After the Austro-Prussian War, Austria-Hungary turned its attention to theBalkans, which was a hotspot of international tension because of conflicting interests of Austria with not only theOttoman but also theRussian Empire. TheBosnian Crisis was a result of Franz Joseph's annexation in 1908 of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had already beenoccupied by his troops since theCongress of Berlin (1878). On 28 June 1914, the assassination ofArchduke Franz Ferdinand inSarajevo resulted in Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against theKingdom of Serbia, which was an ally of the Russian Empire. This activated a system of alliances declaring war on each other, which resulted inWorld War I. Franz Joseph died in 1916, after ruling his domains for almost 68 years. He was succeeded by his grandnephewCharles I & IV.
Franz Joseph was born on 18 August 1830 in theSchönbrunn Palace in Vienna (on the 65th anniversary of the death ofFrancis of Lorraine) as the eldest son of ArchdukeFranz Karl (the younger son ofFrancis I), andSophie, Princess of Bavaria. Because his uncle, reigning from 1835 as the EmperorFerdinand, was disabled by seizures, and his father unambitious and retiring, the mother of the young Archduke "Franzi" brought him up as a future emperor, with emphasis on devotion, responsibility and diligence.
For this reason, Franz Joseph was consistently built up as a potential successor to the imperial throne by his politically ambitious mother from early childhood.
Up to the age of 7, little "Franzi" was brought up in the care of the nanny ("Aja")Louise von Sturmfeder. Then the "state education" began, the central contents of which were "sense of duty", religiosity and dynastic awareness. The theologianJoseph Othmar von Rauscher conveyed to him the inviolable understanding of rulership of divine origin (divine grace), and therefore a belief that no participation of the population in rulership in the form of parliaments was required.
The educators Heinrich Franz von Bombelles and Colonel Johann Baptist Coronini-Cronberg ordered Archduke Franz to study an enormous amount of time, which initially comprised 18 hours per week and was expanded to 50 hours per week by the age of 16. One of the main focuses of the lessons was language acquisition: in addition to French, the diplomatic language of the time,Latin andAncient Greek,Hungarian, Czech, Italian andPolish were the most important national languages of the monarchy. In addition, the archduke received general education that was customary at the time (including mathematics, physics, history, geography), which was later supplemented by law and political science. Various forms of physical education completed the extensive program.
On his 13th birthday, Franz Joseph was appointed Colonel-Inhaber of Dragoon Regiment No. 3 and the focus of his training shifted to imparting basic strategic and tactical knowledge. From that point onward, army style dictated his personal fashion—for the rest of his life, he normally wore the uniform of a military officer.[3] Franz Joseph was soon joined by three younger brothers: Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian (born 1832, the future EmperorMaximilian ofMexico); ArchdukeKarl Ludwig (born 1833, father ofArchduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria), andArchduke Ludwig Viktor (born 1842), and a sister, ArchduchessMaria Anna (born 1835), who died at the age of 4.[4]
During theRevolutions of 1848, theAustrian Chancellor PrinceKlemens von Metternich resigned (March–April 1848). The young archduke, who (it was widely expected) would soon succeed his uncle on the throne, was appointed Governor ofBohemia on 6 April 1848, but never took up the post. Sent instead to thefront in Italy, he joined Field MarshalRadetzky on campaign on 29 April, receiving his baptism of fire on 5 May atSanta Lucia.
By all accounts, he handled his first military experience calmly and with dignity. Around the same time, the imperial family was fleeing revolutionary Vienna for the calmer setting ofInnsbruck, inTyrol. Called back from Italy, the archduke joined the rest of his family at Innsbruck by mid-June. It was here that Franz Joseph first met his cousin and eventual future bride, Elisabeth, then a girl of 10, but apparently the meeting made little impression.[5]
Following Austria's victory over the Italians atCustoza in late July 1848, the court felt it safe to return to Vienna, and Franz Joseph travelled with them. But within a few weeks, Vienna again appeared unsafe, and in September, the court left once more, this time forOlmütz inMoravia. By now,Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, an influential military commander in Bohemia, was determined to see the young archduke soon put on the throne. It was thought that a new ruler would not be bound by the oaths to respect constitutional government to which Ferdinand had been forced to agree, and that it was necessary to find a young, energetic emperor to replace the kindly but mentally unfit Ferdinand.[6]
By the abdication of his uncle Ferdinand and the renunciation of his father (the mild-mannered Franz Karl), Franz Joseph succeeded as Emperor of Austria at Olmütz on 2 December 1848. At this time, he first became known by his second as well as his first Christian name. The name "Franz Joseph" was chosen to bring back memories of the new Emperor's great-granduncle, EmperorJoseph II (Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790), remembered as a modernising reformer.[7]
TheBattle of Győr on 28 June 1849. Franz Joseph entersGyőr leading the Austrian troops.
