Austria

AUSTRIA, from Nov. 1918 to March 15, 1938, was a Federal Republic formed from the predominantly German-speaking lands of the old Austrian empire. The new State thus returned in some measure to its original function as the Eastmark or frontier prov ince, an outpost of Germanic speech and culture in the Slav and Magyar worlds.

While danger threatened the mediaeval German empire from the East the frontier situation of the Eastmark contributed largely to its rise to greatness, and when the eyes of western Eu rope turned seawards a leading position was maintained by clever appreciation of political values.

The land routes to the Near East and beyond are recovering something of their old importance.

Austria, with its commanding situation astride several of the great European crossways, is the natural highway to the area of Southeastern Europe. Since its annexation to Germany by Chan cellor Adolf Hitler in 1938 its economic and political importance in Germany's Drang nach Osten (push to the East) has been greatly enhanced.

Vienna, which used to be the cultural centre for the Lower Danube Valley and the Balkans, is spoken of by Germans as the Gateway to the East, as Hamburg and Bremen are the gateways to the sea.

Physical Structure.

The republic covered an area of 32,369 sq.m., i.e., about equal to Scotland, and included much of the mountainous territory of the eastern Alps. From the Rhine valley, the western frontier of the country, these trend west south-west, east-north-east to approximately 13° E., where the ranges commence to branch with loss in height and grandeur, and merge ultimately on the north and north-east into the acci dented valley of the Danube and the open Vienna basin. On the east and south-east the ranges merge into the forested foothills overlooking the undulating countryland of western Hungary.

Northward, beyond the Danube, the former provinces of Upper and Lower Austria encroach upon the granite plateau that forms the southern flank of the Bohemian Massif, and the hilly plain of the lower Morava.

A remarkable feature of the Alpine system, significant in the hu man geography of Austria, is the zonal arrangement of its constitu ent formations; each zone shows a characteristic scenery and nat ural economy to which settlement has made a distinctive response.

Nevertheless, the excellent system of longitudinal and trans verse valleys and low passes by which the highlands are broken has fostered currents of intercourse.

The central zone of the eastern Alps is a crystalline core of eneisses. schists and granites forming the highest ground. In its western half it repeats, in subdued manner, the majestic fea tures of the Swiss Alps, for large areas rise above the average height of the snowline (9,5ooft.), e.g., in the Silvretta Alps (Piz Bruin-1 o,88of t. ), the Oetztal Alps (Wildspitz—i 2,3o9f t.) and the Hohe Tauern (Gross Glockner—i 2,46I ft.). Snowfields and glaciers e.g., Pasterz, the finest example in the eastern Alps, stretching for 6m. down the slope of Gross Glockner, feed the streams of numerous radiating valleys that score the impervious rock, while there is ample evidence of heavier glaciation in the past. Below the zone of perpetual snow and ice, Alpine pastures clothe the rounded slopes giving place, below 7,000f t., to forests in which human effort has established vast clearings for pasture, cultivation and settlement. Isolated farms (einzelhofe), hamlets and villages dot the sunny terraces, the gentler slopes and the valley floors; in suitable exposures even cereal cultivation is carried to a height of 4,000ft. Naturally, human activities in crease in valleys leading to vital thoroughfares, such as the Brenner saddle, the most important route of the eastern Alps, lying at a level of 4,495f t., between the massive blocks of the Stubai and Zillertal Alps. For more than a hundred miles to the east no other carriage-way crosses the mighty watershed, but at the eastern limit of the Hohe Tauern the last snow peaks rise above the angle of the Mur valley, and the main range bifurcates north-east into the Niedere Tauern and south-west into the Gurktal Alps. Further branchings give rise to minor groups of heights, e.g., the Glein Alps, the Fischbach Alps and the Leitha mountains with progressive decrease of height accompanied by widening of valleys which often open out into sheltered, terraced basins, such as Klagenfurt, Judenburg and Graz, floored with thick deposits of fertile morainic and other debris. None of these mountains rises into the zone of snow ; many are clothed almost to their summits by forest which everywhere dominates the landscape and plays an important role in the economic life of the highlands, while in clearings and above the tree belt rich, rain-nourished pastures supplement the varied agricultural ac tivities of the valleys and basins. Valuable mineral deposits add to the natural wealth and impart an industrial stamp to the larger valleys, e.g., the Mur-Murz depression; settlements are corre spondingly more numerous and show a multiplicity of function generally absent in those of western Austria.

The central zone is flanked to the north by a broad limestone band that extends from the Rhine to the Vienna basin. This in cludes territory of two contrasted types ; parallel ranges prevail to the west in the Allgauer and North Tirol Alps, but the Salz burg, Upper Austrian and Lower Austrian Alps are faulted and dissected into block masses. The prevalence of dolomite gives unity to the zone. Cold and barren surfaces broadening in the faulted regions to high plateaus, steep ruiniform slopes and pov erty of surface drainage are the chief characteristics. On the tablelands, where water courses slowly, the stream channels are deeply incised (karrenfelder); in some cases the drainage be comes completely subterranean.

