History of Austria
Austria was dominated by the House of Habsburg and House of Habsburg-Lorraine ("Haus Österreich") from 1273 to 1918. In 1808, when Emperor Francis II of Austria dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, Austria became the Austrian Empire, and was also part of the German Confederation until the Austro-Prussian War of 1866. In 1867, Austria formed a dual monarchy with Hungary: the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918). When this empire collapsed after the end of World War I in 1918, Austria was reduced to the main, mostly German-speaking areas of the empire (its current frontiers), and adopted the name The Republic of German-Austria. However the union and name were forbidden by the Allies at the Treaty of Versailles. This led to the creation of the First Austrian Republic (1918-1933).
History of Austria
The Provisional National Assembly ("Provisorische Nationalversammlung für Deutschösterreich") met in Vienna from 21 October 1918 to 19 February 1919, as the first parliament of the new Austria, in the Lower Austria parliamentary buildings ("Niederösterreichische Landhaus"). It consisted of those members of the "Reichsrat" (Imperial Council) elected in 1911 from German speaking territories with three presidents, Franz Dinghofer (German National Movement, GDVP), Jodok Fink (Christian Social Party, CS) and Karl Seitz (Social Democratic Workers' Party of Austria, SDAPÖ). The National Assembly continued its work till 16 February 1919 when elections were held. On 30 October it adopted a provisional constitution and on 12 November it adopted German Austria ("Deutschösterreich") as the name of the new state. Since the Emperor, Charles I (Karl I) had stated on 11 November that he no longer had ""auf jeden Anteil an den Staatsgeschäften"" (any share in the affairs of state), although he always said that he never abdicated. Austria was now a republic.
However the provisional constitution stated that it was to be part of the new German Republic proclaimed three days earlier. Article 2 stated: "Deutschösterreich ist ein Bestandteil der Deutschen Republik" (German Austria is part of the German Republic).