Why did the Austrian (Austro-Hungarian) Empire, as a European power, have so few colonies?

In 1156, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I elevated the "Austrian vassal state" to the "Duchy of Austria", and Austria became an important member of the imperial family.

From 1438, the Habsburgs almost monopolized the throne of the Holy Roman Empire. Until 1806, after the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, the Habsburg monarchs elevated the "Austrian Grand Duchy" to the "Austrian Empire", and continued to wear the crown firmly on the head. The former German frontier state gradually moved to the center of European history and developed into one of the continental powers.

▲Austrian Empire in 1815

But whether it is the Austrian Empire or the successor Austro-Hungarian Empire, the former continental power, in different periods of time to open up the colonial area of the combined area of not more than 50,000 square kilometers, while the same period of the United Kingdom and France and other countries in the world, but all around the world, the establishment of an area of more than ten million square kilometers of the colonial empire, and even the former Austrian vassal state Belgium, also has 239,000 square kilometers. Even Austria's former vassal state, Belgium, also has 2.39 million square kilometers of colonies!

What is it about colonization that makes a traditional powerhouse so invisible?

An Austrian company that did not belong to the Austrians

At the end of the 15th century, with the opening of the New Route and the discovery of the New World, the Atlantic coastal countries represented by Spain, Portugal, Britain and France continued to expand their overseas colonies after completing the construction of their nation-states.

Austria's Habsburg family based in Europe, through marriage and war means of expanding power in Europe, the Habsburg family's dominion has long exceeded the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire, the family's various branches also once ruled Spain, Portugal, South Italy, almost half of Europe.

In 1701, King Carlos II of Spain died without an heir, around the throne of Spain, Austria, Prussia, Britain as a side of the Grand Alliance and France as the head of the "Bourbon League" launched a 13-year "War of Spanish Succession "

When the war was over, it was over.

While Austria lost the succession to the Spanish throne after the war, it was compensated by Spain with the rich Southern Netherlands (now Belgium and Luxembourg), which Austria had inherited from the Duchy of Burgundy through marriage in 1482, and which was transferred to Spain in 1556, and which continued to be ruled by Spain after the independence of the Netherlands in the north in 1581. South Netherland had a higher level of commercial development and a more commercial atmosphere than Austria itself.

In 1715, a company named after a local place, the Ostend Company, was founded in Ostend, Austrian Netherland (now Ostend, Belgium). What made this company special was that almost all of the shareholders were from Austrian Netherland, and the vast majority of the revenues went back to Austrian Netherland, not to Austria itself.

The reason for this is simple: although the Austrian Netherlands was a spoils of war for Austria from Spain, it had its own semi-autonomous local government, and instead of merging with Austria, the Austrian Netherlands was bound to the Austrian mainland by a "****lord federation". So the Ostend Company was a South Netherlandish merchant company in Austrian garb.

By 1715 the company had secured trading rights to the Yemeni port of Mocha, the Indian port of Surat, and Canton, from which it shipped 7 million pounds of tea between 1715 and 1720, or 41.78% of the total tea trade at that time, and where the company's stock was booming, with returns of up to 15%.

The success of the company drew the ire of Britain and France, who tried to suppress it by all means. France had expressly forbidden its own people to invest in the company, while the British East India Company also set up obstacles to curb the company's expansion in India.

It is sad that the power to decide the fate of the company was ultimately given to the enemy by Austria itself.

Charles VI of Austria, who had no son, decided to hand over the reins to his daughter Theresa in 1713 by issuing the Edict of State. This was contrary to the practice of male heirs at the time. Charles VI made many efforts to get the major European powers to recognize the Edict of State.

He recognized the French annexation of the Duchy of Lorraine and helped the Elector of Saxony take the Polish throne. But not all countries were interested in the territory, and mercantilist Britain and the Netherlands were adamant that Austria close down the Oldenstein Company. Charles VI had to withdraw the charter in 1727, and the company was finally dissolved for good in 1732.

