The head of the dual state of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, the Emperor of the Austrian Empire and the King of Bohemia, Franz Joseph 1, during the years of his reign was not distinguished by any particular greatness of affairs, but took an honorable place in European history due to... his long reign - he was on the throne for 68 years! The Russian island of Franz Josef Land, discovered in 1873 by an Austrian polar expedition, is named in honor of the emperor in the Arctic Ocean.
The conservative emperor had a habit of going to bed early and getting up early, for which the common people nicknamed him “the early bird.” Over the long years of his reign, this habit of his was well adopted by the Hungarians, Czechs and Austrians. The Germans adopted it from the latter. For which everyone was grateful to him - active life in cities begins early and ends early, leaving more free time for family and personal life. This habit has continued to this day.
The emperor was a pedant in everything: in clothes, ceremonies, etiquette. He was stingy and conservative, did not want a telephone to be brought into his palace, and had difficulty agreeing to electricity. He knew his weaknesses and called himself "the last monarch of the old school." Franz Joseph loved the army, parades, and uniforms. You will love our Japanese tea sets of various colors and configurations. And in everything he tried to maintain strict order and subordination, but by nature he was cheerful and sociable among those closest to him.
Franz Joseph was a decent, intelligent and educated man. Since childhood, he showed excellent abilities for languages, he was fluent in French, English, spoke Hungarian, Polish, Czech and Italian...
Franz Joseph I began to rule in 1848. During the Austrian revolution, his uncle abdicated the throne and his father renounced his rights of inheritance, and 18-year-old Franz Joseph 1 found himself at the head of the multinational Habsburg power. At this time, there was turmoil in Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic and neighboring countries, including, first of all, Italy. Somewhere social revolutions were brewing, somewhere the people, as in Italy, were trying to get rid of the alien conquerors of the Austrians.
Franz Joseph was not a strategist, although he studied military science. But it was necessary to find a place for Austria among European states, create military alliances, enter into conflicts, and achieve victories for their subjects. He didn't do any of this. He saw his main enemy... in Russian Empire. This was his big mistake. Neither France nor Prussia became his reliable allies. He lost previously conquered territories, in particular Lombardy in Italy. The Habsburg monarchy was in danger of collapse.
The bitter experience of war and uprising in Hungary and the Czech Republic forced him to make liberal concessions; Franz Joseph declared freedom of religion, began to become more active in the economy, build railways, and contributed to the education of the population. In 1878, at the Congress of Berlin, Austria-Hungary received a substantial increase - Bosnia and Herzegovina.
It is quite possible that Franz Joseph would have achieved more significant results during his reign if not for family troubles. He had a young and beautiful wife, the Bavarian Princess Elizabeth - Sissi, whom the Austrians adored, but the couple lost interest in each other. In 1867, his younger brother, Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico, was shot and killed in Mexico. In 1872, his mother Sophia of Bavaria, whom he revered very much, died, and six years later his father Franz Karl died. In 1889, his only son and heir Rudolph shot himself, having previously killed his bride. In 1898, an Italian anarchist murdered his wife, Elisabeth. And in 19N, the new heir to the throne, Franz Joseph’s nephew, Franz Ferdinand, was shot dead in Sarajevo, which was the reason for the First World War. These were heavy losses for the emperor. They ruined his health. Two years later, Franz Joseph died at the age of 86.
One of the longest reigning monarchs in world history, the eldest son of Archduke Franz Charles, brother and heir of Emperor Ferdinand I, with early childhood trained for the role of emperor. Franz Joseph received a thorough education in accordance with the requirements of his grandfather, Emperor Franz I. Starting from the age of six, lessons took 20 hours a week to reach 50 by the age of ten. The future monarch mastered French and Italian perfectly, knew Latin, Czech and Hungarian well, could say a few sentences in Polish. In addition to his knowledge of languages, the young Habsburg developed his passion for horse riding, fencing and dancing. He also gained knowledge in military affairs, and at the age of 13 he was already a colonel. But, like most of the Habsburgs, he did not show special abilities in this area, although he had the opportunity to take part in object lessons, which were the military victories of the Austrians in Italy at that time.
