European Kingdoms

Austria

Eastern Austria formed part of the province of Pannonia during the Roman empire period. Barbarian incursions were frequent, however, especially by the Quadi. Following the decline of the empire in the west, the region was controlled successively by the Huns (circa 400-460), the Ostrogoths (circa 460-488), the Langobards (in Lower Austria, 488-c.540), and the Bavarii (in western Austria, (circa 568), before also undergoing Slav incursions during the sixth century.

Only once the German Holy Roman Empire was unified and strengthened by Otto I did Austria begin to emerge with any identity of its own. Once the Habsburgs inherited the title, it became virtually indivisible from that of Holy Roman Emperor, and then Emperor of Austria. However, reignal numbering for the Habsburgs in Austria itself was often different to that of the imperial title, due to the differing origins of the two bodies.

15 BC - AD 445

The region is part of the Roman empire.

c.445 - 451

The Hunnic empire controls the area.

c.451 - 488

The Ostrogoths' territory now encompasses the area.

488 - 568

The region falls under the control of the Langobards until they move into northern Italy.

568 - 788

The area is occupied by the Bavarii as they migrate into what becomes their traditional territory.

788 - 843

The region is conquered and controlled as part of the Carolingian empire of the Western Franks.

843 - 907

The Treaty of Verdun. The Western Franks secede from the Germanic empire, and Austria is controlled by the East Frankish rulers of the fledgling Holy Roman Empire.

880 - 907

Aribo

Also ruled Styria.

907 - 955

Former Bavarian Austria passes to Hungary, until the latter is defeated by Saxon emperor Otto I.

Margraves of Austria (Regensburg)
c.AD 960 - 975

Now that the German Holy Roman Empire had full control of Austria, the title of Margrave was granted to its ruler.

c.960 - 975

Burchard

Margraves of Austria (Babenburg)
AD 976 - 1248

976 - 994

Leopold I

994 - 1018

Henry I

1012

The young Herman III of Swabia dies childless, ending the Conradine succession to the duchy. Through his marriage to Gisela, heiress of Swabia (and Herman's sister), Ernest I of Babenburg, son of Margrave Leopold I, becomes duke of Swabia.

1015

Following the untimely death of Duke Ernest I of Swabia, his son succeeds him as a minor. At first, the boy's mother is regent, but she is eventually replaced by Poppo, archbishop of Trier and another son of Leopold I of Austria.

1018 - 1055

Adalbert

1055 - 1075

Ernest

1075 - 1102

Leopold II

1102 - 1136

Leopold III the Saint

1136 - 1141

Leopold IV

1141 - 1177

Henry II Jasomirgott

Title elevated to duke of Austria (1156).

1177 - 1194

Leopold V

1192

Austria gains the margraviate of Styria.

1194 - 1199

Frederick I

1199 - 1230

Leopold VI the Glorious

1230 - 1246

Frederick II the Warlike

1246 - 1248

Frederick III

Dukes of Austria (Zahringen)
AD 1248 - 1250

1248 - 1250

Herman

Herman VI of Baden.

Dukes of Austria (Przemyslid)
AD 1250 - 1278

1250 - 1278

Ottokar II the Great

King of Bohemia. Duke of Carinthia. Margrave of Slovenia, Margrave of Styria.

1276 - 1278

Rudolph of Habsburg wrests the duchy Austria from Ottokar in 1276, and kills the Przemysl king in battle on the Moravia Field, on the right bank of the River Morava in Austria, two years later.

Dukes of Austria (Habsburg)
AD 1278 - 1358

From this point forward, the Habsburg rulers of Austria became heavily involved in the title of Holy Roman Emperor. After several non-dynastic periods of rule, from 1438 onwards the two titles became virtually indistinguishable. Following German custom, there were some subdivisions created within Habsburg-controlled territory, but no real power was handed out until 1379-1457, when the descendants of Albert III and Leopold III ruled the duchy and the Tyrol separately.

1278 - 1282

Rudolph I of Habsburg

HRE (1273-91). Duke of Carinthia (1276-86).

1282 - 1283

In December 1282, as Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolph gives the duchies of Austria and Styria to his sons, Albert and Rudolf II. On 1 June 1283, the Treaty of Rheinfelden stipulates that Rudolph II has to relinquish his title in favour of Albert. In compensation he is appointed duke of Swabia, little more than an honorific title as the duchy no longer exists as a coherent entity. Various minor territories previously held by the counts of Habsburg are later classed as Further Austria, but these are never possessed by Rudolph.

