Sitting
in the middle of Europe, surrounded by
its neighbours, The Republic of Austria
is “land locked” in the same
manor as Switzerland. The name “Austria”
comes from old Latin term for “eastern
border”. During the days of the
rein of Charlemagne the lands that would
become Austria were on the eaters fringes
of his empire, and the name sort of stuck.
Austria has been conquered many times:
this includes the Ancient Romans, the
Huns, the Lombards, the Ostrogoths, the
Bavarii and the Franks. By the 900s Austria
was ruled by a family known as the Babenbergs,
who were succeeded by the Habsburgs in
the 1200s. The Habsburgs ruled until the
20th Century.
The
“Empire of Austria” was formed
in the 1806, and in 1867 it turned into
the Austria-Hungarian Empire. In 1918
Austria became a republic, which lasted
until 1934 when the chancellor of the
day established a dictatorship. Austria
was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, occupied
by the Allies until 1955, and then turned
into an independent Republic. Austria
joined the European Union, and the Euro
monetary system in 1999.
Austria is a small country in comparison
to a country like the U.S. It has many
beautiful mountains and rolling hills.
The capital of Austria is Vienna, which
has a population of about 1.5 Million.
Austrians speak a variety of languages,
including a variety of Germanic dialects
as well as a smattering of languages like
Slovenian, Croatian and Hungarian. Famous
Austrians include Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
Christian Doppler, and of course Arnold
Schwarzenegger.
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