Like most European countries, Austria looks back on a very eventful history. Yet there are some elements of the Austrian character that haven’t changed much over the centuries: the partiality for indulgence, beauty, and cultivation has always been a driving force in the country’s past and present.
The area of today’s Austria, that is the fertile Danube Valley and the Alpine valleys, were already settled in the Paleolithic Age (until approx. 8000 BC). Around 400 BC, Celtic peoples from Western Europe settled in the eastern Alps. The Romans arrived 200 BC and by 15 BC they dominated the entire area.
The Turkish threat, which included unsuccessful sieges of Vienna in 1529 and in 1683, prompted Poland, Venice, and Russia to join the Habsburg Empire in repelling the Turks. In the late 1690s, command of the imperial forces was entrusted to Prince Eugene of Savoy. Under his leadership, Habsburg forces won control of all but a small portion of Hungary by 1699.