However, the military tide began to turn swiftly in favor of Franz Joseph and the Austrian whitecoats. Almost immediately, Charles Albert was decisively beaten by Radetzky atNovara and forced to sue for peace, as well as to renounce his throne.
Unlike other Habsburg ruled areas, theKingdom of Hungary had anold historic constitution,[8] which limited the power of the crown and had greatly increased the authority of theparliament since the 13th century.The Hungarian reform laws (April laws) were based on the 12 points that established the fundaments of modern civil and political rights, economic and societal reforms in the Kingdom of Hungary.[9] The crucial turning point of the Hungarian events were the April laws which was ratified by his uncle King Ferdinand, however the new young Austrian monarch Francis Joseph arbitrarily "revoked" the laws without any legal competence. The monarchs had no right to revoke Hungarian parliamentary laws which were already signed. This unconstitutional act irreversibly escalated the conflict between the Hungarian parliament and Francis Joseph. The AustrianStadion Constitution was accepted by theImperial Diet of Austria, where Hungary had no representation, and which traditionally had no legislative power in the territory of Kingdom of Hungary; despite this, it also tried to abolish theDiet of Hungary (which existed as the supreme legislative power in Hungary since the late 12th century.)[10]
The new Austrian constitution also went against the historical constitution of Hungary, and even tried to nullify it.[11] Even the territorial integrity of the country was in danger: On 7 March 1849, an imperial proclamation was issued in the name of the Emperor Francis Joseph, according to the new proclamation, the territory of Kingdom of Hungary would be carved up and administered by five military districts, while thePrincipality of Transylvania would be reestablished.[12] These events represented a clear and obvious existential threat for the Hungarian state. The new constrained Stadion Constitution of Austria, the revocation of the April laws and the Austrian military campaign against the Kingdom of Hungary resulted in the fall of the pacifistBatthyány government (which sought agreement with the court) and led to the sudden emergence ofLajos Kossuth's followers in the Hungarian parliament, who demanded the full independence of Hungary. The Austrian military intervention in the Kingdom of Hungary resulted in strong anti-Habsburg sentiment among Hungarians, thus the events in Hungary grew into a war for total independence from theHabsburg dynasty.
On 7 December 1848, theDiet of Hungary formally refused to acknowledge the title of the new king, "as without the knowledge and consent of the diet no one could sit on the Hungarian throne", and called the nation to arms.[12] While in most Western European countries (like France and the United Kingdom) the monarch's reignbegan immediately upon the death of their predecessor, in Hungary the coronation was indispensable; if it were not properly executed, the kingdom remained "orphaned".
