The first consul of France now caused him self to be proclaimed emperor; and 11 Aug. 1804, Francis declared himself hereditary Em peror of Austria, and united the Austrian states under the name of the Empire of Austria. Im mediately after this important act he took arms once more with his allies, Russia and Great Britain, against the government of France. The war of 1805 was terminated by the peace of Presburg (26 Dec. 1805). By the conditions if the treaty Francis was obliged to cede to France the remaining provinces of Italy; to the King of Bavaria, Surgau, Eichstadt, a part of Passau, all Tyrol, Vorarlberg, Hohenembs, Rothenf els, Tettnang, Argen and Lindau; to the King of Wiirtemberg the five towns lying on the Danube, the county of Hohenberg, the landgraviate of Nellenburg, Altdorf and a part of Brisgau; and to the Grand Duke of Baden the remainder of Brisgau, Ortenau, Constance and the commandery of Meinau. He received, in return, Salzburg and Berchtesgaden; the Elector of Salzburg was compensated by the province of Wiirzburg; and the dignity of grand master of the Teutonic order was made hereditary in the house of Austria. Thus ended a war which cost the Austrian monarchy, be sides the territories just enumerated, 90,000,000 florins, which were carried away by the French from Vienna, and 800,000,000 for the other ex penses of the war; of which Francis paid a large proportion from his private purse. After the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine (12 July 1806) Francis was forced to resign his dignity as Emperor of Germany (6 Aug. 1806), which had been in his family more than 500 years. The old German, or Holy Roman Empire thus came to an end, and Fran cis had now only the title of Francis I, Em peror of Austria. In 1809 he resolved on a new war with France, aided by Great Britain, which did nothing more than furnish some pecuniary assistance and made a useless attack on Wal cheren. Austria fought courageously, but in vain. The peace of Vienna (14 Oct. 1809) cost the monarchy 42,380 square miles of territory, 3,500,000 subjects and more than 11,000,000 florins of revenue. The public debt was also increased to 1,200,000,000 florins, and all the paper money in circulation was estimated at 950,000,000.
Napoleon, after tearing from the Austrian monarchy its fairest provinces — the duchy of Salzburg, with Berchtesgaden, Innviertel, west ern Hausruckviertel, Carniola and Gorz, Trieste, the circle of Villach, a large part of Croatia, Istria, a part of the Grisons, the Bo hemian territories in Saxony, all west Galicia, the circle of Zamoski in east Galicia, Cracow, with half the salt works of Wieliczka, the circle of Tarnopol and many other territories which were given to Russia—formed a personal con nection with the ancient family of Hapsburg, by his marriage with Maria Louisa, daughter of the Emperor of Austria, and (14 March 1812) concluded an alliance with the Emperor Francis against Russia. But the Emperor of France was repulsed on his invasion of this country; Prus sia rose up against him; and after the Congress of Prague had separated without accomplish ing anything, Francis, 12 Aug. 1813, declared war against France, and formed an alliance, 9 Sept. 1813, at Teplitz, with Great Britain, Rus sia, Prussia and Sweden, against his son-in-law. In the battle of Leipsic, the Austrian troops took an honorable part. The firmness with which the Emperor signed the act of proscrip tion against his son-in-law, and fixed the fate of his daughter and her infant, excited general respect. He signed the same act against Na poleon a second time, when he returned from Elba. He also opposed Murat in Italy. Yet the Austrian Cabinet endeavored to provide foy young Napoleon in the settlement of the affairs of France. By the Congress of Vienna, 1814-15, Austria gained the portion of Italy which is usually known as Lombardy and Venetia, and recovered, together with Dalmatia, the heredi tary territories which it had been obliged to cede. The former Grand Duke of Wiirzburg, on the contrary, ceded his territory to Bavaria, and again took possession of Tuscany. The final act resulting from the congress was signed in 1820. In 1821 liberal movements in Italy were put down. The July revolution of 1830, in France, caused warlike preparations to be made ; but after Great Britain had acknowledged the new government Austria acknowledged it also. Insurrections which took place in Modena, Parma and the Papal states, 1831-32, were suppressed without much difficulty. In the Lon don conference relative to the affairs of Bel gium Austria took an active share; but in proportion as Great Britain and France became more closely united, Austria entered into more intimate relations with Russia and Prussia. In