Though lower in the west than the corresponding crystalline blocks and losing height eastward, the rate of decrease is less than in the central zone so that the peaks of the latter are grad ually overtopped by their limestone neighbours. Small plateau glaciers and snowfields are common and the most easterly Alpine glaciers are found in the Dachstein group (9,83oft.) of the Salz burg Alps. The precipitous slopes hinder the development of long ice streams, the old moraines with their rich meadowlands are a valuable economic asset in a limestone area; salt-bearing strata and timber are other desirable sources of wealth. The great chain of valleys, the Inn, Saizach and Enns, with initial subsequent and lower consequent reaches, forms a striking bound ary between the central and northern Alps and makes both cross and through travel a comparatively easy matter.

From Innsbruck to the Mandling Pass on the upper Enns, and Salzthal on the Enns to the Semmering Pass, two lenticular belts of schist are intercalated between the crystalline and limestone zones, forming in the first the Kitzbiihl Alps, and in the second the Eisenerz Alps, the eastern mass being celebrated for its deposits of iron ore.

North of the limestone Alps stretches the Flysch zone, a lower undulating region of sandstones, marls and schists that covers the northern half of Vorarlberg and reappears east of the Salzach as a narrow outcrop, culminating in the Wienerwald, where it plunges beneath the recent strata of the Vienna basin ; except in Vorarlberg, where much clearing has occurred, it is a thinly settled deciduous woodland. Between this and the Danube lies the true Alpine Foreland, a land of hill and plain carved out of Tertiary and Recent deposits, rising to its greatest height in the Hausruck (Goblberg-2,95oft.), a forested chain rich in lignite. The tributaries of the Danube have developed fine, terraced land scapes in the deep, fluvio-glacial debris. These are fertile and movement is easy; important development of agriculture has theref ore resulted. Similar physical conditions are continued towards the north-east in the Morava-Danube angle. By contrast, the high granite plateau of Upper and Lower Austria is a region of forest and marsh, raw and inhospitable except where, as at Freistadt, outcrops of gneiss occasion depressions where farming is possible. Apart from such interruptions settlements hug the margin of the plateau along the line of the Danube.

Another limestone zone lies south of the Drava which acts as a dividing line between it and the crystalline Alps ; only a portion of this lies within Austria, the Gailtal Alps, the northern flank of the Carnic Alps, separated from the former by the valley of the Gail, and the northern slopes of the Karawankas. From the source of the Drava the highlands stretch eastwards as a series of massive folds, with the customary progressive loss in height. Heavily forested and often with marshy valleys they do not en courage settlement, but are valuable for their lead and zinc ores. Both the Carnic Alps and Karawankas are deficient in easy passes, so that, although their situation relative to the Adriatic sea has necessitated the construction of important transverse routes, little local development has resulted.

Climate.

Variety is the keynote of Austrian climate. Uni formity is impossible in view of the strong contrasts in relief and only the most elevated areas are sufficiently unique and regular to be regarded as forming a distinct climatic region—the montane or Alpine type. Elsewhere the climatic conditions vary considerably within small distances according to the nature of the local topography, though the general characteristics in any particular area are due to its situation with reference to Atlantic, Continental and Mediterranean influences.

The whole of the region north of the central highland axis is under the influence of west and north-west winds, which convey modified Atlantic conditions along the line of the Danube and, by the north to south valleys, deep into the interior. The mean annual temperature ranges between 45° F and 48° F and no month has an average exceeding 68° F; the annual range, however, is high, 36° F, and marks the transition to the extremes of eastern Europe. Western influences are seen in the absence of a marked dry season but decrease in amount, and the nature of the general distribution of precipitation throughout the year are warnings of the growing strength of continental control; even at Innsbruck 43% of the annual fall occurs during the summer months. Far ther east convectional overturnings of air above the Danubian lowlands are shown in violent summer storms. Snowfalls decrease westward often with important and serious effects upon the winter sowing of cereals. The climate of the northern valleys is appre ciably modified by the Fohn, a warm wind particularly active in the valleys of the Rhine, Inn and Wipp. It raises the mean annual temperature and makes possible the growth of the vine in Vorarl berg and maize in North Tirol.

The climatic region of eastern Europe projects its influences up the valleys of the eastern borders, in Burgenland and east Styria. A decrease in total precipitation is accompanied by its greater incidence as summer storms and by a slight increase (2° F-4° F) in the difference of temperature between the hottest and coldest months. An important characteristic is the warm autumn.

A tendency towards a secondary maximum of precipitation during October in this region suggests a certain conflict with Mediterranean influences. These become more pronounced in the valleys that open south in Tirol where mild winters, and warm summers with temperatures often higher than 68° F, and maximum precipitation in spring and autumn prevail.

