June 28, 1914: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife Duches Sophie of Hohenberg.

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Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary, Franz Joseph of Austria, Gavrilo Princip, June 28 1914: Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary and his wife Duches Sophie of Duchess of Hohenberg, Sarajevo, Sophie of Hohenberg, World War I

Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria (December 18 1863 – June 28, 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo is considered the most immediate cause of World War I.

Franz Ferdinand was the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria, the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria. Following the death of Crown Prince Rudolf in 1889 and the death of Karl Ludwig in 1896, Franz Ferdinand became the heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His courtship of Sophie Chotek, a lady-in-waiting, caused conflict within the imperial household, and their morganatic marriage in 1900 was only allowed after he renounced his descendants’ rights to the throne.

Franz Ferdinand held significant influence over the military, and in 1913 he was appointed inspector general of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces.

On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo by the 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, a member of Young Bosnia. Franz Ferdinand’s assassination led to the July Crisis and precipitated Austria-Hungary’s declaration of war against Serbia, which in turn triggered a series of events that eventually led to Austria-Hungary’s allies and Serbia’s allies declaring war on each other, starting World War I.

August 17, 1887: Birth of Charles I-IV, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. Part I.

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Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Austria-Hungary, Charles I of Austria, Emperor Franz Joseph, King Georg of Saxony, Robert I of Bourbon-Parma, War of the Austrian Succession, World War I, Zita of Bourbon-Parma

Charles I (Charles Franz Joseph Ludwig Hubert Georg Otto Maria; August 17, 1887 – April 1, 1922) was the last Emperor of Austria, the last King of Hungary (as Charles IV), the last King of Bohemia (as Charles III), and the last monarch belonging to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine before the dissolution of Austria-Hungary.

Charles I-IV, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary

Archduke Charles was born on August 17, 1887, in the Castle of Persenbeug, in Lower Austria. His parents were Archduke Otto-Franz of Austria and Princess Maria-Josepha of Saxony, the daughter of the future King Georg of Saxony (1832–1904) and Infanta Maria Anna of Portugal (1843–1884).

Archduke Otto-Franz of Austria (Father)

Princess Maria-Josepha of Saxony (Mother)

At the time of his birth, his great-uncle Franz-Joseph reigned as Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. Upon the death of Crown Prince Rudolph in 1889, the Emperor’s brother, Archduke Charles-Ludwig, was next in line to the Austro-Hungarian throne. However, his death in 1896 from typhoid made his eldest son, Archduke Franz-Ferdinand, the new heir presumptive.

Franz-Joseph, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary

Archduke Charles was reared a devout Catholic. He spent his early years wherever his father’s regiment happened to be stationed; later on, he lived in Vienna and Reichenau an der Rax. He was privately educated, but, contrary to the custom ruling in the imperial family, he attended a public gymnasium for the sake of demonstrations in scientific subjects. On the conclusion of his studies at the gymnasium, he entered the army, spending the years from 1906-08 as an officer chiefly in Prague, where he studied Law and Political Science concurrently with his military duties.

In 1911, Charles married Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma, the seventeenth child of the dispossessed Robert I, Duke of Parma, and his second wife, Infanta Maria Antonia of Portugal.

Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma

They had met as children but did not see one another for almost ten years, as each pursued their education. In 1909, his Dragoon regiment was stationed at Brandýs nad Labem in Bohemia, from where he visited his aunt at Franzensbad. It was during one of these visits that Charles and Zita became reacquainted. Due to Franz-Ferdinand’s morganatic marriage in 1900, his children were excluded from the succession. As a result, the Emperor pressured Charles to marry. Zita not only shared Charles’ devout Catholicism, but also an impeccable royal lineage.

Archduke Charles traveled to Villa Pianore, the Italian winter residence of Zita’s parents, and asked for her hand; on June 13, 1911, their engagement was announced at the Austrian court. Charles and Zita were married at the Bourbon-Parma castle of Schwarzau in Austria on October 21, 1911.