Even during the long personal union between the Kingdom of Hungary and other Habsburg ruled areas, the Habsburg monarchs had to be crowned asKing of Hungary in order to promulgate laws there or exercise royal prerogatives in the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary.[13][14][15] From a legal point of view, according to the coronation oath, a crowned Hungarian king could not relinquish the Hungarian throne during his life; if the king was alive and unable to do his duty as ruler, a governor (or regent, as they would be called in English) had to assume the royal duties. Constitutionally, Franz Joseph's uncle Ferdinand was still the legalking of Hungary. If there was no possibility to inherit the throne automatically due to the death of the predecessor king (since King Ferdinand was still alive), but the monarch wanted to relinquish his throne and appoint another king before his death, technically only one legal solution remained: the parliament had the power to dethrone the king and elect a new king. Due to the legal and military tensions, the Hungarian parliament did not grant Franz Joseph that favour. This event gave to the revolt an excuse of legality. Actually, from this time until the collapse of the revolution,Lajos Kossuth (as elected regent-president) became the de facto and de jure ruler of Hungary.[12]
While the revolutions in the Austrian territories had been suppressed by 1849 in Hungary, the situation was more severe and Austrian defeat seemed imminent. Sensing a need to secure his right to rule, Franz Joseph sought help fromRussia, requesting the intervention of TsarNicholas I, in order "to prevent the Hungarian insurrection developing into a European calamity".[16] For the Russian military support, Franz Joseph kissed the hand of the tsar inWarsaw on 21 May 1849.[17] Tsar Nicholas supported Franz Joseph in the name of theHoly Alliance,[18] and sent a 200,000 strong army with 80,000 auxiliary forces led by GeneralIvan Paskevich. Finally, the joint army of Russian and Austrian forces defeated the Hungarian forces. After the restoration of Habsburg power, Hungary was placed under brutalmartial law.[19] This led to the death ofLajos Batthyány andexecutions in Arad.
With order now restored throughout his empire, Franz Joseph felt free to renege on the constitutional concessions he had made, especially as the Austrian parliament meeting atKremsier had behaved—in the young Emperor's eyes—abominably. The 1849 constitution was suspended, and a policy of absolutist centralism was established, guided by the Minister of the Interior,Alexander Bach.[20]
On 18 February 1853, Franz Joseph survived an assassination attempt by Hungarian nationalistJános Libényi.[21] The emperor was taking a stroll with one of his officers, CountMaximilian Karl Lamoral O'Donnell, on a citybastion, when Libényi approached him. He immediately struck the emperor from behind with a knife straight at the neck. Franz Joseph almost always wore a uniform, which had a high collar that almost completely enclosed the neck. The collars of uniforms at that time were made from very sturdy material, precisely to counter this kind of attack. Even though the Emperor was wounded and bleeding, the collar saved his life. Count O'Donnell struck Libényi down with his sabre.[21]
O'Donnell, hitherto a Count only by virtue of his Irish nobility,[22] was made a Count of theHabsburg monarchy (Reichsgraf). Another witness who happened to be nearby, the butcher Joseph Ettenreich, swiftly overpowered Libényi. For his deed he was later elevated to the nobility by the emperor and became Joseph von Ettenreich. Libényi was subsequently put on trial and condemned to death for attemptedregicide. He was executed on the Simmeringer Heide.[23]
Silver coin: 2 Gulden of Franz Joseph I - Silver Wedding JubileeSilver coin: 5 corona, 1908 – The bust of Franz Joseph I facing right surrounded by the legend "Franciscus Iosephus I, Dei gratia, imperator Austriae, rex Bohemiae, Galiciae, Illyriae et cetera et apostolicus rex Hungariae"Thegarter of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria
The next few years saw the seeming recovery of Austria's position on the international scene following the near disasters of 1848–1849. Under Schwarzenberg's guidance, Austria was able to stymiePrussian scheming to create a new German Federation under Prussian leadership, excluding Austria. After Schwarzenberg's premature death in 1852, he could not be replaced by statesmen of equal stature, and the emperor himself effectively took over as prime minister.[20] He established absolutist rule by issuing theMarch Constitution (Austria) in 1849. This was in turn revoked by theSilvesterpatent. Seeking to borrow money on foreign markets, he relented and issued theFebruary Patent in 1861 which established the Empire's constitution.[25]
He was one of the most prominent Roman Catholic rulers in Europe, and a fierce enemy ofFreemasonry.[26]
The Hungarian political leaders had two main goals during the negotiations. One was to regain the traditional status (both legal and political) of the Hungarian state, which was lost after theHungarian Revolution of 1848. The other was to restore the series of reform laws of the revolutionary parliament of 1848, which were based on the12 points that established modern civil and political rights, economic and societal reforms in Hungary.[9]
The Compromise partially re-established[28] the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hungary, separate from, and no longer subject to the Austrian Empire. Instead, it was regarded as an equal partner with Austria. The compromise put an end to 18 years of absolutist rule and military dictatorship which had been introduced by Francis Joseph after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Franz Joseph was crowned King of Hungary on 8 June, and on 28 July he promulgated the laws that officially turned the Habsburg domains into the Dual Monarchy ofAustria-Hungary.