The greatest severities are experienced in the mountainous interior, in partially enclosed basins, e.g., Klagenfurt, and in the deep, longitudinal valleys. The vertical fall of temperature is most rapid along the edges of the ranges and near isolated masses, a fact that is of importance in cultivation and settlement, which are further affected by a general retarding, of ten by several weeks, of vegetation. Against this must be placed the rapid growth of plants, under the stimulation of high air temperatures, where a suitable aspect occurs; the inevitable result is seen in the contrast between the desolate wastes and forests of the shaded slopes and the cleared and settled faces of the sunny sides. The enclosed basins and valleys are centres of extreme continentality, e.g., the mean January temperature of Klagenfurt is less than that of Ham merfest, and winter severity is increased by the prevalence of tem perature inversions with interesting consequences for cultivation and settlement, which avoid the valley floors thus escaping dev astating frosts and obtaining a greater amount of sunshine than reaches the zone below the glacial shoulders.

The natural vegetation has been greatly altered by man. Where it exists undisturbed it is, like the climate, transitional in char acter. The mountain slopes bear, the central Europe stamp ; de ciduous woods in which beech prevails flourish up to about 4,000 ft. and are succeeded by conifers, pine and larch, with a sub Alpine ground flora. On the eastern and southern mountains oak woods are common, e.g., on the Wienerwald and the hills of East Styria while, except where planted, conifers are less abun dant. The passage to Mediterranean latitudes is marked by the appearance in sheltered valleys of palm, lemon and olive groves.

The settled valleys customarily show a regular zonal arrange ment of (I) cultivated land, (2) forests and (3) almen or "alp" pastures. The limiting heights of these belts vary with rainfall, aspect, soil and slope, being lowest in the east and in the limestone ranges but, generally speaking, the upper limit of tree growth lies about 800ft. below the snow line. Between is a region of high pasture whose richness varies with the rainfall and soil porosity.

Human Activities.—The population is mainly representative of the broad-headed Alpine race typically associated with the mountain axis of central Europe. Despite their mountainous char acter the east Alps have been settled from prehistoric time, as dis coveries at Hallstatt, the lakes of Salzkammergut and elsewhere clearly prove. These early peoples with a culture based on agri culture were fortunate in their situation astride the amber route across the Brenner Pass, with easy access later to salt and iron and other metals, and they made many valuable contacts. Their language, Celtic in affinity, ultimately came under the influence of both Latin and Teutonic tongues. The latter proved the stronger and more absorptive and finally the mixture crystallized into High German, which to-day prevails everywhere except in a narrow belt along the south-eastern frontier. Here the Slavonic tongue has spread along the valleys of Styria and Carinthia, and beyond its present limits the persistence of forms of settlement and other old social characteristics associated with Slav-speaking people points to a deeper penetration in the past; in Burgenland, islands of Magyars introduce an Asiastic element, different in speech yet closely allied in outlook to their German-speaking neighbours.

It has been suggested in the opening paragraph that Austria is essentially rural in foundation. Of the population of 6,759,062, (Census of March 1934), less than one-half is urban, and only in Vienna and its surrounding lowland does industry predominate. But the situation is changing. Reorganization of factories and the traditional position of Vienna as the intermediary between western Europe and the Danubian countries and as a great finan cial centre are multiplying the activities of Austria and altering its original economic structure.

From 1918 to 1938 the growth of raw material for industrial purposes was negligible because the whole arable area had to be used for the production of foodstuffs, and energetic efforts were made by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forests to put more land under the plough, particularly in Burgenland, Lower Austria, Salzburg and Styria, and to increase the yields of individual crops.

Since annexation to Germany, more attention has been given to timber production and especially to the extraction of iron ore. This can easily be brought down by gravity to Linz on the Danube, where the Hermann Goering Iron company is developing a great iron and steel plant. The character and extent of the cultivation vary considerably from place to place, for 92.3% of the country ranks as mountainous while only 4.5% is true plain. About 10.5% of the total area is unproductive but the proportion of barren sur face rises to 25% in the Hohe Tauern, and to 34% in the central Alps. Of the productive territory 40.9% is intensively cultivated as ploughland, meadowland, gardens and vineyards, while 59.1% is covered by forests and natural pasture. Broadly speaking two regions may be recognized, viz. : the difficult Alpine lands (Vorarl berg, Tirol, Salzburg, Carinthia and Styria), where the rigorous climate shortens the vegetable period, and the very fertile terri tories of the Danube (Upper and Lower Austria, Vienna basin) and Burgenland. The Alpine regions are rich in forests and rough pastures, and 'therefore stock raising is the basis of the farm for arable land decreases to insignificant amounts, e.g., 5.9% and 3.5% of the productive surface in Tirol and Vorarlberg respectively; on the other hand timber supplements stock though not to such an extent as in the countries of Inner Austria. In the more fertile loess lands of the lower districts arable land averages between 40% and 5o% of the productive area, and yields are higher in response to better soil and more advanced methods of farming.