▲The flag of the Oldenstein Company, with the flag of modern Austria*** and the State in the center

While the Oldenstein Company achieved notable economic success, it did not open up colonies for its own country overseas like the chartered companies of Britain and France did, and at the same time as the company's dissolution, Britain, France, Spain and Portugal were engaged in fierce colonial rivalries on the American continent, with a large number of Indian land was conquered.

Entering the 17th century, the invasion of the Ottoman Turks and Germany's Thirty Years' War have caused Austria to lose a lot of money, when the British and French colonizers set foot on the American continent, the Austrians in order to obtain the domination of Germany and strike around in Central Europe, this state of affairs determines Austria can not be like Britain and France to concentrate on overseas colonization, it needs to put the center of gravity of the country in Europe in order to be able to maintain It needed to focus on Europe in order to maintain its position of power in Germany and Europe as a whole.

After the limited national power was consumed, Austria was unable to develop colonies.

▲Charles VI approved the formation of the company and sentenced it to death

The continent or the sea?

Austria gained the port of Trieste in 1382. Although rid of the identity of the landlocked countries, but the Austrian power can only be maintained in the Adriatic coast, to the ocean needs to pass through a large number of sea areas not under their control, the Austrians are not interested in this high-risk overseas trade, and the Atlantic coast of the sea power compared to the Austrian is a typical land-based countries, they prefer to devote themselves to the struggle for supremacy in the European region.

The Austrian rulers in 1618-1648 fought with Sweden and France in order to regain Bohemia (now Czechoslovakia) and expand their power in Germany, and in 1688-1697 they joined forces with England to fight against French expansion on the European continent.

In 1697, the Austrians defeated the Turks, halting their 200-year expansion, and took Hungary and other territories into their possession, and in 1701 Austria was involved in the War of the Spanish Succession.

▲The Thirty Years' War had a profound effect on the political landscape of Europe

The years of war left Austria almost entirely focused on Europe, with a diminishing interest in developing colonies. But a man named Wilhelm Bolt changed the course of the Austrian court. But a man named Wilhelm Bolt changed the attitude of the Austrian court.

Bolt was a Dutch-Englishman who had worked for the British East India Company, but lost his job and was expelled from the East India Company for making illegal profits.

He came to Austria in 1775, ruled by Theresa, who had come to power by virtue of a state-based edict. Boldt's tongue convinced the queen that even a port like Trieste, nestled deep in the Mediterranean, could establish trade routes to the East.

Bolt arrived in the Gulf of Dragoa in early 1778 and set up a trading post there. The stronghold soon grew with the ivory trade, making up to 75,000 pounds a year in profits. But a malaria attacked Dragoa in 1781, a heavy blow to the Austrians. A red-hot Portugal saw an opportunity to send troops to expel the remaining Austrians.

At the same time that the Dragoa stronghold was short-lived, Bolt came to India, and in April 1778 he ordered Gottfried Stahl to lead a fleet of ships to Nicosia. Starr to lead a fleet of ships to the Nicobar Islands, and Starr, true to his word, signed a treaty with the local chieftain and gained dominion over the entire archipelago. This attracted the hostility of the Danes, who had claimed the islands as early as 1756, and in their opinion the Austrians were encroaching on their territory.

Although the Austrian government did not provide the colony with any supplies, colonization continued in full swing, but Stahl died unexpectedly in 1783, and since then disease has struck again, and the Danes have sent warships from Tranquebar to try to forcibly expel the Austrians from the islands. The Austrians eventually abandoned the colony in 1785 after internal and external problems.

In 1858, the Austrian warship Novara returned to the Nicobar Islands, accompanied by the anthropologist von Scherzer, who suggested colonizing the islands again. In 1858, the Austrian warship Novara came to the Nicobar Islands again, and the anthropologist Von Scherzer, who accompanied the ship, suggested colonizing the islands again, but the Austrian government refused.

Austria in the 16th-18th centuries focused its expansion on Europe, and although the Austrian monarch monopolized the throne of the Holy Roman Empire, the other vassals within the empire did not exactly look up to Austria, and the entire Holy Roman Empire was politically fragmented and in constant strife.