The wedding of Zita and Charles, 21 October 1911. (the man in the back with the mustache is Archduke Franz-Ferdinand)

Charles’s great-uncle, the 81-year-old Emperor Franz-Joseph, attended the wedding. He was relieved to see an heir make a suitable marriage, and was in good spirits, even leading the toast at the wedding breakfast. Archduchess Zita soon conceived a son, and Otto was born November 20, 1912. Seven more children followed in the next decade.

Heir presumptive

Charles became heir presumptive after the assassination of Archduke Franz-Ferdinand in Sarajevo in 1914, the event which precipitated World War I. Only at this time did the old Emperor take steps to initiate the heir-presumptive to his crown in affairs of state. But the outbreak of World War I interfered with this political education. Charles spent his time during the first phase of the war at headquarters at Teschen, but exercised no military influence.

Charles then became a Feldmarschall (Field Marshal) in the Austro-Hungarian Army. In the spring of 1916, in connection with the offensive against Italy, he was entrusted with the command of the XX. Corps, whose affections the heir-presumptive to the throne won by his affability and friendliness. The offensive, after a successful start, soon came to a standstill. Shortly afterwards, Charles went to the eastern front as commander of an army operating against the Russians and Romanians.

Favorite Crown # 4: The Imperial Crown of Austria.

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Austria-Hungary, Austrian Empire, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, Holy Roman Empire, Imperial Crown of Austria, Imperial Crown of Rudolf II, Regalia

The Imperial Crown of Austria was made in 1602 in Prague by Jan Vermeyen as the personal crown of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II, and therefore is also known as the Crown of Emperor Rudolf II. The crown was used as a private crown of the Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Hungary and Bohemia from the House of Habsburg. In 1804 it became the official crown of the newly constituted Austrian Empire. After 1867 it remained the imperial crown of the Cisleithanian part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918.

Rudolf II (July 18, 1552 – January 20, 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the House of Habsburg.

He was the eldest son and successor of Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, and King of Hungary and Croatia; his mother was Infanta Maria of Spain, a daughter of Charles V (Carlos I of Spain) and Infante Isabella of Portugal. He was the elder brother of Matthias who was to succeed him as king of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor.

Since the Imperial Regalia of the Holy Roman Empire, including the Crown, were kept in Nuremberg and could only leave the city for a coronation, some rulers had their own personal crowns made. For example, when they attended a session of the Imperial Diet (Reichstag), they attended with their own crowns. The oldest depiction of such a private crown is an etching by the artist Albrecht Dürer of Emperor Maximilian I, where a depiction of a crown is seen that might have later influenced the appearance of the crown of Rudolf II.

Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor.

The Imperial Crown of the Habsburg Empire of Austria was never used for a coronation, since, unlike the Holy Roman Empire, it was a hereditary monarchy and such an act of legitimization was not seen as necessary. The ceremony held was an act of investiture to mark the monarch’s official ascension to the throne rather than a coronation.

The crown of Rudolf II was made in 1602 in Prague by Jan Vermeyen, one of the most outstanding goldsmiths of his time, who was called specially from Antwerp. The crown is made out of three parts: the circlet (Kronreif), the high arch (Kronbügel), and a mitre (Mitra).

In the earlier forms of the Western mitre the peaks or ‘horns’ were over the ears, rather than over the face and back of the head. The form of mitre used in the imperial mitral crown preserved this earlier form. This form of the imperial mitre-crown can be seen in the extant portraits of such emperors as Friedrich III and Maximilian I, The bronze effigy of Maximilian I found on his monumental cenotaph in the court church in Innsbruck has a crown with two arches which cross over the top of the mitre and the unique form of the imperial crown adopted by Maximilian as Emperor of Mexico appears to have been modeled on this form, but with the half-arches and the eagles on the circlet on the front, back and sides.

In the later 17th century Baroque form of mitral crown of Leopold I the peaks of the mitre have been rounded into the hemispherical form Peter the Great would adopt as the Imperial Crown of Russia when he took the title emperor as Russian sovereign.

Although it is often assumed that the Imperial Crown made for Otto I with its single arch over its inner red cap was the original prototype for the western imperial crown, it is also possible that the Byzantine imperial crown, which in the twelfth century also became closed with two arches, inspired the western emperors to follow their example and also close their crowns with such a pair of arches.

