976 Leopold is margrave of Austria
Leopold, of the Babenberg family, becomes margrave of Austria and founds a dynasty which lasts for three centuries

1020 Hawk's Castle for Habsburgs
Count Radbot builds himself a 'hawk's castle' or Habichstburg, near Zurich, from which the Habsburg dynasty takes its name

1156 Vienna capital of Austria
Vienna is adopted by the Babenberg rulers as the capital city of Austria

1192 Richard I recognized in Austrian inn
Richard I, returning from the Holy Land in disguise, is recognized in an inn near Vienna and is imprisoned until England pays a massive ransom

1273 A Habsburg is elected German king
The period without a German king, known as the Great Interregnum, ends with the election of a Habsburg prince, Rudolf I

1278 Habsburgs gain Austria
At Dürnkrut Rudolf I defeats and kills Otakar II, his rival for Austria - thus bringing the Austrian territories into the Habsburg domain

1291 Everlasting League in Rütli meadow
The Swiss forest districts of Uri, Schwyz and Unterwalden sign an Everlasting League (in the Rütli meadow) to resist Habsburg domination

1315 Swiss army halberds
The Swiss, defeating the Habsburgs at Morgarten, make lethal use of their halberds - designed to jab, grapple and slash

1350 William Tell supposedly shoots apple
William Tell, a figure of legend, epitomizes the struggle of the Swiss farmers against their feudal overlords, the Habsburgs

1356 Seven permanent electors
Charles IV establishes a permanent group of seven electors - four hereditary German rulers and the archbishops of Mainz, Cologne and Trier

1438 Holy Roman empire reserved for Habsburgs
The office of Holy Roman emperor becomes a hereditary title within the Habsburg dynasty

1477 Maximilian I wins Burgundy by marriage
Maximilian, heir to Austria, weds Mary, heiress to Burgundy, in the first of the great marriage alliances which form the Habsburg empire

1485 King of Hungary holds court in Vienna
Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary, captures Vienna and makes the city his capital

1487 Fuggers help out archduke
The Fuggers make their first loan to a Habsburg archduke, beginning a profitable link with the dynasty

1490 Habsburgs recover Vienna
On the death of Matthias Corvinus, in 1490, the Habsburgs recover Vienna from the Hungarians

1496 Austria marries Spain
Philip, heir to Austria, marries Joanna, a daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, in the second of the great Habsburg marital alliances

1499 Swiss independence agreed
The Swiss (or Swabian) War ends with the treaty of Basel, bringing effective recognition of Swiss independence from the Habsburg empire

1516 Spain has Habsburg king
The death of Ferdinand II results in Spain becoming part of the Habsburg empire, under the rule of Charles V (as Charles I of Spain)

1519 Massive bribe for imperial electors
Charles V borrows 852,000 florins, mainly from the Fuggers, to bribe the seven imperial electors

1547 Turks and Habsburgs divide up Hungary
Hungary is divided, by agreement between the Turkish sultan Suleiman I and the Habsburg ruler Ferdinand I

1556 Charles V abdicates
Charles V abdicates, handing the Netherlands and Spain to his son Philip and the title of Holy Roman emperor to his brother Ferdinand

1556 Two Habsburg empires
The division by Charles V of his territories means that there are now two Habsburg empires, Austrian and Spanish

1618 Thirty Years' War begins
Bohemian nobles throw the Habsburg regents out of a window in the castle in Prague, thus triggering the Thirty Years' War

1680 Habsburgs impose serfdom on Czech peasants
Feudal labour laws demanding corvée (compulsory unpaid labour) are imposed by the Habsburgs on the Czech peasants of Bohemia

1683 Turks besiege Vienna
The emperor, Leopold I, and his court abandon Vienna on the approach of a Turkish army

1683 Polish king saves Vienna from Turks
The Turks are driven from the walls of Vienna by the Polish king John Sobieski, in what proves a historic turning point

1687 Habsburg rule accepted by Hungarians
The Hungarian diet grants the Habsburg dynasty in Austria a hereditary right to the crown of St Stephen

1701 War over Spanish crown
The War of the Spanish Succession breaks out between French and Austrian claimants to the Spanish throne

1713 Pragmatic Sanction for Habsburg inheritance
The emperor Charles VI issues a Pragmatic Sanction, declaring that the remaining Habsburg empire can be inherited through the female line

1713 Peace at last on Spanish succession
The treaties signed in Utrecht bring to an end the War of the Spanish Succession

1714 Spanish Netherlands become Austrian
In the aftermath of the War of the Spanish Succession, the Spanish Netherlands are transferred to Austria

1716 Male heir to Habsburg empire dies
The Habsburg emperor Charles VI has a son, but the child dies within the year

1723 Hungary to be separate
The Austrian emperor, Charles VI, agrees that Hungary shall be ruled as a separate kingdom within his empire

1738 France accepts Pragmatic Sanction
In the Treaty of Vienna, France accepts the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VI – the last of the European powers to do so

1740 Maria Theresa inherits in Austria
The Habsburg emperor Charles VI dies and is succeeded by his elder daughter, the 23-year-old Maria Theresa

1740 Frederick invades Silesia
Frederick II, the king of Prussia, invades the neighbouring Habsburg province of Silesia, launching the War of the Austrian Succession

1748 Aix-la-Chapelle ends war
The treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle ends the War of the Austrian Succession, but only postpones the continuation of hostilities (in the Seven Years' War)

1756 France and Austria new friends
In what becomes known as the Diplomatic Revolution, two of Europe's long-standing rivals - France and Austria - sign a treaty of alliance