According to Emperor Franz Joseph, "There were three of us who made the agreement:Deák,Andrássy and myself."[29] However, the role of Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) cannot be understated in facilitating this compromise. Fluent in Hungarian and deeply sympathetic to the Hungarian cause, Elisabeth fostered close relationships with Hungarian leaders, including Count Gyula Andrássy, and worked behind the scenes to persuade Francis Joseph to adopt a more conciliatory approach. Her influence helped build the trust necessary for successful negotiations, and her personal popularity in Hungary significantly bolstered the monarchy's legitimacy in the region.[30]
Political difficulties in Austria mounted continuously through the late 19th century and into the 20th century. However, Franz Joseph remained immensely respected; the emperor's patriarchal authority held the Empire together while the politicians squabbled among themselves.[31]
Following the accession of Franz Joseph to the throne in 1848, the political representatives of theKingdom of Bohemia hoped and insisted that account should be taken of their historical state rights in the upcoming constitution. They felt the position ofBohemia within theHabsburg monarchy should have been highlighted by acoronation of the new ruler to the king of Bohemia in Prague (the last coronation took place in 1836). However, before the 19th century the Habsburgs had ruled Bohemia by hereditary right and a separate coronation was not deemed necessary.
His new government installed the system ofneoabsolutism in Austrian internal affairs to make the Austrian Empire a unitary, centralised and bureaucratically administered state. When Franz Joseph returned to constitutional rule after the debacles in Italy atMagenta andSolferino and summoned the diets of his lands, the question of his coronation as king of Bohemia again returned to the agenda, as it had not since 1848. On 14 April 1861, Emperor Franz Joseph received a delegation from the Bohemian Diet with his words (in Czech):
I will have myself crowned King of Bohemia in Prague, and I am convinced that a new, indissoluble bond of trust and loyalty between My throne and My Bohemian Kingdom will be strengthened by this holy rite.[32]
In contrast to his predecessor EmperorFerdinand (who spent the rest of his life after his abdication in 1848 in Bohemia and especially in Prague), Franz Joseph was never crowned separately as king of Bohemia. In 1861, the negotiations failed because of unsolved constitutional problems. However, in 1866, a visit of the monarch to Prague following defeat at theBattle of Königgrätz was a huge success, testified by the considerable numbers of new photographs taken.
In 1867, the Austro-Hungarian compromise and the introduction of the dual monarchy left the Czechs and their aristocracy without the recognition of separate Bohemian state rights for which they had hoped. Bohemia remained part of theAustrian Crown Lands. In Bohemia, opposition to dualism took the form of isolated street demonstrations, resolutions from district representations, and even open air mass protest meetings, confined to the biggest cities, such as Prague. The Czech newspaperNárodní listy complained that the Czechs had not yet been compensated for their wartime losses and sufferings during the Austro-Prussian War, and had just seen their historic state rights tossed aside and their land subsumed into the "other" half of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, commonly called "Cisleithania".[32]
The Czech hopes were revived again in 1870–1871. In an ImperialRescript of 26 September 1870, Franz Joseph referred again to the prestige and glory of theBohemian Crown and to his intention to hold a coronation. Under Minister-PresidentKarl Hohenwart in 1871, the government of Cisleithania negotiated a series of fundamental articles spelling out the relationship of the Bohemian Crown to the rest of the Habsburg Monarchy. On 12 September 1871, Franz Joseph announced:
Having in mind the constitutional position of the Bohemian Crown and being conscious of the glory and power which that Crown has given usand our predecessors… we gladly recognise the rights of the kingdom and are prepared to renew that recognition through our coronation oath.[32]
For the planned coronation, the composerBedřich Smetana had written the operaLibuše, but the ceremony did not take place. The creation of theGerman Empire, domestic opposition from German-speaking liberals (especiallyGerman-Bohemians) and from Hungarians doomed theFundamental Articles. Hohenwart resigned and nothing changed.
