Italian population may have grown as well, three census were ordered by Augustus, to record the number of Roman citizens throughout the empire. The surviving totals were 4,063,000 in 28 BC,4,233,000 in 8 BC, and 4,937,000 in AD14, but it is still debated whether these counted all citizens, all adult male citizens, or citizens sui iuris. During the Crisis of the Third Century the Roman Empire nearly collapsed under the pressures of invasions, military anarchy and civil wars. In 284, emperor Diocletian restored political stability and he carried out thorough administrative reforms to maintain order. He created the so-called Tetrarchy whereby the empire was ruled by four co-emperors and he decreased the size of the Roman provinces by doubling their number to reduce the power of the provincial governors. He grouped the provinces into several dioceses and put them under the supervision of the imperial vicarius, during the Crisis of the Third Century the importance of Rome declined because she was far from the troubled frontiers
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Pannonian Avars
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The Pannonian Avars /ˈævɑːrz/ also known as the Obri, the Abaroi and Varchonitai, and the Pseudo-Avars and Varchonites, were a group of Eurasian nomads of unknown origin during the early Middle Ages. The name Pannonian Avars, is used to them from the Avars of the Caucasus – who may or may not have been an unrelated people. They established the Avar Khaganate, which spanned the Pannonian Basin and considerable areas of Central and they were ruled by a khagan, who was assisted by an entourage of professional warriors. The language or languages spoken by the Avars are now unknown, denis Sinor states that most of the Avar words used in contemporaneous Latin or Greek texts, appear to have their origins in Siberian languages, especially Tungusic languages and Mongolian. There is also evidence, however, that ruling and subject clans spoke a variety of languages, proposals by scholars include Caucasian, Iranian, Tungusic, Hungarian and Turkic. A few scholars suggest that Proto-Slavic became the lingua franca of the Avar Khaganate, according to Gyula László, the late 9th century Pannonian Avars spoke a variety of Old Hungarian, thereby forming an Avar-Hungarian continuity with then newly arrived Hungarians. The earliest clear reference to the Avar ethnonym comes from Priscus the Rhetor,463, the Šaragurs, Onogurs and Ogurs were attacked by the Sabirs, who had been attacked by the Avars. In turn, the Avars had been driven off by people fleeing man-eating griffins coming from the ocean, whilst Priscus accounts provide some information about the ethno-political situation in the Don-Kuban-Volga region after the demise of the Huns, no unequivocal conclusions can be reached. Denis Sinor has argued that whoever the Avars referred to by Priscus were, they differed from the Avars who appear a century later, during the time of Justinian. The next author of late antiquity to discuss the Avars, Menander Protector in the 6th century, each time, the Turks appear angered at the Byzantines for having made an alliance with the Avars, whom the Turks saw as their subjects and slaves. Turxanthos, a Turk prince, calls the Avars Varchonites and escaped slaves of the Turks, many more, but somewhat confusing, details come from Theophylact Simocatta, who wrote c. 629, but detailed the two decades of the 6th century. For it is by a misnomer that the barbarians on the Ister have assumed the appellation of Avars, so, when the Avars had been defeated some of them made their escape to those who inhabit Taugast. Taugast is a city, which is a total of one thousand five hundred miles distant from those who are called Turks. These make their habitations in the east, by the course of the river Til, the earliest leaders of this nation were named Var and Chunni, from them some parts of those nations were also accorded their nomenclature, being called Var and Chunni. Then, while the emperor Justinian was in possession of the royal power and these named themselves Avars and glorified their leader with the appellation of Chagan. Let us declare, without departing in the least from the truth, for this reason they honoured the fugitives with splendid gifts and supposed that they received from them security in exchange. In point of fact even up to our present times the Pseudo-Avars are divided in their ancestry, some bearing the time-honoured name of Var while others are called Chunni
42.
