Austrian empire may refer to:

• The Austrian monarchy, see Habsburg Monarchy (1526–1867)
• Austrian Empire (1804–1867)
• Austria-Hungary (1867–1918)

See also[link]

• Holy Roman Empire (843–1806)
• Countries of the Austrian Empire (1804–1867)
• Austria (after 1918)

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Austrian Empire Kaiserthum Oesterreich
↓ 1804–1867 →   →
Flag Imperial Coat of arms
Anthem None Imperial anthem Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser "God Save Emperor Francis"
The Austrian Empire in 1859.[1]
Capital	Vienna
Language(s)	German, Hungarian, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Serbian, Italian, Polish, Ruthenian
Religion	Roman Catholic
Government	Absolute Monarchy
Emperor
- 1804–1835	Francis I
- 1835–1848	Ferdinand I
- 1848–1867	Francis Joseph I
Minister-President
- 1821–1848	Klemens Wenzel von Metternich (first)
- 1865–1867	Richard von Belcredi (last)
Legislature	Imperial Council
- Upper house	Herrenhaus
- Lower house	Abgeordnetenhaus
Historical era	Modern era Napoleonic Era Industrial Era
- Empire proclaimed	11 August 1804
- Independence from Holy Roman Empire	1806
- Establishment of the German Confederation	1815
- German confederation dissolved; excluded from German affairs	1866
- Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867	30 March 1867
Preceded by Succeeded by Archduchy of Austria Kingdom of Hungary (1538–1867) Principality of Transylvania (1711–1867) Kingdom of Bohemia Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg) Kingdom of Italy (Napoleonic) Austria–Hungary Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)
Today part of	Austria  Croatia  Czech Republic  Hungary  Italy  Poland  Romania  Serbia  Slovakia  Slovenia  Ukraine

History of Austria
This article is part of a series
Early History
Hallstatt culture
Noricum
Marcomanni
Samo's Realm
Carantania
March of Austria
Babenberger
Privilegium Minus
Habsburg era
House of Habsburg
Holy Roman Empire
Archduchy of Austria
Habsburg Monarchy
Austrian Empire
German Confederation
Austria-Hungary
World War I
Assassination of Franz Ferdinand
World War I
Interwar Years
German Austria
First Republic of Austria
Austrofascism/Federal State of Austria
Anschluss
World War II
National Socialism
World War II
Post-war Austria
Allied-occupied Austria
Second Austrian Republic
Austria Portal v t e

The Austrian Empire (German: Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling Kaisertum Österreich) was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire as a result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867. The Austro-Hungarian Empire (1867 to 1918) was itself dissolved by the victors at the end of World War I and broken into separate new states.

The term "Austrian Empire" is also used for the Habsburg possessions before 1804, which had no official collective name, although Austria is more frequent; the term of Austria-Hungary has also been used.^{[citation needed]}

The Austrian Empire was founded by the Habsburg monarch Holy Roman Emperor Francis II (who became Emperor Francis I of Austria), as a state comprising his personal lands within and outside of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.

This was a reaction to Napoleon Bonaparte's proclamation of the First French Empire in 1804.

Austria and some parts of the Holy Roman Empire then took the field against France and its German allies during the Third Coalition which led to the crushing defeat at Austerlitz in early December 1805. By the fourth of that same month, a cease fire was in place and peace talks were being conducted nearby.

Subsequently, Francis II agreed to the humiliating Treaty of Pressburg (December 1805), which in practice meant dissolution of the long-lived Holy Roman Empire with a reorganization of the lost German territories under a Napoleonic imprint into a precursor state of what became modern Germany, those possessions nominally having been part of the Holy Roman Empire within the present boundaries of Germany, as well as other measures weakening Austria and the Habsburgs in other ways. Certain Austrian holdings in Germany were passed to French allies—the King of Bavaria, the King of Württemberg and the Elector of Baden. Austrian claims on those German states were renounced without exception.

One consequence of that was eight months later on 6 August 1806, Francis II dissolved the Holy Roman Empire, due to the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine by France, as he did not want Napoleon to succeed him. This action was unrecognized by George III of the United Kingdom who was also the Elector of Hanover who had also lost his German territories around Hanover to Napoleon. The English claims were settled by the creation of the Kingdom of Hanover which was held by George's British heirs until Queen Victoria's ascension, after which point it split into the British and Hanoverian royal families.

Although the office of Holy Roman Emperor was elective, the House of Habsburg had held the title since 1440 (with one brief interruption) and Austria was the core of their territories.

After Austria was defeated in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, and left the German Confederation, the Austrian Empire was transformed into the Austro-Hungarian Empire by the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, which granted Hungary and the Hungarian lands equal status to the rest of Austria as a whole.

Creation[link]

Changes shaping the nature of the Austrian Empire took place during conferences in Rastatt (1797–1799) and Regensburg (1801–1803). On 24 March 1803, the Imperial Recess (German: Reichsdeputationshauptschluss) was declared, which greatly reduced the number of clerical territories from 81 to only 3 and imperial cities from 51 to 6. This measure was aimed at replacing the old constitution of the Holy Roman Empire, but the actual consequence of the Imperial Recess was the end of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation. Taking this significant change into consideration, the German Emperor Francis II created the title Emperor of Austria, for himself and his successors, abandoning the title of German-Roman Emperor later in 1806.

The fall and dissolution of the Empire was accelerated by French intervention in the Empire in September 1805. On 20 October 1805, an Austrian army led by general Karl Mack von Leiberich was defeated by French armies near the town of Ulm. The French victory resulted in the capture of 20,000 Austrian soldiers and many cannons. Napoleon’s army won another victory in the Battle of Austerlitz on 2 December 1805. In light of those events, Francis was forced to negotiate with the French from 4 December to 6 December 1805. These negotiations were concluded by an armistice on 6 December 1805.