Many Czech people were waiting for political changes in monarchy, includingTomáš Garrigue Masaryk and others. Masaryk served in theReichsrat (Upper House) from 1891 to 1893 in theYoung Czech Party and again from 1907 to 1914 in theRealist Party (which he had founded in 1900), but he did not campaign for the independence of Czechs and Slovaks from Austria-Hungary. In Vienna in 1909 he helpedHinko Hinković's defense in the fabricated trial against prominent Croats and Serbs members of the Serbo-Croatian Coalition (such asFrano Supilo andSvetozar Pribićević), and others, who were sentenced to more than 150 years and a number of death penalties. The Bohemian question would remain unresolved for the entirety of Franz Joseph's reign.
The main foreign policy goal of Franz Joseph had been theunification of Germany under theHouse of Habsburg.[33] This was justified on grounds of precedence; from 1452 to the end of theHoly Roman Empire in 1806, with only one brief period of interruption under theHouse of Wittelsbach, the Habsburgs had generally held the German crown.[34] However, Franz Joseph's desire to retain the non-German territories of the HabsburgAustrian Empire in the event of German unification proved problematic.
Two factions quickly developed: a party of German intellectuals favouring aGreater Germany (Großdeutschland) under the House of Habsburg; the other favouring aLesser Germany (Kleindeutschland). The Greater Germans favoured the inclusion of Austria in a new all-German state on the grounds that Austria had always been a part of Germanic empires, that it was the leading power of theGerman Confederation, and that it would be absurd to exclude eight million Austrian Germans from an all-German nation state. The champions of a lesser Germany argued against the inclusion of Austria on the grounds that it was a multi-nation state, not a German one, and that its inclusion would bring millions of non-Germans into the German nation state.[35]
If Greater Germany were to prevail, the crown would necessarily have to go to Franz Joseph, who had no desire to cede it in the first place to anyone else.[35] On the other hand, if the idea of a smaller Germany won out, the German crown could of course not possibly go to theEmperor of Austria, but would naturally be offered to the head of the largest and most powerful German state outside of Austria—theKing of Prussia. The contest between the two ideas, quickly developed into a contest between Austria andPrussia. After Prussia decisively won theSeven Weeks War, this question was solved; Austria lost no territories to Prussia as long as they remained out of German affairs.[35]
In 1873, two years after the unification of Germany, Franz Joseph entered into theLeague of Three Emperors (Dreikaiserbund) with EmperorWilhelm I of Germany and EmperorAlexander II of Russia, who was succeeded by TsarAlexander III in 1881. The league had been designed by the German chancellorOtto von Bismarck, as an attempt to maintain the peace of Europe. It would last intermittently until 1887.
During the mid-1870s, a series of violent rebellions againstOttoman rule broke out in the Balkans, and the Turks responded with equally violent and oppressive reprisals. TsarAlexander II of Russia, wanting to intervene against the Ottomans, sought and obtained an agreement with Austria-Hungary.
In theBudapest Convention of 1877, the two powers agreed that Russia would annex southernBessarabia, and Austria-Hungary would observe a benevolent neutrality toward Russia in thepending war with the Turks. As compensation for this support, Russia agreed to Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina.[38] A scant 15 months later, the Russians imposed on the Ottomans theTreaty of San Stefano, which reneged on the Budapest accord and declared that Bosnia-Herzegovina would be jointly occupied by Russian and Austrian troops.[38]
The treaty was overturned by the 1878Treaty of Berlin, which allowed soleAustrian occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina but did not specify a final disposition of the provinces.[clarification needed] That omission was addressed in the Three Emperors' League agreement of 1881, when both Germany and Russia endorsed Austria-Hungary's right to annex Bosnia-Herzegovina.[39] However, by 1897, under anew tsar, the Russian Imperial government had again withdrawn its support for Austrian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Russian foreign minister, CountMikhail Muravyov, stated that an Austrian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina would raise "an extensive question requiring special scrutiny".[40]
In 1908, the Russian foreign minister,Alexander Izvolsky, offered Russian support, for the third time, for the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary, in exchange for Austrian support for the opening of theBosporus Strait and theDardanelles to Russian warships. Austria's foreign minister,Alois von Aehrenthal, pursued this offer vigorously, resulting in the quid pro quo understanding with Izvolsky, reached on 16 September 1908 at the Buchlau Conference. However, Izvolsky made this agreement with Aehrenthal without the knowledge of TsarNicholas II or his government in St. Petersburg, or any of the other foreign powers includingBritain,France andSerbia.