1282 - 1308

Albert I

HRE (1298-1308). Assassinated.

1282 - 1290

Rudolph II

Joint rule. 'Duke of Swabia' (1289-90).

1306 - 1307

Rudolph III

HRE (1306-1307). King of Bohemia-Moravia (1306-1307).

1308

Thanks to Albert's failure to address the problem of adequate compensation for the loss of Styria in 1283 by Rudolph II, the king is assassinated by Rudolph's son, John. John is named 'Parricide', and continues to hold his inherited claim on Swabia.

1308 - 1330

Frederick IV 'the Fair'

Rival HRE (1325-1330).

1308 - 1326

Leopold VII

Joint rule.

1313

With the death of John Parricide, any claim to the former Swabian duchy dies with him. Large areas of its territory have already gone to the established county of Württemberg and the margraviate of Baden. Territory formerly belonging to the Alemanni people also later forms parts of Austria (Vorarlberg), France (Alsace) and Switzerland, as well as the Bavarian Swabia region of Bavaria.

1314 - 1322

When Louis IV (Louis the Bavarian) is elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1314, a minority faction elects Frederick the Fair of Hapsburg as emperor. Louis defeats Frederick in 1322, but the Pope refuses to recognise or crown him, so Louis has himself crowned emperor by representatives of the Roman people. This coronation is part of an agreement that has been reached with Frederick whereby the latter is crowned king of the Romans to administer Germany as regent while Louis will fulfil his role from Italy.

1330 - 1358

Albert II the Wise

Archdukes of Austria (Habsburg)
AD 1358 - 1780

The title of archduke was granted to Austria in 1359. It would be a further seventy-nine years before a Habsburg gained the imperial throne again, but once they did they held onto it for good. The descendants of Albert III died out in 1457, and the divided lands were reunited under Frederick V.

1358 - 1365

Rudolph IV

Also count of Tyrol (1363-1365).

1365 - 1395

Albert III

Also count of Tyrol (1386-1395).

1395 - 1404

Albert IV

1404 - 1439

Albert V

HRE Albert II & king of Bohemia (1437/8-1439), & Hungary.

1420

Austria gains part of the partitioned province of Istria.

1439 - 1440

The title is vacant.

1440 - 1457

Ladislas Posthumus

King of Bohemia (1439-1457).

1457 - 1458

The title is vacant.

1458 - 1493

Frederick V

HRE Frederick III (1440-1493), duke of Carinthia.

1493 - 1519

Maximilian I

HRE (1493-1519), count of Tyrol (1490-1519).

1519 - 1520

Charles I

HRE Charles V (1519-1556), king of Spain (1516-1556).

1519 - 1534

Austria controls Württemberg directly.

1520 - 1564

Ferdinand I

HRE (1558-1564), count of Tyrol (1519), king of Bohemia (1526), king of Croatia (1527).

1526

Following a devastating defeat at the Battle of Mohács and the death of Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia, the Habsburgs inherit Hungary from the Lithuanian Jagiellos, but are opposed by the Zapolyas.

1556

Upon the death of Charles I of Spain, the former HRE until 1520, his vast single dominion is divided between his son and his brother. His son, Philip, gains the throne of Spain, and the holdings in the Netherlands, while his younger brother, Ferdinand, is confirmed in Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary. Younger members of the royal house are also counts of Tyrol.

1564 - 1576

Maximilian II

HRE (1564-1576).

1576 - 1608

Rudolf V

HRE Rudolf II (1576-1612).

1602 - 1605

Austria occupies Transylvania.

1608 - 1619

Matthias

HRE (1612-1619).

1619 - 1637

Ferdinand II

HRE.

1637 - 1657

Ferdinand III

HRE.

1657 - 1705

Leopold VIII

HRE Leopold I.

1665

Austria permanently absorbs the County of Tyrol.

1683

John III of Poland and Charles V of Lorraine lift the siege of Vienna on 12 September, ending Ottoman expansion in Europe.

1699

Austria takes permanent control of Transylvania.

1702 - 1715

Portugal initially supports France during the War of Spanish Succession but Britain alters the situation with the signing of the Methuen Treaty with Portugal on 16 May 1703. In December 1703 a military alliance between Austria, Britain, and Portugal sees them invade Spain. The allied forces capture Madrid in 1706, although the campaign ends in a defeat at the Battle of Almansa.

