Habsburg monarchy

Not to be confused withHabsburg Spain.

Habsburg monarchy Monarchia Austriaca(Latin) Habsburgermonarchie(German)
1282–1918
Flag of Austria (since 1804) Middle common coat of arms of 1866–1915
The Habsburg monarchy on the eve of the French Revolution, 1789
Capital	Vienna
Religion	Roman Catholicism (official)
Government	Monarchy
Monarch
• 1282–1291	Rudolf I
• 1452–1493	Frederick III
• 1508–1519	Maximilian I
• 1519–1556	Charles V
• 1556–1598	Philip II
• 1556–1564	Ferdinand I
• 1665–1700	Charles II
• 1740–1780	Maria Theresa
• 1780–1790	Joseph II
• 1792–1835	Francis II
• 1848–1916	Franz Joseph
• 1916–1918	Charles I
Historical era	Middle Ages Early modern Late modern
• Established	1282
• Disestablished	1918
Preceded by Succeeded by Habsburg Hereditary Lands Austrian Empire Republic of German-Austria
Today part of	Austria Belgium Italy Germany Slovenia Hungary Czech Republic Serbia Croatia Slovakia Poland Romania Ukraine Luxembourg

TheHabsburg monarchy,also known asHabsburg Empire,orHabsburg Realm,was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and otherpolitiesthat were ruled by theHouse of Habsburg.From the 18th century it is also referred to as theDanubian monarchyor theAustrian monarchy(Latin:Monarchia Austriaca).

The history of the Habsburg monarchy can be traced back to the election ofRudolf IasKing of Germanyin 1273and his acquisition of theDuchy of Austriafor the Habsburgs in 1282. In 1482,Maximilian Iacquired theNetherlandsthrough marriage. Both realms passed to his grandson and successor,Charles V,who also inherited theSpanish throneandits colonial possessions,and thus came to rule the Habsburg empire at its greatest territorial extent. The abdication of Charles V in 1556 led to a division within the dynasty between his sonPhilip II of Spainand his brotherFerdinand I,who had served as his lieutenant and the elected king ofHungary,CroatiaandBohemia.The Spanish branch (which heldall of Iberia,theNetherlands,and lands in Italy) became extinct in 1700. The Austrian branch (which ruled theHoly Roman Empire,Hungary, Bohemia and various other lands) was itself split into different branches in 1564 but reunited 101 years later. It became extinct in the male line in 1740, but continued through the female line as theHouse of Habsburg-Lorraine.

The Habsburg monarchy was a union of crowns, with only partial shared laws and institutions other than the Habsburg court itself; the provinces were divided in three groups: theArchduchyproper,Inner Austriathat includedStyriaandCarniola,andFurther AustriawithTyroland theSwabianlands. The territorial possessions of the monarchy were thus united only by virtue of a common monarch. The Habsburg realms were unified in 1804 with the formation of theAustrian Empireand later split in two with theAustro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867.The monarchy began to fracture in the face of inevitable defeat during the final years ofWorld War Iand ultimately disbanded with the proclamation of theRepublic of German-Austriaand theFirst Hungarian Republicin late 1918.

Inhistoriography,the terms "Austria" or "Austrians" are frequently used as shorthand for the Habsburg monarchy since the 18th century. From 1438 to 1806, the rulers of the House of Habsburg almost continuously reigned asHoly Roman Emperors.However, the realms of theHoly Roman Empirewere mostly self-governing and are thus not considered to have been part of the Habsburg monarchy. Hence, the Habsburg monarchy (of the Austrian branch) is often called "Austria" bymetonymy.Around 1700, theLatintermmonarchia austriacacame into use as a term of convenience.Within the empire alone, the vast possessions included the original Hereditary Lands, theErblande,from before 1526; theLands of the Bohemian Crown;the formerly SpanishAustrian Netherlandsfrom 1714 until 1794; and some fiefs inImperial Italy.Outside the empire, they encompassed all theKingdom of Hungaryas well as conquests made at the expense of theOttoman Empire.The dynastic capital wasVienna,except from 1583 to 1611, when it was inPrague.

