Habsburg Empire
Also called: Habsburg monarchy, Austrian Empire · Topic: The Rise of Nationalism in Europe · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 1 "The Rise of Nationalism in Europe"
Meaning
The Habsburg Empire was a large empire made up of many peoples. The Habsburg family ruled it from Vienna. It was a patchwork of regions with different languages and cultures. The only thing that held it together was loyalty to the emperor. Because of this, it was a main target of the nationalist movements of the 19th century.
Example
It included Tyrol, Austria and the Sudetenland; Bohemia, with a German-speaking aristocracy (the landowning nobles); and Italian-speaking Lombardy and Venetia. It also included Hungary, where about half the people were Magyars, and Galicia, which had a Polish aristocracy. Below them lived peasant peoples such as Slovaks, Slovenes, Croats and Roumans. After the 1848 revolutions, serfdom was abolished, and in 1867 the Hungarians were given more autonomy (self-rule).
Don't confuse with
- Ottoman Empire: a separate empire of many peoples, ruled by the Turkish sultans from Constantinople. It controlled much of the Balkans.