Relations of France with the Habsburg Monarchy before 1804 The conflict for supremacy in Europe between Habsburg and France Since the second half of the 14th century, the
Burgundian state had begun to form on the soil of the old
Lotharingia on both sides of the French-German language border. This state was composed of various lands that were neither economically nor culturally unified and rose to become a major European power in the 15th century. The new state was called "the Great Duchy of the West" because it surpassed most of the monarchies of Europe in power and wealth. What this state lacked, however, was a royal crown. However, this was to change under the last duke,
Charles the Bold. For he intended to enter into a Burgundian-
Habsburg union, by which he hoped to elevate the state structure to
kingship. When Charles the Bold fell in the
Battle of Nancy in January 1477, leaving no male heir, the autonomy of the Burgundian duchy ended. Charles the Bold had previously made a promise that his daughter
Mary of Burgundy would be married to
Maximilian I, the son of Emperor
Frederick III, which occurred that same year. With this marriage, however, a conflict was to break out that had lasted for centuries between France and the Habsburgs. Maximilian I asserted claims to the Burgundian inheritance on behalf of Charles's heiress Mary of Burgundy, as did the French king
Louis XI of the
House of Valois, from which the dukes of Burgundy descended. The marriage of Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy gave birth in 1478 to
Philip I the Fair, whose birth was of great importance for the consolidation of Habsburg rule in Burgundy. In 1496, as part of Maximilian I's marriage plans, Philip I was married to
Joan, the daughter of the "
Catholic monarchs"
Isabella of Castile and
Ferdinand II of Aragon, who stood at the cradle of the nascent
Spanish Empire. In addition to the territories on the
Iberian Peninsula, the Spanish Empire also extended to southern Italian territories (
Sardinia,
Naples and
Sicily) and to the recently discovered overseas colonies in the
Americas. The political background for these dynastic overtures was an alliance against France. This exacerbated the Habsburg-French rivalry anew. Due to sudden deaths, Joan was the sole heir to the united crowns of Spain, which meant that Philip I was now in a similar situation in Spain as his father had been in Burgundy: he was the prince consort of the heir's daughter. Both of their sons, in turn, the future Emperor
Charles V, assumed rule in
Burgundian Flanders in 1515 and in the Kingdom of Spain the following year. He thus combined several crowns and even more claims, which served as a foundation for the attempt to establish a dynastic universal monarchy with Habsburg hegemony over Europe. France found itself encircled: To the south lay the Iberian heartland of the rising great power Spain. To the north and east along France's border with the Holy Roman Empire was the agglomeration of territories that had come under Habsburg rule as Burgundian inheritance. The French crown's effort to break free from the threatening grip of the Habsburg possessions in order to eliminate the House of Habsburg as a competitor for supremacy in Europe resulted in a conflict between the Habsburgs and France that lasted for 240 years: the Habsburg-French antagonism. This extended from the
Italian Wars (1494-1559), through the
Thirty Years' War (1618-1648), to the
War of the Spanish Succession (1701-1714), and ended in the
treaties of Utrecht in 1713,
Rastatt, and
Baden in 1714. The peace treaties provided a breakthrough for a European system based on the
balance of power.
Reversal of alliances (diplomatic revolution) The
Habsburg monarchy sought an alliance with France due to their growing concern over the rise of
Prussia as a major power. France, in turn, wanted to challenge Britain's dominance both in Europe and its colonies. This led to the
Convention of Westminster in 1756 between
Britain and Prussia, prompting France to seek closer ties with the Habsburg monarchy. The resulting alliance, known as
diplomatic Revolution, marked a significant shift in the European balance of power. The
Seven Years' War began in February of that year, with France attacking the
British Isles and
Menorca, sparking a wider conflict for control of Europe. The first
Treaty of Versailles, established in May 1756, was initially presented as a defensive alliance but was effectively an offensive one against Prussia. Russia also joined the alliance in 1759. The treaty included provisions for mutual military assistance, excluding conflicts between France and Britain. A second Habsburg-Bourbon treaty was signed in 1757, further solidifying the alliance. The Seven Years' War ended in 1763 and confirmed the status quo.
Silesia and
Glatz remained in Prussian possession and the Austrian hereditary lands continued to belong to Austria. In 1770, diplomatic relations between France and Austria were strengthened with the marriage of
Maria Antonia (Marie Antoinette), daughter of
Maria Theresa, and the future King of France
Louis XVI, a grandson of
Louis XV, symbolically ending the Habsburg-French conflict that had lasted for almost 300 years.
French Revolution Emperor
Leopold II was initially positive about the
French Revolution, but in 1791 his sister Marie-Antoinette already asked him to intervene militarily and put an end to the revolution. However, the emperor refused to do so. On June 20 and 21, 1791, the royal family attempted to flee France, but were intercepted at
Varennes and taken back to Paris. On September 3 of that year, the constitutional monarchy was proclaimed. Emperor Leopold II and Prussian King
Frederick William II promised to crush the French Revolution. As a result, France declared war, which met with great approval among the population. Through the
cannonade of Valmy on September 20, 1792, the
revolutionary army was able to ward off a military threat from the outside for the time being. However, with the execution of Louis XVI and his wife Marie-Antoinette in 1793, other monarchies such as Britain joined the war against France.
