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Austria was a duchy in the southeast of the HRE. In 1246, king Bela IV of Hungary fought Austria, killing the last Babenberger duke Friedrich II. His widow Margarete governed in his place. She and his niece Gertrud (wife of Vladislav of Moravia, elder brother of Otakar Przemysl) were the only living heirs. Other than OTL, in 1247 Vladislav didn't die, and when in 1253 Venceslaus / Vaclav I of Bohemia died, Vladislav inherited Bohemia, and also reigned Austria. He had to give Moravia to his ambitious brother, though. In 1254, Hungary "divided" Styria with king Vladislav. Hungary got the better part, only a few border cities became Austrian. One year later, Vladislav died. His little son Vaclav II inherited Bohemia and Austria, and Otakar Przemysl administered his lands until his adulthood.

1275, meanwhile Roman king Ottokar I lead the Holy Roman Empire against Hungary, defeated the new king and got Styria back for the HRE. Styria was divided again: Western Styria became part of Austria (thus connecting the Przemyslids' possessions), the rest (two thirds) become (Upper) Bavarian.

Union with Styria and Carinthia[]

In 1336, an intrafamilial contract of the Przemyslids was made: King Otakar I of Bohemia got Moravia and all of Silesia, while Wenzel II of Carinthia acquired Austria. He now governed all the German-speaking lands. Note that despite of their Czech name, the family of the Przemyslids was already more German than Czech, due to cultural influence and marriages with Germans.

1379 Vaclav III, last of the Bohemian Przemyslids, died. The duke of Austria and Carinthia Heinrich inherited Bohemia, Moravia and (parts of) Silesia, which made him the mightiest prince of the HRE by far. But in 1386-89 the Czechs rebelled against his rule and formed a quasi-republic. Heinrich has to accept the Czech independence, only kept the southernmost parts of Bohemia and Moravia (which were German-settled). The electorate of Bohemia officially went to Austria.

In the years 1394/95, the Black Death hit Austria.

1408, the new duke Ottokar II of Austria (and titular king of Bohemia) asked the Roman king to conquer Bohemia back for him. When king Gerhard II declined, Ottokar had himself elected anti-king with Bavarian help and started a war against Bohemia on his own device. In 1413, after his armies had been defeated severely several times by the Czech leader Prokop, he put down the crown again and apologized. In 1454, he even was elected Roman king himself, Ottokar III.

During the Twenty-Year War, Austria was involved in the most important of the little wars: The Bavarian-Austrian War (1485-93), which was fought for Salzburg. At the end, Bavaria got Salzburg, but had to give Eastern Styria to Austria.

But before the country had recovered, the next threat came. In the Austrian-Seljuk War 1505-09 the Rum-Seljuks invaded Austria, took Vienna, restricted the duke to mountainous Styria and Carinthia. With the death of Ottokar III of Carinthia 1511, the Przemyslid dynasty ended. His lands were divided between his daughters - Maria, who married the duke of Württemberg, got the electorate, Carinthia and Styria (and theoretically Austria), and Elisabeth, who married the duke of Brandenburg, got Silesia.

Together with Württemberg[]

In 1530, a revolt against the Seljuks happened, but it was broken down. The first French-Seljuk War liberated Austria again, as the Peace of Krems 1574 gave Austria back to Württemberg-Carinthia.

Being a member of the Alliance des Alpes, Austria also got involved in the other French wars against the Seljuks, and later in the anti-French War. In the Battle of Brünn in July 1693, the last Austrian army was defeated. Karl II of Württemberg-Austria went to exile in Hungary.

The dynasty of the Eberhardiner wasn't always popular, so in 1748 uprisings happened in Austria (religiously motivated) against the government of the unpopular dukes Eberhard XI and Eberhard XII.

1766/67, Austria got involved in the short Southern German War.

Short Independence and Hungary[]

After the lost second French Republican War, in the Peace of Basel 1784 Württemberg proper became a part of the Swiss republic, which was now a French satellite. The HRE was dissolved. The Eberhardiner duke fled to Austria. It seems these events broke their spirit, because in 1816, the dynasty died with Ludwig VIII, and the state was united with Hungary.

With the Hungarian Division 1834, Austria went to the united republic of Germany.

HRE Flag  Member States of the Holy Roman Empire (Chaos TL)  HRE Flag
List of Roman kings of the HRE
Nations

Baden | Bavaria | Brandenburg | Braunschweig | Franconia | Hesse | Jülich-Berg | Luxemburg | Mecklenburg | Nassau | Netherlands | Thuringia | Württemberg

Nations that joined the HRE later: Poland | Prussia
Nations that left the HRE: Bohemia | Florence | Switzerland
Nations that became defunct

Austria | Holstein | Meissen | Münster | Osterland | Pomerania | Salzburg | Würzburg

Organisations

Alpenbund | Baltic League | Hanseatic League | Süddeutscher Städtebund

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