!!!Austria %%image_right [{GoogleMap location='Austria' type='embedded' zoom='bounds' width='450' height='350'}] %% [{Image src='au-lgflag.gif' class='image_left' height='150' width='226'}] [{Image src='austria.jpg' class='image_left' }] Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World War I. Following annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent occupation by the victorious Allies in 1945, Austria's status remained unclear for a decade. A State Treaty signed in 1955 ended the occupation, recognized Austria's independence, and forbade unification with Germany. A constitutional law that same year declared the country's "perpetual neutrality" as a condition for Soviet military withdrawal. The Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 and Austria's entry into the European Union in 1995 have altered the meaning of this neutrality. A prosperous, democratic country, Austria entered the EU Economic and Monetary Union in 1999. %%menu-geo %%cols-r * %%icon-geo,geo %% [Geography|Geography/Europe/Austria/Geography] * %%icon-geo,maps %% [Maps|Geography/Europe/Austria/Maps] * %%icon-geo,culture %% [Culture|Geography/Europe/Austria/Culture] ---- * %%icon-geo,special %% [Special Information|Geography/Europe/Austria/Special_Information] * %%icon-geo,picture %% [Pictures|Geography/Europe/Austria/Pictures] * %%icon-geo,community %% [Community Contributions|Geography/Europe/Austria/Community_Contributions] %% %% [{Metadata Suchbegriff='Österreich'}]