The French victories encouraged rulers of certain imperial territories to assert their formal independence from the Empire. On 10 December 1805, the prince-elector Duke of Bavaria proclaimed himself King, followed by the elector Duke of Württemberg on 11 December. Finally, on 12 December, the Margrave of Baden was given the title of Grand Duke. In addition, each of these new countries signed a treaty with France and became French allies. The Treaty of Pressburg between France and Austria, signed in Pressburg (today Bratislava, Slovakia) on 26 December, enlarged the territory of Napoleon's German allies at the expense of defeated Austria.

Etnographic map of the Austrian Monarchy from 1855, made by Karl Freiherrn von Czoernig.

On 12 July 1806, the Confederation of the Rhine was established comprising 16 sovereigns and countries. This confederation, under French influence, put an end to the Holy Roman Empire. On 6 August 1806, even Francis recognized the new state of things and proclaimed the dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.

When, on 11 August 1804, Francis II assumed the title of first Emperor of Austria, the empire spanned from present-day Italy to present-day Poland and to the Balkans. The multi-national makeup of the empire is illustrated by the fact that its population included Germans, Czechs, Poles, Romanians, Hungarians, Italians, Ukrainians, Croats, Slovaks, Serbs, Slovenes and numerous smaller nationalities. The emperor ruled Austria as the namesake, but also held the title of King of Hungary, Bohemia, Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, leading to the Empire's multi-national army being styled the Kaiserlich-königliche Armee (Imperial-Royal Army). The Empire had a centralist structure, although some degree of autonomy was left to Hungary which was ruled by its own Diet, and to Tyrol.

Foreign policy[link]

The Napoleonic Wars dominated Austrian foreign policy from 1804 to 1815. After Prussia signed a peace treaty with France on 5 April 1795, Austria was forced to carry the main burden of war with Napoleon France for almost ten years. This severely overburdened the Austrian economy, making the war greatly unpopular. Emperor Francis II therefore refused to join any further war against Napoleon for a long time. On the other hand, Francis II continued to intrigue for the possibility of revenge against France, entering into a secret military agreement with the Russian Empire in November 1804. This convention was to assure mutual cooperation in the case of a new war against France.

Austrian unwillingness to join the Third Coalition was overcome by British subsidies, but the Austrians withdrew from the war yet again after a decisive defeat at the Battle of Austerlitz. Although the Austrian budget suffered from wartime expenditures and its international position was significantly undermined, the humiliating Treaty of Pressburg provided plenty of time to strengthen the army and economy. Moreover, the ambitious Archduke Charles and Johann Philipp von Stadion never abandoned the goal of further war with France.

Archduke Charles of Austria served as the Head of the Council of War and Commander in Chief of the Austrian army. Endowed with the enlarged powers, he reformed the Austrian Army to preparedness for another war. Johann Philipp von Stadion, the foreign minister, personally hated Napoleon due to an experience of confiscation of his possessions in France by Napoleon. In addition, the third wife of Francis II, Marie Ludovika of Austria-Este, agreed with Stadion's efforts to begin a new war. Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, located in Paris, called for careful advance in the case of the war against France. The defeat of French army at the Battle of Bailén in Spain on 27 July 1808 triggered the war. On 9 April 1809, an Austrian force of 170,000 men attacked Bavaria.

Despite military defeats—especially high magnitude losses like those at the Battles of Marengo, Ulm, Austerlitz and Wagram—and consequently lost territory throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars (the Treaties of Campo Formio in 1797, Luneville in 1801, Pressburg in 1806, and Schönbrunn in 1809), Austria played a decisive part in the overthrow of Napoleon in the campaigns of 1813–14.

The latter period of Napoleonic Wars featured Metternich exerting a large degree of influence over foreign policy in the Austrian Empire, a matter nominally decided by the Emperor. Metternich initially supported an alliance with France, arranging the marriage between Napoleon and the Francis II's daughter, Marie-Louise; however, by the 1812 campaign, he had realised the inevitability of Napoleon's downfall and took Austria to war against France. Metternich's influence at the Congress of Vienna was remarkable, and he became not only the premier statesman in Europe but virtual ruler of the Empire until 1848—the Year of Revolutions—and the rise of liberalism equated to his political downfall.

Constituent lands[link]

Gallery[link]

See also[link]

• Former countries in Europe after 1815

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Evans, R. J. W. Austria, Hungary, and the Habsburgs: Essays on Central Europe, c. 1683-1867 (2006) online
• Kann, Robert A. A History of the Habsburg Empire, 1526-1918 (2nd ed. 1980)
• Kissinger, Henry. The World Restored: Metternich, Castlereagh, and the Problems of Peace, 1812-22 (1955)
• Okey, Robin. The Habsburg Monarchy, C.1765-1918: From Enlightenment to Eclipse (2002) excerpt and text search
• Sked, Alan. Metternich and Austria: An Evaluation (2008)
• Sked, Alan. The Decline and Fall of the Habsburg Empire, 1815-1918 (2nd ed. 2001)
• Taylor, A.J.P. The Habsburg Monarchy, 1809-1918: A History of the Austrian Empire and Austria-Hungary (1941) excerpt and text search

