The book is dedicated to the history of the formation, development and decline of the multinational state created by the Habsburg dynasty in the center of Europe at the beginning of the 16th century and which existed until 1918. The Austrian Empire (since 1876 - Austria-Hungary) was among the leading European empires for several centuries. powers and played a huge role in the history of Europe. The author focuses on the Habsburgs as politicians and statesmen who contributed to the unification of many peoples of the Central European region within a single state. The history of the ruling house is inextricably and dramatically linked with the history of European politics, from the creation of the empire until its collapse, the tragic symbol of which was the murder in Sarajevo of the Serbian terrorist Gavrilo Princip of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the imperial throne. This murder was the pebble that pushed the avalanche of the continental scale. It served as a pretext for the First World War, which radically redrew the political map of Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century.