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A Brief History of Politics in Vienna Until 1830

Vienna Pre-History: Politics Vienna, as many people know, is and has always been the capital of Austria. Owing to its status as the center of the Hapsburg Empire, Vienna was, for a long period of time, the most important city in the world, politically and otherwise. Indeed as the modern era approached, Vienna was the site of the aptly titled, Congress of Vienna, a meeting of all of the major European nations with the purpose of putting the continent back together after the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Ironically, it was the results of this conference that led directly to the revolutions of 1830, an early expression of the European people’s frustration with absolutism and repression. However, before one can analyze and break down the actions taken at the Congress of Vienna and their effects, it is essential to examine the political history of the city of Vienna in order to understand its central role in happenings of early 19th century Europe.

Situated in the Danube region and previously an area of trade between a Celtic group and Romans,(1) the city now known as Vienna was established in the early part of the first century A.D.(2) The area was then a Roman outpost named Vindobona,(3) which the Romans secured by erecting fortifications in a circular fashion that can still be seen today in the layout of the set of circular streets known as the Ringstrassen.(4) As the Roman Empire declined and fell, beginning, in earnest, in the 4th century A.D. one of the first places to feel the weakening was Vindobona, owing to its role as a frontier camp. The effects of the gradual decay of the Empire were compounded by what is though to have been a great fire that took place in Vindobona at the beginning of the 5th Century.(5) From that time until approximately the end of the 9th century, the Danube region was conquered and reconquered by various invading tribes, among them, Avars, Magyars, Slavs, and Bavarians.(6) At this point in time, the first mention of the present-day name of the city is placed in the year 881 A.D.(7)

The next important date in the political history of Vienna is the year 973 A.D. when the descendants of Charlemagne gave the Babenbergs of Bavaria control of the Danube region.(8) Although the Babenbergs consolidated their territory and strengthened their hold of Austria (beating back and then keeping in check the Magyars(9)) relatively quickly, Vienna was not much of a city until the middle of the 12th century due to its close proximity to the Magyars’ territory. Rather, the main city in Babenberg controlled Austria was Ratisbone . However, in 1156, after a family of Bavarian dukes, the Margraves, decided to make Vienna their home, it was officially declared a Duchy.(11) After this, Vienna quickly became an important metropolitan center, and before many centuries had passed, it was more essential and greater than the city that it was designed to imitate: Ratisbone. Soon after, Vienna’s city wall was built and the city was finally that: a city.(12)

In 1246, the last Babenberg duke died. Because he left no heir, there was a vacuum of power in the country. For a short time, King Ottokar of Bohemia ruled the nation but, finally, in 1273, Rudolf I, a Swedish Hapsburg, was elected Holy Roman Emperor and ruler of Austria. However, in the early 14th century, the Hapsburgs lost the crown and for approximately 200 years, Austria was rife with strife (boo-yah!).(13) In 1438, Albert II was elected Emperor and Vienna was recognized as the capital of Austria and the Holy Roman Empire itself.(14) Albert II’s successors, with a few exceptions all held the title of Holy Roman Emperor. This fact, along with the expansion of Austria that had taken place gradually over the years, led to a dramatic increase in the prestige and status of Vienna as a major European city.

1529 and 1683 were two of the most important years in Vienna’s history. As a result of the sieges by the Ottoman Turks, the city was changed forever in many ways. After a string of military victories that rivaled those of Alexander the great, the Turks seemed invincible. By 1529, the Hapsburg ruler had been forced to recognize Ottoman control of Hungary and pay a yearly tribute to their lord, Suleiman the Magnificent.(15) However, when the Turks attempted to take Vienna they found great resistance and were eventually defeated, a tremendous feat considering the historical precedent. Despite the victory, the city would never be the same.

After the first Turkish siege, much of Vienna was left in ruins. In reaction to the experience, city was redesigned and the outdated medieval walls were torn down and reworked in a more useful, modern, style. The city was reborn as a metropolitan center of the highest order with, "with strikingly tall buildings, but also narrow lanes, and altogether vibrant urban life.(16)" The capital of the Holy Roman Empire, the only city to withstand the Ottoman assault, a redesigned metropolitan landscape, all of these factors led to Vienna’s movement to the vanguard of modernity among the ranks of European cities. However, soon enough, 1683, the Turks were on the offensive again; attempting to regain their past glory by defeating the one enemy to withstand them at the height of their power. Fortunately, the modern fortifications put in place after the previous siege worked well and allowed the city to again claim victory. Despite this triumph, the city walls, sections of the inner city, and the suburbs were all ruined or in shambles. Whereas the first siege had led to a fortification of the walls, the second, led to an architectural renaissance throughout the city. In political terms, the victory over the Turks meant the end of the years of bitter struggle between the Hapsburgs and Ottomans.

