AUSTRIA AND THE SWISS CONFEDERATION, 1273-1499 A.D.
RISE OF AUSTRIA
The name Austria—in German Oesterreich—means simply the
eastern part of any kingdom. It came to be applied particularly to the
territory on the Danube east of Bavaria, which Otto the Great had formed into a
mark or border province for defense against the Magyars. This mark, soon
to be known as Austria, gained an important place among German states. The
frontiers were pushed down the Danube valley and the capital was finally
located at Vienna, once a Roman city. Frederick Barbarossa raised Austria to
the rank of a duchy. Rudolf of Hapsburg, who became emperor in 1273 A.D., first
brought the country into the hands of the Hapsburg family.
GROWTH OF AUSTRIA UNDER THE HAPSBURGS
The Hapsburgs founded the power of the present Austrian
monarchy. At the end of the fourteenth century their dominions included a large
part of eastern Germany, [30] reaching from beyond the Danube southward to the
Adriatic. Early in the sixteenth century they secured Bohemia, a Slavic land
thrust like a wedge into German territory, as well as part of the Magyar land
of Hungary. The possession of these two kingdoms gave Austria its special
character of a state formed by the union under one ruler of several wholly
distinct nations. Meanwhile the right of election as Holy Roman Emperor became
hereditary in the Hapsburg family.
[30] The duchies of Upper and Lower Austria, Styria,
Carinthia, and Carniola, and the county of Tyrol.
