Short answers, pulled from the story.
The name Austria derives from the Old High German Ostarrîchi, meaning "eastern realm". It first appeared in a document dated 996, known as the Ostarrîchi document. The word Austria is a Latinisation of that German name and was first recorded in the 12th century.
Austria declared itself a democratic republic on the 12th of November 1918, following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Treaty of Saint-Germain of 1919 formalized the new order, forcing the state to rename itself the Republic of Austria after an earlier attempt to call it German-Austria was prohibited by the peace treaties.
The Anschluss was the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, officially declared on the 13th of March 1938. Austrian-born Adolf Hitler announced the "reunification" from Vienna's Heldenplatz two days later. Austria ceased to exist as an independent state and was absorbed into the Third Reich until liberated in 1945.
Austria regained full sovereignty on the 15th of May 1955, when it concluded the Austrian State Treaty with the Allied powers. On the 26th of October 1955 all occupation troops left and Austria declared its permanent neutrality by act of parliament, a date now celebrated as Austria's National Day.
Austria was the birthplace of Joseph Haydn, Michael Haydn, Franz Schubert, Anton Bruckner, Johann Strauss Sr., Johann Strauss Jr., Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, and Alban Berg. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in Salzburg, then an independent Church Principality, and spent much of his career in Vienna.
Austria is a semi-presidential representative democracy and a federation of nine states. The president is the head of state, elected by popular vote, and the chancellor is head of government. The lower house, the Nationalrat, holds 183 seats and citizens may vote from age 16.