1705 - 1711

Joseph I

HRE.

1711 - 1740

Charles II

HRE Charles VI .

1713 - 1735

Austria is ceded Naples and Sardinia by Spain.

1740 - 1780

Maria Theresa

HRE. Heiress of Austria.

1740 - 1748

Henry Pelham, leader of the English government in Parliament, is successful in ending the War of the Austrian Succession, achieving peace with France and trade with Spain.

The War of the Austrian Succession saw Europe go to war to decide whether Maria Theresa would secure the throne left to her by her father

Archdukes of Austria (Lorraine-Habsburg / Baudemont)
AD 1780 - 1806

1780 - 1790

Joseph II

HRE.

1790 - 1792

Leopold II

HRE. Died suddenly.

1792 - 1806

Francis II

HRE. Last Holy Roman Emperor.

1792 - 1797

Austria declares war on republican France, along with Prussia, as part of the First Coalition. Prussia withdraws in 1795, along with Spain, and the coalition is ended in 1797, although Austria has already benefited in the partitions of Poland-Lithuania. The captured territories are formed into the kingdom of Galicia & Lodomeria. Austria also gains the remainder of the province of Istria and all of the former republic of Venice in 1797, but loses portions of Italy to France.

1799 - 1800

The Second Coalition is formed by Austria and Russia against republican France. It ends in Austrian defeat at the Battle of Marengo, which eventually secures the French client republics in the Netherlands and Italy.

1805

The Third Coalition is formed against France, so in a swift campaign, Napoleon marches east and, in October, the outnumbered Austrian army of General Mack surrenders to him without battle at Ulm in Bavaria. The French go on to occupy Vienna. On 2 December, Napoleon defeats large armies of Austrians and Russians at Austerlitz, and the coalition lays in ruins. Austria loses the county of Tyrol to Bavaria.

1806

The formal end of the Holy Roman Empire is declared under the dictates of the French Emperor Napoleon I. However, the Austrian empire retains most of its eastern possessions and is (to an extent) a continuation of the HRE in all but name. Archduke Francis II of Austria becomes Emperor Francis I of the Austrian empire.

Emperors of Austria (Lorraine-Habsburg / Baudemont)
AD 1806 - 1918

1806 - 1835

Francis / Franz I

Formerly HRE Francis II.

1806

France creates the grand duchy of Warsaw out of Prussian Polish territories, so Austria appoints military governors to oversee its own Polish satellite kingdom of Galicia & Lodomeria.

1807 - 1810

France defeats the Austrians and Russians at Freidland in 1807, and goes on to occupy Portugal. In 1810, Napoleon Bonaparte makes what he thinks is an important dynastic link by marrying Archduchess Marie-Louise of Austria, although her father has no intention of voluntarily allowing any unity between the two countries.

1814

With Napoleon's defeat and abdication, Austria regains the county of Tyrol from Bavaria, as well as regaining control of its northern Italian and Polish territories.

1835 - 1848

Ferdinand (IV)

Died 1875.

Archduke Franz Karl Joseph

Brother. Renounced claim to throne in favour of his son.

1846

Ferdinand terminates the Krakow Republic in Poland, replacing it with a grand duchy with him holding the title. This arrangement remains in place until 1918.

1848 - 1916

Francis / Franz Josef

Son. Born 1830.

Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph

Brother. Emperor of Mexico (1864-1867).

Archduke Franz Ferdinand

Brother and heir. Assassinated in Sarajevo in 1914.

1914

The heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, is assassinated by Serb nationalists. The murder is used by Austria to declare war on Serbia, from which declaration the First World War results, with Germany becoming immediately involved as a close ally against Britain, France, and Russia. Austria's traditional enemy, Turkey, joins the German cause on 31 October.

1915

In the secret Treaty of London of 26 April, Italy agrees to abandon its allies, Germany and Austria-Hungary, declaring war on them instead in return for promises of almost all the Austrian territory it covets. However, on 6 September, Austria gains Bulgaria as an ally in its operations against Serbia.

1916

On 17 August, Rumania, long courted by the Allies, is finally persuaded by promises from France and Russia that it will gain the principality of Transylvania from Hungary. Its war effort is quickly defeated when it attacks into Hungary instead of holding a front against Bulgaria, as agreed.

