Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
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| Archduke Franz Ferdinand | |
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| Reign | 1889 - 1914 |
| Predecessor | Francis V |
| Successor | Charles |
| Spouse | Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg |
| Issue | |
| Princess Sophie von Hohenberg Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg Prince Ernst von Hohenberg |
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| House | House of Habsburg-Lorraine |
| Father | Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria |
| Mother | Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies |
| Born | 18 December 1863 Graz, Austrian Empire |
| Died | 28 June 1914 (aged 50) Sarajevo, Austria-Hungary |
| Monarchical Styles of Franz Ferdinand of Austria-Este |
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| Reference style | His Imperial and Royal Highness |
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| Spoken style | Your Imperial and Royal Highness |
| Alternative style | Sir |
Franz Ferdinand (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne[1]. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia. This caused countries allied with Austria-Hungary (the Triple Alliance) and countries allied with Serbia (the Triple Entente Powers) to declare war on each other, starting World War I.[2] [3] [4]
He was born in Graz, Austria, the oldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria (younger brother of Franz Joseph and Maximilian) and of his second wife, Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. When he was only twelve 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.
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[edit] Heir presumptive
In 1889, Franz Ferdinand's life changed dramatically. His cousin Crown Prince Rudolf committed suicide at his hunting lodge in Mayerling,[5] leaving Franz Ferdinand's father, Archduke Karl Ludwig, as first in line to the throne. However his father renounced his succession rights a few days after the Crown Prince's death.[6] Henceforth, Franz Ferdinand was groomed to succeed. Despite this burden, he did manage to find time for travel and personal pursuits -- for example, the time he spent hunting kangaroos and emus in Australia in 1893, and the return trip to Austria in sailing across the Pacific on the RMS Empress of China from Yokohama to Vancouver.[7]
[edit] Marriage and family
In 1895 Franz Ferdinand met Countess Sophie Chotek at a ball in Prague. To be an eligible marriage partner for 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. The Choteks were not one of these families, although they did include among their ancestors, in the female line, princess of Baden, Hohenzollern-Hechingen, and Liechtenstein. (Ironically, one of Sophie's direct ancestors was Count Albrecht IV of Habsburg; he was descended from Elisabeth of Habsburg, a sister of King Rudolph I of Germany, while Franz Ferdinard was a descendant of King Rudolph I.) Sophie was a lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Isabella, wife of Archduke Friedrich, Duke of Teschen. Franz Ferdinand began to visit Archduke Friedrich's villa in Pressburg (now Bratislava). Sophie wrote to Franz Ferdinand during his convalescence from tuberculosis when he went to the island of Lošinj in the Adriatic. They kept their relationship a secret for more than two years.
Deeply in love, Franz Ferdinand refused to consider marrying anyone else. Pope Leo XIII, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and the German Emperor Wilhelm II all made representations on Franz Ferdinand's behalf to the Emperor Franz Joseph of Austria, arguing that the disagreement between Franz Joseph and Franz Ferdinand was undermining the stability of the monarchy.
Finally, in 1899, the Emperor Franz Joseph agreed to permit Franz Ferdinand to marry Sophie, on condition that the marriage would be morganatic and that their descendants would not have succession rights to the throne.[5] Sophie would not share her husband's rank, title, precedence, or privileges; as such, she would not normally appear in public beside him. She would not be allowed to ride in the royal carriage, or sit in the royal box.
The wedding took place on 1 July 1900, at Reichstadt (now Zákupy) in Bohemia; Franz Joseph did not attend the affair, nor did any archduke including Franz Ferdinand's brothers.[5] The only members of the imperial family who were present were Franz Ferdinand's stepmother, Maria Theresia, and her two daughters. Upon the marriage, Sophie was given the title Princess of Hohenberg (Fürstin von Hohenberg) with the style Her Serene Highness (Ihre Durchlaucht). In 1909, she was given the more senior title Duchess of Hohenberg (Herzogin von Hohenberg) with the style Her Highness (Ihre Hoheit). This raised her status considerably, but she still yielded precedence at court to all the archduchesses. Whenever a function required the couple to gather with the other members of royalty, Sophie was forced to stand far down the line of importance, separated from her husband.