Relations between 1804 and 1918 First and Second Coalition War With the
Pillnitz Declaration in 1791, Austria and Prussia had joined forces to support King Louis XVI during the French Revolution. This alliance was extended by other European powers in the 18th century and together they tried to contain the effects of the French Revolution. France's declaration of war on April 20, 1792, finally marked the beginning of the
War of the First Coalition, which ended on October 17, 1797, with the
Peace of Campo Formio between France and Austria. The
Congress of Rastatt from 1797 to 1799 was supposed to discuss the implementation of the peace resolutions, but it did not come to that, because the
Napoleonic Wars began and thus the confrontation continued between France and Austria as well. On June 14, 1800, the
Battle of Marengo took place, which brought
Upper Italy back under French control and was a decisive victory over Austria. In the same year, the
Battle of Hohenlinden took place, in which the French again defeated the Austrian army and thus were able to invade their lands. Austria was forced to sign a peace treaty, thus the
Peace of Lunéville was signed, which secured for France the territories on the left bank of the Rhine and the recognition of the
sister republics created by French revolutionary exports, as well as the
Kingdom of Etruria.
Napoleonic wars In December 1804,
Napoleon Bonaparte declared himself
Emperor of the French, prompting Emperor
Francis II to proclaim himself Emperor Francis I of Austria. In 1805, Austria joined an alliance with
Russia, Britain, and
Sweden in the
War of the Third Coalition against Napoleon. France demanded that Austria remove its troops from
Tyrol and
Veneto, but Emperor Francis I refused. Napoleon formed an alliance with Spain and southern German rulers and crossed the
Rhine on September 25. France declared war on Austria after Austrian troops advanced into
Bavaria. The French won the
Battle of Elchingen and advanced to
Vienna, where the famous
Battle of Austerlitz took place. The Austrian and Russian troops were unable to withstand Napoleon's army and were forced to accept defeat. Napoleon established his headquarters at Austerlitz Castle, negotiated an armistice with Emperor Francis I, and the withdrawal of Russian troops. The War of the Third Coalition ended in 1805 with the
Peace of Pressburg, resulting in significant territorial losses for Austria. After several victories in battles such as
Abensberg and
Regensburg,
Napoleon's army reached Vienna in May 1809. The
Battle of Aspern, east of Vienna, resulted in the Austrians achieving their first victory over Napoleon. However, Napoleon went on to win subsequent battles against Austria, resulting in an armistice in
Znojmo and the signing of the
Peace of Schönbrunn in October 1809. This peace treaty led to further territorial losses for Austria and ultimately contributed to the state bankruptcy. To consolidate their political situation, Emperor Francis II's daughter,
Archduchess Marie Louise, was married to Napoleon in 1810. This alliance forced Austria to participate in the
Russian campaign in 1812. In 1813, Austria joined Prussia in a renewed effort to end French domination under Napoleon. This alliance, along with Russia, managed to defeat Napoleon at the
Battle of Leipzig.
Revolutions of 1848 In February 1848, the
bourgeois-democratic revolution ended in France and the
Second French Republic was proclaimed. The spirit of the revolution also made itself felt in Austria, so that a failed revolution occurred in the same year, but it was unsuccessful, as
neo-absolutism continued thereafter. Austria's diplomatic strategy aimed to isolate Prussia and manage its losses to France. Preempt Prussia from gaining influence in northern Italy during the conflict and limit Sardinian-Piedmontese (Savoyard) expansion while securing a more controlled territorial resolution through France as an intermediary agent.
Franco-Prussian War The
Franco-Prussian War of 1870, in which the southern German states also sided with Prussia, led to the creation of the
German Empire through a swift and unequivocal victory and the proclamation of
Wilhelm I as
German Emperor in 1871. After the defeat for France, Emperor Napoleon III was deposed and made way for the
Third Republic.
Alliance politics in Europe After the 1870s, the alliance policy led to a constellation in which two hostile blocs faced each other. There were many problems between the European states, which made the
war readiness very high. In 1878, the Habsburg Monarchy and the German Empire concluded the
Dual Alliance. This expanded to include
Italy in 1882 and
Romania in 1883. However, the interaction of these was conflictual due to numerous tensions between the two new allies and the Danube Monarchy. The opposing alliance was formed from 1894 by the alliance between France and Russia, followed by the alliance between France and Britain in 1904. Finally, Russia and Britain also concluded an alliance in 1907. These three allies would become partners in
World War I as the
Entente Cordiale. In addition to its political interests, France had considerable economic interests in Austria. France had large stakes in both banks and industry. By strengthening a federation on the
Danube, France hoped to create a well-connected economic center under French influence, with a center in Vienna. To achieve this goal, the French Reparations Commission was transformed into an Aid and Reconstruction Commission. At the same time, however, French aid policy was always also power politics. During the crisis of the
Austrian Creditanstalt in 1931, France was only willing to help if Austria abandoned its plans for a
customs union with Germany. In the
League of Nations bonds of 1923 and 1932, France pressed for Austria to recommit itself not to join Germany for at least 20 years. Numerous bilateral agreements have been concluded between Austria and France and citizens of both countries can freely visit each other. == Resident diplomatic missions ==