Pax Austriaca

[1][2][3] The Archduke Frederick III is credited as the initiator of the ideology as he was the first Habsburg to be elected Holy Roman Emperor, and coined the motto A.E.I.O.U.

[4] His successor Emperor Maximilian I expanded Habsburg territories and did so with marriages rather than war, thus establishing the motto "Bella gerunt alii, tu felix Austria nube" ("let others wage war; you, happy Austria, marry").

[4] Charles V notably attempted to actually enforce the hegemonical peace in Europe.

[4] Further attempts to establish a Pax Habsburgica in Europe continued until the 30 years war.

[3] The Peace of Westphalia ended the universal aspirations of the Habsburg monarchy and put an end to the possibility of a Pax Austriaca, although the term has also been used to describe later policies of the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary.

Family portrait of Emperor Maximilian I and his family; with his son Philip the Fair, his wife Mary of Burgundy, his grandsons Ferdinand I and Charles V, and Louis II of Hungary (husband of his granddaughter Mary of Austria).