Reflections on Austrian History
Hans Kohn
Defining and writing the history of Austria from Carolingian frontier marches to Second Austrian Republic presents a unique problem. In this period, covering more than 1100 years, formed neither geographic nor an ethnic or national conceptual unit. fact, except for brief periods 1804–1867, 1918–1938, 1945 on, there has been no political constitutional entity which could form undisputed object Gesamtdarstellung history. The only cohesive factor was provided by existence politicogeographic center, whether one defines it as Middle Danube or, perhaps better, Vienna. No other great country possessed similarly ever changing frontiers; did capital city any land play similar formative role very few centripetal attraction-forces enduring over centuries.
Austrian History Yearbook