Based upon the assurances of the Buchlau Conference and the treaties that preceded it, Franz Joseph signed the proclamation announcing theannexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina into the Empire on 6 October 1908. However a diplomatic crisis erupted, as both the Serbs and theItalians demanded compensation for the annexation, which the Austro-Hungarian government refused to entertain. The incident was not resolved until the revision of the Treaty of Berlin in April 1909, exacerbating tensions between Austria-Hungary and the Serbs.
On 28 June 1914, Franz Joseph's nephew and heir presumptiveArchduke Franz Ferdinand, and hismorganatic wifeSophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, wereassassinated byGavrilo Princip, a Yugoslav nationalist of Serbian ethnicity,[41] during a visit to Sarajevo. Franz Joseph learned about the assassination of Franz Ferdinand from his adjutant, cavalry GeneralEduard von Paar [de],[42] who also wrote the emperor's reaction in his diary: "one has not to defy the Almighty. In this manner a superior power has restored that order which I unfortunately was unable to maintain."[42]
While the emperor was shaken, and interrupted his holiday to return to Vienna, he soon resumed his vacation at hisKaiservilla atBad Ischl. Initial decision-making during the "July Crisis" fell to CountLeopold Berchtold, theImperial foreign minister; CountFranz Conrad von Hötzendorf, the chief of theAustro-Hungarian General Staff and the other ministers.[43] The ultimate resolution of deliberations by the Austro-Hungarian government during the weeks following the assassination of the Archduke was to give Serbiaan ultimatum of itemized demands with which it was virtually certain Serbia would be unable or unwilling to comply, thus serving as a "legal basis for war".
A week after delivery of the Austro-Hungarian ultimatum to Serbia; on 28 July, war was declared. Within weeks, the Germans, Russians, French and British had all entered the fray which eventually became known asWorld War I. On 6 August, Franz Joseph signed the declaration of war against Russia.
Franz Joseph died in theSchönbrunn Palace on the evening of 21 November 1916, at the age of 86. His final words to his valet were: ‘Tomorrow morning, at half past three.’ Although sick, he was determined to rise at his usual time.[44]
His death was a result of developingpneumonia of the right lung several days after catching acold while walking in Schönbrunn Park with KingLudwig III of Bavaria.[45] He was succeeded by his grandnephewCharles I & IV, who reigned until the collapse of the empire following its defeat at the end of the First World War in 1918.[46] He is buried in theImperial Crypt in Vienna.
It was generally felt in the court that the emperor should marry and produce heirs as soon as possible. Various potential brides were considered, includingPrincess Elisabeth of Modena,Princess Anna of Prussia andPrincess Sidonia of Saxony.[47] Although in public life Franz Joseph was the unquestioned director of affairs, in his private life his mother still wielded crucial influence. Sophie wanted to strengthen the relationship between the Houses ofHabsburg andWittelsbach—descending from the latter house herself—and hoped to match Franz Joseph with her sisterLudovika's eldest daughter,Helene ("Néné"), who was four years the emperor's junior.
However, Franz Joseph fell deeply in love with Néné's younger sisterElisabeth ("Sisi"), a beautiful girl of 15, and insisted on marrying her instead. Sophie acquiesced, despite her misgivings about Sisi's appropriateness as an imperial consort, and the young couple were married on 24 April 1854 inSt. Augustine's Church, Vienna.[48]
Marriage of Franz Joseph and Elisabeth.