1762 Mozart plays for empress
6-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart plays for the Habsburg empress Maria Theresa

1763 Prussia gains at Austria's expense
The Treaty of Hubertusburg, between Prussia and Austria, increases the power of Prussia among the many separate states of Germany

1772 First slices of Poland
Russia, Prussia and Austria agree a treaty enabling them to divide the spoils in the first partition of Poland

1781 Habsburgs now tolerate Protestants
Joseph II passes an Edict of Toleration, for the first time allowing Protestant worship in Habsburg territories

1781 Habsburgs emancipate serfs
The reforming emperor Joseph II emancipates the serfs in the Habsburg territories

1786 'Too many notes, my dear Mozart'
The emperor Joseph II is reported to have told Mozart that his opera The Marriage of Figaro has 'too many notes'

1790 Così fan Tutte
Mozart's opera Così fan Tutte has its premiere in Vienna, in the court theatre of Joseph II

1792 France declares war
France declares war on the Austrian emperor, an event that plunges Europe into more than 20 years of conflict

1797 Austria cedes territories to France
Napoleon achieves the peace of Campo Formio, by which Austria cedes the Austrian Netherlands and northern Italy to France

1797 Venice no longer free
By the Treaty of Campo Formio the free republic of Venice, created by Napoleon, is handed over to Austrian rule

1805 Napoleon wins at Austerlitz
Napoleon enters Vienna and then defeats an Austrian and Russian army at Austerlitz

1806 Holy Roman Empire abolished
Francis II formally brings to an end the 1000-year-old Holy Roman Empire, to keep it from the clutches of Napoleon

1810 Napoleon marries Marie Louise
Napoleon marries the Austrian archduchess Marie Louise, daughter of the emperor Francis I

1848 Vienna uprising unseats Metternich
An uprising in Vienna leads to the resignation, on the following day, of the long-serving chancellor Klemens von Metternich

1848 Emperor flees from radical Vienna
Another uprising in Vienna causes the emperor Ferdinand I to flee for safety to Innsbruck

1848 Third uprising in Vienna
Suppression of unrest in Hungary provokes a third violent uprising in Vienna and another flight by Ferdinand I, this time to Olomouc

1848 Francis Joseph is emperor
18-year-old Francis Joseph becomes emperor of Austria when his uncle, Ferdinand I, abdicates at the end of a year of unrest

1849 Kossuth declares Hungary independent
Nationalist leader Lajos Kossuth announces the independence of Hungary and the deposition of the Habsburg dynasty

1849 Habsburgs back in power
The Habsburgs recover power in both Austria and Hungary

1859 Austrians evicted from Milan
A French and Piedmontese army liberates Milan from Austrian rule

1859 Carnage at Solferino
French and Piedmontese forces defeat the Austrians decisively at Solferino, in a battle involving appalling casualties

1866 Seven Week War
The Prussians achieve the first blitzkrieg in their Seven Weeks' War defeat of the Austrians

1866 Prussia upstages Austria in treaty
The terms of the treaty of Prague, ending the Seven Weeks War, make plain the transfer of German leadership from Austria to Prussia

1866 Venice included in Italy
Austrian rule ends in the Venetian territories, which now join the new kingdom of Italy

1867 Compromise creates Austria-Hungary
Francis Joseph, emperor of Austria, is also crowned king of Hungary – to become ruler of the 'dual monarchy' of Austria-Hungary

1867 Prussia excludes Austria
A revival of the Prussian Zollverein, or customs union, includes all the German states except Austria

1878 Austria to rule Bosnia
A congress in Berlin agrees that Austria may administer the Turkish province of Bosnia-Herzegovina

1908 Austria seizes Bosnia
Austria annexes Bosnia-Herzegovina, in response to the policy of the Young Turks in Istanbul

1914 June 28 Archduke assassinated in Sarajevo
Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, is assassinated in Sarajevo by a Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip

1914 Austria-Hungary plans reprisal for archduke's death
Austria-Hungary plans to attack Serbia, in response to the assassination of the archduke, and seeks a guarantee of German support

1914 Austria guaranteed German support
Germany promises to support Austria-Hungary if a strike against Serbia provokes war with Russia

1914 July 28 Austria goes to war against Serbia
Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, following this with bombardment of the Serbian capital, Belgrade

1914 July 30 Russia mobilizes
The Austrian attack on Serbia causes Russia to mobilize her army

1914 August 1 Germany declares war on Russia
In response to the tsar's mobilization of his troops, Germany declares war on Russia

1914 August 10 France at war with Austria
France declares war on the empire of Austria-Hungary

1914 August 12 Britain at war with Austria
Britain declares war on the empire of Austria-Hungary

1915  May 23 Italy enters the war
Italy declares war against Austria-Hungary, but not as yet against Germany

1915 October 9 Belgrade falls to Austrians
Austria-Hungary renews its attack on Serbia, and its troops capture Belgrade

1916 November 21 Francis Joseph dies
The emperor Francis Joseph dies after 66 years on the thrones of Austria and Hungary, to be succeeded by his great-nephew Charles I

1918 November 7 Austria sues for peace
Austria-Hungary signs a separate armistice with the Allied powers, in a villa near Padua, without waiting for the Germans

1918 November 13 Empire of Austria-Hungary ends
The deposition of the emperor Charles I by the Austrian government brings to a formal end the empire of Austria-Hungary and more than six centuries of Habsburg rule

1918 November 13 Austria proclaims itself a republic
With the end of the Habsburg empire, German-speaking Austrians declare their own much smaller territory to be an independent republic