Subdivisions of Austria - Historical Development

Historical Development

In terms of boundaries, the present-day state of Salzburg is coterminous with the former Austro-Hungarian Duchy of Salzburg. Austria-Hungary was the extensive multiethnic empire with a German-speaking nucleus, which emerged as the Republic of Austria after the empire was torn apart by nationalist and republicanist forces around the end of World War I. The states of Upper Austria and Lower Austria are essentially equivalent to what were formerly the two autonomous halves of the Archduchy of Austria, a principality which formed the empire's historic heartland. Similarly, the state of Carinthia descends from the Duchy of Carinthia, the state of Styria descends from the Duchy of Styria, and the state of Tyrol descends from the Princely County of Tyrol; these states had to cede territories to Italy and Yugoslavia when Austria emerged in its present form. Also, the state of Vorarlberg had been a semi-autonomous part of the County of Tyrol up until 1918. The city state of Vienna was a part of Lower Austria up until 1921. The state of Burgenland is made up of the predominantly German-speaking area that Hungary ceded to Austria after World War I as a result of the Treaties of Trianon and Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

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