Britannica Educational Publishing - Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia

Published in 2014 by Britannica Educational Publishing

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in association with Rosen Educational Services, LLC

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First Edition

Britannica Educational Publishing

J.E. Luebering: Director, Core Reference Group

Adam Augustyn: Assistant Manager, Core Reference Group

Marilyn L. Barton: Senior Coordinator, Production Control

Steven Bosco: Director, Editorial Technologies

Lisa S. Braucher: Senior Producer and Data Editor

Yvette Charboneau: Senior Copy Editor

Kathy Nakamura: Manager, Media Acquisition

Lorraine Murray, Editor, Geography

Rosen Educational Services

Shalini Saxena: Editor

Nelson S: Art Director

Cindy Reiman: Photography Manager

Brian Garvey: Designer, Cover Design

Introduction by Lorraine Murray

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia/edited by Lorraine Murray.First Edition.

pages cm(The Britannica guide to countries of the European Union)

In association with Britannica Educational Publishing, Rosen Educational Services.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-61530-977-1 (eBook)

1. AustriaJuvenile literature. 2. Croatia--Juvenile literature. 3. Slovenia--Juvenile literature.

4. European UnionAustriaJuvenile literature. 5. European UnionCroatiaJuvenile literature. 6. European UnionSloveniaJuvenile literature. I. Murray, Lorraine.

DB17.A825 2014

943.6dc23

2013011010

On the cover: The flag of the EU (right) flies in front of the Slovenian Parliament Building in Ljubljana, Slovenia. iStockphoto.com/Helena Lovincic

Cover, p. iii (map contour and stars), back cover, multiple interior pages (stars) iStockphoto.com/pop_jop; cover, multiple interior pages (background graphic) Mina De La O/Digital Vision/Getty Images

CONTENTS

University of Texas Libraries

A ustria, Croatia, and Slovenia, in innumerable ways so disparate, together form the very heart of Central Europe. Historically, Austria was profoundly more significant as a continental power than Slovenia and Croatia. As the House of Habsburg rose to great prominence in Europe, Austria became a leading political force and a seat of high culture. Although the countrys dominance was finally reduced, in the late 19th century, to its role as part of the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, it had for centuries been far more thoroughly intertwined with the other major powers of Europe than were the two smaller countries. They, however, are notable for having sustained a sense of nationhood through centuries during which they were contained within larger empires or political aggregations. Most recently, Croatia and Slovenia were integral republics of the country of Yugoslavia, which existed in several iterations throughout the 20th century and from which they became independent in 1991. Austria became a full member of the European Union (EU) in 1995. Slovenia joined the EU in 2004 and Croatia in 2013. This book introduces readers to the land, people, politics, economy, culture, traditions, and events that define the three countries.

Geographically, a look at a map of Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia reveals the countries meandering borders and irregular sprawl thatin the way of most political divisionsspeaks to the presence of natural boundaries such as mountains and rivers. One also sees that they stretch to encompass the age-old culture areas of their inhabitants, peoples who both withstood and initiated invasions and alliances among themselves almost from time immemorial. These cultural areas represent both the Eastern and Western elements of Europe. The long westward-reaching tendril of Austria extends to follow much of the southern border of Germany and half the northern border of Italy, touching Liechtenstein and Switzerland at its farthest point. Here we are well into the territory of Western Europe, where history and cultures have been shaped primarily by Roman and Germanic influences. Austrias eastern portion, on the other hand, borders the Eastern and Southern European countries of the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and, to the south, Slovenia. These lands may be considered as having also been shaped by cultures other than those of Western Europe: the Byzantine Empire and, in some places, the Ottoman Empire.

Austria needs almost no introduction. With a mention of its name alone, there immediately spring to mind its predominantly Alpine landscape, the flowing Danube, and its peerless intellectual and musical traditions. Austria has, of course, loomed very large in European and world history and culture, though in the late 20th and early 21st centuries it was relatively quiescent and mostly known to foreigners as a pleasant and educational tourist destination. Vienna is an undisputed world capital. That city alone claims countless past inhabitants of artistic and intellectual stature. Salzburg, too, is storied as a centre of musical achievement. The countrys cultural history is one with many high points, owing greatly to the patronage of the Viennese court. A list even of just the highlights would be lengthy: those who flourished in Austria include composers Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven, Johannes Brahms, Josef Haydn, Franz Schubert, Johann Strauss, and Gustav Mahler; and artists Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoschka, and Egon Schiele. A number of highly influential artistic movements have flourished in the country as wellsome native and some a part of wider trends in the German-speaking world, including Rococo, the Baroque, and the Vienna Secession, allied with the Art Nouveau movement.

Austrias initial burgeoning may be traced to the tenure of the Babenberg margraves (9761246). During those centuries Austrias territory was greatly extended from the initial seed of the Bavarian Ostmark (later to be called Austria). With the election of Rudolf IV of Habsburg to the throne of Germany in 1273 and his granting of the rule of Austria and Styria to his sons in 1282, the long rule of the House of Habsburg (12781918) began in Austria.

Austria increased and sustained its political position through its royal alliances and imperial conquests. Through subsequent centuries its territory included, at various times, lands that dotted westward across northern and central Europe (the Low Countries, parts of France, the Tirol) and southwest to large swaths of Italy; northeast to Moravia and Bohemia and Russia; and south and southeast to Hungary, the Ottoman Empire (in part), and what are now Croatia and Slovenia. Much reduced in strength by the mid-19th century, the Austrian empirethough still large, by then restricted to lands in Central Europeacceded to the nationalistic demands from its constituent region Hungary in 1867 and divided its power to create the dually governed empire of Austria-Hungary. Thus for centuries were Austrias rulers also the leaders of a varied aggregation of territories and peoples, and the heart of the empire attracted leading minds and talents from all over Austria-Hungary as well as elsewhere in Europe and Russia.