In 1848, a revolution broke out in Italy, and 80-year-old Marshal Joseph Radetzky was sent to suppress it. The Austrian commander did not have enough patience for his student, and the participation of the heir to the throne in the Italian war was limited to observing the insignificant battle of Santa Lucia.
Franz Joseph came to the imperial throne in the wake of the events of the “Spring of Nations” and thanks to the intrigues of his inner circle, primarily his own mother, Sophia of Bavaria, who during the reign of the sick Emperor Ferdinand I the Good was called the only man at court. According to the principle of succession, after the abdication of Ferdinand I in December 1848, the crown should have passed to his brother Franz Charles. However, at the last moment it was decided that it would be more beneficial for the empire to call his son, 18-year-old Franz Joseph, to the royal throne, who would reshuffle the government and calm the rebellious provinces.
The beginning of the reign of the young monarch did not promise anything good for Austria. The day of the imperial proclamation itself - December 2 - was symbolic: on this day 44 years ago, Napoleon I was crowned - until that time the most sinister enemy of the Danube monarchy. Franz Joseph made his first foreign visit to Warsaw, where he asked Russian Tsar Nicholas I for help in quelling the unrest. The result of this was the bloody suppression of the uprising in Hungary. This did not bring glory to the new ruler, just like the actions of the Austrian military leaders in the rebellious province. General Julius Gainau, who since the Italian campaign was called the “hyena from Brescia,” became famous for his particular cruelty.
The abolition in 1851 of the March Constitution, published four years earlier, also did not meet with support from its subjects. It took time to distance ourselves from the "old suit" of the Metternich school advisers, who were very influential in the first period of Franz Joseph's reign. It was they, as well as his mother, Sophia of Bavaria, who successfully prevented him from pursuing an independent policy.
Efforts to strengthen power were temporarily interrupted by an assassination attempt on the emperor, committed on March 18, 1853 by a servant of Hungarian origin, Janos Libeni. The blow to the neck caused by the knife loosened the button, but the wound turned out to be very serious. The conspirator was quickly detained and sentenced to death. In this regard, the emperor made a gesture that, perhaps for the first time, won him sympathy among his subjects. He awarded a lifelong pension to the conspirator’s mother, who was left without a livelihood. From that time on, outbursts of kindness, shown both in politics and in private life, created for him the image of a good emperor.
The marriage of Franz Joseph to Elisabeth of Bavaria, which took place on April 24, 1854, met with a positive response. The Emperor was initially supposed to marry Elizabeth's older sister Helen, but changed his mind when he saw 15-year-old Sissi. Fascinated by the duchess's beauty, he immediately asked for her hand. The private life of the emperor aroused special sympathy among his subjects. The marriage was unsuccessful. Over time, Empress Elizabeth became estranged from her husband. Misunderstood by her surroundings and completely alienated, she devoted most of her time to travel and the Hungarian language (even the opinion was strengthened that thanks to Elizabeth, Austria-Hungary appeared). She was considered the most beautiful woman in Europe, and she took great care of herself. The Empress followed a diet, did gymnastics, fencing and horse riding. Unfulfilled as a wife, she nevertheless showed respect to her husband, and in turn he assured her of endless love. After Elizabeth's death, he expressed his feelings in these words: “She was an extraordinary woman, the pride of my throne and my life.”
Elisabeth and Franz Joseph had four children. The death in 1857 of the eldest daughter of the imperial couple, Sophia, was the first, but not the last family tragedy. In 1889, Rudolf, the only son of Franz Joseph, whom he raised as the heir to the throne, died. The Archduke was strikingly different from the Emperor in his political preferences, the expression of which was a public demonstration of sympathy for the French Third Republic and undisguised hatred of the Hohenzollern family. Rudolph brought his father the greatest grief when he started an affair with Baroness Maria von Vechera. Apparently, a serious relationship was not included in the plans due to Mary’s low origins - a morganatic marriage would have deprived Rudolf of his rights to the crown. The mysterious death of lovers in the Mayerling hunting castle shocked Vienna. But this was not the end of the family tragedies.
After Rudolf's death, Archduke Karl Ludwig, who died of typhus in 1896, became the heir. Then the heir to the throne turned out to be Franz Ferdinand, who was assassinated in Sarajevo in June 1914. Franz Joseph himself turned out to be a long-lasting monarch. All new generations were born and died, but he, as before, remained on the imperial throne. His heir, Emperor Charles I, was the last Habsburg on the throne of Austria-Hungary.