the Polish insurrection Austria ultimately gave indications of a strong leaning in favor of Rus sia. The death of the Emperor Francis I, 2 March 1835, and the accession of Ferdinand I made little change in the Austrian system of government. Metternich still continued at the head of affairs and to foster the reactionary policy. In 1846 the failure of the Polish in surrection had led to the incorporation of Cra cow with Austria, but discontent with the government very widely prevailed in the empire. In Italy, the declarations of Pio Nono in favor of reform, and the concessions into which most of the other governments of the Italian Penin sula had been hurried, increased the difficulties of Austria. In Hungary the constitutional op position became stronger and stronger, and latterly, under the guidance of Kossuth and• other popular agitators, assumed the form of a great constitutional movement. In 1848 the ex pulsion of Louis Philippe shook all Europe to its foundations. Metternich found it impossible any longer to guide the ship of state, and the government found itself compelled to grant a free press, and allow the citizens freely to arm themselves. The popular movement made great progress in Hungary; and in Italy a formidable insurrection broke out, threatening the very existence of the Austrian power in the penin sula. In the very centre of the empire, in Vienna itself, the insurrection made equal progress, and the royal family, no longer in safety, removed to Innsbruck. The Austrian monarchy appeared now to be hanging by a thread. The Hungarian Diet declared itself permanent, under the presidency of Kossuth. Various ministerial changes took place, and at last the Emperor abdicated in favor of his nephew, Francis Joseph. More vigorous meas ures were now adopted, and Austria, strongly aided by the forces of Russia, who feared a revolution within her own borders, succeeded in suppressing the Hungarian insurrection. Hay nau, on the occasion, rendered himself notorious by his severity, and Hungary underwent the fate of a conquered country. The year 1855 is memorable in Austrian history for the conclu sion of a concordat with the Pope which put the educational and ecclesiastical affairs of the empire entirely into the hands of the Papal see. It established an ecclesiastical censorship of the press, and placed all schools, even private schools, under surveillance of the bishops; it proclaimed the complete independence of the bishops in relation to the civil government, so that all decrees proceeding from Rome might be published without obtaining the royal placet, and it authorized the bishops to convoke the provincial councils and diocesan synods without the consent of the civil authority. In 1859 the hostile intentions of France and Sardinia against the possessions of Austria in Italy be came so evident that she declared war by send ing an army across the Ticino, but after dis astrous defeats at Magenta and Solferino she was compelled to cede Milan and the northwest portion of Lombardy to the Sardinian King. In 1864 she joined with Prussia and the other German states in the spoliation of Denmark, but a dispute about the conquered provinces of Schleswig-Holstein involved her in a war with her allies (1866), while at the same time Italy renewed her attempts for the recovery of Venice. Austria had accordingly to show front both in the north and in the south. The south ern army under Archduke Albert fought suc cessfully, defeating the Italians under Victor Emanuel at Custozza, 24 June, and driving them back across the Mincio, but the fortune of the northern army under General Benedek was very different. On 3 July Benedek was com pletely defeated by the Prussian forces at Koniggratz (Sadowa) in Bohemia, and the road to Vienna lay open to the victors. Francis Joseph now ceded Venetia to Napoleon III, and claimed his intervention to assist in procuring a peace, evidently wishing to make a separate treaty with Italy, so as to be at liberty to em ploy the southern army against Prussia. This design did not succeed, however. Both Italy and Prussia were willing to accept the media tion of Napoleon, but Italy would not hear of a separate arrangement and continued the war. On 20 July Admiral Tegetthoff defeated the Italian fleet near the Dalmatian island Lissa; but, on the other hand, the Prussians continued to advance into Austria and threatened Vienna. Francis Joseph accordingly saw himself obliged to conclude a peace with Prussia 23 August, and a little later peace was concluded with Italy also, 3 October. The result of the war was the cession of Venetia through France to Italy, and the withdrawal of Austria from all interference in the affairs of Germany. See