10-year charter to trade under the flag of the Holy Roman Empire with Persia, India, China and Africa. The Austrian East India Company marked the first attempt by Austria to establish overseas colonies. Within the next two years, Bolts established factories on the Malabar Coast, on the southeastern African coast at Delagoa Bay, and at the Nicobar Islands. These ventures ultimately failed however due to pressure from other colonial powers such as Portugal and Denmark-Norway, both of which forcefully evicted Bolts and his colonists from Africa and the Bay of Bengal respectively. Furthermore, the Austrian government did not wish to provoke other foreign powers after having to fight two major continental wars in the span of just 20 years. Vienna was also unwilling to lend much monetary support to either the company or towards the creation of a navy sufficiently large enough to protect its interests. This was partially because the Austrian government expected the ports of Trieste and Fiume to bear the cost of constructing and maintaining a fleet. Establishment of the Austrian Navy The Austrian Navy was finally established in 1786, with Emperor Joseph II purchasing two cutters in Ostend, each armed with 20 guns, and sending them to Trieste. Joseph II also introduced Austria's Naval Ensign, which consisted of a red-white-red standard with the crown of the Archduchy of Austria on the left. Prior to this, Austrian ships flew the yellow and black flag of the Habsburg Monarchy. Joseph II's Marineflagge remained the naval ensign of Austria, and later Austria-Hungary, until the middle of World War I. The onset of the French Revolution in 1789 and the subsequent French Revolutionary Wars greatly changed the political face of Europe and resulted in the largest expansion of the Austrian Navy up to that point in time. Under Joseph II's successor, Leopold II, the Austrian Navy was formally located out of the port of Trieste. In 1797 with the Treaty of Campo Formio between France and Austria which ended the War of the First Coalition, Austria ceded to France the Austrian Netherlands and certain islands in the Mediterranean, including Corfu and some Venetian-held islands in the Adriatic. The Republic of Venice and its territories were divided between the two states, and Austria received the city of Venice along with Istria and Dalmatia. Venice's naval forces and facilities were also handed over to Austria and became the basis of the formation