The Imperial Crown is associated with the Imperial Orb and Sceptre, and they are displayed together in the Imperial Treasury at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. The Imperial Orb was commissioned in 1612 by Rudolf’s brother and successor, Holy Roman Emperor Matthias, and was created by Andreas Ochsenbruck. The shape takes its inspiration from the crown, especially the enamel-work which is in the same style.

It is topped by a large sapphire. A peculiarity of the Sceptre is that it was said to be made from unicorn horn, but in fact it was made from the horn of a narwhal. The Imperial Orb and Sceptre were already in use before the proclamation of the Austrian Empire, as Bohemian royal regalia and for the hereditary private estates (Erbhuldigung) of the Archduchy of Austria.

This date in History: August 11, 1804, Holy Roman Emperor Franz II assumes the title Emperor of Austria.

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Archduke Archduchess, Austria-Hungary, Austrian Empire, Emperor of the French, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, Holy Roman Empire, Marie Theresa, Napoleon Bonaparte

On August 6 I posted about the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire under Franz II in 1806. Two years prior to that he assumed the title “Emperor of Austria” and consolidated Habsburg hereditary lands.

In the face of aggressions by Napoleon I, who had been proclaimed “Emperor of the French” by the French constitution on May 18, 1804, Holy Roman Franz II feared for the future of the Holy Roman Empire and wished to maintain his and his family’s Imperial status in the event that the Holy Roman Empire should be dissolved.

Holy Roman Emperor Franz II, Emperor of Austria.

Therefore, on August 11, 1804 he created the new title of “Emperor of Austria” for himself and his successors as heads of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. For two years, Franz carried two imperial titles: being Holy Roman Emperor Franz II and “by the Grace of God” Emperor Franz I of Austria. This made Franz the only double Emperor in History.

Therefore the title Emperor of Austria (German: Kaiser von Österreich) was the title for ruler of the Austrian Empire which later became the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867 when the emperor, who was also King of Hungary raised that Kingdom to equal political status with Austria. The title was an hereditary imperial title invested in a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, and continually held by him and his heirs until Carl I relinquished power in 1918.

Although Austria was now an Empire the emperors and the imperial family retained the title of Archduke of Austria. The wives of the emperors held the title empress, while other members of the family maintained the title archduke or archduchess of Austria.

Imperial Crown of Austria

Predecessors

Prior to the creation of the Austrian Empire members of the House of Austria, the Habsburg dynasty, (later Habsburg-Lorraine) had for centuries been elected to be Holy Roman Emperors and mostly resided in Vienna. Thus the term “Austrian emperor” may occur in texts dealing with the time before 1804, even though no Austrian Empire existed. In these cases the word Austria means the composite monarchy ruled by the dynasty, not the country. A special case was Maria Theresa; daughter of Holy Roman Emperor Carl VI, she bore the imperial title as the consort of Holy Roman Emperor Franz I (r. 1745–1765), but she herself was the monarch by hereditary right of the Austrian Hereditary Lands including Austria, Bohemia and Hungary.

From 1806 onwards, after the ancient Holy Roman Empire was dissolved, Franz was Emperor of Austria only. He had three successors—Ferdinand I, Franz Joseph I and Carl I before the Empire broke apart in 1918.

A coronation ceremony was never established; the heir to the throne became emperor the moment his predecessor died or abdicated. The symbol of the Austrian Emperor was the dynasty’s private crown dating back to Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (r. 1576–1612), (called Rudolfinische Hauskrone by the experts), which should convey the dignity and myth of the Habsburgs.