Origins and expansion

Silver medallion depictingKingRudolf Iwith his sonsAlbertandRudolf IIat theDiet of Augsburg,which laid the foundation of theHouse of Habsburg.Work byAnton Scharfffor the 600th anniversary of the constitution of theErblande,1882.

The first Habsburg who can be reliably traced wasRadbot of Klettgau,who was born in the late 10th century; the family name originated withHabsburg Castle,in present-daySwitzerland,which was built by Radbot.After 1279, the Habsburgs came to rule in theDuchy of Austria,which was part of the electiveKingdom of Germanywithin theHoly Roman Empire.KingRudolf I of Germanyof the Habsburg family assigned the Duchy of Austria to his sons at theDiet of Augsburg(1282), thus establishing the "Austrian hereditary lands".From that moment, the Habsburg dynasty was also known as theHouse of Austria.Between 1438 and 1806, with few exceptions, the HabsburgArchduke of Austriawas elected asHoly Roman Emperor.

The Habsburgs grew to European prominence as a result of the dynastic policy pursued byMaximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.Maximilian marriedMary of Burgundy,thus bringing theBurgundian Netherlandsinto the Habsburg possessions. Their son,Philip the Handsome,marriedJoanna the Madof Spain (daughter ofFerdinand II of AragonandIsabella I of Castile).Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor,the son of Philip and Joanna, inherited theHabsburg Netherlandsin 1506,Habsburg Spainand its territories in 1516, and Habsburg Austria in 1519.

At this point, the Habsburg possessions were so vast that Charles V was constantly travelling throughout his dominions and therefore needed deputies and regents, such asIsabella of Portugalin Spain andMargaret of Austriain the Low Countries, to govern his various realms. At theDiet of Wormsin 1521, Emperor Charles V came to terms with his younger brotherFerdinand.According to theHabsburgcompactof Worms (1521), confirmed a year later inBrussels,Ferdinand was madeArchduke,as a regent of Charles V in the Austrian hereditary lands.

Following the death ofLouis II of Hungaryin theBattle of Mohácsagainst theOttoman Turks,Archduke Ferdinand (who was his brother-in-law by virtue of an adoption treaty signed by Maximilian andVladislaus II,Louis's father at theFirst Congress of Vienna) was also elected the next king ofBohemiaandHungaryin 1526.Bohemia and Hungary became hereditary Habsburg domains only in the 17th century: Following victory in theBattle of White Mountain(1620) over the Bohemian rebels,Ferdinand IIpromulgated aRenewed Land Ordinance(1627/1628) that established hereditary succession over Bohemia. Following theBattle of Mohács (1687),in whichLeopold Ireconquered almost all ofOttoman Hungaryfrom the Turks, the emperor held adiet in Pressburgto establish hereditary succession in the Hungarian kingdom.

Map ofCentral Europein 1648:

Territories under theHoly Roman Empire,comprising theAlpineheartland (Erblande) of the Habsburg monarchy.

Charles V divided the House in 1556 by ceding Austria along with the Imperial crown to Ferdinand (as decided at theImperial election, 1531), and theSpanish Empireto his sonPhilip.The Spanish branch (which also held the Netherlands, theKingdom of Portugalbetween 1580 and 1640, and theMezzogiornoof Italy) became extinct in 1700. The Austrian branch (which also ruled the Holy Roman Empire, Hungary and Bohemia) was itself divided between different branches of the family from 1564 until 1665, but thereafter it remained a singlepersonal union.It became extinct in the male line in 1740, but through the marriage of QueenMaria TheresawithFrancis of Lorraine,the dynasty continued as theHouse of Habsburg-Lorraine.

