![Klimpt's "The Kiss"](http://photos.travelblog.net/371983/979032/s/9336376-klimpt-39-s-quot-the-kiss-quot-0.jpg "Klimpt's "The Kiss"")
![Casting the "Plague" into the River](http://photos.travelblog.net/371147/977916/s/9316159-casting-the-quot-plague-quot-into-the-river-0.jpg "Casting the "Plague" into the River")
Once the center of power for the large Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria was reduced to a small republic after its defeat in World War I. Following annexation by Nazi Germany in 1938 and subsequent occupation by the victorious Allies in 1945, Austria'...more history