Since the second half of the 14th century, the Burgundian state had begun to form on the soil of the old Lotharingia on both sides of the French-German language border.

This state was composed of various lands that were neither economically nor culturally unified and rose to become a major European power in the 15th century.

[1] When Charles the Bold fell in the Battle of Nancy in January 1477, leaving no male heir, the autonomy of the Burgundian duchy ended.

Charles the Bold had previously made a promise that his daughter Mary of Burgundy would be married to Maximilian I, the son of Emperor Frederick III, which occurred that same year.

In 1496, as part of Maximilian I's marriage plans, Philip I was married to Joan, the daughter of the "Catholic monarchs" Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon, who stood at the cradle of the nascent Spanish Empire.

[3] Both of their sons, in turn, the future Emperor Charles V, assumed rule in Burgundian Flanders in 1515 and in the Kingdom of Spain the following year.

He thus combined several crowns and even more claims, which served as a foundation for the attempt to establish a dynastic universal monarchy with Habsburg hegemony over Europe.

France found itself encircled: To the south lay the Iberian heartland of the rising great power Spain.

To the north and east along France's border with the Holy Roman Empire was the agglomeration of territories that had come under Habsburg rule as Burgundian inheritance.

[5] The Habsburg monarchy sought an alliance with France due to their growing concern over the rise of Prussia as a major power.

This led to the Convention of Westminster in 1756 between Britain and Prussia, prompting France to seek closer ties with the Habsburg monarchy.

Silesia and Glatz remained in Prussian possession and the Austrian hereditary lands continued to belong to Austria.

In 1770, diplomatic relations between France and Austria were strengthened with the marriage of Maria Antonia (Marie Antoinette), daughter of Maria Theresa, and the future King of France Louis XVI, a grandson of Louis XV, symbolically ending the Habsburg-French conflict that had lasted for almost 300 years.

[7] With the Pillnitz Declaration in 1791, Austria and Prussia had joined forces to support King Louis XVI during the French Revolution.

The Congress of Rastatt from 1797 to 1799 was supposed to discuss the implementation of the peace resolutions, but it did not come to that, because the Napoleonic Wars began and thus the confrontation continued between France and Austria as well.

On June 14, 1800, the Battle of Marengo took place, which brought Upper Italy back under French control and was a decisive victory over Austria.

Napoleon established his headquarters at Austerlitz Castle, negotiated an armistice with Emperor Francis I, and the withdrawal of Russian troops.

However, Napoleon went on to win subsequent battles against Austria, resulting in an armistice in Znojmo and the signing of the Peace of Schönbrunn in October 1809.

To consolidate their political situation, Emperor Francis II's daughter, Archduchess Marie Louise, was married to Napoleon in 1810.

He is replaced by the Treaty of Fontainebleau, concluded by Austria, Russia, Prussia and himself, which banished him to the island of Elba and granted Empress Marie-Louise the Italian duchies of Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla with full autonomy.

In September of that year until June 9, 1815, the Congress of Vienna took place under the leadership of the Austrian Foreign Minister Prince von Metternich, whose goal was the reorganization of Europe after the defeat of Napoleon, and with which Austria was able to get back many territories lost to France.

France, under Napoleon III, was willing to risk war with Austria in order to secure parts of northern Italy in Lombardo-Venetia.

Austro-Hungarian troops were deployed on the Western Front as military support for the German Empire in France and Belgium.

The allies of the Central Powers, Italy and Romania, remained neutral for the time being, but then entered the war on the side of the Entente.

Therefore, all of France's diplomatic efforts in the interwar period were aimed at ensuring that Austria remained an independent state.

[13][12] After the elimination of the Austrian parliament in 1933, France tried in vain to force the return of democracy in Austria by not servicing aid payments.

[12] After the Anschluss to the German Reich was completed on March 13, 1938, and Austria subsequently ceased to exist as an independent state, the governments of France and England each lodged protest notes.

France did not limit itself to the establishment and operation of cultural institutions, but also promoted local initiatives that otherwise would not have existed so quickly.