Читать книгу The Adlerweg. The Eagle's Way across the Austrian Tyrol онлайн

9 страница из 52

Portrait of Hapsburg Empress Maria Theresa in Hofburg gallery, Innsbruck (Stage 12a)

During the 18th and 19th centuries, Austria’s political, economic and military significance surpassed its modest size. After the turning back of Islamic incursions into Europe at the battle of Vienna (1683), a long period of rule by one family enabled Austria to maintain strong stable government and build a pan-European empire. The Hapsburg emperors ruled until defeat in World War 1 led to the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

Interior of St Leonhard’s Kapelle, Barnstatt (Stage 2)

A period of economic and political uncertainty during the 1920s and 1930s, (when many mountain refuges fell into disrepair), was followed by the Anschluss political union with Germany in 1938 and Austrian participation on the Axis side in World War 2. After the war, government was briefly divided between the victorious allied powers until the current republic was established in 1955. Austria joined the EU in 1995 and the subsequent signing of the Schengen Agreement led to the removal of border controls.