Post by Austria Application on Aug 24, 2010 7:45:30 GMT 1
Country: Republik Österreich/ Republic of Austria
Real name: Roderich Edelstein
Personality: Roderich Edelstein is a well-spoken aristocrat. Some might even call him a cheap, stingy, young master. Even though he is wealthy, he likes to save money. He rather not work, but instead dedicate his time and effort to his hobbies, which include art and music—the piano in particular. He also likes cake very much. He tends to stay rather quiet and optimistic, yet is often shown to have quite the temper. Although work is not on the top of his priority list, do your job efficiently if he is around or else he will yell at you about it.
Maybe it is because of his interest in art, but he concerned with the way things look. He may not like to spend much money, but he also tries to look as dignified as the aristocrat he is. In fact, he doesn’t have that terrible eyesight, but he believes he would look plain without them. Perhaps one can say that he is a very self-conscious person, concerned with what people think of him. It might also be apparent that he holds high standards for himself and others. Roderich also has an absolutely horrible sense of direction.
Likes:
- Music
- Cake
- His piano
Dislikes:
- Going outside too much
- Marine animals
- Work
History:
(Skipping pre-history and such, I'll start after the area was overrun by Magyars in 909)
> Emperor Otto the Great defeated the Magyars and Austria was given to Leopold of Babenberg in 976 after the revolt of Henry II, Duke of Bavaria.
> Power was given to the Habsburgs in 1278 and would be ruled by them for the next 640 years.
> Ferdinand II triggered the Thirty Years War
>During the reign on Leopold I from 1657–1714, Austria gained a lot of territory including Milan, Naples, and Sardinia, and later Sicily.
>Silesia was invaded by Prussia. Spain and France took advantage of this weakness and the War Of Austrian Succession was started in 1740. When the war ended 8 years later, the Seven Years' War started, Prussia still holding onto Silesia. Yet again, another war started between Austria and Prussia, the War of Bavarian Succession, in 1777.
>1792-1797: Unsucessful war with France
>Differences emerged between the Austrians and French over the reorganization of Germany, and Austria joined Russia, Britain, and Naples in the War of the Second Coalition in 1799.
>By the Imperial Deputation Report of 1803, the Holy Roman Empire was entirely reorganized, with nearly all of the ecclesiastical territories and free cities, traditionally the parts of the Empire most friendly to the House of Austria, eliminated.
>With Bonaparte's assumption of the title of Emperor of the French in 1804, Francis, seeing the writing on the wall for the old Empire, took the new title of Emperor of Austria as Francis I, in addition to his title of Holy Roman Emperor. Soon, Napoleon's continuing machinations in Italy, including the annexation of Genoa and Parma, led once again to war in 1805—the War of the Third Coalition, in which Austria, Britain, Russia, and Sweden took on Napoleon. The Austrian forces began the war by invading Bavaria, a key French ally in Germany, but were soon outmaneuvered and forced to surrender by Napoleon at Ulm, before the main Austro-Russian force was defeated at Austerlitz on December 2. By the Treaty of Pressburg, Austria was forced to give up large amounts of territory—Dalmatia to France, Venetia to Napoleon's Kingdom of Italy, the Tyrol to Bavaria, and Austria's various Swabian territories to Baden and Württemberg, although Salzburg, formerly held by Francis's younger brother, the previous Grand Duke of Tuscany, was annexed by Austria as compensation. The defeat meant the end of the old Holy Roman Empire.
> Napoleon abdicated on April 3, 1814, and Louis XVIII was restored, soon negotiating a peace treaty with the victorious allies at Paris in June.
>Under the control of Metternich, the Austrian Empire entered a period of censorship and a police state in the period between 1815 and 1848 (Biedermaier or Vormärz period). However, both liberalism and nationalism were on the rise, which resulted in the Revolutions of 1848.
>The defeat at Königgrätz in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866 resulted in Austria's exclusion from Germany; the German Confederation was dissolved.
>To appease Hungarian nationalism, Franz Joseph made a deal with Hungarian nobles, which led to the creation of Austria-Hungary through the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. The western half of the realm (Cisleithania) and Hungary (Transleithania) now became two realms with different interior policy, but with a common ruler and a common foreign and military policy.
>The decades until 1914 generally saw a lot of construction, expansion of cities and railway lines, and development of industry. During this period, now known as Gründerzeit, Austria became an industrialized country, even though the Alpine regions remained characterized by agriculture.
>In 1878, Austria-Hungary occupied Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had been cut off from the rest of the Ottoman Empire by the creation of new states in the Balkans. The territory was annexed in 1908 and put under joint rule by the governments of both Austria and Hungary.
>Nationalist strife increased during the decades until 1914. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who was the presumed heir of Franz Joseph as Emperor, in Sarajevo by a Serb nationalist group triggered World War I. The defeat of the Central Powers in 1918 resulted in the disintegration of Austria-Hungary. Emperor Karl of Austria, who had ruled since 1916, went into exile.
>Following the defeat of Austria-Hungary in World War I, in the Aftermath of World War I the Empire was broken up based loosely on national grounds. Austria, with its modern borders, was created out of the main German speaking areas. On November 12, 1918, Austria became a republic called German Austria.
>Under the Christian Social Party, the Austrian government was moving towards centralization of power in the Fascist model. On February 12, 1934 the new Austrofascist regime provoked the Austrian Civil War by ordering search warrants for the headquarters of the socialist party.
>Although the Treaty of Versailles and the Treaty of St. Germain had explicitly forbidden the unification of Austria and Germany, the native Austrian Hitler was striving to annex Austria during the late 1930s, which was fiercely resisted by the Austrian Schuschnigg dictatorship. When the conflict was escalating in early 1938, Chancellor Schuschnigg announced a plebiscite on the issue on March 9, which was to take place on March 13. On March 12, German troops entered Austria, who met celebrating crowds, in order to install Nazi puppet Arthur Seyss-Inquart as Chancellor. With a Nazi administration already in place and the country integrated into the Third Reich as so-called Ostmark.
>As a result, Austria ceased to exist as an independent country. This annexation was enforced by military invasion but large parts of the Austrian population were in favour of the Nazi regime, many Austrians would participate in its crimes. There was a Jewish population of about 200,000 then living in Vienna, which had contributed considerably to science and culture and very many of these people, with socialist and Catholic Austrian politicians were deported to concentration camps, murdered or forced into exile.
>Just before the end of the war, on March 28, 1945, American troops set foot on Austrian soil and the Soviet Union's Red Army crossed the eastern border two days later, taking Vienna on April 13. American and British forces occupied the western and southern regions, preventing Soviet forces from completely overrunning and controlling the country.
>Austria was occupied by the Allies
>The two major parties strove towards ending allied occupation and restoring a fully independent Austria. The Austrian State Treaty was signed on May 15, 1955. Upon the termination of allied occupation, Austria was proclaimed a neutral country, and "everlasting" neutrality was incorporated into the Constitution on October 26, 1955.
Role Play Example: The Austrian woke up with a start. He jumped awake, brows furrowed. He sighed and reached for his glasses before putting them on. While putting them back on, he felt dampness on his cheeks, a result of the dream he had just awoken from. It startled him for a second before being wiped dry. Roderich wearily got out of bed and dressed before making his way to the music room so sacred to him. He sat at the piano and just stared for a moment. Why? Why must he have such a dream? Must the past come to haunt him? He shut his eyes tightly and started at his piano again. He needed his music. Right now, it was the only thing keeping him sane. He took a deep breath as he started to play his favourite piece by Chopin.