In between these two great battles, in 1618, there had been a civil war in Bohemia where the Protestant citizens revolted against their Hapsburg ruler.(17) Although they were defeated, this small spat sparked a series of religious wars known as the Thirty Years War.(18) In 1648, the Thirty Years War was ended with the signing of the Peace of Westphalia, a document condemned by Pope Innocent X because of its concessions to the Protestants.(19) The treaty stated that whatever the religion of the ruler in a principality, that would be the religion of the people in said area. This forever altered relations between the Papacy and Austria (Vienna).

Beginning in the early 18th century, Vienna, and all of Austria, experienced almost 150 years of political turmoil and tumult unlike any others. In 1711, Charles VI, who had three daughters and no sons, became Holy Roman Emperor. This presented a serious problem due to an ancient European code known as the Salic law, which prohibited a woman from inheriting a the throne of a nation.(20) However, Charles found a way around this by issuing the Pragmatic Sanction, a decree that declared Maria Theresa, his oldest daughter, the heir to the throne. After Charles died, Prussia and several other major European states went reneged on their promise to abide by the Pragmatic Sanction and attempted to wrest control of Austria from Maria Theresa.(21) This struggle and the one that followed in which Maria Theresa attempted to regain the lost territory of Silesia are known as The War of Austrian Succession and The Seven Years War respectively.(22)

The next political period in Europe was the Napoleonic Wars, a series of conflicts in which Napoleon I of France attempted to and did conquer most of Europe before being defeated by a huge alliance of European powers. Austria suffered perhaps the greatest defeat during the Napoleonic wars and in 1806; Napoleon compelled Francis II, the Holy Roman Emperor, to disband the empire.(23) After this, he was known as Francis I, Emperor of Austria. However, in 1814, Napoleon was finally defeated by a confederation that included France, England, and others. In September of that year, the powers of Europe convened in Vienna to remake the continent in the wake of Napoleon. Presiding over this congress, ostensibly, was Francis I. However, in actuality, the man who dominated the negotiations was Prince Klemens von Metternich of Austria.(24)

Even excepting his role in the congress, Metternich was one of the most important and powerful men in Europe at the dawn of the modern era. In fact, that is a little misleading because Metternich was really the standard-bearer for the old guard of Europe. For the next 40 years, he, for all intensive purposes, ruled Austria, alone, through force of will alone; he was truly an absolute ruler. Above all his accomplishments, however, is his role in the congress, at which he, almost by himself, redrew the map of an entire continent. He gave up Austria’s claim to Belgium and created a confederation of German states/principalities (over which Austria and Prussia would fight for years to come).(25) In the end, the Congress of Vienna was both his finest and worst moment. In remaking Europe in the image of absolutist sentiments, Metternich ignored the increasingly republican, if not democratic, and nationalist sentiments of the common European . Therefore, in the end, he fell on his own sword. That, however, is a story of another time altogether. In the interim, Metternich was able to withstand the revolutionary bug of 1830, which did not even touch Austria.

Clearly, Vienna was, for an extremely long period of time, one of the centers of political life in Europe. From its days as a Roman outpost, to a duchy, to the capital of the Holy Roman Empire, to the capital of the Austrian Empire, from the beginning of Ano(s) Domini until 1830, Vienna underwent many changes but one thing remained the same- its place near the top of major political activities in Europe.

Footnotes

(1)http://www.austria-cafe.com/history.htm

(2)http://www.magwien.gv.at/english/history/vhisrom.htm

(3)Chandler, David P., World Book Encyclopedia-V p.379

(4)http://www.magwien.gv.at/english/history/vhisrom.htm

(5)http://www.magwien.gv.at/english/history/vhisrom.htm

(6)http://www.austria-cafe.com/history.htm/ Chandler, David P., World Book Encyclopedia p.379

(7)http://www.magwien.gv.at/english/history/vhisrom.htm

(8)http://www.austria-cafe.com/history.htm

(9)http://www.magwien.gv.at/english/history/vhisfma.htm

(10)http://www.magwien.gv.at/english/history/vhisfma.htm

(11)http://www.austria-cafe.com/history.htm

(12)http://www.magwien.gv.at/english/history/vhisfma.htm

(13)McGrath, William J., World Book Encyclopedia-A, p. 941

(14)http://www.magwien.gv.at/english/history/vhisfnz.htm

(15)Garraty, John A. and Gay, Peter, The Columbia History of the World, p. 608

(16)http://www.magwien.gv.at/english/history/vhisfnz.htm

(17)McGrath, William J., World Book Encyclopedia-A, p. 942

(18)McGrath, William J., World Book Encyclopedia-A, p. 942

(19)Grun, Bernard, The Timetables of History: A Horizontal Linkage of People and Events, p. 294

(20)McGrath, William J., World Book Encyclopedia-A, p. 942

(21)McGrath, William J., World Book Encyclopedia-A, p. 942

(22)Grun, Bernard, The Timetables of History: A Horizontal Linkage of People and Events, p. 340 and 352

(23)McGrath, William J., World Book Encyclopedia-A, p. 942

(24)Garraty, John A. and Gay, Peter, The Columbia History of the World, p. 786

(25) McGrath, William J., World Book Encyclopedia-A, p. 942

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