Franz Joseph I of Austria

This article is about the Austrian Emperor. For Franz Joseph the artist and author, see Franz Joseph (artist). Francis Joseph I (in German Franz Joseph I., in Hungarian I. Ferenc József (August 18, 1830 – November 21, 1916) of the Habsburg Dynasty was Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary and King of Bohemia from 1848 until 1916. His 68-year reign, the third-longest in the recorded history of Europe (after that of Louis XIV of France and Johannes II, Prince of Liechtenstein), made him the longest-serving German-speaking monarch who is known to have at least nominally ruled.

Biography

Franz Joseph was born in Vienna, the oldest son of Archduke Franz Karl (younger brother and heir of Emperor Ferdinand I), and his wife Princess Sophie of Bavaria. Franz Joseph was also the older brother of Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico. Because his father renounced his claim to the throne, Franz Joseph was brought up by his mother as a future Emperor with emphasis on devoutness, responsibility and diligence. His youth was marked with seclusion and he never experience an affectionate relationship, even with his brothers and sisters. At the age of 13 he started a career as a colonel in the Austrian army. Since then his fashion was dictated by army style and he wore the uniform for most of his life.

He became Austrian Emperor as Franz Joseph I when Ferdinand abdicated near the end of the Revolution of 1848, on December 2, 1848. His imperial career was at first connected with the personality of Felix Schwarzenberg and was targeted to restore absolutism and regain the powerful position in foreign affairs. He abolished the Constitution of 1849 and became a sovereign monarch in 1852. However, the 1850s witnessed several failures of Austrian external policy - the Crimean War and break-up with Russia, Austro-Sardinian War of 1859 against armies of the House of Savoy, and Napoleon III).

The set-backs continued in the 1860s with Austro-Prussian War of 1866. It resulted in Austrian-Hungarian Dualism in 1867.

In 1854 Franz Joseph married Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria ("Sisi" or "Sissi"). Contrary to popular myth, their married life was not happy: their first daughter Sophie died as an infant, while the only son, Crown Prince Rudolf died, allegedly by suicide, in 1889 in the infamous Mayerling episode with his young mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera. The Empress herself was stabbed to death by an anarchist in 1898; Franz Joseph never recovered from the loss and always said to his relatives "You'll never know how much I loved her."

In 1914 the heir to the throne, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in Sarajevo, leading to World War I.

Franz Joseph died in 1916, aged 86, in the middle of the war. After the defeat in World War I, the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy dissolved into national states.

Issue

Archduchess Sophie of Austria (1855 - 1857)
Archduchess Gisela of Austria (1856 - 1932)
Crown Prince Rudolf (1858 - 1889)
Archduchess Marie-Valerie of Austria (1868 - 1924).

Legacy

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 also 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 rebecame a part of Romania, becoming the University of Szeged.

Official Grand Title of Franz Joseph I from 1849

His Imperial and Apostolic Majesty,

Franz Joseph I,

By the Grace of God, Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and Bohemia,

King of Lombardy-Venetia¹, of Dalmatia, Croatia, Slavonia, Lodomeria and Illyria; King of Jerusalem etc., Archduke of Austria; Grand Duke of Tuscany and Kraków, 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 (Oświęcim) and Zator, of Teschen (Cieszyn/Český Těšín), 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 in the Wendish Mark; Grand Voivode of the Voivodship of Serbia etc.

Personal Motto

Viribus Unitis - "United with Strength".

Names in other languages

German: Franz Josef, Italian: Francesco Giuseppe, Romanian: Francisc Iosif, Czech: František Josef, Hungarian: Ferenc József Károly, Slovak: František Jozef I, Polish: Franciszek Józef, Croatian: Franjo Josip, Slovenian: Franc Jožef, Serbian: Franjo Josif, French: François-Joseph, Icelandic: Frans Jósef, Ukrainian: Franc-Josyp

Nicknames

Italian: Ceccobeppe, Cecco Beppe or Cecco Peppe (various dialectal forms) from shortened forms of Francesco Giuseppe, used mockingly, especially by Italian troops who fought during the Great War (World War I). There is also a pacifist poem written by Italian poet Trilussa, "Ninna nanna de la guerra" ("War's lullaby"), where Franz Joseph is called Cecco Peppe.^*

Czech: Starej Procházka (Old Prochazka or "Walker") or František Procházka (Francis Procházka/"Walker"). Procházka is a common Czech surname which approximates to the English "Walker". It was applied to Franz Joseph after his visit to Prague in 1901 when a picture of him crossing a bridge on foot was published in Czech newspapers with the caption: "Strolling on a bridge" (Czech: "Procházka na mostě")). This, however, may be an urban legend. According to some historians, Franz Joseph was called Starej Procházka much earlier than 1901, the reason being that his arrival was being announced by a cavalryman named Procházka.

¹ removed from the title in 1866/1869 after the loss of the Italian countries.

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Franz Joseph I of Austria