The rise of Prussia in the north put great pressure on Austria. In order to compete with Prussia for the hegemony of Germany, Austria spent a lot of national strength, and could not afford to colonize and expand overseas, and the weak navy also made the Austrian government incapable of supporting civil colonization, which was in great contrast to the colonization actions of Britain and France.

At the same time, France and other continental forces of the powerful also let Austria tired to cope with, as a traditional land power countries, in order to fight for the hegemony of the continent Austria and these enemies in the continent of Europe to start a fierce game. After Napoleon came to power, Austria in the war against France ate a series of defeats, a few times to cut the land to pay reparations.

So Austria gradually missed the wave of colonization, in this phase of overseas colonization activities is almost no income.

Three, compromised empire

August 1806, Napoleon, who dominated Europe, forced Franz, the Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria, to dissolve the Holy Roman Empire, and Austria's dominant position in Germany was greatly weakened. 1815 after the fall of Napoleon's empire, the continent of Europe to a certain extent restored the old order of domination, but the Austrian hegemony in Germany was affected by Prussia. The Austrian hegemony in Germany was seriously challenged by Prussia.

War broke out between Austria and Prussia in 1866, when the Prussian army invaded Vienna. Defeated, Austria was kicked out of the German family and completely lost the battle for German hegemony to Prussia.

▲Austria's defeat enabled Prussia to unify Germany

The defeat of the war brought about major changes within Austria. From the 16th century onwards, with the expansion of Austria, Austria gradually incorporated a large number of Hungarians, Czechs, and Poles into its own territory, and the complex ethnic composition gradually evolved into a major problem that hindered the development of Austria.

The Hungarians were the most influential, and in 1848 they started a large-scale national movement to break away from Austrian rule, which was eventually restored by the court in Vienna with the help of Russian troops.

After Austria's defeat in the Austro-Prussian War in 1866, and fearing that the Hungarians would rebel again, Emperor Joseph Franz was forced to agree to the restoration of the establishment of the Kingdom of Hungary, but the Austrian Emperor and the King of Hungary had to be ruled by the Habsburgs at the same time, and from then on the original unitary system of the Austrian Empire was declared to be at an end.

Replaced by the dualistic Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Hungarians were elevated from a dominated people to one of the dominant peoples, and all decisions concerning foreign and domestic reforms of the empire had to be passed by both the Austrian and Hungarian parliaments before they could be implemented.

▲Austrian Germans (red) and Hungarians (green) accounted for less than half of the empire's population, but ruled the entire empire

After the founding of the Austro-Hungarian empire, the Western world was gradually setting off a second round of colonization of Africa, but at this time the Austro-Hungarian empire was not interested in the faraway Africa, by the Hungarians, Austria-Hungary eventually gave up on the idea of revenge on Germany. It turned south to compete with Russia for a sphere of influence in the Balkans.

In addition to the Hungarians' desire to concentrate on expanding their power in the Balkans, there were also practical considerations in not joining the rush to colonize Africa. At that time, Austria-Hungary's industrial development level was lower than that of Britain and France, and the domestic market of 53 million people was sufficient to absorb a large portion of the output, and the output of industrial products in the west could be sold to the eastern agricultural regions, without the need to go to the distant Africa to open up markets.

At the same time, as a country second only to Russia in size on the European continent, Austria-Hungary also had an abundance of raw materials within its borders, which greatly reduced the need for Austria-Hungary to open up colonies to obtain raw materials.

While the imperial government was not keen on overseas colonization, there were colonial gains.

In 1865, the U.S. consul in Brunei, Claude. Moses leased a piece of land in northern Borneo, and he gave the administration of the territory to American businessman Joseph Torrey. He gave the administration of the territory to an American businessman, Joseph Tory.

But due to a lack of financial support, Tory had to resell the territory to the Austrian consul in Hong Kong, Von Overbeck. Overbeck then forced the Sultan of Brunei to include the whole of Sabah in the territory.

Overbeck's colonization of Sabah was a personal matter, and he wished to sell the colony to the Austrian government, which was not interested in Sabah. Overbeck had no choice but to cooperate with the Dent brothers from England, and in 1879 Overbeck left Sabah with his money. In 1879, Overbeck withdrew his capital and left Sabah, which became a British colony.

