AUSTRIA 1500-1800
However in the early 16th century Austria faced a powerful threat from the Turks. In 1529 the Turks besieged Vienna but they failed to capture it.
Despite the Turks the Austrian Empire prospered during the 16th century and trade and commerce grew. (Although most of the population remained peasants).
Meanwhile all of Europe was rocked by the Reformation. A great many people in the Austrian Empire converted to Protestantism. However the Catholic Counter-reformation won some back. Furthermore Rudolf II (1576-1612) persecuted Protestants.
Later Austria was involved in the Thirty Years War (1618-1648), which caused devastation in many Hapsburg lands. Furthermore in 1683 the Turks laid siege to Vienna again. However an army of Germans and Poles relieved Vienna. Afterwards the Turks were slowly driven back.
During the 18th century Austria prospered despite several long wars. The first of these was the War of the Spanish Succession 1701-1714, which ended with Sardinia and part of Italy being added to the Austrian Empire.
More trouble brewed because Emperor Charles VI (1711-1740) did not have a male heir. He persuaded foreign powers and national assemblies within his empire to accept his daughter as the next ruler. Maria Theresa succeeded him in 1740. However Frederick the Great of Prussia promptly took Silesia and started the War of the Austrian Succession 1740-1748. During the war Maria Theresa had to fight the Prussians, French and Spanish.
In 1748 Maria Theresa's husband Francis of Lorraine was made Emperor Francis I. When he died in 1765 she ruled with her son Joseph II (1765-1790).
At the end of the 18th century the French Revolution threw Europe into turmoil. From 1792 to 1815 Austria and France fought a series of wars.
During that period, in 1806 Napoleon dissolved the Holy Roman Empire. The ruler of Austria gave up the title Holy Roman Emperor and became Emperor Franz I of Austria.