Dependence upon imported foodstuffs has stimulated agricul ture in the direction of cereal production. Rye takes the leading place, followed in order by oats, wheat, barley and maize, but the production of wheat and rye is still unsatisfactory for only some one-third and three-fourths respectively of the country's needs can be supplied. For barley and oats the proportion is two-thirds and four-fifths respectively, so that large quantities of cereals and bread-flours are regularly imported from Hungary, Yugo slavia, Italy and Czechoslovakia. Yet there is an all-round ap proach to the pre-war yield. Maize is restricted in occur rence and area ; it disappears entirely in the exposed Salzburg and Upper Austria, but thrives in the warmer eastern lowlands where minor amounts of millet and buckwheat are also grown. The cultivation of potatoes now suffices to meet home require ments and is general, reaching its greatest intensity in the Dan ube lands and Burgenland, but sugar-beet, though increasing in area and yield, does not yet satisfy more than half the demand; it is almost confined to the Vienna basin. Fodder crops are im portant on the lower foreland, therefore cattle are more numer ous per unit of area than in the highlands, where, despite the rich crops of Alpine hay, difficulties of transport and scarcity of ar able land reduce their numbers.

Other crops of importance are hops and rape (Middle Styria and Upper Austria) ; flax on the marshy granite plateau of Upper and Lower Austria, and, with hemp, on the Styrian hill lands; chicory in Upper Austria ; stone fruits, which are replacing the vine, thrive everywhere except in Tirol and Salzburg, i.e., the apple countries ; leguminous plants in Lower Austria ; tobacco in Tirol and the vine, absent only in Salzburg, Tirol and Upper Austria, reaches its finest quality in the sheltered Rhine valley and the warm eastern basins, notably that of Wiener-Neustadt.

Nature_ small properties and methods of settlement often retard the adoption of advanced methods of agriculture, particularly in the mountainous districts where a rotation of crop and grass is the rule, while even in the better lowlands the three-field system of cultivation is still widespread.

Livestock.

Like cultivation, stockraising shows sympathetic reaction to many physical and social circumstances. The great Alpine expanses of natural pasture are the basis of a thriving stock-farming yet, for reasons stated above, it is on the forelands of the North and East that animals are most thickly concentrated; the mountainous centre and West raise cattle to export for breeding, the supply of milk and meat to Vienna is the object on the lowlands of the east, e.g., Lower Austria, which is responsible for 90% of the milk used in the capital. But the example of Switzerland, already followed in Vorarlberg, is spreading and, by the help of co-operative organizations, Austria is slowly developing the dairying industry and has already succeeded in reducing con siderably the heavy post-war imports of condensed milk.

Much can also be done in the breeding of pigs which have in creased in numbers. They are most common on the mixed farms of the lowlands, for in the highlands their place is taken by goats, whose milk, rich in fat, is an important element in the peasant dietary, while everywhere on small-holdings and near large centres of population goat-keeping increases. Sheep-rearing is also of im portance in the highlands where the coarse wool required for clothing and domestic purposes is supplied by the hardy Alpine breed, whose excellent meat quality has developed a brisk export, particularly to Switzerland, though the main object at present is to improve the wool by crossing with German breeds.

Before the World War Austria was a noted exporter of horses but war losses, the steep decline of the army demand and the in creasing use of motors in agriculture and transport have ruined many studs and caused others to concentrate upon quality. Still, breeding of all kinds continues everywhere with a bias towards the heavy type (Pinzgau breed) in Salzburg and North Styria, the lighter types in the foremost breeding countries of Carinthia and Upper Austria.

In addition to domestic animals certain districts, notably Upper Styria are well stocked with game, e.g., deer and chamois.

Forestry.

The forests of Austria cover about 38% of the total, and 42% of the productive area, the latter figure being exceeded only in Finland and Sweden, and are an important national asset, for timber exports take first place in quantity and a high rank in value. Further, although the State controls a great portion of the forests and local authorities and large landowners most of the remainder, many peasants may claim, by interesting historic rights, supplies of free timber and more than Ioo,000 people are directly employed in forestry or sawmills.

Seventy-one per cent of the forest is coniferous in which pine predominates, 19% is deciduous and io% mixed. The coniferous plays the most important role, particularly in the mountainous provinces of Carinthia, Styria, Salzburg and Tirol, and an annual output of timber approaching ten million cubic metres is the average; of this amount about six millions are available either for export or as the basis of wood and paper industries.

Detailed study proves that Austria's basic industry, the ex ploitation of the land, is essentially sound and capable of great expansion by improved technical education of the rural popula tion and the adoption, on a greater scale, of co-operative methods of farming.

Mineral Resources and Power.

