Austrian Empire
The Habsburg monarchy and the Austrian Empire (the Holy Roman Empire has its own tag).
Category: States
- August 29, 1526Suleiman I destroys the Hungarian army at Mohács; Habsburgs inherit Bohemia and Hungary
King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia dies at Mohács, triggering the Habsburg inheritance contract. Ferdinand, brother of Emperor Charles V, takes Bohemia and a disputed claim to Hungary, a rival king being Zápolya.
- September 27, 1529 – October 1529Suleiman I besieges Vienna for the first time
Suleiman's army, backing John Zápolya against Ferdinand of Habsburg, besieges Vienna. Charles V is busy in Italy, but the defenders hold and the Ottomans withdraw before winter.
- October 25, 1555 – February 24, 1558Charles V abdicates and divides his lands between Philip II and Ferdinand I
Charles V gives up the Netherlands (25 October 1555) and Spain (16 January 1556) to his son Philip II. His brother Ferdinand receives the Empire, as the Imperial Diet accepts on 24 February 1558. Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs part ways.
- October 12, 1576Rudolf II succeeds Maximilian II as Holy Roman Emperor
Rudolf II becomes emperor on 12 October 1576, also ruling Bohemia, Hungary and Austria. His reign is later seen as one whose mistakes helped lead to the Thirty Years' War, though recent historians reassess that view.
- 1593 – 1606The Long Turkish War between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans begins
In 1593 Emperor Rudolf II goes to war with the Ottoman Empire over Hungary. The war lasts thirteen years until the Peace of Zsitvatorok in 1606 and strains the Habsburgs' finances and their relations with their own Estates.
- 1598Ferdinand of Styria begins a strict Counter-Reformation in Inner Austria
From 1598 Archduke Ferdinand, later Emperor Ferdinand II and a Jesuit-educated Catholic, expels Protestant pastors and teachers from Inner Austria, with Graz as his base, and installs Catholic priests.
- 1608Matthias marches on Prague and forces Rudolf II to cede Hungary, Austria and Moravia
In 1608 Archduke Matthias, the emperor's brother, marches on Prague and forces Rudolf II to hand over Hungary, Austria and Moravia. Rudolf keeps Bohemia and the imperial title for the moment.
- May 1611Matthias is crowned King of Bohemia after Rudolf II is forced out
In May 1611 Matthias is crowned King of Bohemia after he forces his brother Rudolf II to cede the kingdom. Rudolf keeps only the imperial title until his death.
- January 20, 1612Rudolf II dies in Prague and Matthias becomes emperor
Rudolf II dies in Prague on 20 January 1612. Matthias is elected emperor later that year and moves the court from Prague to Vienna, leaving Bohemia without an imperial residence.
- 1617Spanish and Austrian Habsburgs agree the secret Treaty of Oñate
In 1617 Philip III of Spain agrees to back Ferdinand of Styria's succession in Bohemia and Hungary. In return Ferdinand gives Spain the route linking Italy to the Netherlands and rights in Alsace. Sources give March, June or July.
- June 29, 1617Ferdinand of Styria is crowned King of Bohemia
On 29 June 1617 the Catholic Archduke Ferdinand, known for his Counter-Reformation in Inner Austria, is crowned King of Bohemia as Matthias's heir. Bohemian Protestants fear for the Letter of Majesty.
- 1619A Bohemian army under Count Thurn reaches the walls of Vienna
In 1619 the Bohemian rebel army, led by Count Thurn, advances into Austria and reaches the walls of Vienna, threatening the new ruler Ferdinand at his own capital. The Bohemian estates also seek allies in Hungary and the Empire.
- March 20, 1619Emperor Matthias dies in Vienna, leaving the Bohemian crisis to Ferdinand
Emperor Matthias dies on 20 March 1619, aged 62, without surviving children. His cousin Ferdinand of Styria, already crowned King of Bohemia, inherits the Habsburg lands as Bohemia is in open revolt.
- August 28, 1619Ferdinand II is elected Holy Roman Emperor at Frankfurt
On 28 August 1619, two days after Bohemia deposed him, Ferdinand II is elected emperor at Frankfurt unanimously, with the Palatine delegation first objecting. Frederick V himself votes for him. He is crowned on 9 September.
- 1627Ferdinand II issues the Renewed Land Ordinance, making Catholicism Bohemia's only religion
In 1627 Ferdinand II's Renewed Land Ordinance makes the Bohemian lands hereditary Habsburg possessions, strips the Estates of their powers and allows only Catholicism, except for Jews. It stays in force, modified, until 1848.
- February 15, 1637Ferdinand III succeeds his father as emperor
Elected King of the Romans at Regensburg on 22 December 1636, Ferdinand III becomes Holy Roman Emperor when Ferdinand II dies on 15 February 1637. He rules through to Westphalia.
- September 12, 1683Polish-Imperial army lifts the Ottoman siege of Vienna
A relief army led by Jan III Sobieski of Poland and Emperor Leopold I's forces routs Kara Mustafa's Ottoman army outside Vienna. It is the last great Ottoman threat to central Europe and opens the Habsburg reconquest of Hungary.
- January 26, 1699Treaty of Karlowitz: Ottomans cede most of Hungary to the Habsburgs
After the Habsburg-Ottoman war of 1683-97 and the Ottoman defeat at Zenta, the Ottomans surrender Hungary (except the Banat of Temesvár), Slavonia and Transylvania to Emperor Leopold I.
- April 20, 1792France declares war on Austria, opening the Revolutionary Wars
The Legislative Assembly voted for war against Austria on the proposal of Louis XVI's ministers, starting the French Revolutionary Wars that would last until the Napoleonic era.
- April 1796 – 1797Bonaparte's first Italian campaign against Austria and Piedmont
Commanding the French Army of Italy, Bonaparte began a campaign in Italy in April 1796 (the Montenotte campaign) during the Revolutionary Wars, the first major step in his rise.
- December 2, 1805Napoleon defeats Russia and Austria at Austerlitz
Outnumbered by about 85,000 to 72,000, Napoleon routed the Russian and Austrian armies of Alexander I and Francis II. Austria left the Third Coalition by the Treaty of Pressburg on 26 December.
- August 6, 1806Francis II dissolves the Holy Roman Empire
After sixteen German states formed the French-aligned Confederation of the Rhine in July, Emperor Francis II abdicated the imperial title, ending the Holy Roman Empire.
- April 1809 – October 1809Austria, with Britain and Spain, renews war against Napoleon
In April 1809 Austria launched the War of the Fifth Coalition. Napoleon defeated it at Wagram and imposed a harsh peace in October 1809.
- October 16, 1813 – October 19, 1813Battle of Leipzig: the Sixth Coalition defeats Napoleon
Russian, Austrian, Prussian and Swedish armies under Alexander I, Schwarzenberg, Blücher and Bernadotte defeated Napoleon in the largest battle of the wars. France lost control of lands east of the Rhine.
- September 1814 – June 9, 1815The Congress of Vienna redraws Europe
Metternich, Castlereagh, Alexander I, Hardenberg and the defeated France's Talleyrand sought a balance of power and the restoration of the pre-revolutionary order. The Final Act was signed on 9 June 1815.