Titles of the Emperor

The Austrian Emperors had an extensive list of titles and claims that reflected the geographic expanse and diversity of the lands ruled by the Austrian Habsburgs. The grand title of the Emperor of Austria had been changed several times: by a patent of August 11, 1804, by a court office decree from August 22 1836, by an Imperial court ministry decree of January 6, 1867 and finally by a letter of December 12, 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 full list (after the loss of the Lombardy in 1859 and Venetia in 1866):

Emperor of Austria,
Apostolic King of Hungary,
King of Bohemia, of Dalmatia, of Croatia, of Slavonia, of Galicia, of Lodomeria, and of Illyria,
King of Jerusalem, and so forth,
Archduke of Austria,
Grand Duke of Tuscany and of Cracow,
Duke of Lorraine, of Salzburg, of Styria, of Carinthia, of Carniola and of the Bukovina,
Grand Prince of Transylvania,
Margrave in Moravia,
Duke of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Modena, Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, of Auschwitz and Zator, of Teschen, Friuli, Ragusa and Zara,
Princely Count of Habsburg and Tyrol, of Kyburg, Gorizia and Gradisca,
Prince of Trent and Brixen,
Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and in Istria,
Count of Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg, and so forth, Lord of Trieste, of Cattaro and of the Windic March,Grand Voivode of the Voivodship of Serbia, and so forth, Sovereign of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

The limits of power of monarchs in exile: Part II

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Austria, Austria-Hungary, Constitutional Monarchy, Karl von Habburg, King Michael of Romania, Otto von Habsburg, Romania, SalicLaw

 Last week I wrote of the controversy surrounding the disputed successor to the Headship of the Royal House of Saxony. This raises the question of does the head of these former ruling houses have the power to change centuries old house laws? With so many disputes after the head of the house dies, I guess the consensus is that they do not have that power or right. I think what may be closer to the truth is that the heads of these former ruling dynasties is that they have no power to make their new laws or ruling stick past their tenure as head of the house.

The Imperial House of Austria has been somewhat more successful in changing their house laws. They had had very rigid marital laws and when the now head of the house, Archduke Karl (Emperor Karl II to his supporters) married in 1993 to Baroness Francesca Thyssen-Bornemisza. The marriage received the dynastic authorization of Karl’s father, Archduke Otto who was then head of the House of Habsburg, despite objections from some members of the dynasty because the brides family was not aristocratic enough. Baroness Francesca is the only daughter of Baron Hans Heinrich Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon, a European industrialist, and his third wife, Fiona Campbell-Walter. The Thyssen-Bornemisza family is of the nobility of pre-republican Hungary and Transylvania, but since they did not descend in the canonically legitimate male line from a family of dynastic, mediatised or alter Adel status, many former Habsburg family members protested the marriage. Since that time Otto amended the rigid marriage rules to allow marriages into noble families that would not have been deemed acceptable during the times when the dynasty ruled.

Romania is another case. King Michael was ousted in 1946 (many say illegally) and he leaves no male heir. His eldest daughter is Princess Margarita and in 2007 the king designated her as his heir with the titles of “Crown Princess of Romania” and “Custodian of the Romanian Crown.” This is technically against the Romanian kingdom’s last democratically approved constitution of 1923 which was in effect while the monarchy was extant. That constitution stated that upon the death of King Michael, and should he have no sons, the claim to the Crown devolves once again upon the Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen family from which the Romanian royal family descends.

The Constitution of 1923 provides for an agnatic primogeniture (basically the “Salic law”) which means males only may inherit the throne, barring females, and females may not pass succession rights to their children. However, the 1923 Constitution is no longer in affect but many feel that the traditions behind those ancient laws still carry the rule of the day. Under the old constitution the next in line to the Romanian throne are the descendants of Friedrich Wilhelm, Prince of Hohenzollern (1924-2010).

These are the Hohenzollern members in line to the throne under the old Constitution.

1. Karl Friedrich, Prince of Hohenzollern (b. 1952)
2. Alexander, Hereditary Prince of Hohenzollern (b. 1987)
3. Prince Albrecht of Hohenzollern (b. 1954)

4. Prince Ferdinand of Hohenzollern (b. 1960)
5. Prince Aloys of Hohenzollern (b. 1999)
6. Prince Fidelis of Hohenzollern (b. 2001)

The Romanian situation is complex and so I will continue with this next week and then give my overall opinion on if a former monarch or head of a former ruling dynasty does have the right to change their house laws.

