Europe · Reformation to revolution
Austrian Empire
1804–1867
The Habsburg hereditary lands (Archduchy of Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, and much else) were held together by dynasty rather than by a single constitution. The Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 (issued by Emperor Charles VI on 19 April 1713) allowed the undivided Habsburg inheritance to pass to a daughter—his heir Maria Theresa—whose accession in 1740 nonetheless triggered the War of the Austrian Succession (confirmed by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748).
- Existed
- 1804–1867
- Shown on the map
- 1715–1867
- Peak area
- 819k km²
- Region
- Europe
Overview
The Habsburg hereditary lands (Archduchy of Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, and much else) were held together by dynasty rather than by a single constitution. The Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 (issued by Emperor Charles VI on 19 April 1713) allowed the undivided Habsburg inheritance to pass to a daughter—his heir Maria Theresa—whose accession in 1740 nonetheless triggered the War of the Austrian Succession (confirmed by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748). Maria Theresa and her son Joseph II pursued centralizing and Enlightenment reforms. Francis II proclaimed himself Emperor of Austria (as Francis I) on 11 August 1804, anticipating the Empire's end; after 1806 the Austrian Empire was the Habsburgs' formal state. Under Chancellor Metternich, Austria dominated the post-1815 conservative order and presided over the German Confederation until 1866.
Common questions
- What was the Austrian Empire?
- The Habsburg hereditary lands (Archduchy of Austria, Bohemia, Hungary, and much else) were held together by dynasty rather than by a single constitution. The Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 (issued by Emperor Charles VI on 19 April 1713) allowed the undivided Habsburg inheritance to pass to a daughter—his heir Maria Theresa—whose accession in 1740 nonetheless triggered the War of the Austrian Succession (confirmed by the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, 1748).
- When did the Austrian Empire exist?
- The Austrian Empire existed 1804–1867. On this map it is drawn 1715–1867.
- How large was the Austrian Empire?
- At its greatest extent drawn on this map, the Austrian Empire covered about 819,000 km². That is the largest area the border data gives it across the years it is drawn, not necessarily its greatest extent in history.
Sources
This compendium cites its sources once for the whole document rather than per territory. Its bibliography names the English Wikipedia articles for each territory as the primary basis, with Encyclopædia Britannica, the World History Encyclopedia, German History in Documents and Images, national institutions such as the Swiss Federal Council and the National Museum of Denmark, and the scholarship of Peter H. Wilson and Joachim Whaley on the Holy Roman Empire. The article this entry is anchored on:
- Wikipedia — Austrian Empire en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_Empire
This entry was last updated .
This entry was researched and drafted with AI from the sources above, and has not been reviewed by a historian. How entries are made
Text available under CC BY-SA 4.0: reuse it with a credit to The World Through Time and a link to this page. Passages drawing on the Wikipedia articles listed above are also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 by their contributors.
Border geometry for the map itself comes from Cliopatria v0.12 (Seshat Global History Databank, CC-BY-4.0).
See the Austrian Empire in its world
Open the atlas at 1791 and every neighbour, rival and successor is on screen with it — then drag the slider and watch what happens next.
Open the map at 1791 →