Names

• Habsburg monarchy (GermanHabsburgermonarchie): this is an unofficial umbrella term, very frequently used, but was not anofficial name.
• Austrian monarchy (Latin:monarchia austriaca) came into use around 1700 as a term of convenience for the Habsburg territories.
• "Danubian monarchy" (German:Donaumonarchie) was an unofficial name often used contemporaneously.
• "Dual monarchy" (German:Doppel-Monarchie) referred to the combination ofCisleithaniaand theTransleithania,two states under one crowned ruler.
• Austrian Empire(German:Kaisertum Österreich): This was the official name of the new Habsburg empire created in 1804, after the end of the Holy Roman Empire. The English word empire refers to a territory ruled by anemperor,and not to a "widespreading domain".
• Austria-Hungary(German:Österreich-Ungarn), 1867–1918: This name was commonly used in international relations, although the official name wasAustro-Hungarian Monarchy(German:Österreichisch-Ungarische Monarchie).
• Crownlandsorcrown lands(Kronländer) (1849–1918): This is the name of all the individual parts of the Austrian Empire (1849–1867), and then of Austria-Hungary from 1867 on. The Kingdom of Hungary (more exactly the Lands of the Hungarian Crown) was not considered a "crownland" anymore after the establishment of Austria-Hungary in 1867, so that the "crownlands" became identical with what was called the Kingdoms and Lands represented in the Imperial Council (Die im Reichsrate vertretenen Königreiche und Länder).
• The Hungarian parts of the empire were called "Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen"or" Lands of Holy (St.) Stephen's Crown "(Länder der Heiligen Stephans Krone). The Bohemian (Czech) Lands were called "Lands of the St. Wenceslaus' Crown" (Länder der Wenzels-Krone).

Names of some smaller territories:

• ThePrince-Archbishopric of Salzburgfinally became Austrian in 1816 after the Napoleonic wars; before that it was ruled by the prince-archbishops of Salzburg as a sovereign territory.
• ThePrince-Bishopric of TrentandPrince-Bishopric of Brixenbecame Austrian in 1803 following theTreaty of Lunéville.
• Austria, historically, was split into "Austria above the Enns"and"Austria below the Enns"(theEnnsriver is the state-border between Upper- and Lower Austria). Upper Austria was enlarged after theTreaty of Teschen(1779) following theWar of the Bavarian Successionby the so-calledInnviertel( "InnQuarter "), formerly part ofBavaria.
• Hereditary Lands(ErblandeorErbländer;mostly usedÖsterreichische Erblande) or German Hereditary Lands (in the Austrian monarchy) or Austrian Hereditary Lands (Middle Ages– 1849/1918): In a narrower sense these were the "original" Habsburg territories, principally theArchduchy of Austria(Oesterreich),Duchy of Styria(Steiermark),Duchy of Carinthia(Kaernten),Duchy of Carniola(Krain),County of Tyrol(Tirol) andVorarlberg.In a wider sense theLands of the Bohemian Crownwere also included (from 1526; definitively from 1620/27) in the Hereditary Lands. The term was replaced by the term "Crownlands" (see above) in the 1849March Constitution,but it was also used afterwards.
  TheErblandealso included many small territories that were principalities, duchies or counties in other parts of the Holy Roman Empire, such asFurther Austria.

Territories

Growth of the Habsburg monarchy in central Europe

The Habsburg monarchy at the time ofJoseph II's death in 1790. The red line marks the borders of theHoly Roman Empire.

The territories ruled by the Austrian monarchy changed over the centuries, but the core always consisted of four blocs:

• The Hereditary Lands, which covered most of the modern states ofAustriaandSlovenia,as well as territories in northeasternItalyand (before 1797) southwesternGermany.To these were added in 1779 theInn Quarterof Bavaria and in 1803 thePrince-BishopricsofTrentandBrixen.TheNapoleonic Warscaused disruptions where many parts of the Hereditary lands were lost, but all these, along with the former Prince-Archbishopric of Salzburg, which had previously been temporarily annexed between 1805 and 1809, were recovered at theCongress of Vienna1815, with the exception of Further Austria. The Hereditary provinces included:
  • Archduchy of Austria
    • Upper Austria
    • Lower Austria
  • Inner Austria
    • Duchy of Styria
    • Duchy of Carinthia
    • Duchy of Carniola
    • TheImperial Free City of Trieste
    • Margraviate of Istria(although much of Istria wasVenetianterritory until 1797)
    • Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca
  • County of Tyrol(although the Bishoprics of Trent and Brixen dominated what would become the South Tyrol before 1803
  • Duchy of Salzburg
  • Further Austria,mostly ruled jointly with Tyrol.
    • Vorarlberg(actually a collection of provinces, only united in the 19th century)
    • TheVorlande,a group of territories inBreisgauand elsewhere in southwestern Germany lost in 1801 (although theAlsatianterritories (Sundgau) which had formed a part of it had been lost as early as 1648)
  • Grand Duchy of Salzburg(only after 1805)

    

    Coronation of Maria Theresa in Pressburg,Kingdom of Hungary,1741

• TheLands of the Bohemian Crown.TheBohemian DietelectedFerdinand,later Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand I, as king in 1526. Initially consisting of the five lands:
  • Kingdom of Bohemia
  • Margraviate of Moravia
  • Silesia,Most of Silesia was conquered byPrussiain 1740–1742 and the remnants which stayed under Habsburg sovereignty were ruled asDuchy of Upper and Lower Silesia(Austrian Silesia).
  • Lusatia,was ceded toSaxonyin 1635.
    • Upper Lusatia
    • Lower Lusatia
• TheKingdom of Hungary– two-thirds of the former territory that was administered by the medieval Kingdom of Hungary was conquered by theOttoman Empireand the Princes of vassal OttomanTransylvania,while the Habsburg administration was restricted to the western and northern territories of the former kingdom, which remained to be officially referred as theKingdom of Hungary.In 1699, at the end of theOttoman-Habsburg wars,one part of the territories that were administered by the former medieval Kingdom of Hungary came under Habsburg administration, with some other areas being acquired in 1718 (some of the territories that were part of medieval kingdom, notably those in the south of theSavaandDanuberivers, remained under Ottoman administration).
• Kingdom of Croatia
• Military Frontier

Europa regina,symbolizing a Habsburg-dominated Europe

Soldiers of theMilitary Frontieragainst the incursions of the Ottoman Turks, 1756

Over the course of its history, other lands were, at times, under Austrian Habsburg rule (some of these territories weresecundogenitures,i.e. ruled by other lines of Habsburg dynasty):

• Serbiaoccupation (1686–1691)
• Kingdom of Slavonia(1699–1868)
• Duchy of Milan(1706–1797)
• Duchy of Mantua(1706–1797)
• Kingdom of Naples(1707–1735)
• Kingdom of Sardinia(1707–1720)
• State of the Presidi(1707–1733)
• Austrian Netherlands,consisting of most of modernBelgiumandLuxembourg(1713–1795)
• Grand Principality of Transylvania,between 1699 (Treaty of Karlowitz) and 1867 (Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867)
• Kingdom of Serbia(1718–1739)
• Banat of Temeswar(1718–1778)
• Banat of Craiova(1718–1739de facto,1716–1737)
• Kingdom of Sicily(1720–1735)
• Duchy of Parma and Piacenza(1735–1748)
• Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria,in modernPolandandUkraine(1772–1918)
• Duchy of Bukovina(1774–1918)
• Serbiaoccupation (1788–1791)
• West Galicia,the Polish lands, includingKraków,taken in theThird Partition(1795–1809)
• Venetia(1797–1805)
• Kingdom of Dalmatia(1797–1805, 1814–1918)
• Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia(1814–1866)
• Grand Duchy of Kraków,which was incorporated intoGalicia(1846–1918)
• Serbian Vojvodina(1848–1849) de facto entity, officially unrecognized
• Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar(1849–1860)
• Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia(1868–1918)
• Sanjak of Novi Pazaroccupation (1878–1908)
• Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina(1878–1918)

The boundaries of some of these territories varied over the period indicated, and others were ruled by a subordinate (secundogeniture) Habsburg line. The Habsburgs also held the title ofHoly Roman Emperorbetween 1438 and 1740, and again from 1745 to 1806.