Aftermath of the Assassination of Archduke Franz-Ferdinand

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Austria, Austria-Hungary, Austrian Empire, Franz-Ferdinand, Franz-Josef, Gavrilo Princip, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany

Aftermath of the Assassination of Archduke Franz-Ferdinand

One of the sad things for me is that even in death the insults and snubs to the Archduke’s wife Sofie continued. Alfred, 2nd Prince of Montenuovo, Emperor Franz Joseph’s Chamberlain, hated Franz Ferdinand and Sophie passionately and decided to turn the funeral into a massive and vicious snub. Foreign royalty had been invited to the funeral and planned to attend. Generally when an heir to the throne had passed away there were would be a large funeral attended by many royal heads of state. However, on this occasion they were pointedly dis-invited and a much smaller funeral planned with just the immediate imperial family, with the dead couple’s three children excluded from the few public ceremonies. The officer corps was forbidden to salute the funeral train, and this led to a minor revolt led by Archduke Karl, the new heir to the throne. The public viewing of the coffins was curtailed severely and even more scandalously, Montenuovo tried unsuccessfully to make the children foot the bill. Also during the viewing the Archduke’s coffin was set higher than Sofie’s to remind all that she was not an equal to her husband. The Archduke and Duchess were interred at Artstetten Castle because his wife could not be buried at the Imperial Crypt.

Of course the largest aftermath was War. However, I wanted to share what happened to the assassin, Gavrilo Princip. Like his fellow assassin Čabrinović who tried to swallow the cyanide pill but vomited instead, Princip had the same experience with his cyanide pill. It seems they had purchased stale cyanide that was out of date. Princeip was arrested and in October of 1914 was convicted of his part in the murder of the Archduke and his wife. Princip was too young to receive the death penalty, being only twenty-seven days short of the 20-year age limit required by Habsburg law for the death sentence. Instead, he received the maximum sentence of twenty years in prison. He was held in harsh conditions and squalor which were worsened by the war as supplies went to the war effort. While in prison he contracted tuberculosis. He died on April 28, 1918 at Terezín 3 years and 10 months after he assassinated the Archduke and Duchess. At the time of his death, Princip, weakened by malnutrition and disease, weighed around 40 kilograms (88 lb; 6 st 4 lb). His body had become racked by skeletal tuberculosis that ate away his bones so badly that his right arm had to be amputated. Now I am not happy that this man assassinated the Archduke and Duchess, but his treatment in prison was inhumane.

As the saying goes “one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter”? He’s their freedom fighter. Well in Serbia Princip is still regarded as a national hero and on the 100th anniversary of the assassination of the Archduke and Duchess Bosnian Serbs erected a statue of Gavrilo Princip.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/27/gavrilo-princip-statue_n_5538356.html

War broke out on July 28th, 1914 when Austria fired the first shots in its invasion of Serbia. Russia mobilized against Germany, while Germany invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, causing Britain to declare war on Germany. Closer to July 28th I will focus on what the three emperors, Franz-Joseph of Austria-Hungary, Nicholas II of Russia and Wilhelm II of Germany, did to either prevent or encourage the war.

100th Anniversary of the Assassination of HIH Archduke Franz-Ferdinand of Austria-Este

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Archduke, Archduke of Austria, Assassination, Austria-Hungary, causes of World War I, Emperor of Austria, Franz-Ferdinand, Franz-Joseph, Gavrilo Princip, Sarajevo, Sophie Chotek, World War I

100th Anniversary of the Assassination of HIH Archduke Franz-Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary

On this day, June 28, 1914 Archduke Franz-Ferdiand of Austria-Hungary and his wife, Sofie Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated in Sarajevo. This murder would, within weeks, spark a European war that became known as World War I. In its time it was known as either the Great War or the World War.

It is often said that this assassination caused World War I. I don’t think that is the entire truth. I view the assassination of Archduke Franz-Ferdinand as the initial spark that set off the war, however there were many issues that evolved over years, centuries even, that built up the tension to where War became almost inevitable. I don’t want this blog entry to be about the causes of the war nor a biography on the Archduke. I will write about some aspects of his life and what happened on that fateful day.