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Austrian Empire

• Austrian Army during the Napoleonic Wars
• The empire of Austria ; its rise and present power (Third millennium library)

v t e States of the German Confederation (1815–66) Empires Austria1 Kingdoms Prussia1 Bavaria Saxony Hanover Württemberg Electorates Hesse Grand Duchies Baden Hesse Luxembourg Mecklenburg-Schwerin Mecklenburg-Strelitz Oldenburg Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach Duchies Anhalt Bernburg2 Dessau2 Köthen3 Brunswick Holstein Limburg4 Nassau Saxe-Lauenburg Saxony Altenburg5 Coburg-Saalfeld6 Coburg-Gotha5 Gotha-Altenburg6 Hildburghausen6 Meiningen Principalities Hesse-Homburg Hohenzollern Hechingen7 Sigmaringen7 Liechtenstein Lippe Reuss Elder Junior Schaumburg-Lippe Schwarzburg Rudolstadt Sondershausen Waldeck and Pyrmont City-states Bremen Frankfurt Hamburg Lübeck Other territories outside of the confederacy Colonial possessions Personal unions of Habsburg Bukovina Croatia Galicia and Lodomeria Hungary Lombardy–Venetia Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar8 Slavonia9 Transylvania Personal union of Hanover Great Britain and Ireland10 Personal unions of Hohenzollern East Prussia11 Neuchâtel12 Grand Duchy of Posen13 Province of Posen14 Province of Prussia15 West Prussia11 Occupied: Schleswig16 1 w/o areas listed under other territories 2 Merged with Anhalt from 1863 3 until 1847 4 from 1839 5 from 1826 6 until 1826 7 until 1850 8 1849–60 9 as of 1849 10 until 1837 11 until 1829 12 until 1848/57 13 until 1848 14 as of 1848 15 as of 1829 16 as of 1864

Franz Joseph I
Emperor Franz Joseph I around age 68, c. 1898
Emperor of Austria; Apostolic King of Hungary; King of Bohemia; King of Croatia; King of Galicia and Lodomeria; Grand Duke of Cracow
Reign	2 December 1848 – 21 November 1916
Predecessor	Ferdinand I
Successor	Charles I
Spouse	Empress Elisabeth of Austria
Issue
Archduchess Sophie Archduchess Gisela Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria Archduchess Marie Valerie
House	House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father	Archduke Franz Karl of Austria
Mother	Princess Sophie of Bavaria
Born	(1830-08-18)18 August 1830 Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna
Died	21 November 1916(1916-11-21) (aged 86) Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna
Burial	Imperial Crypt
Signature

Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (German: Franz Joseph I., Hungarian: I. Ferenc József, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916. From 1 May 1850 until 24 August 1866 he was President of the German Confederation.^[1]

In December 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of Ministerpräsident Felix zu Schwarzenberg's plan to end the Revolutions of 1848 in Austria, which allowed Ferdinand's nephew Franz Joseph to ascend to the throne. Largely considered to be a reactionary, Franz Joseph spent his early reign resisting constitutionalism in his domains. The Austrian Empire was forced to cede most of its claim to Lombardy–Venetia to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia following the conclusion of the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859, and the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866. Although Franz Joseph ceded no territory to the Kingdom of Prussia after the Austrian defeat in the Austro-Prussian War, the Peace of Prague (23 August 1866) settled the German question in favor of Prussia, which prevented the unification of Germany under the House of Habsburg (Großdeutsche Lösung).^[2]

Franz Joseph was troubled by nationalism during his entire reign. He concluded the Ausgleich of 1867, which granted greater autonomy to Hungary, hence transforming the Austrian Empire into the Austro-Hungarian Empire under his Dual Monarchy. His domains were then ruled peacefully for the next 45 years, although Franz Joseph personally suffered the tragedies of the suicide of his son, the Crown Prince Rudolf in 1889, and the assassination of his wife, the Empress Elisabeth in 1898.

After the Austro-Prussian War, Austria-Hungary turned its attention to the Balkans, which was a hotspot of international tension due to conflicting interests with the Russian Empire. The Bosnian crisis was a result of Franz Joseph's annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908, which had been occupied by his troops since the Congress of Berlin (1878). On 28 June 1914, the assassination of the heir-presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, at the hands of Gavrilo Princip, a Serbian nationalist, resulted in Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against the Kingdom of Serbia, which was Russia's ally. This activated a system of alliances which resulted in World War I.

Franz Joseph died on 21 November 1916, after ruling his domains for almost 68 years. He was succeeded by his grand-nephew Karl.

Early life[link]

Imperial monogram

Franz Joseph was born in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, the oldest son of Archduke Franz Karl (the younger son of Holy Roman Emperor Francis II), and his wife Princess Sophie of Bavaria. Because his uncle, from 1835 the Emperor Ferdinand, was weak-minded, and his father unambitious and retiring, the young Archduke "Franzl" was brought up by his mother as a future Emperor with emphasis on devotion, responsibility and diligence. Franzl came to idolise his grandfather, der Gute Kaiser Franz, who had died shortly before the former's fifth birthday, as the ideal monarch. At the age of 13, young Archduke Franz started a career as a colonel in the Austrian army. From that point onward, his fashion was dictated by army style and for the rest of his life he normally wore the uniform of a junior officer.

Franz Joseph was soon joined by three younger brothers: Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian (born 1832, the future Emperor Maximilian of Mexico); Archduke Karl Ludwig (born 1833), and Archduke Ludwig Viktor (born 1842), and a sister, Maria Anna (born 1835), who died at the age of four.

Following the resignation of the Chancellor Prince Metternich during the Revolutions of 1848, the young Archduke, who it was widely expected would soon succeed his uncle on the throne, was appointed Governor of Bohemia on 6 April, but never took up the post. Instead, Franz was sent to the front in Italy, joining Field Marshal Radetzky on campaign on 29 April, receiving his baptism of fire on 5 May at Santa 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 of Innsbruck, in Tyrol. Soon, the Archduke was called back from Italy, joining the rest of his family at Innsbruck by mid-June. It was at Innsbruck at this time that Franz Joseph first met his cousin Elisabeth, his future bride, then a girl of ten, but apparently the meeting made little impact.