Franz Joseph I, “the last emperor of the old school,” as he called himself, and indeed the last Austrian emperor, owes his rise to his mother and... the revolution. When “hostile whirlwinds” swept over the country in 1848, Emperor Ferdinand abdicated the throne, and the father of the future monarch did not want to pick up the scepter that had fallen from his trembling hand - this was done by Franz Joseph, who at that time had barely reached adulthood by modern standards.
Ascension to the throne
This was not a big surprise for the young man: his mother, Princess Sofia, took over the male roles in the family. She was the daughter of King Maximilian 1 of Bavaria and Queen Caroline of Baden.
She was a domineering, headstrong, stubborn woman, completely devoid of any flexibility, including political. However, what she cannot be denied is her intelligence and desire to make her son a great autocrat. During the revolution, she managed to convince her husband to renounce his rights to rule in favor of Franz Joseph.
The future Emperor Franz Joseph was brought up in full accordance with his mother's ideas about the monarch. Great attention was paid to the varied “military” - discipline, subordination, precision and endurance were the strong point of the Austrian ruler until the end of his life.
Much less time was devoted to civil sciences - jurisprudence, history, etc. The lack of this knowledge had to be made up for after ascending the throne.
And poetry, painting, music and other “bohemian things” were considered completely unnecessary. Franz Joseph had a very distant relationship with this area. But his beloved wife, Empress Elizabeth, is the most immediate.
And yet they (kings) can do anything!
The Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph married for love, although admirers of Alla Pugacheva’s work will not believe it. Initially, another girl was intended to be the wife of the august young man - Elizabeth’s older sister, Elena. But the mother of the two princesses recklessly took the younger one with her to celebrate the emperor’s birthday (the engagement was supposed to coincide with this celebration) - and the young monarch “disappeared.”
The mother's persuasion had no effect on the ardently in love young man, and therefore the agreements were “renegotiated” - the situation, of course, was simplified due to the close relationship of the girls.
By and large, in terms of dynastic considerations, it was indifferent which of the Bavarian princesses Franz Joseph would marry - but Hollywood found an excellent plot and burst out (in 1955, 101 years after the wedding of the august couple) with the romantic tear-jerking film “Sissi”, where the young The empress was played by the lovely Romy Schneider. Judging by the portraits, Elizabeth was in no way inferior to her “representative”: luxurious dark curls, sly eyes, slender figure, chiseled facial features. And contemporaries argued that her charm was not only external.
Is there life after a Hollywood happy ending?
The wedding took place on an unprecedented scale, even commemorative coins of Franz Joseph I were issued to mark the event (one and two florins), and the abandoned bride, no less, cursed both her successful rival and the fickle groom: the personal life of the imperial couple was extremely unsuccessful. However, perhaps there was no mysticism, and it was all due to an unfavorable combination of circumstances.
Firstly, the mother-in-law of the newly-made empress was completely devoid of the softness that is believed to be inherent in women. She even took away her daughter-in-law's just-born first daughter in order to raise her according to her own tastes. The emperor's mother came into more and more conflict with her daughter-in-law in the struggle for influence over her beloved son. She tried in every possible way to ruin her life and did everything to prevent her from getting closer to her husband.
When the mother did the same with the second baby, Franz Joseph resolutely opposed and forbade Sophia to interfere in his personal life. However, this did not bring any special results and did not return intimacy to the couple’s relationship.
Workaholic Monarch
The Emperor worked hard all his life. He woke up at four in the morning, went to bed at half past eight in the evening, and his whole day was subject to a strict routine. The emperor was a very capable man. He spoke fluently in almost a dozen languages, strictly fulfilled his royal duties, appeared everywhere on time, and devoted a huge amount of time to governing the state.
He never held meetings so beloved by modern presidents and prime ministers, but preferred to speak privately with the minister in charge of the problem under consideration. All this took a lot of time. Young and beautiful Elizabeth was bored. Just two weeks after the wedding, she bitterly yearned for her lost freedom.
