For centuries, Austria was part of the Habsburg Empire. In the aftermath of World War I, the Danube Monarchy disintegrated into its components, and Austria was, as French Prime Minister Clemenceau put it, "what remained" - and became a republic. Andreas Pittler picks up this new chapter and describes the enormous difficulties the new state faced during the interwar period. Just like in Germany, the opportunity to provide the country with an anti-capitalist alternative was missed in 1918. The result was the inglorious demise of a state that no one wanted. Pittler then addresses the anti-fascist resistance, first against the corporatist dictatorship, and then against the Nazi terror regime. Finally, he depicts the development of Austria after liberation from fascism and the rise of its "Second Republic.".