Mining has a long and happy history but in modern times has undergone important changes. Austria has always been noted for the variety of its mineral wealth, but the famous gold mines of the Hohe Tauern and the silver ores have ceded pride of place to those of iron, lead, zinc and copper. In the Eisenerz-Vordernberg range (Styria) lies one of the largest European deposits of iron-ore, exploited since the dawn of the iron age. It is quarried rather than mined so that production costs are low, and smaller accessible fields occur near Werfen (Salzburg) ; the annual output of iron-ore ex ceeded a million metric tons in 1936 and is rapidly increasing. In other ores variety, not quantity, is the rule. Copper is mined in Salzburg, Tirol and Lower Austria in the order of impor tance named. Lead and zinc are principally dug at Bleiberg (Carinthia), though minor amounts are obtained from the Tirol section of the northern limestone counterpart. In addition, small quantities of bauxite (Salzburg), graphite (Styria and Lower Austria), sulphur (Styria, Tirol and Salzburg) and manganese are of sufficient importance to figure in statistical returns.

The lower Triassic strata in the Salzkammergut region, at Hallein (Salzburg) and Hall (Tirol), are rich in salt layers famous from pre-historic times and still actively worked. Build ing-stone, marbles and rocks for cement are widely distributed.

The resources in fuel comprise small deposits of coal in Lower Austria and large quantities of lignite. The latter is fair in quality and is mixed everywhere, excepting the province of Salzburg, but the richest supplies lie in Styria, in the region of Graz and along the Mur-Murz valley. From these districts come nearly two thirds of the annual output, the remaining third from Burgen land, Upper and Lower Austria, Carinthia and Tirol, in the order of importance detailed. Yet, even with the coal the home supply of fuel is scarcely of the quantity needed and import of coal and coke is a heavy debit item on the annual balance sheet. Austria seeks to improve the trade balance and to obtain supplies of power by exploitation of its water resources. The existing water power may be set at about 3.7 million gross h.p. at low water level, of which only so% is considered worthy of develop ment. This is more than sufficient to meet the requirements of the country and further, every province excepting Burgenland and Vorarlberg has more than 300,00o available h.p. So far not 20% of the available supply has been harnessed, but with the growing interest of foreign capital and an energetic State pro gramme, development proceeds apace.

Manufacture.

In Austria modern production is still far below the pre-war scale, for many of the old markets are lost and post-war impoverishment has reduced purchasing capacity.

Most important are the metallurgical and engineering industries. Iron and steel manufacture, largely in the hands of the Alpine Montan-Gesellschaft, suffers from a shortage of suitable local fuel and depends upon imported coke but, nevertheless, is ample for home requirements. (Production, 1936, pig iron-248,000 metric tons; steel-424,00o metric tons.) Styria is responsible for 99% of the production. Upon these fundamentals have de veloped thriving engineering trades. These are concentrated in four districts, viz., the north Alpine Foreland centring on Steyr, the Mur-Murz valley, the Vienna-Wiener Neustadt region and the Klagenfurt basin. The first, distant from the raw materials, deals largely with small, valuable and highly-specialized articles, e.g., cutlery, firearms, needles, screws, etc., or cycles and auto mobiles; the Mur-Murz valley handles heavy products such as locomotives and rolling stock, while machinery for agricultural and industrial purposes is naturally the output . of Vienna and Wiener-Neustadt. Other metal industries include the working of copper in Salzburg and Tirol, lead in Carinthia, antimony in Burgenland and alloys such as German silver at Berndorf (Lower Austria) . The rarer metals are handled in the capital where exists also an important manufacture of scientific and surgical instruments. Allied to the above trades is the electrical industry. Almost the whole output of electrical products of the old empire was concentrated in the present territory and recent developments towards electrification of the railways, utilization of water power and wireless have greatly enlarged the trade.

The working of timber and its derived products, e.g., pulp, cellulose, furniture and musical instruments is second in im portance. Wood products are widely manufactured both as fac tory and house industries, while the output of pulp, cellulose and paper exceeds the pre-war level. (Metric tons in 1936 : paper, 17 7,000 ; pulp, 5 2,000 ; cellulose, 2 53,000.) Paper products have suffered severely from import prohibitions and high tariffs devised by the new States and the situation for these is unsatisfactory. Saw mills and joineries, large and small, are widely scattered but the working of paper centres principally in the Wiener-Neustadt valley, in the valleys of the right bank tributaries of the Danube from the Traun to the Traisen and along the Mur, Drave and Inn valleys, while ornamental furniture and musical instruments are the specialities of the capital.

The textile industry is highly important, for it employs some 70,00o workers and is the basis of a number of finishing trades. In cotton-working, before the break-up of the empire, Bohemia specialized in weaving and the modern Austria concentrated upon spinning so that to-day, for the treatment of cotton, the country has a surplus of spindles but a deficiency of looms. This industry has grown up in three centres, viz., in the Wiener-Neustadt valley, aided by cheap labour and a large adjacent market, in the moist northern valleys, e.g., of the Linz district, and, by spread from Switzerland, in Vorarlberg and North Tirol. Wool has never had great importance except for the working of coarse cloths (Loden) for home use, though Austria was able during the post-war in flation period to take advantage of the heavy world demand for fancy knitted goods. The position in finishing trades, e.g., cloth ing, for which Vienna has always been famous, is not so hopeful owing to loss of overseas markets, luxury duties fixed by new countries and lack of capital. By contrast, the leather trade has exceeded its pre-war prosperity for the reputation of Vienna in fine goods has enabled it to meet foreign competition. Domestic supplies of the necessary raw materials, water power and the stimulation of war have fostered the vigorous chemical trade in all its varied aspects. The products range from soaps, perfumes and other delicate goods in Vienna to calcium carbide and alumi nium in Vorarlberg and Tirol. Glass manufacture persists with difficulty on the flank of the Bohemian Massif, mainly by reason of its close association with the factories of Czechoslovakia.