I have an affinity with Archduke Franz-Ferdinand. We were born about 100 years apart. I was born in October of 1963 and he was born in 1863, making him 50 years old at the time of his assassination. He held what were radical views at the time and it was his views that were his undoing. More on that in a moment.

He was the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria (a younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph and Maximilian) and of his second wife, Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. When he was only eleven years old, his cousin Duke Francis V of Modena died, naming Franz Ferdinand his heir on condition that he add the name Este to his own. Franz Ferdinand thus became one of the wealthiest men in Austria. In 1889 his cousin, Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria committed suicide (after murdering his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera at his hunting lodge in Mayerling. This tragedy left Franz-Ferdinand’s father as hier to the throne. Emperor Franz Joseph had only one son and the throne had to pass to a male heir for women were barred from the throne. Karl Ludwig renounced the throne in favor of Franz Ferdinand almost immediately, and died of typhoid fever in 1896.

As hier to the throne he garnered controversy. Franz-Ferdinad was more liberal than his uncle the emperor. In 1894 Franz-Ferdinand met Countess Sophie Chotek at a ball in Prague. The down side to this meeting was that Countess Sophie was not of equal rank with Franz-Ferdinand so marriage was out of the question. To be eligible to marry a member of the Imperial House of Habsburg, one had to be a member of one of the reigning or formerly reigning dynasties of Europe. Countess Sophie was rejected by the emperor as a suitable mate for the Archduke despite being a descendant of the princes of Baden, tyhe Catholic branch of the House of Hohenzollern (Hohenzollern-Hechingen), and the Princes of Liechtenstein. One of Sophie’s direct ancestors was Albert IV, Count of Habsburg; she was descended from Elisabeth of Habsburg, a sister of King Rudolph I of Germany.

Franz-Ferdinand would not consider marrying another. Even with Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany and Czar Nicholas II of Russia tried to assist and spoke to Pope Leo XIII to presuade the Emperor. This took years to accomplish and in 1899 the emperor relented and allowed the couple to marry morganatically. This meant that their descendants would not have succession rights to the throne. Sophie would not share her husband’s rank, title, precedence, or privileges; as such, she would not normally appear in public beside him. The Emperor granted her the title Duchess of Hohenberg and it was by this title their children (and descendants) were known. Because of this morganatic marriage Sofie was treated coldly by many members of the Habsburg Dynasty.

One of the other things I admire about Franz-Ferdinand is that he seemed more progressive and liberal minded than the emperor. Austria was a conglomerate of ethnic groups. Germans, Hungarians and in an era where nationalism was desired many of these ethnic groups desired independence. In 1908 Austria had annexed the Bosnia-Herzegovina region where many ethnic Serbs lived. This action thwarted the desires of many in Serbia that wanted the Serbian regions of Bosnia to join Serbia in alarger kingdom. Franz-Ferdinand’s progressive ideas would have put an end to these desires.

In 1867 the Kingdom of Hungary (ruled by the Habsurgs since the Battle of Mohács in 1526) was granted an equal standing within the Austrian Empire (this changed the name of the Empire to Austria-Hungary). Franz-Ferdinad envisoned granting this same privilage to other ethnic groups creating a United States of Austria, with himself as Emperor. If Bosnian Serbs were granted such status within the Empire the chances of Bosnia becoming part of a larger Serbian Kingdom would be over. National groups such as the Black Hand viewed the assassination of the Archduke as essential to their plans of Serbian unity. One factor giving Serbia and the Black Hand confidence was knowing that Russia was on their side for greater Serbian independence.

June 28, 1914.

Generally, Sofie, Duchess of Hohenberg did not attend her husband on such official duties but she was there with him on this fateful day. In late 1913 Emperor Franz Joseph commanded Archduke Franz Ferdinand to observe the military maneuvers in Bosnia scheduled for June 1914. After the maneuvers Franz Ferdinand and his wife planned to visit Sarajevo to open the state museum in its new premises there. Generally such engagements are announced in the court circular months in advance so the assassins tagged him for murder months in advance.