Discord in the family
As a result, the young empress began to try to spend as little time as possible in Vienna. She traveled, visited her homeland, lived in remote residences. The love that we read about in some sources gradually faded away.
Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria, was really very sad and wrote desperately tender letters to his wife (and she tried to answer him in tone), but no amount of carrots and persuasion could force her to be with her husband. Moreover, for most of his family life it was not the husband at all, but the august monarch, who in matters of politics rather listened to his mother than to his wife.
Patroness of the Hungarians
Meanwhile, in the last question the young empress was not such a layman. In any case, the Hungarians owe their autonomy precisely to the influence of Elizabeth, who was in many matters much more resourceful than her inflexible mother-in-law and conservative husband.
By 1860, the Austrian Empire had become very shabby and was in need of reform. Cobbled together from diverse regions, it was doomed to intranational conflicts. And the neighbors were not asleep. Franz Joseph's policy, initially aimed at creating a powerful centralized state, was not successful. First, the dream of an absolute monarchy had to be abandoned (in 1861, a Constitution appeared in Austria). Then - from the idea of uniting the territories of the empire into a monolith.
Liberalization of the Empire
Europe was torn apart by war. Russia, which the emperor considered his main rival in the international arena, was pushing in from the East. In the south, Italy dreamed of slipping out from under Austrian rule. Nearby was Prussia, which managed to chop off a significant part of Germany as a result of the crushing defeat of the Austrian troops at Sadovaya.
When Hungary began to express displeasure, the measures taken by Emperor Franz Joseph were in the nature of a concession - and thus the Austro-Hungarian Empire was born, in which more liberal orders were established. Galicia and partly the Czech Republic received autonomy, and judicial, military and administrative reforms were carried out. The changes only benefited the state: the economy developed, the army became more combat-ready - and this was important in light of the failures in Italy (1859) and Germany (1866).
Colonial motives of geographical discoveries
Science was developing at full speed - the emperor favored geography (the colonial conquests of his neighbors did not allow him to sleep peacefully). In 1872, an Austrian expedition discovered many islands in the Arctic Ocean, which were called the Lands of Franz Joseph I. Initially, Kropotkin was going to explore these spaces, but the Russian Geographical Society did not have the money for this. By a strange whim of fate, the new land of Franz Joseph I still ended up under the jurisdiction of the Austrian “sworn ally”: in 1914 it was “rediscovered”, a tricolor was planted on it and declared the property of the Russian Empire.
There was no one to object: the First world war. During it, not only the land of Franz Joseph I was lost for the Austrian crown - the political map of the world was completely redrawn, so no one began to sigh over the uninhabited islands with a total area of just over 16 square kilometers. They were inherited by the Soviet Union.
From the northernmost point - Rudolf Island - the Papanin expedition was sent to North Pole, since 1937, a polar station was located here, and after World War II, “points” of the radio engineering troops of the USSR were located.
Now the Franz Joseph Archipelago is “forgotten, abandoned.” Many objects have become objects of constant environmental threat - according to some estimates, about sixty thousand tons of petroleum products are located on the islands, which are stored in conditions that are, let’s say, far from optimal.
Sadness and melancholy of imperial everyday life
By and large, this inhospitable, dank land of Franz Joseph is all that remains of the emperor. He did not make any friends, nor did he gain much love from his subjects. Even the Hungarians who benefited from him did not feel gratitude towards him, and the Czechs absolutely hated him (whoever does not believe, let him read Hasek).
The monarch was not happy in his family either. Since 1875, 21 years after the much-desired wedding, Franz Joseph entered into an extramarital affair, which was not particularly hidden. How Elizabeth reacted to this - God knows. It is only known that when she was killed by some marginal anarchist in Switzerland (he admitted that he did it out of “class hatred” and “to become publicly famous”), the wedding ring was found not on the empress’s finger, but on a chain around her neck.
Death of an heir
She had already been wandering around the empire for a long time, not wanting to recognize the capital as her home, and after the death of her only son, she could not find a place for herself at all. According to one version, the heir to the throne shot himself, having previously taken the life of his young mistress, Maria Vechera. According to another, they committed suicide together, since Rudolf’s romantic plan to leave his wife and rush into the arms of a young enchantress did not find, to put it mildly, understanding among the family. According to the third hypothesis, the death of the heir occurred as a result of a carefully planned and impeccably executed political assassination.
