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Sitting in the middle of Europe, surrounded by its neighbours,
The Republic of Austria is “land locked” in
the same manor as Switzerland. The name “Austria”
comes from old Latin term for “eastern border”.
During the days of the rein of Charlemagne the lands that
would become Austria were on the eaters fringes of his
empire, and the name sort of stuck. Austria has been conquered
many times: this includes the Ancient Romans, the Huns,
the Lombards, the Ostrogoths, the Bavarii and the Franks.
By the 900s Austria was ruled by a family known as the
Babenbergs, who were succeeded by the Habsburgs in the
1200s. The Habsburgs ruled until the 20th Century. The
“Empire of Austria” was formed in the 1806,
and in 1867 it turned into the Austria-Hungarian Empire. |
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In
1918 Austria became a republic, which lasted until 1934
when the chancellor of the day established a dictatorship.
Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938, occupied
by the Allies until 1955, and then turned into an independent
Republic. Austria joined the European Union, and the Euro
monetary system in 1999. Austria is a small country in
comparison to a country like the U.S. It has many beautiful
mountains and rolling hills. The capital of Austria is
Vienna, which has a population of about 1.5 Million. Austrians
speak a variety of languages, including a variety of Germanic
dialects as well as a smattering of languages like Slovenian,
Croatian and Hungarian. Famous Austrians include Wolfgang
Amadeus Mozart, Christian Doppler, and of course Arnold
Schwarzenegger. |
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