Francis Ferdinand
Austrian Archduke and heir to the throne, whose assassination was the pretext for the World War. He was the nephew of the Emperor, Franz Joseph, and was born in Gratz, in 1863. His father, the Archduke, Charles Louis, having renounced his right to the throne, after the death of the Crown Prince, Rudolph, in 1889, Francis Ferdinand, became the heir.
Having finished his education, he took up an army career, then went through the usual experience in administrative affairs, customary among members of the imperial family. In SO far as he so far as he made his influence felt in the policies of the Government, he was a strong reac- FRANCIS FERDINAND tionary, being in favor of a "strong" foreign policy; in other words, he was in close sympathy with the elements which stood for the "ironing out" of the Slavic nationalities within the Empire and the gradual expansion of its territories at the expense of the Balkan nations, especially Serbia. In 1900 he contracted a morganatic marriage with the daughter of a Bohemian nobleman, the Countess Sophie Chotek, later created the Duchess of Hohenberg.
The chief claim to a place in history of Francis Ferdinand, however, will ever be based on his death. In the middle of June, 1914, the Archduke had gone to Bosnia on his first visit, since that territory had been annexed to the Empire, in 1908, to take charge of mili- ARCHDUKE FRANCIS FERDINAND tary maneuvers there. Before his departure he was warned by the Serbian Minister in Vienna that there was danger of a popular demonstration being made against him by the Serbian population of the annexed province. On arriving in Sarajevo, June 28, 1914, the Archduke, his wife and their party proceeded from the railroad station to the town hall, where the provincial authorities were gathered to receive them. On the way a bomb was thrown from the roof of a house into the Archduke's automobile, but he had the presence of mind to catch the missile in his hand before it exploded and hurl it out into the street, where it burst without doing any harm except slightly wounding one of his adjutants. The assailant, FRANCIS JOSEPH I. a Serbian by the name of Gabrinovics, was arrested on the spot. On arriving at the town hall, the Archduke proceeded to berate the officials for the attempt on his life, accusing them of not having taken proper precautions. The ceremony of welcoming him then proceeded.
On leaving the town hall, and after the Archduke had seated himself in his automobile, a man rushed out of the crowd on the sidewalk and emptied the contents of an automatic revolver into both the Archduke and his wife, who were both killed. This second assailant was arrested, and also proved to be a Serbian, by the name of Prinzip.
The Austrian Government immediately took the attitude that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy by Serbian expansionists, encouraged by the Serbian Government.
FRANCIS JOSEPH I., Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. He was born on Aug. 18, 1830, at Laxenburg Castle, near Vienna. His father was the Archduke Francis Charles, younger son of Emperor Francis I., and his mother was the Archduchess Sofia. He was carefully educated, and in 1848 served under Radetzky in Italy. On Dec. 2, 1848, following political disturbances which threatened the dissolution of the Empire, the Emperor Ferdinand abdicated and the brother, the Archduke Francis, abandoned his claims to the crown. Francis Joseph thereupon became Emperor. During the first year of his reign he carried on campaigns which resulted in the defeat of the revolting Italian provinces. He was then obliged to direct his attention to Hungary, which was in revolt, under the leadership of Louis Kossuth. This revolt was put down only with Russian aid. As a punishment, Hungary was absorbed into the Empire and was deprived of its constitutional liberties. In 1853 an attempt was made on the life of the Emperor by a Hungarian, but he escaped with a slight wound. Two years later he concluded a concordance with Pope Pius IX. by which there were restored to the Roman Catholic Church many of the liberties of which it had been deprived since the time of the Emperor Joseph II. In 1859 Francis Joseph was forced into a war with France and Sardinia. This ended with the loss of Lombardy by Austria. Following this disaster, the Emperor abandoned his former conservative policy and began many necessary measures of reform. Following the disaster of the Seven Weeks' War with Prussia, the monarchy was reconstituted on a dualistic basis in 1867. Francis Joseph always FRANCIS JOSEPH I. attempted to maintain a constitutional and parliamentary régime in his dominions, and only through the respect and affection of his subjects and by means of his own personal influence, was the Dual Empire held together during the period of his long reign. On April 24, 1854, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria. This marriage ended in an estrangement which was terminated only by the assassination of the Empress by an Italian anarchist in Geneva, on Sept. 10, 1898.
The only son of Francis Joseph and Elizabeth, Rudolph, died mysteriously in his hunting lodge at Meyerling, Austria.
This left an heir apparent, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, nephew of the Em- FRANCIS JOSEPH I. peror, whose murder on July 18, 1914, at Sarajevo, Bosnia , precipitated the World War. Throughout the long reign of Francis Joseph, public calamity and private distress were mingled. It was reported that he was forced into actual hostilities against Serbia only through the influence of his ministers and the German Emperor. The disasters suffered by the Austrian armies greatly depressed him, although he continued to perform his duties until within a few hours of his death, which occurred on Nov. 21, 1916.
Francis Joseph's reign was the longest in modern history. It lasted 67 years and exceeded that of Queen Victoria by 42 years. He was succeeded as Emperor by Charles Francis Joseph, nephew of Francis Ferdinand and son of Archduke Otto.