After the Babenbergs ruled Austria for more than two centuries, the country fell into the hands of the Habsburgs in 1278. These rich aristocratic rulers started buying large stretches of land from bankrupt lords annexing these to the Austrian territory. In 1363, the large area known as Tirol and extending from Lienz in the south to Salzburg and the Lake District in the north was added to Austrian land. Members of the Habsburg Dynasty were pushed to marry in the families of other European rulers with the aim of inheriting more land abroad. Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor was in fact a Habsburg, the eldest son of Philip who besides Austria was already ruling the Netherlands. As Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V was too much involved with European politics, often at the cost of neglecting the Austrian territory. In 1521, he handed over Austria to his brother Ferdinand who was the first Habsburg to rule Austria from Vienna.
Starting in 1618, the Thirty Years' War, a religious rather than a political conflict caused massive unrest throughout Europe. Austria was hard hit and large stretches of the Austrian territory including Vienna were devastated. At the same time, the Turks were setting their foot on the European continent and for more than five decades, Austrian rulers used all their energy in stopping the Turks from advancing further into Europe.
When in 1740, Maria-Theresa whose big statue adorns Maria-Theresien platz in Vienna's Hofburg was crowned Empress, Austria started on a road of political, economic and educational reform. Half a century or so later however, Austria was defeated by Napolean and civil unrest and internal uprisings dominated for three or four decades until Austria was defeated for a second time by the mighty Prussians. Forced to form a dual monarchy with Hungary, Franz Josef whose painted portraits hang on the walls of Schloss Schonbrunn was the key to economic reforms and to the new face Austria's capital was getting.
Franz Josef died when the dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary was in war with Serbia, a war that paved the way to World War I. After the war, the dual monarchy was dissolved and Austria was declared republic. However, vast stretches of land from Czechoslovakia to Poland that were controlled by the Habsburgs were lost causing economic and social problems. Feeling the people's pulse throbbing with social unrest and grasping the exact moment, Hitler found no problems to invade Austria incorporating it into the German state. Heavily bombed during World War II and divided into 4 zones by the Allied forces after Germany was defeated, Austria was fortunate enough to get a ratification treaty soon after, guaranteeing the withdrawal of the occupying powers by 1955.
Since then Austria has taken steps to recover both economically and socially. Buildings destroyed during the war were rebuilt, churches and palaces restored, new museums opened and skiing facilities in the mountains improved. Tourists started visiting by the thousands and the income from tourism supplementing the income from exports made the country one of the wealthiest in Europe.