Characteristics

Imperial coat of armsof theAustro-Hungarian Empire,used between the years 1815–1866 and 1867–1915.

Within the early modern Habsburg monarchy, each entity 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 person—junior members of the family often ruled portions of the Hereditary Lands as private apanages. Serious attempts at centralization began underMaria Theresaand especially her sonJoseph II, Holy Roman Emperorin the mid to late 18th century, but many of these were abandoned following large scale resistance to Joseph's more radical reform attempts, although a more cautious policy of centralization continued during the revolutionary period and theMetternichianperiod that followed.

Another attempt at centralization began in 1849 following the suppression of the variousrevolutions of 1848.For the first time, ministers tried to transform the monarchy into a centralized bureaucratic state ruled from Vienna. The Kingdom of Hungary was placed undermartial law,being divided into a series of military districts, the centralized neo-absolutism tried to as well to nullify Hungary's constitution andDiet.Following the Habsburg defeats in theSecond Italian War of Independence(1859) andAustro-Prussian War(1866), these policies were step by step abandoned.

After experimentation in the early 1860s, the famousAustro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867was arrived at, by which the so-called dual monarchy ofAustria-Hungarywas set up. In this system, the Kingdom of Hungary ( "Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of St. Stephen." ) was an equal sovereign with only a personal union and a joint foreign and military policy connecting it to the other Habsburg lands. Although the non-Hungarian Habsburg lands were referred to as "Austria", received their own central parliament (theReichsrat,orImperial Council) and ministries, as their official name – the "Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council". When Bosnia and Herzegovina wasannexed(after 30 years ofoccupation and administration), it was not incorporated into either half of the monarchy. Instead, it was governed by the joint Ministry of Finance.

During thedissolution of Austria-Hungary,the Austrian territories collapsed under the weight of the various ethnic independence movements that came to the fore with its defeat in World War I. After its dissolution, the new republics ofAustria(the German-Austrian territories of the Hereditary lands) and theFirst Hungarian Republicwere created. In the peace settlement that followed, significant territories were ceded toRomaniaandItalyand the remainder of the monarchy's territory was shared out among the new states ofPoland,theKingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes(later Yugoslavia), andCzechoslovakia.

Other lines

A junior line ruled over theGrand Duchy of Tuscanybetween 1765 and 1801, and again from 1814 to 1859. While exiled from Tuscany, this line ruled atSalzburgfrom 1803 to 1805, and inGrand Duchy of Würzburgfrom 1805 to 1814. The House ofAustria-Esteruled theDuchy of Modenafrom 1814 to 1859, while EmpressMarie Louise,Napoleon's second wife and the daughter of Austrian EmperorFrancis I,ruled over theDuchy of Parma and Piacenzabetween 1814 and 1847. Also, theSecond Mexican Empire,from 1863 to 1867, was headed byMaximilian I of Mexico,the brother of EmperorFranz Josef of Austria.

Rulers, 1508–1918

Main article:List of rulers of Austria

The so-called "Habsburg monarchs" or "Habsburg emperors" held many different titles and ruled each kingdom separately through apersonal union.

House of Habsburg

Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperorand his wife InfantaMaria of Spainwith their children

Imperial throne of Austria, made for Emperor Franz Joseph I

• Frederick III(1452–1493)
• Maximilian I(1493–1519)
• Charles V(1519–1556)
• Ferdinand I(1556–1564)
• Maximilian II(1564–1576)
• Rudolf II(1576–1612)
• Matthias(1612–1619)
• Ferdinand II(1619–1637)
• Ferdinand III(1637–1657)
• Leopold I(1657–1705)
• Joseph I(1705–1711)
• Charles VI(1711–1740)
• Maria Theresa(1740–1780) (German: Maria Theresia)

House of Habsburg-Lorraine

• Joseph II(1780–1790), known as "the great Reformer"
• Leopold II(1790–1792), from 1765 to 1790 "Grand Duke of Tuscany"
• Francis II(1792–1835), (became Emperor Francis I of Austria in 1804, at which point numbering starts anew)
• Ferdinand I(1835–1848), known as "Ferdinand the Good" German: "Ferdinand der Gütige"
• Francis Joseph I(1848–1916)
• Charles I(1916–1918), last reigning monarch of Austria-Hungary

Family tree

• Habsburg family tree

In literature

The decline of the Habsburg Empire is given in Stefan Zweig'sThe World of Yesterday.