The production of foods and drinks is largely dependent upon imported materials and is primarily intended to meet home con sumption. Brewing is widespread with important concentration in the towns, distilling in Vienna, sugar manufacture in Lower Austria and Burgenland and the preparation of tobacco, a State monopoly, over the whole country.

Tourist traffic brings an ever-growing revenue in Tirol and Salzburg, though by reason of its later start and distance from western countries, it still lags behind that of Switzerland.

Communications.

Physical difficulties confront the con struction and maintenance of roads and railways and therefore the network is not dense. Railway development has concentrated upon the important through routes, the northern longitudinal valleys carry the east to west traffic, the transverse bind north to south, while the slope unites both directions to the great focus of Vienna. There are more than 4,000m. of line, of which three quarters are State-owned, and electrification, with the object of reducing costs and increasing the load and speed of trains, pro ceeds rapidly. Motor transport is still light but air services are growing in number. For these Vienna is an important junction on the Paris–Constantinople and Prague–Budapest through routes, and is also a terminus for subsidiary routes to Warsaw, Munich, Trieste and Venice. Water traffic, apart from a small canal from Klagenfurt to Lake Worther, is restricted to the Danube. The traffic of Linz and Vienna, the two important river ports, has suffered severely in comparison with pre-war times. This is di rectly due to the decline of trade that has followed the break-up of the empire, whereby traffic policies and frontier formalities have replaced the original free trading conditions. Future recovery is bound up with a number of circumstances, e.g., the revival of cereal exports from Rumania and the conclusion of satisfactory commercial treaties. The Danube must nevertheless continue to be an important artery of transport of increasing value with the development of the Rhine-Main-Danube deep-water canal.

In many ways the natural wealth of Austria is greater than that of Switzerland, a hopeful augury for the future, but, whereas Switzerland has elaborated its economic adjustment in an evolu tionary manner through the centuries, Austria is faced with the more difficult problem of reorganization and re-equipment to meet a wholly new set of conditions.

Political Organization and Settlement.

The Federal re public comprised nine independent provinces, each of which had its own assembly (Landtag) for the control of regional affairs, the members being chosen by the provincial electorate. The assem blies sent deputies to a national higher chamber (Bundesrat) of 46 members, in proportion to the size of the populations they repre sented. This acted in an advisory capacity to a general chamber (Nationalrat) whose members were chosen by national election.

For the most part the provinces are inhabited by people of Ger man speech, 97% of the total population, but dilution appears along the eastern border. Thus Vienna has about 8o,000 Czechs, Carinthia some 40,000 Slovenes and Burgenland 42,000 Croats and II,000 Magyars. The religious unity is almost as pronounced for 93.68% of the population are Roman Catholics; 3.11% and 2.93% are Protestant and Jewish respectively. Protestantism is strongest in Upper Carinthia, where the proportion rises to 6%, in the upper valleys of the Traun, Enns and Drava and in Vorarlberg, while the greatest numbers of Jews are found in Lower Austria and Vienna.

Naturally settlement is most dense in the fertile lowlands and in regions where industry supplements agriculture, e.g., Vienna basin and the Rhine valley. The mountainous districts, particularly the inhospitable northern limestone zone, are thinly peopled; nearly 95% of the Austrian population lives permanently below 2,5ooft. and over 50% below i,000ft. The closing years of the nine teenth century were marked by a general valleyward drift of settlement in the highlands, quite independent of the seasonal pastoral movements, but post-war changes in social and economic conditions appear to have checked this.

A close relation exists between conditions of settlement and the possibilities of cultivation. In the highlands where terraces are narrow and slopes steep the isolated farmstead (einzelliof ) built with due regard to suitable shelter, sunshine and soil, is com mon. Where terraces widen and slopes are softened by talus and alluvial fans the village becomes the typical unit, customarily after the characteristically German irregular grouping of houses (liau f endor f) though, if the valley be a through route, a straggling ar rangement along the line of movement appears (strassendorf) ; in all cases the fertile but dangerous marshy flood plain is avoided. Eastward in Burgenland and north of the Danube villages ar ranged regularly along the length of a ridge (reihendorf) suggest Frankish influences, while to the south-east typical Slav forms may be recognized. Apart from Vienna, only three towns, Graz, Linz and Innsbruck, exceed 5o,000 in population and these, like the smaller towns, are fundamentally nodal points.