Austrian Royalty House of Habsburg-Lorraine Francis I (Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor) Children include    Archduchess Marie Louise    Ferdinand I    Archduchess Maria Leopoldina    Archduchess Clementina    Archduke Franz Karl Grandchildren include    Franz Joseph I    Archduke Maximilian    Archduke Karl Ludwig    Archduke Ludwig Viktor Great-grandchildren include    Archduke Franz Ferdinand    Archduke Otto Franz Ferdinand I Franz Joseph I Children    Archduchess Sophie    Archduchess Gisela    Crown Prince Rudolf    Archduchess Marie Valerie Grandchildren include    Archduchess Elisabeth Marie Charles I Children include    Crown Prince Otto    Archduke Robert    Archduke Felix    Archduke Karl Ludwig    Archduke Rudolf Grandchildren include    Archduchess Andrea    Archduchess Monika    Archduchess Michaela    Archduchess Gabriela    Archduchess Walburga    Archduke Karl    Archduke Georg    Archduke Lorenz Great-Grandchildren include    Archduke Ferdinand Zvonimir    Archduke Amedeo

Following victory over the Italians at Custoza in late July, the court felt safe to return to Vienna, and Franz Joseph travelled with them. But within a few months Vienna again appeared unsafe, and in September the court left again, this time for Olmütz in Moravia. By now, Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz, the influential military commander in Bohemia, was determined to see the young Archduke soon put onto 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 Emperor.

It was thus at Olmütz on 2 December that, 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. It was at this time that he first became known by his second as well as his first Christian name. The name "Franz Joseph" was chosen deliberately to bring back memories of the new Emperor's great-granduncle, Emperor Joseph II, remembered as a modernising reformer.

Imperial absolutism, 1848–1860[link]

Franz Joseph I. as young man in 1851, Johann Ranzi

Under the guidance of the new prime minister Prince Schwarzenberg, the new emperor at first pursued a cautious course, granting a constitution in early 1849. At the same time, military campaigns were necessary against the Hungarians, who had rebelled against Habsburg central authority under the name of their ancient liberties. Franz Joseph was also almost immediately faced with a renewal of the fighting in Italy, with King Charles Albert of Sardinia taking advantage of setbacks in Hungary to resume the war in March 1849. Soon, though, the military tide began to turn in favor of Franz Joseph and the Austrian whitecoats. Almost immediately, Charles Albert was decisively beaten by Radetzky at Novara, and forced both to sue for peace and to abdicate his throne. In Hungary, the situation was more grave and Austrian defeat was quite possible. Franz Joseph, sensing a need to secure his right to rule sought help from Russia, requesting the intervention of Tsar Nicholas I, in order "to prevent the Hungarian insurrection developing into a European calamity."^[3] Russian troops entered Hungary in support of the Austrians and the revolution was crushed by late summer of 1849. With order now restored throughout the Empire, Franz Joseph felt free to go back on the constitutional concessions he had made, especially as the Austrian parliament, meeting at Kremsier, had behaved, in the young Emperor's view, abominably. The 1849 constitution was suspended, and a policy of absolutist centralism was established, guided by the Minister of the Interior, Alexander Bach.

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 stymie Prussian 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 effectively took over himself as prime minister.

Assassination attempt in 1853[link]

Assassination attempt on the Emperor, 1853

On 18 February 1853, the Emperor survived an assassination attempt by Hungarian nationalist János Libényi. The emperor was taking a stroll with one of his officers, Maximilian Karl Lamoral O'Donnell, on a city-bastion, 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 collar of the uniforms at that time was made out of very sturdy material exactly to counter this kind of attack. Even though the Emperor was wounded and bleeding, the collar saved his life. Count O'Donnell (descendant of the Irish noble dynasty O'Donnell of Tyrconnell^[4]) struck Libényi down with his sabre.^[5] O'Donnell, hitherto only a Count by virtue of his Irish nobility, was thereafter made a Count of the Habsburg Empire, conferred with the Commander's Cross of the Royal Order of Leopold, and his customary O'Donnell arms were augmented by the initials and shield of the ducal House of Austria, with additionally the double-headed eagle of the Empire. These arms are emblazoned on the portico of no. 2 Mirabel Platz in Salzburg, where O'Donnell built his residence thereafter. Another witness who happened to be nearby, the butcher Joseph Ettenreich, quickly overwhelmed Libényi. For his deed he was later elevated to nobility by the Emperor and became Joseph von Ettenreich. Libényi was subsequently put on trial and condemned to death for attempted regicide. He was executed on the Simmeringer Heide. After this unsuccessful attack, the Emperor's brother Ferdinand Maximilian Joseph, later Emperor of Mexico, called upon Europe's royal families for donations to a new church on the site of the attack. The church was to be a votive offering for the survival of the Emperor. It is located on Ringstraße in the district of Alsergrund close to the University of Vienna, and is known as the Votivkirche.

Family life[link]

Franz Joseph I. with his family

It was generally felt in the court that the Emperor should marry and produce heirs as soon as possible. Various potential brides were considered: Princess Elisabeth of Modena, Princess Anna of Prussia and Princess Sidonia of Saxony.^[6] Although in public life the Emperor was the unquestioned director of affairs, in his private life his formidable mother still had a crucial influence. She wanted to strengthen the relationship between the Houses of Habsburg and Wittelsbach, and hoped to match Franz Joseph with her sister Ludovika's eldest daughter, Helene ("Nené"), four years the Emperor's junior. However, the Emperor became besotted with Nené's younger sister, Elisabeth ("Sisi"), a girl of sixteen, and insisted on marrying her instead. Sophie acquiesced, despite some misgivings about Sisi's appropriateness as an imperial consort, and the young couple were married on 24 April 1854 in St. Augustine's Church, Vienna.