1916 - 1918

Charles / Karl (III)

Last Austrian emperor. Deposed (1918) and banished.

1917

In April, Bolivia, Cuba, and the USA all side with the allies but Bolivia takes no active role in the war. In October, Brazil, Peru, and Uruguay also join the allied side, with Ecuador and Panama following suit in December.

1918 - 1919

In April 1918, Guatemala joins the allies, followed a month later by Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Honduras makes the same move in July. Austria-Hungary is fast failing, however. Its loyal subjects are tired of war and its many non-German and non-Hungarian peoples are becoming increasingly nationalist in thought and deed. Realising the inevitability of the break-up of the empire, on 16 October the emperor issues a manifesto to his people that, in effect, transfers the state into a federation of nationalities. He is too late.

On 6 October, his Serb, Croat, and Slovene subjects form a provisional government of the Southern Slavs, or Yugoslavia. The day after, the Habsburg Poles unite with the former Russian and German-ruled Poles to declare a free and independent Poland, while on 28 October a Czecho-Slovak republic is declared in Prague, the capital of the former Bohemia and Moravia. On 30 October, the emperor's most loyal German subjects claim in a constituent assembly the right to govern themselves, effectively dismissing their former ruler from office. On 1 November, Austria's partner, Hungary, re-establishes itself as an independent kingdom (which, constitutionally it already was). The other former imperial nationalities, Ruthenes and Rumanians, are already making provision for themselves, with the latter taking Transylvania. The troops of the empire begin to disarm themselves and head home, mostly to newly created independent states. The new Austrian authority opens field negotiations with Italy (and the British and French forces which have been propping it up), and a ceasefire is agreed on 3 November, although not fully recognised by the Italians until the following day. Italy gains Istria for its efforts in the war. The Austrian empire has ceased to exist and Germany now stands alone.

Modern Austria
AD 1918 - Present Day

Karl III was expelled from his Austrian domains after the conclusion of World War I and the empire was divided up into a series of democratic states which helped to shape modern Europe. The archduke and his family were forced out of Austria in 1919, and the Habsburg titles remain unrecognised there to date. (More details are available on the German language web site, below.) Several Habsburgs are also involved as rival Carlist claimants of the Spanish throne during the early and mid-twentieth century.

Successive claimants to the imperial throne are given a shaded background.

EXTERNAL LINK:
Otto von Habsburg

1918 - 1922

Charles / Karl (III) von Habsburg

Died 1922.

1919

The Austrian First Republic is created out of the ashes of the empire in 1919. Otto, Charles' son, is forced to flee the country on 24 March 1919. He goes into exile in Switzerland.

1922 - 1954

When Charles dies, Otto becomes head of the House of Habsburg with his mother, French-born Empress Zita, as guardian. Following a failed attempt to re-establish the empire in the same year, Otto is exiled to Spain until 1929, Belgium (1929-1940 - where he studies at university and gains a doctorate), France (1940), USA (1940-1944), and then France & Spain (1944-1954).

1922 - 2007

Otto von Habsburg

Son. Born 20 November 1912. Died 4 July 2011.

1922 - 1930

Zita von Bourbon-Parma

Mother and guardian.

1936

The republican Popular Front government in Spain defeats the right wing National Front in elections, forming the new government. In July, General Francisco Franco and a combination of monarchists and conservatives initiates a coup d'etat which triggers the Spanish Civil War. Franco makes it clear that he will never accept Alfonso as king, instead preferring to play diplomatic games with all three claimants, the last of these being Archduke Charles of Habsburg and Bourbon, a grandson of Charles (VII) of Bourbon Spain through the female line.

1938 - 1945

Austria is forcibly annexed to Nazi Germany.

1945 - 1950

Austria is subject to Allied military occupation.

1950

The Austrian Second Republic is created.

1951 - 1999

In 1951 Otto marries Princess Regina von Saxonia Sachsen-Meiningen (born 1925). From 1966, after relinquishing his claim to inherit the empire (in 1961), he is allowed access into Austria, and becomes a member of the European Parliament for the CSU on 10 June 1979. In 1999 he stands down for health reasons.

2007

On 1 January 2007, Otto relinquishes his status as head of the House of Habsburg in favour of his son and heir, Karl.

2007 - Present

Karl von Habsburg-Lothringen

Son. Born 11 January 1961.

Ferdinand von Habsburg-Lothringen

Son and heir. Born 21 June 1997.