The Austrian Empire originated in 1804, when the Napoleonic wars had led to the definitive collapse of the Holy Roman Empire, which would be dissolved two years later. The then emperor Francis II, not intended to be stripped of the prestigious title of emperor, so he proclaimed Emperor of Austria (until then his titles - in addition to that of Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire - were Archduke of Austria and King Hungarian). The newly-proclaimed Empire united the dynastic territories of the House of Austria. The dynastic territories were composed of imperial states of the Holy Roman Empire and of countries not belonging to it, organized into autonomous entities with their own administrations.
The Austrian Empire was deeply shaken by the French Revolution and by the ambitions of Napoleon Bonaparte. Emperor Francis I led the first anti-French coalition against Napoleon's France, but suffered severe defeats that cost him the loss of some territories.
Following the disastrous defeats of the French in 1813 and 1815, the Vienna Congress was established which provided for the restoration of the old European regimes and the return to the political-territorial situation preceding the Napoleonic wars.
Following the defeat suffered by Prussia and Italy, in 1867 Francesco Giuseppe signed the Ausgleich, which divided the Hapsburg Empire into the Austrian Empire and Kingdom of Hungary. By virtue of this constitutional reform, the Austrian Empire became an "Austro-Hungarian monarchy" which, under the identical sovereign, recognized the existence of two distinct and equitable realms.
Following the compromise, the imperial expansionist policy moved from Germany to the Balkans, with the occupation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1878).
In 1914, following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, in Sarajevo, the First World War broke out. During the conflict, numerous nationalities included in the empire decided to take independence by force. Austria found itself unable to continue the war and signed the armistice in 1918 and the Habsburg dominions were finally divided into independent states.
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