The structural forms and building materials of the individual house also vary considerably, the difference being partly physical and partly cultural in origin. For instance, the houses of Tirol and Salzburg, half wood, half stone, with verandas and flat stone laden, wooden roofs are quite distinct from those of the eastern mountain zone where steep roofs of boards, shingles or straw thatch predominate.

provinces of Austria is more the outcome of centuries of partici pation in a common history than of similar physical endowments. It has been shown that Austria,may be divided into a number of longitudinal physical zones, most of which are distinctive in the possibilities they offer, yet so important are the transverse thor oughfares that they too have exercised a large measure of control upon the growth of the individual provinces, whose frontiers are in close relation to physical features. The exact nature of the re lationship is analysed for each of the former provinces under its title where, too, are analysed the material and other contributions it has made to the national welfare.

BIBLIOGRAPHY.—C. Diener, Bau and Bild der Ostalpen and des Bibliography.—C. Diener, Bau and Bild der Ostalpen and des Karstes (Vienna and Leipzig, 1903) ; N. Krebs, Landerkunde der Osterreichischen Alpen (Stuttgart, 1913) ; J. Marchet, Waldfiachen and Holzproduction von Osterreich (Vienna, 1919) ; A. Failer, Das Neue Osterreich (Frankfurt a. Main, 1924) ; O. A. H. Schmitz, Der oster reichische Mensch (Vienna, 1924) ; F. Machatschek, Landerkunde von Mittel-Europa (Leipzig and Vienna, 1925. Vol. 16 in Kende's Enzy klopadie der Erdkunde.)—contains a comprehensive bibliography covering all aspects of Austrian geography ; R. Mayer, Die Verbreitung der Kulturflachen in den Ost-Alpen and ihre obere Grenze geomor phologisch betrachtet (In vol. xxxiii. of Geographische Zeitschrift, Leipzig, 1927) ; O. S. Philpotts, Reports on the Industrial and Com mercial Situation of Austria (London, 192o-26) ; W. T. Layton and C. H. Rist, The Economic Situation of Austria (Report to the Council of the League of Nations, Geneva, 1925). See also the official statis tical publications of the Austrian Government appearing monthly and annually until 1938, and sectional bibliographies under headings of former provinces. (W. S. L.; X.) Army: I. Historical.—The Landskneclit infantry constituted the mainstay of the imperial armies in the 16th century. Maxi milian I. and Charles V. are recorded to have marched and carried the "long pike" in their ranks. Maximilian also formed a corps of Kyrisser, who were the origin of the modern cuirassiers. It was not, however, until much later that the Austrian army came into existence as a permanent force. Rudolph II. formed a small standing force about 1600, but relied upon the "enlistment" system, like other sovereigns of the time, for the bulk of his armies. The Thirty Years' War produced the permanence of service which led in all the states of Europe to the rise of standing armies. In the empire it was Wallenstein who first raised a dis tinctly imperial army of soldiers owing no duty but to the sovereign ; and it was the suspicion that he intended to use this army, which was raised largely at his own expense, to further his own ends, that led to his assassination. From that time the regi ments belonged no longer to their colonels, but to the emperor; at the close of the Thirty Years' War Austria had 19 infantry, 6 cuirassier and 1 dragoon regiments. The almost continuous wars of Austria against France and the Turks (from 1495 to Austrian troops took part in 7,000 actions of all sorts) led to a continuous increase in her establishments. The wars of the time of Montecucculi and of Eugene were followed by that of the Polish Succession, the two Turkish wars, and the three great struggles against Frederick the Great. This, in conjunction with the fact that Austria took part in other Turkish campaigns subse quently, rendered this army the most formidable opponent of the forces of the French Revolution (1792). But the higher leading, organization and numbers of the emperor's forces were totally inadequate to the magnitude of the task of suppressing the Revolutionary forces, and though such victories as Neerwinden were sufficient proof of the efficiency and valour of the Austrians, they made no headway. In later campaigns, in which the enemy had acquired war experience, the tide turned against the Im perialists even on the field of battle. The archduke Charles's victories of i796 were more than counterbalanced by Bonaparte's Italian campaign, and the temporary success of 1799 ended at Marengo and Hohenlinden. (See FRENCH REVOLUTIONARY WARS.) The Austrians, during the short peace which preceded the war of 1805, suffered, in consequence of all this, from a feeling of distrust, not merely in their leaders, but also in the whole system upon which the army was raised, organized and trained. This was substantially the same as that of the Seven Years' War time.