Their marriage would eventually prove to be an unhappy one; though Franz Joseph was passionately in love with his wife, the feeling was not mutual. Elisabeth never truly acclimatized to life at court, and was frequently in conflict with the imperial family. Their first daughter Sophie died as an infant, and their only sonRudolf died by suicide in 1889 in the infamousMayerling Incident.[36]
In 1885, Franz Joseph metKatharina Schratt, a leading actress of the Vienna stage, and she became his friend and confidante. This relationship lasted the rest of his life, and was—to a certain degree—tolerated by Elisabeth. Franz Joseph built Villa Schratt inBad Ischl for her, and also provided her with a small palace in Vienna.[49] Though their relationship lasted for 34 years, it remained platonic.[50]
The empress was an inveterate traveller, horsewoman, and fashion maven who was rarely seen in Vienna. Sisi was obsessed about preserving her beauty, carrying out many bizarre routines and strenuous exercise, and as a result suffered from ill health. She wasstabbed to death byan Italian anarchist in 1898 while on a visit to Geneva. A few days after the funeral,Robert of Parma wrote in a letter to his friendTirso de Olazábal that "It was pitiful to look at the Emperor, he showed a great deal of energy in his immense pain, but at times one could see all the immensity of his grief."[51] Franz Joseph never fully recovered from the loss. According to the future empressZita of Bourbon-Parma he told his relatives: "You'll never know how important she was to me" or, according to some sources, "You will never know how much I loved this woman."[52]
Archduke Franz Ferdinand becameheir presumptive (Thronfolger) to the throne of Austria-Hungary in 1896 after the deaths of his cousin Rudolf (in 1889) and his father Karl Ludwig (in 1896). The relationship between him and Franz Joseph had always been a fairly contentious one, which was further exacerbated when Franz Ferdinand announced his desire to marryCountess Sophie Chotek. The emperor would not even consider giving his blessing to the union, as Sophie was merely of noble rank, not dynastic rank.
Although the emperor received letters from members of the imperial family throughout the fall and winter of 1899 beseeching him to relent, Franz Joseph stood his ground.[53] He finally gave his consent in 1900. However, the marriage was to bemorganatic, and any children of the marriage would be ineligible to succeed to the throne.[54] The couple were married on 1 July 1900 atReichstadt. The emperor did not attend the wedding, nor did any of the archdukes. After that, the two men disliked and mistrusted each other.[49]
His interactions with Franz Ferdinand were strained; the emperor's personal attendant recollected in his memoirs that: "thunder and lightning always raged when they had their discussions."[55]
Following the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie in 1914, Franz Joseph's daughter, Marie Valerie, noted that her father expressed his greater confidence in the new heir presumptive, his grandnephew Archduke Charles. The emperor admitted to his daughter, regarding the assassination: "For me, it is a relief from a great worry."[56]
18 August 1830 – 2 December 1848:His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke and Prince Francis Joseph of Austria, Prince of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia[57]
2 December 1848 – 21 November 1916:His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty The Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary
The full titulature of Francis Joseph after he succeeded his uncle Ferdinand I to the thrones of Empire of Austria and the vast realms of Central and Eastern Europe went as following:
"His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty, Francis Joseph I, by the Grace of God Emperor of Austria, King of Germany, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Lombardy–Venetia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Illyria, Serbia, Cumania, Bulgaria, Italy, Rama, Romania, King of Jerusalem, etc. etc.; Archduke of Austria; Grand Duke of Tuscany; Duke of Lorraine, Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and Bukovina; Grand Prince of Transylvania, Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Modena, Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, of Auschwitz and Zator, of Teschen, Friaul, Ragusa and Zara and Teck; Princely Count of Habsburg and Tyrol, of Kyburg, Gorizia and Gradisca; Prince of Trento and Brixen; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia, Istria; Count of Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg, etc. etc.; Lord of Trieste, of Cattaro and on the Windic March; Grand Voivode of the Voivodeship of Serbia,etc. etc."
Franz Joseph founded in 1872 theFranz Joseph University (Hungarian:Ferenc József Tudományegyetem, Romanian:Universitatea Francisc Iosif) in the city ofCluj-Napoca (at that time a part of Austria-Hungary under the name of Kolozsvár). The university was moved toSzeged after Cluj became a part of Romania, becoming theUniversity of Szeged.
