Summary
Much of Austria's history was dominated by the ruling Habsburg dynasty, whose empire collapsed after World War I ended in 1918. Many great composers, scientists, and philosophers have called Austria home, including Franz Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Strauss, Sigmund Freud, Erwin Schrödinger, Ludwig Wittgenstein, and Kurt Friedrich Gödel. Austria emerged as a modern nation after World War I and was seized by German dictator Adolf Hitler in 1938. After World War II ended in 1945, Austria again became an independent nation and has emerged in the late 20th and early 21st centuries as one of Europe's leading nations. Austria, Second Edition provides a one-stop resource for information about Austria, with comprehensive A-to-Z entries covering everything from land and resources, population, culture, and lifestyle to current events, history, government, economy, and society. Readers will also find regional locator, political, and elevation maps, plus a list of further readings.
About the Author(s)
The late George Thomas Kurian was an editor of reference books who published works with Facts On File, Congressional Quarterly, Henry Holt, Macmillan, Oxford, M.E. Sharpe, and many other publishers. He was president of the International Encyclopedia Society.
Prof. Dr. Gerhard Robbers is professor emeritus of law at the Institute for European Constitutional Law at the University of Trier, Germany, specializing in constitutional law, law of religion, and international public law. A founding editor-in-chief of the Oxford Journal of Law and Religion, he is a member of both the Advisory Council for Freedom of Religion at ODIHR/OSCE and the Steering Committee of the International Consortium for Law and Religious Studies.