Their married life was not happy. Sisi never really adapted herself to the court and always had disagreements with the Imperial Family; their first daughter Sophie died as an infant; and their only son, Crown Prince Rudolf, died by suicide in 1889, in the infamous Mayerling Incident. The Empress was an inveterate traveller, horsewoman, and fashion maven who was rarely seen in Vienna. She was stabbed to death by an Italian anarchist in 1898; Franz Joseph never fully recovered from the loss. According to the future Empress-Consort Zita of Bourbon-Parma he usually 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." (although there is no definite proof he actually said this).

The 1850s witnessed several failures of Austrian external policy: the Crimean War and break-up with Russia, and defeat in the Second Italian War of Independence. The setbacks continued in the 1860s with defeat in the Austro-Prussian War of 1866, which resulted in the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867.

Political difficulties in Austria mounted continuously through the late 1800s and into the 20th century. But Franz Joseph remained immensely respected. His patriarchal authority held the Empire together while the politicians squabbled.

Later reign and death[link]

In 1885 Franz Joseph met Katharina Schratt, a leading actress of the Vienna stage, and she became his mistress. This relationship lasted the rest of his life, and was, to a certain degree, tolerated by Sisi. Franz Joseph built Villa Schratt in Bad Ischl for her, and also provided her with a small palace in Vienna.

After the death of Rudolf, the heir to the throne was his nephew Archduke Franz Ferdinand. When Franz Ferdinand decided to marry a mere countess, Franz Joseph opposed the marriage strenuously, and insisted that it must be morganatic; he did not even attend the wedding. After that, the two men disliked and distrusted each other.

Tomb of Franz Joseph I, in the Imperial Crypt, Vienna

In 1903, Franz Joseph's veto of Cardinal Rampolla's election to the papacy was transmitted to the conclave by Cardinal Jan Puzyna. It was the last use of such a veto, because new Pope Pius X provided penalties for such.

In 1914, Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, leading to World War I. When he heard the news of the assassination, Franz Joseph said that "in this manner a superior power has restored that order which I unfortunately was unable to maintain."

Franz Joseph died in the Schönbrunn Palace in 1916, aged 86, in the middle of the war. He was succeeded by his grand-nephew Karl. But two years later, after defeat in World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy was dissolved.^[7]

His 68-year reign is the third-longest in the recorded history of Europe (after those of Louis XIV of France and Johannes II, Prince of Liechtenstein).

Gallery[link]

• 

  Franz Joseph with his mother Princess Sophie of Bavaria

• 

  The young Franz Joseph by Miklós Barabás

• 

  The young Emperor Franz Joseph in 1855

• 

  Franz Joseph wearing the uniform of an Austrian Field Marshal

• 

  

  Emperor Franz Joseph being greeted, circa 1910

• 

  Emperor Franz Joseph with Karl and Otto of Habsburg-Lorraine in 1915

• 

  Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth as young couple in 1855

• 

  Franz Joseph and his mother Sophie of Bavaria in 1848

• 

  Franz Joseph in 1910

• 

  Emperor Franz Joseph in 1910

Issue[link]

Ancestors[link]

Orders, decorations, and honours[link]

Monarchical styles of Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary
Reference style	His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty
Spoken style	Your Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty
Alternative style	My Lord

Emperor Franz Joseph held the following chivalric orders:

• Order of the Golden Fleece (ex officio as Emperor of Austria)
• Military Order of Maria Theresa (Militär Maria-Theresien-Orden, ex officio as Emperor of Austria)
• Royal Hungarian Order of Saint Stephen (Königlich ungarischer St. Stephan-Orden, ex officio as Emperor of Austria)
• Order of Leopold (Leopold-Orden, ex officio as Emperor of Austria)
• Order of the Iron Crown (Orden der Eisernen Krone, ex officio as Emperor of Austria)
• Order of the Garter, Great Britain, awarded 1867 and expelled 1914
• Order of the Black Eagle (Schwarzer-Adler-Orden), Prussia
• Order of the Red Eagle (Roter-Adler-Orden), First Class, Prussia
• Pour le Mérite (Orden Pour le Mérite, the "Blue Max"), Prussia
• Royal House Order of Hohenzollern (Königlich Hausorden von Hohenzollern), Prussia

Monarchical styles of Franz Joseph I of Austria
Reference style	His Imperial Majesty
Spoken style	Your Imperial Majesty
Alternative style	My Lord

He founded the following orders:

• Order of Franz Joseph (Franz Joseph-Orden), 1849
• Order of Elizabeth (Elizabeth-Orden), 1898

Monarchical styles of Franz Joseph I of Hungary
Reference style	His Royal Apostolic Majesty
Spoken style	Your Royal Apostolic Majesty
Alternative style	My Lord

He held the following honorary appointments:

• Colonel-in-chief, 1st (The King's) Dragoon Guards, British Army, 25 March 1896 – 1914
• Colonel-in-chief, Kexholm Life Guards Grenadier Regiment, Russian Army, until 26 June 1914
• Colonel-in-chief, 12th Belgorod Lancer Regiment, Russian Army, until 26 June 1914
• Colonel-in-chief, 16th (Schleswig-Holstein) Hussars, German Army
• Colonel-in-chief, 122nd (Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria, King of Hungary (4th Württemberg) Fusiliers
• Field Marshal, British Army, 1 September 1903 – 1914

Legacy[link]

The archipelago Franz Josef Land in the Russian high Arctic was named in his honor in 1873. Franz Josef Glacier in New Zealand's South Island bears his name.