Carneola
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Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of present-day Slovenia. In 1991, 47% of the population of Slovenia lived within the borders of the former Duchy of Carniola and its capital was originally Krainburg, for a short period Stein, and from the second half of the 13th century, Laibach or Ljubljana. Nowadays, its territory is almost entirely located in Slovenia, except for a part in the northwest Italy. Carniola in its form, established in 1815, encompassed 9,904 km2. In 1914, before the beginning of World War I, it had a population of slightly under 530,000 inhabitants, the Julian and Karavanken Alps traverse the country. The highest mountain peaks are Nanos,4,200 feet, Vremščica,3,360 feet, Snežnik,5,900 feet, and Triglav,9,300 feet. The principal rivers are Sava, Tržič Bistrica, Kokra, Kamnik Bistrica, Sora, Ljubljanica, Mirna, Krka, and Kolpa and it was known to the Romans as Lugea palus, and is a natural curiosity. Dante Alighieri mentions it in his Divine Comedy, the Ljubljana Marshes cover an area of 76 square miles. Hot and mineral springs are to be found at Sušica, Šmarjetske, there is an interesting cave at Postojna. Agriculture thrives better in Upper than in Lower Carniola, the Vipava Valley is especially famous for its wine and vegetables, and for its mild climate. The principal exports are all kinds of vegetables, clover-seed, lumber, carvings, cattle, in the mineral kingdom the principal products are iron, coal, quicksilver, manganese, lead, and zinc. Upper Carniola has the most industries, among the products being lumber, linen, woollen stuffs, and lace, bells, straw hats, wicker-work, the railroads are the Juzna, the Prince Rudolf, the Bohinjska, the Kamniska, the Dolenjska, and the Vrhniska. The principal cities and towns are, Kamnik, Kranj, Tržič, Vrhnika, Vipava, Idrija, Turjak, Ribnica, Metlika, Novo Mesto, Vače. The mean average temperature in spring is 56 °F, in summer,77 °F, in autumn,59 °F, of the inhabitants 95 per cent were Slovenes, kinsmen to the Croats, the remainder are Germans,700 Croats, and Italians. In the districts of Gottschee and Črnomelj dwell the people of White Carniola for a link between the Croats and Slovenes. One-half of the Germans live in Gottschee,5000 in Ljubljana,3500 at Novo Mesto, the Germans at Gottschee were settled there by Otho, Count of Ortenburg, in the fourteenth century, and they preserve their Tyrolean German dialect. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Lombards settled in Carniola, from about 900 AD until the 20th century, Carniolas ruling classes and urban areas spoke German, while the peasantry spoke Slovene. The capital of Carniola, originally situated at Kranj, was moved to Kamnik and finally to the current capital of Slovenia
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March of Carniola
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The March of Carniola was a southeastern state of the Holy Roman Empire in the High Middle Ages, the predecessor of the Duchy of Carniola. It corresponded roughly to the central Carniolan region of present-day Slovenia, at the time of its creation, the march served as a frontier defense against the Kingdoms of Hungary and Croatia. Before the coming of the Romans, the Taurisci dwelt in the north of Carniola, the Pannonians in the south-east, the Iapodes or Carni, a Celtic tribe, in the south-west. Carniola formed part of the Roman province of Pannonia, the part was joined to Noricum, the south-western and south-eastern parts. In the time of Augustus all the region from Aemona to Kolpa river belonged to the province of Savia, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, Carniola was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy, and under Theodoric it formed part of the Ostrogothic kingdom. Later on the name was changed to Krajina or, in German, the new inhabitants were subjected to the Avars. In 952, Carniola was placed under the authority of the Duchy of Bavaria, as were Carinthia, Istria, in 976, Emperor Otto II appointed his nephew Otto of Swabia Duke of Bavaria and separated the marches from the duchy. He made Carinthia a duchy for Henry the Younger of the Bavarian Luitpolding dynasty, who acted as a sort of chief of the police, controlling the marches of Istria, Verona. In 1040, King Henry III of Germany separated Carniola from the Duchy of Carinthia, Carniola had been additionally settled mostly by Bavarians with a minority of Swabians and retained its Slovene culture while most of Carinthia adopted German culture. The most prominent Bavarian families were the Hoflein, Stein, Hertenberg, Reydeck, and Rabensberg, while the Swabian families of the Auersperg, Osterberg, and Gallenberg were also represented. It is possible that Carniola even had Germanic settlement dating back to the Völkerwanderung, the little forest-bound town of Gottschee, southeast of Ljubljana. Initially, the margraviate was bordered by Carinthia and Styria to the north, Croatia and Slavonia to the east, Istria and Dalmatia to the south, and Friuli, Gorizia, Udine and Gradisca to the west. Due to this cohesion, Carniola was more like a geographical part than a whole and it was often combined to its neighbours. On 11 June 1077, Carniola and Istria were transferred by King Henry IV of Germany to the powerful Patriarchate of Aquileia, nevertheless, margraves were still appointed and the territory was administered as a separate province. The patriarchs partitioned the territory between several powerful fiefs, the most prominent of which were the Counts of Andechs, the Meinhardiner dynasty of Görz, and the Counts of Celje. In the twelfth century, the Republic of Venice gradually acquired the Istrian littoral, soon Carniola extended over the Kras Plateau and had two small seacoasts on the Gulf of Trieste and the Gulf of Kvarner. It reached to the Isonzo valley, but not the river itself and this change in its geographical constitution was accompanied by increased interest on the part of nearby landlocked powers. In 1245, Patriarch Berthold gave Carniola to the Babenberg Duke Frederick II the Warlike of Austria with royal consent, around 1254, Carniola lost its marcher privileges
44.
