traveldk.com

Early settlements date back to the late Stone Age (5000 BC). The Celts established the kingdom of Noricum in 200 BC. This was conquered by the Romans in 15 BC, who later set up a garrison, Vindobona, in AD 100.

In AD 976 the Babenberg ruler Leopold was appointed Duke of the Eastern March, and in 1030 the name Vienna was mentioned for the first time. In 1156 Vienna became the residence of the Babenbergs and developed into a centre of trade.

After the death of the last Babenberg and a period of social disorder, the Habsburg Rudolf I was elected king in 1273. Vienna became the centre of the Holy Roman Empire and remained the imperial city of the Habsburgs until 1918.

After Turkish troops failed to conquer Vienna in 1529, a 200,000 strong army under Kara Mustafa returned in 1683. The city was held under siege for three months, but with the help of Polish troops it was liberated in September 1683. Prince Eugen finally diminished the influence of the Ottoman Empire with his victory in Belgrade in 1717.

After Napoleon was defeated in Leipzig (1813), the European powers met in Vienna in 1814–15 to make territorial decisions and create a balance of power. The congress was attended by high-ranking delegates and accompanied by glamorous balls.

A rigid political system under the state chancellor Metternich led to a period of calm and a rich cultural life (1815–48), but social discontent returned and led to the revolution of 1848. Upheavals reached a peak in the October Revolution. Metternich was ousted from power and a conservative monarchy under Franz Joseph I was installed (see p15).

With the death of Franz Joseph I in 1916, the Austro-Hungarian monarchy lost its uniting figure. Karl, his successor, was not able to secure peace. The empire’s defeat in World War I resulted in the Habsburgs losing both their lands and their crown.

When a new European map was drawn in 1918 at the end of World War I, the small Republic of Austria emerged. However, the country was struggling both economically and politically. Social unrest led to a civil war in February 1934, followed by a period of authoritarian rule.

In March 1938 Adolf Hitler marched on Vienna and declared Austria part of the Third Reich. Vienna was badly bombed during World War II, with many of its famous landmarks destroyed.

In 1945, at the end of World War II, Vienna was divided into four zones occupied by the four Allied powers (Great Britain, France, Russia and the USA). Ten years later the last Allied soldiers left the country, and Austria regained full sovereignty with the signing of the State Treaty in May 1955 (see p23).