There were six assassins ready for the Archduke that morning. When Franz-Ferdinand and Sofie arrived they were greeted by Governor Oskar Potiorek with six automobiles were waiting. Security was limited because many soldiers were on the military maneuvers that the Archduke witnessed the day before. The motorcade passed the first two assassins who failed to act. Nedeljko Čabrinović was on the opposite side of the street near the Miljacka River arming him with a bomb.

At 10:10 am Franz Ferdinand’s car approached and Čabrinović threw his bomb. The bomb bounced off the folded back convertible cover into the street and the timed detonator caused it to explode under the next car wounding 16–20 people. Čabrinović swallowed a cyanide pill and jumped into the Miljacka river. Čabrinović’s suicide attempt failed, as the cyanide only induced vomiting. Police dragged Čabrinović out of the river, and he was severely beaten by the crowd before being taken into custody.

A visably shaken Archduke arrived at his first destination which was Sarajevo’s Town Hall. He gave the speech he originally had written for the occasion but at the end added a few words about the bombing and the people of Sarajevo “as I see in them an expression of their joy at the failure of the attempt at assassination.” His entourage wanted to change plans fearing more assassination attempts would be made. Baron Rumerskirch proposed that the couple remain at the Town Hall until troops could be brought into the city to line the streets. Governor-General Oskar Potiorek vetoed this suggestion on the grounds that soldiers coming straight from maneuvers would not have the dress uniforms appropriate for such duties. The Royal couple did decide to postpone the rest of the schedualed activities and desired to visit the hospital to see those wounded in the morning’s bomb attack.

After hearing about the failed bomb attack one assassin, Gavrilo Princip, stood in front of a nearby food shop (Schiller’s delicatessen), on Appel Quay near the Latin Bridge waiting for the Archdukes return from the National Museum In the confusion the drivers of the motorcade were not told of the change in plans. When the motorcade was on Appel Quay, Governor Potiorek told the driver to turn off that road and take another route to the Hospital. The driver stopped the car and put it in reverse. As fate would have it they stopped directly in front of where Gavrilo Princip was standing.

Standing only 5 feet away (1.5 meters) Princip took two shots at the Archduke and Sofie. Franz-Ferdinand was shot in the jugular vein while Sofie was hit in the abdomen. Both The Archduke and Sofie remained sitting upright as they were taken to the Governor’s residence for medical treatment. Count Harrach reports that Franz Ferdinand’s last words were “Sophie, Sophie! Don’t die! Live for our children!” followed by six or seven utterances of “It is nothing.” These utterances were followed by a long death rattle. Sophie was dead on arrival at the Governor’s residence while Franz Ferdinand died 10 minutes later.

The death shocked all the crowned heads of Europe and Emperor Franz Joseph took the news very hard. Although in that moment it was not clear that this event would spark a global war, the assassination of the Archduke raised tentions between allied states within two days. Austria-Hungary and Germany advised Serbia that it should open an investigation, but Secretary General to the Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Slavko Gruic, replied “Nothing had been done so far and the matter did not concern the Serbian Government.”

The beginning of the end had just happened.
Join me here this Friday for the aftermath and the start of the war.

 

The End of the Great War

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14 points, Austria-Hungary, Crown Prince Wilhelm, German Chancellor, German Emperor, German Empire, Imperiial Chancellor, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, Kingdom of Prussia, Max of Baden, The Great War, United States, Woodrow Wilson, World War I, World War ii

Today as I type this it is Veterans Day in the United States. We honor all those that serve in the military. The chosen date for this remembrance and gratitude to our brave men and women who sacrificed their lives was the ending of World War I. The end of the War brought not only a temporary peace to Europe, war would once again engulf Europe and the globe 21 years later, it also brought down ancient monarchies and a way of life that had existed for over one thousand years. In my interest in European royalty and history I often contemplate when was the point of no return for the down fall of monarchs? Could the down fall of Louis XVI of France and Navarre been avoided? I ask the same question today in regards to the collapse of the German Empire and the Empire of Austria-Hungary.