Windic March
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This article is about the medieval region in present-day south-eastern Slovenia. In Slovenian historiography, it is known as Slovenian March. The name Windic is derived from Wends, the name for Western Slavs settling in the Germania Slavica contact zone, the medieval German term Windisch referred to the Slovene language, it should not to be confused with Wendische, the historic German term for the Sorbian-speaking population in Lusatia. However, it should be noted that the geographic term windisches Land referred exclusively to the Croatian region of Slavonia. The Chronicle of Fredegar mentions Sclavos coinomento Winedorum in 623, samos tribal union included the Windic March of Duke Valuk, located in the Eastern Alps, in 631. In 976 it was attached to the newly founded Duchy of Carinthia, in 1077 King Henry IV of Germany put Carniola and the Windic March under the direction of the Patriarch of Aquileia. From 1127 to 1131 the margavial territory was expanded in several campaigns by the Counts of Weichselburg against Croatia in the union with Hungary. Backed by the Archbishop of Salzburg, they conquered the territory around Metlika up to the Kolpa River in the southeast, until 1209 the Counts of Weichselburg held extended possessions in the Windic March. Through a marriage to the last heiress Sophia of Weichselburg, the Counts of Andechs, then at the peak of their power as Margraves of Istria and Dukes of Merania came to dominate the territory. It was part of the dowry of Agnes of Merania, sister of Duke Otto I of Andechs-Merania, upon her marriage with the Frederick II of Babenberg, son of Duke Leopold VI of Austria, in 1229. Frederick II thereafter called himself a dominus Carniole and succeeded his father as Duke of Austria and Styria in the following year, in 1248 the title was picked up by Duke Ulrich III of Carinthia, who had married Agnes of Merania after Fredericks death in 1246. After 1282, despite King Rudolf Is grant to his sons, Carniola, after 1374 and the death of the Tyrolean branch of the Meinhardiner dynasty, the Windic March finally fell to the House of Habsburg, but it was no longer a separate political division by then. The head of the House of Habsburg continued carrying the title of Lord on the Windic March in the title of the Emperor of Austria. Slovene Lands History of Slovenia Inner Austria Media related to Windic March at Wikimedia Commons
45.
Duchy of Carniola
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The Duchy of Carniola was a State of the Holy Roman Empire, established under Habsburg rule on the territory of the former East Frankish March of Carniola in 1364. A hereditary land of the Habsburg Monarchy, it became a constituent land of the Austrian Empire in 1804, a separate crown land from 1849, it was incorporated into the Cisleithanian territories of Austria-Hungary from 1867 until the states dissolution in 1918. The borders of the historic Carniola region had varied over the centuries, in the north, it bordered the Imperial Duchy of Carinthia, from the Predil Pass and Fusine along the main ridge of the Karawanks range up to Jezersko. In the northeast and east, it bordered on the Duchy of Styria, i. e. the present-day Štajerska or Lower Styrian lands beyond the Sava River, which until 1456 were held by the Counts of Celje. In the southwest, beyond the Dinaric Alps, the Counts of Görz held the remaining Friulian territory, the remains of the Margraviate of Istria south of the Karst Plateau and the Brkini Hills were also administered from Carniola. In its final extent, re-established in 1815, the duchy had an area of 9,904 square kilometres, in 1914, before the beginning of World War I, it had a population of a little under 530,000 inhabitants. Until 1860, these sub-regions coincided with the districts of Ljubljana, Novo Mesto and they were later divided into smaller units, called political districts. Between 1861 and 1918, Carniola was divided into districts consisting of 359 municipalities. The districts were, Kamnik, Kranj, Radovljica, the neighbourhood of Ljubljana, Logatec, Postojna, Litija, Krško, Novo Mesto, Črnomelj, the political districts were in turn divided into 31 judicial circuits. The former March of Carniola, i. e. Upper Carniola and it was nevertheless temporarily still held by the Carinthian rulers in personal union, like the Meinhardiner duke Henry VI, who died in 1335 without a male heir. Alberts son Rudolf IV of Austria, the Founder, in the course of his Privilegium Maius, rudolph also founded the town of Novo Mesto in Lower Carniola, then named Rudolphswerth. In 1457, the Inner Austrian territories were re-united