Family curse
The evidence for this theory can hardly be considered absolutely convincing. Perhaps its authors were influenced by the history of the family as a whole: Franz Joseph's brother was shot by Mexican Republicans, his wife was stabbed to death by a young scoundrel, his nephew, Franz Ferdinand (who became heir to the throne after Rudolf's death) died in Sarajevo - this story thundered throughout the world, formally becoming cause of the First World War.
After it, Austria restored its sovereignty only in 1955, radically changing its borders, and at the same time declaring its intention to maintain neutrality in the future and not join any military blocs. Franz Joseph, Emperor of Austria, never saw the collapse of his power: after sixty-eight years of rule, he died on November 21, 1916, already at an advanced age - he was 86 years old. There were still two years left until the end of the war.
The imperial couple, Franz Joseph I and Elizabeth of Bavaria (Sissi), were loved by their subjects more than other rulers. The life story of this married couple still inspires admiration.
The imperial couple, Franz Josef I and Elizabeth of Bavaria (Sissi) (Amalia Eugenia Elisabeth), were loved by their subjects more than other rulers. The life story of this married couple still inspires admiration.
According to the agreement between the august families, Franz Joseph I was supposed to marry Helen, Elizabeth's elder sister. But when he saw his younger sister, fifteen-year-old Elizabeth, he fell in love at first sight and forever. Their wedding in the Vienna Augustinkirche was accompanied by two sad events: firstly, Franz Joseph I, loosening his sword belt, caught his saber and almost fell, and secondly, when the bride got out of the carriage, her tiara got stuck in the curtains of the carriage for a second. However, despite the fact that the Emperor almost lost his sword and power, and the Empress could have worn a spiked crown full of mourning and grief, their life together was happy and worthy of emulation.
Franz Joseph
One of the longest reigns in history, Franz Joseph I was accompanied by the slow but steady decline of the Habsburg dynasty. Franz Joseph I ascended the throne in 1848, a few months after the March Revolution that nearly brought down the Habsburg monarchy. And yet, the emperor managed to return the country to an absolute monarchy: he created a centralized state and surrounded himself with trusted people.
Elizabeth of Bavaria
Sissi was never suited to the life and ceremonies of the Viennese court. There were periods in her life when she was absent even at the most crucial moments of public life. The conflict between her love for her husband and children (there were four of them) and the desire for independence led her to loneliness, which was deepened by her husband’s complete absorption in government and political problems. Her main hobbies were poetry (she wrote poetry herself) and traveling around Europe. The Empress died on Lake Geneva in September 1898 at the hands of an Italian anarchist.
Franz Joseph I died in 1916. He played a huge role in the development of Vienna. Thanks to him, today we can admire the Votivkirche, the New Town Hall, the Palace of Parliament, the Museum of Art History and Natural History, the Vienna State Opera, and the Museum of Applied Arts. In addition, an important event in the improvement of Vienna was the order of Franz Joseph I to demolish the fortress wall in order to build the Ring ring road, which separated the historical center from the Cathedral of St. Stefan and Hofburg from the surrounding areas.
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Age of Reign Franz Joseph, which lasted almost seven decades, became the period of decline of the great Austrian Empire.
Franz Joseph ascended to the throne of the Austrian Empire at the age of eighteen, during the period when the 1848 revolution was raging in the country. His uncle Emperor Ferdinand I, abdicated the throne, and the father, Archduke Franz Karl, renounced the rights of inheritance, which opened the way for Franz Joseph to the imperial crown.
Portrait of the family of Franz Joseph I (1861). Commons.wikimedia.org
The position of the Austrian Empire during this period was critical, and only the intervention of Russian troops, who assisted in suppressing the revolution in Hungary, helped to prolong the existence of the Habsburg monarchy as a whole.
The weakness of power in the Austrian Empire forced Franz Joseph I to make political compromises, giving national regions more and more rights.
In 1866, Austria was defeated in the war with Prussia, thus losing the opportunity to become the center of unification of the German world.
In March 1867, the Austrian Empire became the Austro-Hungarian Empire - constitutional dualistic monarchy. This decision was reached as a result of a compromise with the powerful national movement in Hungary.