See also

• Habsburg Myth
• Universal monarchy

References

Sources

• Hochedlinger, Michael (2013) [2003].Austria's Wars of Emergence, 1683–1797.Abingdon: Routledge.ISBN978-0-582-29084-6.
• Kotulla, Michael (2008).Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte: Vom Alten Reich bis Weimar (1495–1934)(in German). Berlin: Springer.ISBN978-3-540-48705-0.
• Rady, Martyn(2020).The Habsburgs: The Rise and Fall of a World Power.London: Allen Lane.ISBN978-0-241-33262-7.

Further reading

• Bérenger, Jean(2013).A History of the Habsburg Empire, 1273–1700.Routledge.
• —— (2014).A History of the Habsburg Empire, 1700–1918.Routledge.
• Evans, Robert John Weston(1979).The Making of the Habsburg Monarchy, 1550–1700: An Interpretation.Oxford University Press.ISBN0-1987-3085-3.
• —— (May 2020). "Remembering the Fall of the Habsburg Monarchy One Hundred Years on: Three Master Interpretations".Austrian History Yearbook.51:269–291.doi:10.1017/S0067237820000181.S2CID216447628.
• Fichtner, Paula Sutter (2003).The Habsburg Monarchy, 1490–1848: Attributes of Empire,Palgrave Macmillan.
• Goleșteanu-Jacobs, Raluca (2023), Habsburg Galicia and the Romanian Kingdom Sociocultural Development, 1866–1914, Poland-Transnational Histories, Routledge
• Henderson, Nicholas. "Joseph II"History Today(Sept 1955) 5#9 pp. 613–621.
• Ingrao, Charles(1979).In Quest and Crisis: Emperor Joseph I and the Habsburg Monarchy.Purdue University Press.ISBN978-0-9111-9853-9.
• —— (2000).The Habsburg Monarchy, 1618–1815.Cambridge University Press.ISBN978-0-5213-8009-6.
• Judson, Pieter M.The Habsburg Empire: A New History(2016)excerptArchived2022-08-18 at theWayback Machine
• Kann, Robert A.A History of the Habsburg Empire: 1526–1918(University of California Press, 1974)online
• Lieven, Dominic.Empire: The Russian empire and its rivals(Yale University Press, 2002), comparisons with Russian, British, & Ottoman empires.
• Macartney, Carlile Aylmer(1969).The Habsburg Empire, 1790–1918.Macmillan.
• McCagg Jr., William O (1989).A History of the Habsburg Jews, 1670–1918(Indiana University Press.
• Mitchell, A. Wess (2018).The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire.Princeton University Press.
• Oakes, Elizabeth and Eric Roman (2003).Austria-Hungary and the Successor States: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present.
• Sked, Alan(1989).The Decline and Fall of the Habsburg Empire, 1815–1918.Longman.
• Stone, Norman. "The Last Days of the Habsburg Monarchy",History Today(Aug 1968), Vol. 18 Issue 8, pp. 551–560
• Steed, Henry Wickham; et al. (1914).A short history of Austria-Hungary and Poland.Encyclopaedia Britannica Company. p.145.
• Taylor, A. J. P.(1964).The Habsburg monarchy, 1809–1918: a history of the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary(2nd ed.). Penguin Books.

External links

• Habsburg in an email discussion list dealing with the culture and history of the Habsburg Monarchy and its successor states in central Europe since 1500,with discussions, syllabi, book reviews, queries, conferences; edited daily by scholars since 1994.