Franz Joseph founded in 1872 the Franz Joseph University (Hungarian: Ferenc József Tudományegyetem, Romanian: Universitatea Francisc Iosif) in the city of Cluj-Napoca (at that time a part of Austria-Hungary under the name of Kolozsvár). The university was moved to Szeged after Cluj became a part of Romania, becoming the University 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 August 18th, and is a "spontaneous, traditional and brotherly meeting among peoples of the Central-European Countries^[8]". The event includes ceremonies, meetings, music, songs, dances, wine and food tasting, and traditional costumes and folklore from Mitteleuropa.

Official Grand Title[link]

His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty,

Franz Joseph I, by the Grace of God Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Bohemia, King of Lombardy and Venice, of Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia, Lodomeria and Illyria; King of Jerusalem etc., Archduke of Austria; Grand Duke of Tuscany and Cracow, Duke of Lorraine, of Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola and of the Bukovina; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Upper and Lower Silesia, of Modena, Parma, Piacenza and Guastalla, of Auschwitz, Zator and Teschen, Friuli, Ragusa (Dubrovnik) and Zara (Zadar); Princely Count of Habsburg and Tyrol, of Kyburg, Gorizia and Gradisca; Prince of Trent (Trento) and Brixen; Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and in Istria; Count of Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg, etc.; Lord of Trieste, of Cattaro (Kotor), and over the Windic march; president of The German Confederation.^[9]

After 1867:

His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty,

Francis Joseph I, by the grace of God Emperor of Austria; Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia, Lodomeria, Illyria; King of Jerusalem, etc.; Archduke of Austria; Grand Duke of Tuscany, Crakow; Duke of Lorraine, Salzburg, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, the Bukovina; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of the Upper & Lower Silesia, Modena, Parma, Piacenza, Guastalla, Oswiecin, Zator, Cieszyn, Friuli, Ragusa, Zara; Princely Count of Habsburg, Tyrol, Kyburg, Gorizia, Gradisca; Prince of Trent, Brixen; Margrave of the Upper & Lower Lusatia, in Istria; Count of Hohenems, Feldkirch, Bregenz, Sonnenberg, etc.; Lord of Triest, Kotor, the Wendish March; Grand Voivode of the Voivodship of Serbia etc. etc..

Personal motto[link]

• "mit vereinten Kräften" (German) = "Viribus Unitis" (Latin) = "With united forces" (as the Emperor of Austria). A homonymous war ship existed.
• "Bizalmam az Ősi Erényben" (Hungarian) = "Virtutis Confido" (Latin) = "My trust in [the ancient] virtue" (as the Apostolic King of Hungary)

In popular culture[link]

• In the 1974 BBC miniseries Fall of Eagles, he was played by Miles Anderson as a young man and by Laurence Naismith in old age.

See also[link]

• Family tree of the German monarchs – he was related to every other ruler of Germany.
• List of coupled cousins
• Franc Jozeph Island, island in Albania in honor of the Emperor.

Notes[link]

Further reading[link]

• Beller, Steven. Francis Joseph. Profiles in power. London: Longman, 1996.
• Bled, Jean-Paul. Franz Joseph. Oxford: Blackwell, 1992.
• Cunliffe-Owen, Marguerite. Keystone of Empire: Francis Joseph of Austria. New York: Harper, 1903.
• Gerö, András. Emperor Francis Joseph: King of the Hungarians. Boulder, Colo.: Social Science Monographs, 2001.
• Palmer, Alan. Twilight of the Habsburgs: The Life and Times of Emperor Francis Joseph. New York: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995.
• Redlich, Joseph. Emperor Francis Joseph Of Austria. New York: Macmillan, 1929.
• Van der Kiste, John. Emperor Francis Joseph: Life, Death and the Fall of the Habsburg Empire. Stroud, England: Sutton, 2005.

External links[link]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Emperor Franz Joseph I

German Wikisource has original text related to this article: Emperor Franz Joseph I

Media related to Franz Joseph I of Austria at Wikimedia Commons

• Biography at WorldWar1.com
• Details at Regiments.org
• Genealogy
• Mayerling tragedy
• Miklós Horthy reflects on Franz Josef
• Internet museum of Emperor Franz Joseph I, Wilhelm II and First World War

v t e German Confederations 1806–1871 Confederation of the Rhine 1806–1813 Protector Napoleon I (1806–1813) Prince primate Karl Theodor von Dalberg (1806–1813) Eugène de Beauharnais (1813) German Confederation 1815–1866 Presidents Francis I of Austria (1815–1835) Ferdinand I of Austria (1835–1848) Francis Joseph I of Austria (1849–1866) Imperial regent Archduke Johann of Austria (1848–1849) North German Confederation 1867–1871 President Wilhelm I of Prussia (1867–1871) Chancellor Otto von Bismarck (1867–1871) List of German monarchs History of Germany House of Habsburg-Lorraine House of Hohenzollern

