The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1919-08-06
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X<24S3 ltS beginning III SWltZer-
land. When the great war
began it was the Austro-Hungarian
empire. Now the head of the house
Of Hapsburg is back in Switzerland
an exile.
In these days of the League of Ma
lions. with the fate Of the world hang
ing In the balance, probably the fu-
ture of the house of Habsburg Is Of
small moment politically. But his
torically 1t is most fascinating ques-
ton.
For the history of Austria is unique
In history in that 1t is the history of
a family and not the history of a
state; it Is the history of a dynastic
and not of national power.
1t is unique also for many other
things Territorially the name Aus
tria was attached from about 1000 to
1906 to an incOnsiderable archduchy
on the Danube. Dynastically 1t he
came connected in the thirteenth CEN
fury with the house Of Habsburg then
insignificant, and its history since is
simply the history of that house. There
is no Austrian nation, strictly speak
ing. There Is no Austrian lam
guage. Historically there never was
an emperor Of Austria"
In the zone of perpetual conflict in
Europe were born the two states which
In turn were to dominate Germany
Austria and Prussia. Austria" is
simply the Latin form of "Oestereich-
the eastern Mark" of the German
kingdom, established by Charlemagne
on the Danube. as it's defense against
the Magyar invader.
The Importance of the house of
Habsburg-and of Austria-begins
with Rudolph of Acknowledgements
Rudolph l of the Holy Roman empire
To 60 back few generations: Gun
tram the Rich was a count of Alsace
Warner, a grandson of Guntram, be-
came bishop Of Strassburg and on an
eminence above Windisch, on the
banks of the Aar. in the Swiss canton
of Aargau, built Schloss Habsburg
(Habichtsburg, ''the castle of vul.
tures'). This castle Is still standing ;
the picture shows it to be an unpre-
tentious affair. Werner I. nephew of
the builder, was the first count of
Habsburg. Albert III. son of Werner
II, inherited extensive estates in Up
per Alsace and acquired" several
Swiss districts about Zurich and Lu-
Germ. The house Of Habsburg began
to grow at once.
Rudolph III, son of Albert ", was
elected emperor of the Holy Roman
empire in 1878 and thus figures in
history as Rudolph I, Holy Roman EN-
peror The Holy Roman empire, 1t
has been said, was neither holy,
Roman, nor an empire. Its original
basis was sort of loose union of the
crowns Of Germany and Italy. Who
ever was accepted as king by Ger.
many was regarded as the potential
emperor and assumed the imperial IT,
tie when crowned by the pope at
Rome. BY the sixteenth century it
was an anachronism; yet it persisted
at least in form and title-until the
nineteenth century.
Rudolph was elected emperor be-
cause his possessions were small and
1t was supposed he would be an anna
BILE figure-head. He fooled the elect.
ors by revivfng and increasing the
powers Of the imperial Office. More
over, he used the powers for the ag
grandizement Of the house of Habs
burg. Ottocar, king Of Bohemia, re-
fused to acknowledge him and was de
feated and slain. Rudolph thereupon
appropriated for his sons a part OF
the dominiOns which the Bohemian
king had acquired, including Austria
(then duchy). The house of Habs
burg thus became the house of Aus
tria. and its history from this time or
Is the history Of Austria.
BY marriage, by diplomacy. and by
pressure the house Of Habsburs
plucked one by one the coronets OF
Tyrol and Carinthia (1636); Franche
C0mte, Flanders and the Low Coun
tries (1477), the crowns of Spain, Ma
pies, Sicily and Sardinia OSLO Bo
hemia. including Moravia, and Hun
gary (1526). These many crowns
were never welded into one, but were
carefully distinguished as emblems OF
separate sovereignties, united in nc