Franz Ferdinand's children were:
- Princess Sophie von Hohenberg (1901-1990), married Count Friedrich von Nostitz-Rieneck (1891-1973)
- Maximilian, Duke of Hohenberg (1902-1962), married Countess Elisabeth von Waldburg zu Wolfegg und Waldsee (1904-1993)
- Prince Ernst von Hohenberg (1904-1954), married Marie-Therese Wood (1910-1985)
[edit] Political views
Politically, Franz Ferdinand was a proponent of granting greater autonomy to all ethnic groups in the Empire, and to address their grievances, especially the Czechs in Bohemia and the Yugoslavic peoples in Croatia and Bosnia, that had been left out of the Austro-Hungarian compromise of 1867.[8] He also advocated a careful approach towards Serbia - repeatedly locking horns with Franz Conrad von Hötzendorf, Vienna's hard-line Chief of the General Staff -, warning that harsh treatment of Serbia would bring Austria-Hungary into open conflict with Russia, to the ruin of both Empires. Franz Ferdinand was a prominent and influential supporter of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in a time when sea power was not a priority of the Austrian foreign policy and the Navy was relatively little known and supported by the public. Franz Ferdinand had a keen private interest in the fleet and was an energetic campaigner for naval matters. After his assassination in 1914, the Navy honoured Franz Ferdinand and his wife with a lying in state aboard the SMS Viribus Unitis.
[edit] Assassination
On Sunday, 28 June 1914, at approximately 1:15 pm, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed in Sarajevo, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Gavrilo Princip, 19 at the time, a member of Young Bosnia and one of a group of assassins organized by The Black Hand.[4]
The event, known as the Assassination in Sarajevo, led to a chain of events that eventually triggered World War I. Ferdinand and Sophie had previously been attacked when a grenade was thrown at their car. Ferdinand deflected the grenade and it detonated far behind them. The royal couple insisted on seeing all those injured at the hospital. After traveling there, Franz and Sophie decided to go to the palace, but Franz Ferdinand's car took a wrong turn onto a side street where Princip spotted them. As their car was backing up, Princip approached and shot both Sophie, striking her in the abdomen, and Franz, who was struck in the jugular and was still alive when witnesses arrived to render aid.[4] His dying words to Sophie were 'Don't die darling, think of the children.' Princip had used the Browning .380 ACP cartridge, a relatively low power round, and a pocket-sized FN model 1910 pistol.[9] The archduke's aides attempted to undo his coat when they realized they needed scissors to cut the coat open, but it was too late; he died within minutes. Sophie also died while on route to the hospital. [10] The assassinations, along with the arms race, nationalism, imperialism, militarism, and the alliance system all contributed to the beginning of World War I, which began less than two months after Franz Ferdinand's death, with Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia.[11]
Franz Ferdinand is interred with his wife Sophie in Artstetten Castle, Austria.
A detailed account of the shooting can be found in Sarajevo by Joachim Remak [12]
...one bullet pierced Franz Ferdinand's neck while the other pierced Sophie's abdomen.... As the car was reversing (to go back to the Governor's residence because the entourage thought the Imperial couple were unhurt) a thin streak of blood shot from the Archduke's mouth onto Count Harrach's right cheek (he was standing on the car's running board). Harrach drew out a handkerchief to still the gushing blood. The Duchess, seeing this, called: "For Heaven's sake! What happened to you?" and sank from her seat, her face falling between her husband's knees.
Harrach and Potoriek... thought she had fainted... only her husband seemed to have an instinct for what was happening. Turning to his wife despite the bullet in his neck, Franz Ferdinand pleaded: "Sopherl! Sopherl! Sterbe nicht! Bleibe am Leben für unsere Kinder! - Sophie dear! Don't die! Stay alive for our children!". Having said this, he seemed to sag down himself. His plumed hat... fell off; many of its green feathers were found all over the car floor. Count Harrach seized the Archduke by the uniform collar to hold him up. He asked "Leiden Eure Kaiserliche Hoheit sehr? - Is Your Imperial Highness suffering very badly?" "Es ist nichts - It is nothing" said the Archduke in a weak but audible voice. He seemed to be losing consciousness, but, his voice growing steadily weaker, he repeated the phrase perhaps six or seven times more. He was losing consciousness during his last few minutes.
A rattle began to issue from his throat, which subsided as the car drew in front of the Konak bersibin (Town Hall). (Despite several doctors' efforts, the Archduke died shortly after being carried into the building while his beloved wife was almost certainly dead from internal bleeding before the motorcade reached the Konak.)
[edit] The Start of World War I
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Vienna's initial reaction to the assassination was muted.[13] Franz Ferdinand was not popular at court or among the people, and his death posed no threat to the continuation of the Habsburg dynasty. After all, two other monarchs had already been assassinated by members of the Black Hand: Alexander I of Serbia in Belgrade in 1903, and King George I of Greece 1913, just the year before.[14]
Prussia and the other Great Powers agreed that Vienna would have to deal with this affront in some way, but Conrad chose to declare war on Serbia. A strong ultimatum, intended to be unacceptable, was delivered to Belgrade on 23 July. Serbia acceded to all demands but one: that Austro-Hungarian police be allowed to operate on Serbian territory to apprehend and interrogate conspirators. Vienna was not interested in compromise, and declared war on 28 July, just one month after the assassination.