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Francis II & I
Emperor Franz II & I (Francis II & I) at age 64, 1832
King of Hungary and Croatia
Reign	1 March 1792 – 2 March 1835
Coronation	6 June 1792, Buda
Predecessor	Leopold II
Successor	Ferdinand V
King of Bohemia
Reign	1 March 1792 – 2 March 1835
Coronation	9 August 1792, Prague
Predecessor	Leopold II
Successor	Ferdinand V
Holy Roman Emperor King in Germany
Reign	5 July 1792 – 6 August 1806
Coronation	14 July 1792, Frankfurt
Predecessor	Leopold II
Emperor of Austria
Reign	11 August 1804 – 2 March 1835
Successor	Ferdinand I
Spouse	Elisabeth of Württemberg Maria Theresa of Naples Maria Ludovika of Austria-Este Caroline Augusta of Bavaria
Issue
Archduchess Ludovika Elisabeth Marie Louise, Empress of the French Ferdinand I Archduchess Marie Caroline Archduchess Caroline Ludovika Maria Leopoldina, Empress of Brazil Clementina, Princess of Salerno Archduke Joseph Franz Leopold Marie Caroline, Crown Princess of Saxony Archduke Franz Karl Archduchess Maria Anna Archduke Johann Nepomuk Archduchess Amalie Theresa
Full name
Franz Joseph Karl
House	House of Habsburg-Lorraine
Father	Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor
Mother	Maria Luisa of Spain
Born	(1768-02-12)12 February 1768 Florence
Died	2 March 1835(1835-03-02) (aged 67) Vienna
Religion	Roman Catholicism

Francis II (German: Franz II, Erwählter Römischer Kaiser) (12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Empire after the disastrous defeat of the Third Coalition by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz. In 1804, he had founded the Austrian Empire and became Francis I (Franz I.), the first Emperor of Austria (Kaiser von Österreich), ruling from 1804 to 1835, so later he was named the one and only Doppelkaiser (double emperor) in history. For the two years between 1804 and 1806, Francis used the title and style by the grace of God elected Roman Emperor, always August, hereditary Emperor of Austria and he was called the Emperor of both Germany and Austria. He was also Apostolic King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia as Francis I. He also served as the first president of the German Confederation following its establishment in 1815.

Francis I continued his leading role as an opponent of Napoleonic France in the Napoleonic Wars, and suffered several more defeats after Austerlitz. The proxy marriage of state of his daughter Marie Louise of Austria to Napoleon on 10 March 1810 was assuredly his most severe defeat. After the abdication of Napoleon following the War of the Sixth Coalition, Austria participated as a leading member of the Holy Alliance at the Congress of Vienna, which was largely dominated by Francis's chancellor Klemens Wenzel, Prince von Metternich culminating in a new European map and the restoration of Francis' ancient dominions (except the Holy Roman Empire which was dissolved). Due to the establishment of the Concert of Europe, which largely resisted popular nationalist and liberal tendencies, Francis became viewed as a reactionary later in his reign.

Early life[link]

Francis II at age 7, 1775

Francis was a son of the future Emperor Leopold II (1747–1792) and his wife Maria Luisa of Spain (1745–1792), daughter of Charles III of Spain. Francis was born in Florence, the capital of Tuscany, where his father reigned as Grand Duke from 1765–90. Though he had a happy childhood surrounded by his many siblings,^[1] his family knew Francis was likely to be a future Emperor (his uncle Joseph had no surviving issue from either of his two marriages), and so in 1784 the young Archduke was sent to the Imperial Court in Vienna to educate and prepare him for his future role.^[2]

Emperor Joseph himself took charge of Francis's development. His disciplinarian regime was a stark contrast to the indulgent Florentine Court of Leopold. The Emperor wrote that Francis was "stunted in growth", "backward in bodily dexterity and deportment", and "neither more nor less than a spoiled mother's child". Joseph concluded that "…the manner in which he was treated for upwards of sixteen years could not but have confirmed him in the delusion that the preservation of his own person was the only thing of importance."^[2]

Joseph's martinet method of improving the young Francis were "fear and unpleasantness".^[3] The young Archduke was isolated, the reasoning being that this would make him more self-sufficient as it was felt by Joseph that Francis "fail[ed] to lead himself, to do his own thinking". Nonetheless, Francis greatly admired his uncle, if rather feared him. To complete his training, Francis was sent to join an army regiment in Hungary and he settled easily into the routine of military life.^[4]

After the death of Joseph II in 1790, Francis's father became Emperor. He had an early taste of power while acting as Leopold's deputy in Vienna while the incoming Emperor traversed the Empire attempting to win back those alienated by his brother's policies.^[5] The strain told on Leopold and by the winter of 1791, he became ill. He gradually worsened throughout early 1792; on the afternoon of 1 March Leopold died, at the relatively young age of 44. Francis, just past his 24th birthday, was now Emperor...much sooner than he had expected.

Emperor[link]

Francis II at age 25, 1792

As the leader of the large multi-ethnic Habsburg Empire, Francis felt threatened by Napoleon's destruction of Europe under the guise of "liberty and equality". Francis had a fraught relationship with France. His aunt Marie Antoinette had been brutally murdered by the revolutionaries at the beginning of his reign. Francis, on the whole, was indifferent to her fate (she was not close to his father Leopold, and Francis had met her, but when he was of an age that was too young for him to remember). Georges Danton attempted to negotiate with the Emperor for Marie Antoinette's release from captivity, but Francis was unwilling to make any concessions in return.^[6]

Later, he led Austria into the French Revolutionary Wars. He briefly commanded the Allied forces during the Flanders Campaign of 1794 before handing over command to his brother Archduke Charles. He was later defeated by Napoleon. By the Treaty of Campo Formio, he ceded the left bank of the Rhine to France in exchange for Venice and Dalmatia. He again fought against France during the Second and Third Coalition, when after meeting crushing defeat at Austerlitz, he had to agree to the Treaty of Pressburg, weakening the Austrian Empire and reorganizing Germany under a Napoleonic imprint that would be called the Confederation of the Rhine. At this point, he felt his position as Holy Roman Emperor to be untenable, so on 6 August 1806, he abdicated the throne and declared himself to be Francis I, Emperor of Austria.^[7]

In 1809, Francis attacked France again, hoping to take advantage of the Peninsular War embroiling Napoleon in Spain. He was again defeated, and this time forced to ally himself with Napoleon, ceding territory to the Empire, joining the Continental System, and wedding his daughter Marie-Louise to the Emperor. Francis essentially became a vassal of the Emperor of the French. The Napoleonic wars drastically weakened Austria and threatened its preeminence among the states of Germany, a position that it would eventually cede to the Kingdom of Prussia.