with the Archduchy of Austria under the rule of the Habsburg emperor Frederick III. When Fredericks descendant, Emperor Ferdinand I, died in 1564, Charles son, Emperor Ferdinand II, inherited all the dynastys lands in 1619 and the duchy formed a constituent part of the Habsburg Monarchy ever since. Napoleon subsequent to the 1809 Treaty of Schönbrunn formed the short-lived Illyrian Provinces from the territories in Carniola, Carinthia, Croatia, Gorizia and Gradisca. The Final Act of the 1815 Congress of Vienna restored the Illyrian Provinces to the Austrian Empire, the home legislature consisted of a single chamber of thirty-seven members, among whom the prince-bishop sat ex-officio. The emperor convened the legislature, and it was presided over by the k. k, the landed interests elected ten members, the cities and towns eight, the commercial and industrial boards two, the village communes sixteen. The land budget of 1901 amounted to 3,573,280 crowns, the Austrian Imperial-Royal government was represented by the Imperial-Royal president, appointed by the emperor, and the Imperial-Royal Government in Ljubljana. In the majority of other Austrian crown lands these were known as Imperial-Royal Lieutenant, in 1918, the duchy ceased to exist and its territory became part of the newly formed State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and subsequently part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes
46.
Venetian Republic
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It was based in the lagoon communities of the historically prosperous city of Venice. It was a leading European economic and trading power during the Middle Ages, the Venetian city state was founded as a safe haven for people escaping persecution in mainland Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire. In its early years, it prospered on the salt trade, in subsequent centuries, the city state established a thalassocracy. It dominated trade on the Mediterranean Sea, including commerce between Asia, Europe and North Africa, the Venetian navy was used in the Crusades. Venice achieved territorial conquests along the Adriatic Sea, the city became home to an extremely wealthy merchant class, who patronized renowned art and architecture along the citys lagoons. Venetian merchants were influential financiers in Europe, the city was also the birthplace of great European explorers, including Marco Polo, as well as the classical music composer Vivaldi. The republic was ruled by the Doge, who was elected by members of the Great Council of Venice, the ruling class was an oligarchy of merchants and aristocrats. Venice and other Italian maritime republics played a key role in fostering capitalism, Venetian citizens generally supported the system of governance. The city-state enforced strict laws and employed ruthless tactics in its prisons, the opening of new trade routes to the Americas and the East Indies via the Atlantic Ocean marked the beginning of Venices decline as a maritime republic. The city state suffered defeats from the navy of the Ottoman Empire, in 1797, the country was colonized by Austria and France, following an invasion by Napoleon Bonaparte. Venice became a part of a unified Italy in the 19th century and it was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in reference to its title as one of the Most Serene Republics. He was the first historical Doge of Venice, whichever the case, the first doges had their power base in Heraclea. Ursuss successor, Deusdedit, moved his seat from Heraclea to Malamocco in the 740s and he was the son of Ursus and represented the attempt of his father to establish a dynasty. Such attempts were more commonplace among the doges of the first few centuries of Venetian history. They desired to remain well-connected to the Empire, another faction, republican in nature, believed in continuing along a course towards practical independence. The other main faction was pro-Frankish, supported mostly by clergy, they looked towards the new Carolingian king of the Franks, Pepin the Short, as the best provider of defence against the Lombards. A minor, pro-Lombard faction was opposed to close ties with any of these further-off powers, the successors of Obelerio inherited a united Venice. By the Pax Nicephori, the two emperors had recognised that Venice belonged to the Byzantine sphere of influence, many centuries later, the Venetians claimed that the treaty had recognised Venetian de facto independence, but the truth of this claim is doubted by modern scholars
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Noricum". Encyclopædia Britannica. 19 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 748.