Franz Joseph I was extremely skeptical of parliamentarism and adhered to conservative views, but the situation forced him to make more and more concessions. The Emperor considered the most important task to be to avoid military conflicts that could completely destroy the monarchy.
Franz Joseph I (1851). Commons.wikimedia.org
Time for big problems
Franz Joseph managed to achieve this goal: from 1866 until the outbreak of the First World War, Austria did not participate in military conflicts. The emperor tried to support the development of industry, science and culture, and preserved the external splendor of the ancient monarchy.
In the 1870s, Austria-Hungary entered into a military-political alliance with Germany, which allowed it to somewhat restore its influence in European politics. After the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, Austria-Hungary made its last territorial acquisition, first occupying and annexing Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1908.
These actions of Austria-Hungary spoiled the country's relations with Russia and especially Serbia. On the territory of residence Slavic peoples In Austria-Hungary, Serbian-supported pan-Slavic organizations were active in seeking independence from Vienna.
Franz Joseph in 1855. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
An additional problem in relations with the Slavic population of the empire was that Franz Joseph I was a devout Catholic who had close relations with the papal throne, and many of his subjects professed Orthodoxy. Keeping the situation under control under these conditions was extremely difficult.
The fact that Franz Joseph had no direct heirs did not add to the stability of the monarchy. In 1889 his only son, Crown Prince Rudolf, committed suicide. Died even earlier Franz Joseph's brother, Maximilian, proclaimed Emperor of Mexico.
Became heir to the throne Franz Joseph's nephew, Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The emperor treated his nephew with detachment, did not bring him closer to him and did not seek to involve him in state affairs.
Assassination attempt on Franz Joseph I (1853). Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
Franz Joseph was not close to the ideas of Franz Ferdinand about transforming Austria-Hungary into the “United States of Austria-Hungary” with the expansion of the rights of the nations living within the state.
In addition, Franz Ferdinand was a categorical opponent of a military conflict with Russia, and at that time a “war party” formed around Franz Joseph, which believed that a military solution to the conflict with Serbia was possible, as well as a military clash with Serbia’s ally Russia with the help of Germany.
Attraction to war
The Austrian "war party" was headed by Chief of the General Staff of Austria-Hungary Konrad von Hetzendorff, who called for war with Serbia, despite possible Russian intervention back in 1908, immediately after the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Franz Joseph I and Hungarian Prime Minister István Tisza (1905). Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
This position was strengthened after Russia, in 1909, wanting to avoid war with Germany and Austria-Hungary, actually forced Serbia to recognize the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The smoldering Balkan crisis erupted in June 1914, when heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed at the hands of a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo.
84-year-old Franz Joseph, who outlived another of his heirs, supported the “war party,” which intended to use the murder in Sarajevo as a pretext for a military solution to the “Serbian problem.” Despite the fact that immediately after the death of Franz Ferdinand, the Austrian government and Emperor Franz Joseph personally hastened to assure Russia that they did not intend to take any military action, three weeks later Serbia was presented with an obviously impossible ultimatum. After Serbia rejected a number of his points, Franz Joseph I declared war on Serbia on July 28, 1914 and began mobilizing the army.
A few days later, the ensuing chain reaction of the allies of both sides turned into the beginning of the First World War.
Thank you for not making it
Emperor Franz Joseph, formally retaining the reins of power in his hands, appointed his commander-in-chief of the Austro-Hungarian troops brother, Archduke Frederick. According to Franz Joseph, Frederick should “not interfere” with the action of the main supporter of the war - Chief of the General Staff Konrad von Hetzendorff.
However, the first months of the war showed that the Austro-Hungarian military leaders overestimated the power of their army. For a long time, Austria-Hungary could not defeat the Serbian army, which was many times inferior in numbers, and the crushing defeat from the Russian army in the Battle of Galicia completely forced the military leaders to subsequently conduct operations only together with Germany, and not on their own.
The further the war went, the more obvious its disastrous consequences for Austria-Hungary became. However, Franz Joseph I did not see the last act of the drama of his empire. His health deteriorated, and on November 21, 1916, at the height of the war, the 86-year-old emperor died.
