Austria

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Austria fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. Marcomanni and Quadi166 to 180

   Germanic peoples from north of the Danube broke into Roman Noricum and Pannonia in 166. Marcus Aurelius fought them for over a decade from bases such as Carnuntum and died in 180 before the war was settled.

2. Avar Khaganate568 to 796

   The Avars ruled the Danube plain east of today's Austria and raided Bavarians and Slavs to the west. Charlemagne's armies broke their ring fortress in 795 to 796 and ended their power.

3. 🇭🇺 Principality of Hungary900 to 955

   Magyar horsemen destroyed a Bavarian army near Pressburg in 907 and raided deep into Europe for half a century, until Otto I crushed them at the Lechfeld in 955.

4. 🇨🇿 Kingdom of Bohemia1251 to 1278

   Ottokar II of Bohemia took Austria after the Babenbergs died out. Rudolf of Habsburg defeated and killed him on the Marchfeld in 1278, founding six centuries of Habsburg rule.

5. 🇨🇭 Swiss Confederation1291 to 1474

   The Habsburgs tried to hold their home valleys in today's Switzerland. Swiss confederates beat them at Morgarten in 1315 and Sempach in 1386, took the Aargau in 1415, and made peace in 1474.

6. 🇭🇺 Kingdom of Hungary1477 to 1490

   Matthias Corvinus of Hungary warred with Emperor Frederick III, besieged and took Vienna in 1485 and ruled from it until his death in 1490.

7. 🇫🇷 Kingdom of France1494 to 1756

   For more than two centuries Habsburgs and French kings fought for mastery of Europe, in Italy, the Rhineland and the Low Countries, from the Italian Wars to the Wars of the Spanish and Austrian Successions, until their alliance of 1756.

8. 🇹🇷 Ottoman Empire1526 to 1791

   After Mohacs the Ottomans and Habsburgs fought for Hungary for over 150 years. Vienna survived sieges in 1529 and 1683; the reconquest of Hungary followed, and the Treaty of Sistova in 1791 closed the last war.

9. 🇩🇪 Kingdom of Prussia1740 to 1866

   Frederick II seized Silesia in 1740 and kept it through three wars. The two powers then competed to lead Germany until Prussia crushed Austria at Koniggratz in 1866.

10. 🇫🇷 Revolutionary and Napoleonic France1792 to 1815

    Austria fought France in every coalition war. Napoleon won at Austerlitz in 1805 and Wagram in 1809, occupied Vienna twice and took Austrian lands, before the allies defeated him in 1814 and 1815.

11. 🇮🇹 Kingdom of Sardinia, then Italy1848 to 1918

    Italian unification was won largely against Austria: it lost Lombardy after Solferino in 1859 and Venetia in 1866. In the First World War twelve battles were fought on the Isonzo before Austria-Hungary collapsed in 1918.

12. 🇷🇸 Kingdom of Serbia1908 to 1918

    Austria's annexation of Bosnia in 1908 enraged Serbia. After a Bosnian Serb killed Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, setting off the First World War.

13. 🇮🇹 Italy1919 to 1992

    South Tyrol, German-speaking, went to Italy in 1919. Austria took the dispute to the United Nations in 1960; an autonomy package agreed in 1969 was completed, and Austria declared the dispute settled in 1992.

14. 🇩🇪 Nazi Germany1934 to 1945

    Austrian Nazis murdered Chancellor Dollfuss in a failed coup in 1934. In March 1938 German troops marched in and Austria was annexed, disappearing from the map until 1945.

Today

Austria now

Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World War I. Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, and the victorious Allies then occupied the country in 1945. As a result, Austria's status remained unclear for a decade after World War II, until a State Treaty signed in 1955 ended the occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and forbade unification with Germany.

Capital

Vienna

Government

federal parliamentary republic

Head of government

Christian Stocker

Head of state

Alexander Van der Bellen

Languages

German, Austrian Sign Language

Area

83,879 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population9.1 million2023 · 6.9 million in 1950
• Life expectancy82.0 years2023 · 64.8 years in 1950
• GDP per person$43,7922022 · $5,907 in 1950
• Living in cities70%2025 · 49% in 1950
• Literacy99%1950
• Political regimeLiberal democracy2025 · Electoral democracy in 1950
• Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
• Military spending1.1% of GDP2025
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.