The war dragged on for 4 years. During the War the bombastic German Emperor, Wilhelm II, was a mere figurehead with his role being delegated to traveling throughout the empire by train giving speeches to encourage and boost the moral of the troops. Any military or political decisions had been taken out of his hands at this point and were under the control of the General Staff. Even though Wilhelm’s rule was nominal he was the symbolic head of the empire and the focal point of the propaganda against Germany. Death to the Kaiser or calls to hang the Kaiser were familiar rallying cries within the Allied forces.

By November of 1918 the war was winding down and all hope for a German victory was lost. President Wilson, not a monarchist by any stretch of the imagination, would not deal with these monarchical governments as a means of restoring peace. One of his famous 14 points for peace was that he would reduce German territory and practically dismantle the Austro-Hungarian empire. This placed great pressure on those in control in both Germany and Austria to rid themselves of the crown heads which stood at the pinnacle of symbolic power. It seems that the countries themselves were also tired of their hereditary leaders.

A year prior to the end of the War Austro-Hungarian emperor Karl tried to sue for peace using his brother-in-law, Prince Felix of Bourbon-Parma as a intermediary, but to no avail. In November of 1918 as the German General staff, along with Wilhelm II, gathered at headquarters at Spa in the Netherlands revolt was growing in the military and Germany itself. I think Wilhelm’s actions and attitudes at this time show the depth of his denial that things were truly over. He thought he would be able to lead the army back into Germany to crush any of the rising revolts. It came as a shock to him to learn that the army, so tied to Prussian authority for centuries, refused the emperors leadership.

Even the German Chancellor, Prince Max of Baden, tried to persuade the emperor to abdicate the throne to one of his grandsons (the German Crown Prince was even more unpopular than his father) in an effort to try and save the monarchy, but the emperor refused. It was the night of November 9-10 that the emperor finally saw the writing on the wall and fled into the Netherlands seeking asylum. This came on the day when Chancellor Max of Baden announced the abdication of the emperor to the German people even though at this point the emperor still had not agreed to abdicate. It wouldn’t be until December when the emperor officially signed documents agreeing to his abdication, releasing all military and government official of their oath of allegiance to him. The monarchy may have been salvageable in 1917 but at that point the war was not lost so there was no reason for the emperor to abdicate. Sadly the reason for the emperor to abdicate came only when it was realized that any hope to win the war had been lost and by then it was too late to save the monarchy.

In 1918 the aim of the allied forces was to punish Germany and the 1919 Treaty of Versailles is an example of that. The harshness of the treaty is said to be a factor in the rise of Germany and the cause of World War II. States have learned a lesson from World War I. That lesson is to not punish a warring nation but to try and stabilize that country as soon as possible. If the monarchy could have been a stabilizing force for Germany at the end of the war, and if the allied powers would have been willing to work with these monarchies would it have been possible to avert the coming evil that proved to be much worse? One of histories unanswerable questions.

Pretenders to the Throne.

Tags

Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, France (Royal & Imperial), Greece, Italy, Romania, Russia, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies

As my love for European Royalty quickly expanded beyond and interest in the British Royal Family and into other European royal houses I began to wonder about the royal families of countries where the monarchy had been abolished. I wondered what became of them, who would be king/queen/emperor had the monarchy not been abolished? Is there any chance that any of these former countries would return to a monarchical form of government? How does these former royal families live and how are they treated in their former territories?

Tomorrow I will begin looking at all the pretenders to vacant or non existent thrones in Europe. I have learned that the pretenders to these thrones live various lifestyles. Some are more public while others live more private lives. There is also various levels of wealth these people live with. Some families still hold onto the traditions and rules that the family held when they were in power. Another thing I learned that almost all of these former thrones are hotly contested among these families and there are more than one member claiming the throne of their ancestors.

So in the days to come I will examine the claims and the claimants to the thrones of France (Royal & Imperial), Russia, Italy, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, Austria-Hungary, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria and other minor royal houses of Germany.

HRH Prince Henri VII, Count of Paris and Duke of France. Pretender to the throne of France.

HRH Prince Louis XX, Duke of Anjou and Maria, Duchess of Anjou. Pretender to the French throne.