2 AUSTEIA-HUNGARY. 



be taken account of when inquiring into the growth of the Austro-Hungarian 

 Empire. 



The Danube formed a portion of the boundary of the Roman Empire, and 

 remained so for a considerable period. The conquests which Trajan made in 

 the Carpathians, to the north of it, were looked upon as the most convincing 

 proof of the irresistible power of Rome. The great migrations of nations 

 all at once changed the geographical part played by the Danube. No 

 longer a barrier dividing nations, it became their great, highway. The Huns, 

 the Avares, and other Eastern hordes ascended it ; the Slavs, Magyars, and 

 Turks subsequently took the same route ; whilst the Franks and Boioarians 

 when they colonised Austria, the Crusaders when marching upon Constanti- 

 nople, and the armies contending with the Turks took the opposite direction. 

 The Inn is a larger river than the Upper Danube ; and if the united river 

 is nevertheless known by the name of the latter down to its mouth in the 

 Black Sea, this is only because of the part it played in history. The Inn leads 

 into sterile mountains ; the Upper Danube o^ens a pathway into Bohemia and 

 Swabia. 



When the Danube became a high-road between nations it could no longer form a 

 political boundary ; and actually not only Hungary and Austria hold both banks 

 of the river, but Bavaria and Wurtemberg do so likewise. On the other hand, 

 some of its tributaries form natural boundaries between states or nations. These 

 rivers opposed substantial obstacles to the armed hosts which in former times 

 traversed the valley of the Danube. Many of them, owing to floods or rapid 

 current, are far more difficult to cross than the Danube itself, and served succes- 

 sively as lines of defence. In the tenth century the Magyars had the Enns for 

 their frontier ; they were then driven back to the Erlau, and at present the 

 Leitha and the Morava form this westernmost boundary. The Inn, with its 

 tributary Salzach, separates Austria from Bavaria ; the Lech and the Hier, 

 Bavaria from Swabia. 



The grand "struggle for existence" is waged not only on the battle-field, but 

 perhaps even more frequently it is a contest for ascendancy in matters of 

 commerce. Ihe great natural highway of the Danube has played a prominent 

 part in the history of commerce and industry. At a time when there hardly 

 existed any artificial roads a great portion of Southern Germany became dependent 

 upon that river. Towns multiplied in its valley, and in consequence it became 

 also a centre of political power. Germans and Magyars, by taking possession for 

 a considerable extent of both banks of the Danube, laid the foundations of powerful 

 states. 



The Eastern Alps, likewise, have greatly influenced the historical development 

 of Austria. The Austrians, once masters of the river, succeeded all the more 

 easily in gaining possession of the mountain valleys, as these were for the most 

 part inhabited by men of the same race. The Alps, including of course those of 

 Switzerland, may be likened to a great citadel raised in the centre of Europe. 

 Those who hold it are not only favourably placed for defensive purposes, but the 



