Foundation Changes shaping the nature of the
Holy Roman Empire took place during conferences in
Rastatt (1797–1799) and
Regensburg (1801–1803). On 24 March 1803, the
Imperial Recess () was declared, which reduced the number of
ecclesiastical states from 81 to only 3 and the
free imperial cities from 51 to 6. This measure was aimed at replacing the old constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, but the actual consequence of the Imperial Recess, along with the French occupying the
Electorate of Hanover in the same month and various Holy Roman states becoming allied with or against France, was the end of the empire. Taking this significant change into consideration,
Holy Roman Emperor Francis II created the title
Emperor of Austria for himself and his successors, thereby becoming Francis I of Austria. This new title and state were created to safeguard his dynasty's imperial status as he foresaw either the end of the Holy Roman Empire, or the eventual accession of
Napoleon as Holy Roman Emperor, who had earlier that year adopted the title
Emperor of the French and established the
First French Empire. Initially Francis II/I continued to hold both titles but abdicated the throne of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806. This new empire or "" () comprised all the lands of the
Habsburg monarchy, which had until then been legally separate realms in
personal union (a
composite monarchy) under Francis and his predecessors. By contrast, the Austrian Empire was legally a single state, although the overarching structure and the status of its component lands at first stayed much the same as they had been under the composite monarchy. This was especially demonstrated by the status of the
Kingdom of Hungary, a country that had never been a part of the Holy Roman Empire and which had always been considered a separate realm – a status that was affirmed by Article X, which was added to Hungary's constitution in 1790 and described the state as a . Hungary's affairs remained administered by its own institutions (King and Diet) as they had been beforehand; thus no Imperial institutions were involved in its government. The fall and
dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire was accelerated by French intervention in the Empire in 1805, with the French defeating Austrian armies
at Ulm and
Austerlitz, forcing an Austrian-French armistice on 6 December 1806. The Austrian losses encouraged rulers of imperial territories to ally with the French, receive higher titles and assert formal independence in the following days, such as
Maximilian IV Joseph of Bavaria,
Frederick III of Württemberg and
Charles Frederick of Baden. Francis II agreed to the humiliating
Treaty of Pressburg which recognised the rulers' new titles and ceded large territories to Napoleon's German allies and the French satellite
Italy. In practice this meant the dissolution of the long-lived Holy Roman Empire and a reorganization under a Napoleonic model of the German states. Austrian claims on those German states were renounced without exception. On 12 July 1806, the
Confederation of the Rhine was established, comprising 16 sovereigns and countries under French influence,
de facto put an end to the Holy Roman Empire. On 6 August 1806, Francis proclaimed the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, as he did not want Napoleon to succeed him. The dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire was not recognized by
George III of the United Kingdom who was also the Elector of
Hanover (formally Brunswick-Lüneburg) and Duke of
Saxe-Lauenburg; Hanover and Lauenburg were incorporated into the French satellite
Kingdom of Westphalia in 1807, having been occupied several times since 1801, but Britain remained at war with France and no treaty was signed recognising their annexation. His claims were later settled by the creation of the
Kingdom of Hanover which was held by
George IV and
William IV as Kings of Hanover. Succession could only be in the male line, so on
Queen Victoria's accession to the British throne, her uncle,
Ernest Augustus, succeeded as King of Hanover, thus ending the personal union with Great Britain that dated to 1714.
Metternich era Klemens von Metternich became Foreign Minister in 1809. He also held the post of Chancellor of State from 1821 until 1848, under both
Francis I and his son
Ferdinand I. The period of 1815–1848 is also referred to as the "
Age of Metternich", with Metternich controlling the Habsburg monarchy's foreign policy and having a major influence in European politics. He was known for his strong conservative views and approach in politics, with policies strongly against revolution and liberalism. In his opinion, liberalism was a form of legalized revolution. Metternich believed that
absolute monarchy was the only proper system of government. His foreign policy aimed to maintain international political equilibrium to preserve the Habsburgs' power and influence in international affairs. Following the
Napoleonic Wars, Metternich was the chief architect of the
Congress of Vienna in 1815. However, it was also thought of as a period of economic growth and prosperity in the Austrian Empire. '', by
Johann Peter Krafft.
Karl von Schwarzenberg and the monarchs of Austria, Prussia, and Russia after the
Battle of Leipzig, 1813
Revolutions of 1848 From March 1848 through November 1849, the Empire was threatened by revolutionary movements, most of which were of a nationalist character. Besides that, liberal and even socialist currents resisted the empire's longstanding conservatism. Although most of the revolution plans failed, some changes were made; significant lasting reforms included the abolition of
serfdom, cancellation of censorship and a promise made by
Ferdinand I of Austria said to implement a constitution throughout the whole Empire.
The Bach years After the death of
Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg in 1852, the Minister of the Interior
Baron Alexander von Bach largely dictated policy in Austria and Hungary. Bach centralized administrative authority for the Austrian Empire, but he also endorsed
reactionary policies that reduced
freedom of the press and abandoned public trials. He later represented the
Absolutist (or
Klerikalabsolutist) party, which culminated in the concordat of August 1855 that gave the
Roman Catholic Church control over education and family life. This period in the history of the Austrian Empire would become known as the era of neo-absolutism, or Bach's absolutism. The pillars of the so-called Bach system (
Bachsches System) were, in the words of
Adolf Fischhof, four "armies":
a standing army of soldiers, a sitting army of office holders, a kneeling army of priests and a fawning army of sneaks. Prisons were full of political prisoners, like
Czech nationalist journalist and writer
Karel Havlíček Borovský who was forcibly expatriated (1851–1855) to
Brixen. This exile undermined Borovský's health and he died soon afterwards. This affair earned Bach a very bad reputation among Czechs and subsequently led to the strengthening of the
Czech national movement. However, Bach's relaxed ideological views (apart from the neo-absolutism) led to a great rise in the 1850s of
economic freedom. Internal
customs duties were abolished, and peasants were emancipated from their feudal obligations. In its capacity as leader of the German Confederation, Austria participated with volunteers in the
First War of Schleswig (1848–1850).
Sardinia allied itself with France for the conquest of
Lombardy–Venetia. Austria was defeated in the 1859 armed conflict. The Treaties of
Villafranca and
Zürich removed Lombardy, except for the part east of the Mincio river, the so-called
Mantovano.
After 1859 The
Constitution of 1861 (the "February Patent"), created a House of Lords () and a House of Deputies (). But most nationalities of the monarchy remained dissatisfied. After the
second war with Denmark in 1864, Holstein came under Austrian administration, and Schleswig and Lauenburg under Prussian administration. But the internal difficulties continued. Diets replaced the parliament in 17 provinces, the Hungarians pressed for autonomy, and Venetia was attracted by the now unified Italy. After the
Austrian army was defeated in the
Austro-Prussian War of 1866 and the German Confederation was dissolved, the
Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 was adopted. By this act, the Kingdom of Hungary and the Empire of Austria as two separate entities joined on an equal basis to form the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. File:Imperial Standard of the Austrian Empire (1815-1866).svg|Imperial standard of the Austrian Empire with the lesser coat of arms (used until 1915 for Austria-Hungary) File:Austrian Imperial Standard - Infantry pattern mix early 19th century.svg|Imperial standard of the Austrian Empire with the medium coat of arms (used until 1915 for Austria-Hungary) File:Austria-Hungary-flag-1869-1914-naval-1786-1869-merchant.svg|Merchant ensign from 1786 until 1869 and naval and war ensign from 1786 until 1915 (
de jure,
de facto until 1918) ==Foreign policy==