This started the chain of events that led to the outbreak of World War I. The Kaiser and the Czar initially made strenuous efforts to contain the crisis, but once it became clear mobilization could not be stopped, the Kaiser's position hardened significantly. France and Germany mobilized simultaneously. Within a week all major powers had declared war. Fighting began on 4 August when German troops crossed the Belgian frontier.
From today's perspective it would appear that in 1914 all European nations were developing into modern, progressive nations whose social and political problems could be resolved through compromise and legislation. Many, such as Karl Kraus, a Viennese political commentator, warned about the massive social upheavals the war would create. [15].
Frederick Morton argues the assassination was the trigger for a sociological phenomenon that had been brewing for decades, perhaps since the French Revolution. Beneath Europe's apparent prosperity lay a population seething with discontent. With rising productivity many European workers felt the fruits of their labors were unfairly going to new capitalists and old aristocracy. People whose families had lived off the land for generations felt their agrarian way of life being threatened by industrialization. Many seemed to share the view that war would remove barriers between men and make them brothers in arms. According to Morton, once it became clear that war was imminent, many socialists and even pacifists abandoned their antiwar stance and joined the conflict with enthusiasm. It may be that the Great War was an event whose time had come whether Franz Ferdinand was killed or not.
[edit] Present-day commemorations
Archduke Franz and his Castle of Artstetten were recently selected as a main motif for a very recent commemorative coin: the 10 euro The Castle of Artstetten commemorative coin, minted on 13 October 2004. The reverse shows the entrance to the crypt of the Hohenberg family. There are two portraits to the left, showing Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg.
It was widely believed that the Scottish band Franz Ferdinand's namesake was the Archduke's name. However, it was revealed in 2009 on the Jonathan Ross Show that after much deliberation, the band was named after a racehorse that they had seen on television, and not after the Archduke of Austro-Hungary as was previously believed.
[edit] Ancestors
[edit] References
- ^ Brook-Shepherd, Gordon (1987). Royal Sunset: The European Dynasties and the Great War. Doubleday. p. 139. ISBN 978-0385198493.
- ^ Marshall, S.L.A. (2001). World War I. Mariner Books. p. 1. ISBN 0618056866.
- ^ Keegan, John (2000). The First World War. Vintage. p. 48. ISBN 0375700455.
- ^ a b c Johnson, Lonnie (1989). Introducing Austria: A Short History (Studies in Austrian Literature, Culture, and Thought). Ariadne Press. pp. 52–54. ISBN 0-929497-03-1.
- ^ a b c Brook-Shepherd, Gordon (1997). The Austrians: A Thousand-Years Odyssey. Carroll & Graf. pp. 107, 125–126. ISBN 0-7867-0520-5.
- ^ "The Crown Prince’s Successor". The New York Times. February 2, 1889. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9F04E0D9153AE033A25751C0A9649C94689FD7CF. Accessed May 22, 2009.
- ^ Katalog Land in Sicht!: Österreich auf weiter Fahrt (Catalogue Land Ahoy!: Austria on the Seven Seas). (in PDF and in German language) p. 8. Exhibition by the Austrian Mint, August 17 - February 3, 2006. Münze Österreich (Austrian Mint). Accessed May 22, 2009.
- ^ Morton, Frederick (1989). Thunder at Twilight: Vienna 1913/1914. Scribner. p. 191. ISBN 978-0684191430.
- ^ Belfield, Richard. The Assassination Business: A History of State-Sponsored Murder. Carroll & Graf. ISBN 978-0786713431.
- ^ MacDonogh, Giles (2003). The Last Kaiser: The Life of Wilhelm II. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 351. ISBN 978-0312305574.
- ^ Johnson. p. 56
- ^ Remak, Joachim (1959). Sarajevo: The Story of a Political Murder. Criterion. pp. 137-142.(ASIN B001L4NB5U)
- ^ Morton. p. 183.
- ^ Morton, p. 191.
- ^ Morton, p. 136.
[edit] External links
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Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Cadet branch of the House of Lorraine
Born: 18 December 1863 Died: 28 June 1914 |
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| Regnal titles | ||
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| Preceded by Francis II |
Archduke of Austria-Este 1875-1914 |
Succeeded by Charles |
| Titles in pretence | ||
| Preceded by Francis V |
— TITULAR — Duke of Modena 1875-1914 |
Succeeded by Charles |
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