Discussion

2. Discussion  • Why might the ethnic makeup of the Austrian Empire have led to internal conflict? Different nationalities seeking political control might have come into conflict with other groups.

4. Revolutions in Central Europe • Variety of nationalities in the Austrian Empire • Demonstrations in major cities • Control reestablished by Austrian government

5. Discussion  • Why do you think the 1848 revolutions in the Austrian Empire failed? Revolutionaries could not match the military power of the Austrian government or that the revolutionaries in different parts of the empire may have failed to act together.

6. Background  • The Hapsburgs were one of the leading sovereign dynasties of Europe from the fifteenth century to the twentieth century. Their name came from the name of the family's castle Habichtsburg, or "Hawk's Castle," built in 1020 in the mountains of what is today Switzerland. Members of the Hapsburg royal house included the rulers of Austria from 1278 to 1918, the rulers of Spain from 1516 to 1700, and many of the Holy Roman emperors. World War I led to the end of the Hapsburg Empire and to the "Hapsburg Law" of 1919, banishing all Hapsburgs from Austrian territory. In 1961, Otto, then modern head of the house of Hapsburg, asked the government to let him return to Austria as a private citizen. Otto's petition was refused at first, but it was eventually granted. He returned to Austria in 1966.

7. Multinational • Mulinational has two meanings. One involves the idea of many nationalities or ethnic groups. The word multinational can also refer to a number of nations, or countries.