In 1813, for the fourth and final time, Austria turned against France and joined Great Britain, Russia, Prussia and Sweden in their war against Napoleon. Austria played a major role in the final defeat of France—in recognition of this, Francis, represented by Clemens von Metternich, presided over the Congress of Vienna, helping to form the Concert of Europe and the Holy Alliance, ushering in an era of conservatism in Europe. The German Confederation, a loose association of Central European states was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to organize the surviving states of the Holy Roman Empire. The Congress was a personal triumph for Francis, where he hosted the assorted dignitaries in comfort,^[8] though Francis undermined his allies Tsar Alexander and Frederick William III of Prussia by negotiating a secret treaty with the restored French king Louis XVIII.^[9]

The federal Diet met at Frankfurt under Austrian presidency (in fact the Habsburg Emperor was represented by an Austrian 'presidential envoy').

Domestic policy[link]

Francis II at age 52, 1820

The horrific and despicable events of the French Revolution impressed themselves deeply into the mind of Francis (as well as all other European monarchs), and he came to distrust radicalism in any form. In 1794, a "Jacobin" conspiracy was discovered in the Austrian and Hungarian armies.^[10] The leaders were put on trial, but the verdicts only skirted the perimeter of the conspiracy. Francis's brother Alexander Leopold (at that time Palatine of Hungary) wrote to the Emperor admitting "Although we have caught a lot of the culprits, we have not really got to the bottom of this business yet." Nonetheless, two officers heavily implicated in the conspiracy were hanged and gibbeted, while numerous others were sentenced to imprisonment (many of whom died from the conditions).^[11]

Francis was from his experiences suspicious and set up an extensive network of police spies and censors to monitor dissent^[11] (in this he was following his father's lead, as the Grand Duchy of Tuscany had the most effective secret police in Europe).^[2] Even his family did not escape attention. His brothers, the Archdukes Charles and Johann had their meetings and activities spied upon.^[12] Censorship was also prevalent. The author Franz Grillparzer, a Habsburg patriot, had one play suppressed solely as a "precautionary" measure. When Grillparzer met the censor responsible, he asked him what was objectionable about the work. The censor replied, "Oh, nothing at all. But I thought to myself, 'One can never tell'."^[13]

In military affairs Francis had allowed his brother, the Archduke Charles, extensive control over the army during the Napoleonic wars. Yet, distrustful of allowing any individual too much power, he otherwise maintained the separation of command functions between the Hofkriegsrat and his field commanders.^[14] In the later years of his reign he limited military spending, requiring it not exceed forty millions florins per year; because of inflation this resulted in inadequate funding, with the army's share of the budget shrinking from half in 1817 to only twenty-three percent in 1830.^[15]

Francis presented himself as an open and approachable monarch (he regularly set aside two mornings each week to meet his imperial subjects, regardless of status, by appointment in his office, even speaking to them in their own language),^[16] but his will was sovereign. In 1804, he had no compunction about announcing that through his authority as Holy Roman Emperor, he declared he was now Emperor of Austria (at the time a geographical term that had little resonance). Two years later, Francis personally wound up the moribund Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Both actions were of dubious constitutional legality.^[17]

Later years[link]

Francis II at age 64, 1832

his sarcophagus in Capuchins church imperial crypt, Vienna, Austria

Francis was a devoted family man, and a main point in the political testament he left for his son and heir Ferdinand was, "Preserve unity in the family and regard it as one of the highest goods." In many portraits (particularly those painted by Peter Fendi) he was portrayed as the patriarch of a loving family, surrounded by his children and grandchildren.^[18]

On 2 March 1835, 43 years and a day after his father's death, Francis died in Vienna of a sudden fever aged 67, in the presence of many of his family and with all the religious comforts.^[18] His funeral was magnificent, with his Viennese subjects respectfully filing past his coffin in the chapel of Hofburg Palace^[19] for three days.^[20] Francis was interred in the traditional resting place of Habsburg monarchs, the Kapuziner Imperial Crypt in Vienna's Neue Markt Square. He is buried in tomb number 57, surrounded by his four wives.

After 1806 he used the titles: "We, Francis the First, by the grace of God Emperor of Austria; King of Jerusalem, Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Galicia and Lodomeria; Archduke of Austria; Duke of Lorraine, Salzburg, Würzburg, Franconia, Styria, Carinthia and Carniola; Grand Duke of Cracow; Grand Prince of Transylvania; Margrave of Moravia; Duke of Sandomir, Masovia, Lublin, Upper and Lower Silesia, Auschwitz and Zator, Teschen and Friule; Prince of Berchtesgaden and Mergentheim; Princely Count of Habsburg, Gorizia and Gradisca and of the Tirol; and Margrave of Upper and Lower Lusatia and in Istria", President of the German Confederation.

Titles, styles, honours and arms[link]

Monarchical styles of Emperor Francis I of Austria
Reference style	His Imperial Majesty
Spoken style	Your Imperial Majesty
Alternative style	My Lord

Titles and styles[link]

• 12 February 1768 - 1 March 1792 His Royal Highness Archduke Francis of Austria
• 1 March 1792 - 11 August 1804 His Royal Apostolic Majesty Roman Emperor Elect
• 11 August 1804 - 6 August 1806 His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty Emperor of Austria, Roman Emperor Elect
• 11 August 1804 - 2 March 1835 His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty The Emperor of Austria

Ancestors[link]