I don't know if it's a comment you hear today, but certainly when I used to go out at night as a student back in 1990 Salzburg, Austrians with an attitude would poke fun at Americans like me by telling me that my America was only a couple of hundred years old whereas their country dated back a thousand years.Ok, it is true that the first written mention of Ostarrîchi or the "Eastern Empire, which is today the German word for Austria (Österreich), was in the year 996. However, it is interesting to note that Austria as a republic has only been around since 1918. This year is being celebrated as the 80th anniversary of Republik Österreich.
Before that, Austria was ruled by a monarchy, a pretty powerful one. For many years, it was actually called Austria-Hungary and contained much more than just those two countries. And that it was called a republic as of 1918 is a bit misleading, too, since Austria had before 1938 some pretty oppressive and suppressive leaders. And from 1938 to 1945, Austria had as its leader possibly the king of oppression and suppression as the Nazi annexation of Austria turned the country from a nation into an outer region of Germany.
So I might argue today that things may have only started looking like a republic after the completion of WII which would shave 27 years off the 80th anniverary.
