Austria in the past

Austria gets its name from Oesterreich (German for "Eastern Kingdom"), which it was first called some nine hundred years ago. The people living in this region came to be ruled by the German royal family named Hapsburg, whose descendants for hundreds of years were German emperors and the kings and emperors of Austria. Over the centuries large portions of land were given to Austria through royal marriages or through treaties, and the country rose to become one of the most important monarchies in Europe.

But most of the Austrian empire was always composed of people who were not really Austrians who spoke different languages and had different customs and did not want to be ruled by Austria. When this is so, a country is not really strong. In 1866, when Austria and Prussia had a war to decide which would be most powerful among the German countries, Prussia defeated Austria in such a short time that the war is called the Seven Weeks' War. The great Austrian empire fell apart. Austrial lost its empire and became a small republic. The Austrian republic was poor and the people were unhappy. Adolf Hitler became the dictator in Germany, and many Austrians thought that by joining Germany they could become prosperous and powerful again. A Fascist, or Nazi, party arose in Austria in the early 1930s.

They fought bitter and bloody battles with those who opposed joining Germany. In 1934 they murdered Chancellor Dollfuss, the head of the Austrian government. Chancellor Schuschnigg, who came after Dollfuss, was weak, and in 1938 Hitler marched his armies into Austria without much opposition and declared the country part of Germany. This was called the Anschluss (meaning "joining together" in German). The people spent the next seven years under Nazi rule, and so were on the losing side in World War II. In 1945 the Allies captured the country, and until 1955 it was split into four zones and occupied. In 1955 Austria became an independent republic again.