Enlistment being voluntary arid for long service, the numbers necessary to cope with the output of the French conscription could not be raised, and the inner history of the Austrian headquarters in the Ulm campaign shows that the dissensions of the general officers had gone far towards the disintegration of an army which at that time had the most esprit de corps and the highest military qualities of any army in Europe. But the disasters of 18o5 swept away good and bad alike in the abolition of the old system. Already the archduke Charles had designed a "nation in arms" after the French model, and on this basis the reconstruction was begun. The conscription was put in force and the necessary numbers thus obtained ; the administration was at the same time reformed and the organization and supply services brought into line with modern requirements. The war of 1800 surprised Austria in the midst of her reorganization, yet the new army fought with the greatest spirit, and the work went on steadily until, in 1813, the Austrian armies worthily represented the combination of discipline with the "nation in arms" principle. Their intervention in the War of Liberation was decisive, and Austria, in spite of her territorial losses of the past years, put into the field well-drilled armies far exceeding in numbers those which had appeared in the wars of the Revolution (see NAPOLEONIC CAMPAIGNS). After the fall of Napo leon, Austria's hold on Italy necessitated the maintenance of a large army of occupation. This army, and in particular its cavalry, was admittedly the best in Europe, and, having to be ready to march at a few days' notice, it was saved from the deadening influence of undisturbed peace which affected every other service in Europe from 1815 to 185o. But it was employed in dynastic wars, and the conscription was modified by substitution ; thus, when the war of 18J9 resulted unfavourably, the army began to lose confidence, precisely as had been the case in 1805. Once more, in 1866, an army animated by the purely professional spirit, which was itself weakened by distrust, met a "nation in arms," and in this case a nation well trained in peace and armed with a breech loader. Bad staff work, and tactics which can only be described as those of pique, precipitated disaster (see SEVEN WEEKS' WAR).

The result of the war, and of the constitutional changes about this time, was the re-adoption of the principles of 1806-13, the abolition of conscription and long service in favour of universal service for a short term, and reform in the methods of command and staff work. It was said of the Prussian army that "discipline is—the officers." This was more true of the "K.K." army' than of any other in Europe ; the great bond of union between the heterogeneous levies of recruits of many races was the spirit of the corps of officers, which retained the personal and professional characteristics of the army of 1848, whose peculiar tone was well conveyed in George Meredith's Vittoria.

Between 1866 and 1914 the principal action taken by the Aus trian army was the occupation in 1878 of the Turkish provinces of Bosnia and Hercegovina, with the support of the Concert of Europe. These countries were added to Austrian territory in 1908. The seat of Government was established at Serajevo which became the scene of the sinister murder of June 1914, immediately preced ing the World War. The military effort of Austria-Hungary in that conflict is described elsewhere. The total ration strength of the Austro-Hungarian army at the Armistice (Nov. 1918) may be put at about 2,229,500, with about 500,000 in reserve if the 1920 class is included. Of this army, about 1,3 J3,000 were on the Italian Front, the rest distributed in the Western, Eastern (329,000), Balkan and Asia Minor theatres of war and on the lines of communication. There were nearly 3,900 field and 1,760 heavy guns on the Italian Front. The field army stationed there included 757 battalions (542 divisions, etc.) and 26 squadrons (6 divisions, etc.), totalling 408,500 rifles and 3,900 sabres. It is not possible to distinguish the Austrian figures from the Austro-Hungarian totals.

II. Post-War Army.

Under the terms of the Treaty of St. Germain which followed the World War (Sept. Io, 1919), corn pulsory service was forbidden in the Austrian army. The functions of that army were limited to the maintenance of internal order and to the control of the frontiers. A maximum strength was laid down for the army staff and both a maximum and a minimum strength for all formations. All methods of "mobilization" were forbidden. The gendarmerie was limited to the number maintained in 1913, and no military training was permitted for this force. Officers in the army served for at least 20 years; not more than one-twen tieth of the number to retire in any one year. Enlistment for other ranks was to be for at least 12 years, of which six years or more were to be spent with the colours. The importation of arms and munitions of war was forbidden. A maximum of arms to be re tained was prescribed, none to be imported. No gun exceeding calibre was allowed, except in the normal armament of fortresses. Only three field-pieces were allowed for every 1,000 men of other arms. Manufacture or importation of armoured cars, tanks, or "any similar machines suitable for use in war" was forbidden ; also flame-throwers, poison gas, etc.

In May 1936, Austria, following Hitler's example in Germany, announced that she would no longer abide by these military re strictions imposed by the treaty. She therefore adopted conscrip tion with a short term of service and proposed to raise her army from the treaty limit of 30,00o to 150,000.

Recruiting was by voluntary enlistment of men between the ages of 18 and 26, the maximum number raised in the different districts being limited as follows: Vienna District, 9,000; Lower Austria, 6,5oo; Burgenland, 1,5oo; Upper Austria, 4,000; Styria, 4,000; Carinthia, 1,700; Salzburg, 1,000; Tyrol, 1,7oo; Vorarl berg, 600. Total 30,000. (G. G. A.; X.) Navy.—Since the rearrangement of boundaries following the World War, Austria has no seaboard and the former Austro Hungarian fleet is no longer in existence. Four patrol-boats on the Danube were the only war vessels belonging to Austria.