History
Austria was created as late as 1918, carved by political whittlers from the German-speaking provinces of the old Austro-Hungarian monarchy.Two thousand years ago, the country's eastern Alps were home to Celtic tribes. Three centuries later, the Romans set their imperialistic sights on those same Alps—and by 14 BC had subjugated all territory south of the Danube, which then marked one of the frontiers of Roman occupation in Europe.
From 1438 to 1804, Austrian sovereigns (with one exception) donned the hereditary title of Holy Roman Emperor. Then came the Austrian and the Austro-Hungarian dominance. From empire to empire, the nation's volatile history was predominantly a tale of royal infighting, shifting alliances, and elastic borders.
Wars, rebellions, intrigues, and uprisings continually reshaped the national identity until 1945, when the country finally gelled into a confederation of nine Bundeslander (states): Vienna, Lower Austria, Burgenland, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Tyrol, and Vorarlberg.
At the same time its people—a curious but willing assemblage of eastern, western, northern, and southern Europeans—joined hands across their provincial borders to become citizens, linked by the German language and the Catholic faith.