In 1872, the explorer Julius von Schwartz was founded as a British colony. Von Pai led an expedition to the Arctic Ocean. Pai led an expedition to the Arctic Ocean in search of a northeastern route for the empire.

In August 1873, the fleet discovered an uninhabited archipelago northeast of Neustadt, which the Austro-Hungarian explorers named after the emperor at the time - the Franz Josef Archipelago

The imperial government planned to send immigrants to the islands, but the bitterly cold land held no attraction for Austria-Hungary's subjects. But this bitterly cold land was not attractive to Austria-Hungary's subjects, and the immigration program turned out to be a bad idea. The archipelago became an empty colony of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

The situation took a turn for the worse in 1899, when Spain, which had lost the Spanish-American War, offered to sell Rio de Oro to Austria-Hungary. The Austrian parliament and the emperor himself were in favor of the offer, but the Hungarian parliament vetoed it, and the plan was eventually aborted. By this time, Austria-Hungary did not even have a decent colony before entering the 20th century.

▲Rio de Oro is located in the southern part of the Western Sahara in Africa

Fourth, curtain call, the last years of the Habsburg

Entering the 20th century, the empire's wagon is still moving forward, but under the high-speed development of the light but lurks a huge worry, the empire in the 20th century, the last 18 years of the years of the disappearance of it completely.

When the Boxer Rebellion broke out in China in 1900, eight European and American powers formed a coalition to invade China, and Austria-Hungary sent only 295 men to join the coalition. It accounted for 0.59% of the total strength of the allied forces, more of a show of the posture of the powers.

In addition to the reparations to Austria-Hungary stipulated in the Xin Chou Treaty, Austria-Hungary also demanded the opening of a concession in Tianjin. in December 1902, the Qing government formally signed a treaty with Austria-Hungary, which opened up about 1,030 acres of land in the area of the Shishilinqiao Bridge in Tianjin as the Austrian concession.

But due to the limited trade between China and Austria, and the inconvenience of the Austrian Concession in terms of shipping, the development of the Austrian Concession has been relatively slow. But no matter what, the 10,000 or so residents here also held up the face of the empire, allowing Austria-Hungary to escape the embarrassment of not having a colony.

▲The Austrian Concession in Tianjin, the northernmost of the many concessions

In 1908, the empire announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, a region it had seized from the Turks in 1878, but at the international conference held that year, the European powers allowed Austria-Hungary to occupy it physically only, while sovereignty remained with Turkey.

When the Empire tore off the pretense of military occupation, Russia reacted violently, and Russian-Austrian relations took a sharp turn for the worse. At this time, the Balkan nationalist movement was in full swing, and the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina not only did not make the Austro-Hungarian Empire stronger, but also made the ethnic composition of the country more complex. As the Russian-Austrian rivalry around the Balkans gradually became more and more heated, the region of Bosnia and Herzegovina ultimately became the fuse that ignited the powder keg of the Balkan Peninsula.

On July 28, 1914, World War I officially broke out. Four years later the empire and its few colonies were torn apart by the war, and in 1917 the Chinese Beiyang government reclaimed the Austrian Concession of Tianjin on August 14th of that year after its participation in the First World War. The Franco-Josephine Islands were once again rendered terra nullius, and in 1926 the Soviet Union claimed them as its own. Since then the Austrian (Austro-Hungarian) Empire and its colonies have completely disappeared from view.

▲Austria-Hungary disintegrated after World War I

Looking at the history of Austria-Hungary, it is easy to see that due to the constraints of national conflicts at home and the need to compete with other powers for hegemony in Central Europe and the Balkans, the center of domination was placed on the continent so that the empire could not afford to open up colonies; a large country and population could provide sufficient raw materials and digest a large amount of output so that the empire did not have to open up colonies; limited by geographical location and at the same time, the empire did not have to develop colonies; and a huge population could provide sufficient raw materials and digest a large amount of output. The large size of the country and its population, which could provide sufficient raw materials and absorb a large amount of output, made it unnecessary for the empire to open up colonies.

Austria (Austria-Hungary) thus became the least colonized power.