HS 351 - History of the Habsburg Empire

A study of the Habsburg Empire and its relationship with the states of Central Europe and the peoples living there through an analysis of crucial points in their common history through the end of World War I. The course presents this history as an essential background for understanding present day Austria. Topics include the medieval origin and the enlargement of the Habsburg Empire; the attempt to modernize and centralize the Habsburg lands under the auspices of enlightened absolutism; the consequences of the stagnation of reform caused by the shock of the French Revolution; the Napoleonic Wars and the revolutions of 1848; the Habsburg attempt to cope with the economic and social change through industrialization and the rising tide of nationalism; the Compromise with Hungary and constitutionalism as chance and failure to preserve the multi-national empire; and the eventual breakup of the Habsburg Empire under the strain of World War I.