In certain areas, celebrations are still being held in remembrance of Franz Joseph's birthday. The Mitteleuropean People's Festival takes place every year around 18 August, and is a "spontaneous, traditional and brotherly meeting among peoples of the Central-European Countries".[112] The event includes ceremonies, meetings, music, songs, dances, wine and food tasting, and traditional costumes and folklore fromMitteleuropa.
^abFerenc Szakály (1980).Hungary and Eastern Europe: Research Report Volume 182 of Studia historica Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae. Akadémiai Kiadó. p. 178.ISBN978-963-05-2595-4.
^Yonge, Charlotte (1867)."The Crown of St. Stephen".A Book of Golden Deeds Of all Times and all Lands. London, Glasgow and Bombay: Blackie and Son. Retrieved21 August 2008.
^Eric Roman:Austria-Hungary & the Successor States: A Reference Guide from the Renaissance to the Present p. 67, Publisher: Infobase Publishing, 2003ISBN978-0-8160-7469-3
^The Making of the West: Volume C, Lynn Hunt, pp. 683–684
^Rady, Martyn (2020).The Habsburgs: The Rise and Fall of World Power. p. 276.
^Simon Sarlin and Dan Rouyer, "The Anti-Masonic Congress of Trento (1896): International Mobilization and the Circulation of Practices against Freemasonry."Contemporanea: Rivista di Storia dell'800 e del '900 (July-Sep 2021), 24#3, pp. 517-536.
^Kozuchowski, Adam.The Afterlife of Austria-Hungary: The Image of the Habsburg Monarchy in Interwar Europe. Pitt Series in Russian and East European Studies. University of Pittsburgh Press (2013),ISBN978-0-8229-7917-3. p. 83
^Haslip, Joan (2000).The Lonely Empress: Elizabeth of Austria (Paperback ed.). Weidenfeld & Nicolson History.ISBN978-1842120989.
^:William M. Johnston,The Austrian Mind: An Intellectual and Social History, 1848–1938 (University of California Press, 1983), p. 38
^abAlbert Freiherr von Margutti: Vom alten Kaiser. Leipzig & Wien 1921, S. 147f. Zitiert nach Erika Bestenreiter: Franz Ferdinand und Sophie von Hohenberg. München (Piper), 2004, S. 247
^Kaiser Joseph II. harmonische Wahlkapitulation mit allen den vorhergehenden Wahlkapitulationen der vorigen Kaiser und Könige. Since 1780 official title used for princes ("zu Ungarn, Böhmen, Dalmatien, Kroatien, Slawonien, Königlicher Erbprinz")
^The official title of the ruler of Austrian Empire and later the Austria-Hungary had been changed several times: by a patent from 1 August 1804, by a court office decree from 22 August 1836, by an imperial court ministry decree from 6 January 1867 and finally by a letter from 12 December 1867. Shorter versions were recommended for official documents and international treaties: "Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia etc. and Apostolic King of Hungary", "Emperor of Austria and Apostolic King of Hungary", "His Majesty The Emperor and King" and "His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty". The termKaiserlich und königlich (K.u.K.) was decreed in a letter from 17 October 1889 for the military, the navy and the institutions shared by both parts of the monarchy. – From theOtto's encyclopedia (published during 1888–1909), subject 'King',online in CzechArchived 9 December 2008 at theWayback Machine.
^"The Royal Order of Kalākaua".crownofhawaii.com. Official website of the Royal Family of Hawaii. Archived fromthe original on 28 February 2023. Retrieved2 December 2019.
^Hof- und Staats-Handbuch ... Hessen (1879), "Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen" p. 10
^Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Großherzogtum Hessen (1879), "Großherzogliche Orden und Ehrenzeichen" p. 44
^刑部芳則 (2017).明治時代の勲章外交儀礼(PDF) (in Japanese). 明治聖徳記念学会紀要. pp. 143, 149.
^Ohm-Hieronymussen, Peter (2000).Die Mecklenburg-Strelitzer Orden und Ehrenzeichen (in German). Copenhagen. p. 150.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Sergey Semenovich Levin (2003). "Lists of Knights and Ladies".Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-called (1699–1917). Order of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine (1714–1917). Moscow.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
Generations are numbered by male-line descent from the first archdukes. Later generations are included although Austrian titles of nobility were abolished in 1919.
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