97-603: Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria (Rudolf Franz Karl Josef; 21 August 1858 – 30 January 1889) was the only son and third child of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria and Duchess Elisabeth of Bavaria (Sisi) . He was heir apparent to the imperial throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from birth. In 1889, he died in a suicide pact with his mistress Baroness Mary Vetsera at the Mayerling hunting lodge . The ensuing scandal made international headlines. Rudolf
194-460: A forensic examination at his expense, which took place in February 1993. Flatzelsteiner told the examiners that the remains belonged to a relative killed 100 years earlier who may have been shot in the head or stabbed . One expert thought that this might be possible, but since the skull was in a state of advanced decomposition , it could not be confirmed. Other experts confirmed the presence of
291-615: A reactionary , Franz Joseph spent his early reign resisting constitutionalism in his domains. The Austrian Empire was forced to cede its influence over Tuscany and most of its claim to Lombardy–Venetia to the Kingdom of Sardinia , following 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
388-503: A safe deposit box in an Austrian bank in 2015, and they revealed that she was preparing to commit suicide alongside Rudolf, out of love. Rudolf's death plunged his mother, Empress Elisabeth, into despair. She wore black or pearl grey, the colours of mourning, for the rest of her life and spent more and more time away from the imperial court in Vienna. Her daughter Gisela was afraid that she might also commit suicide. In 1898, while Elisabeth
485-401: A suicide pact , to which she reacted with a laugh. Later, Kaspar went to the police, concerned for the safety of the heir to the throne, but she was dismissed and told not to interfere with imperial affairs. After Kaspar had refused to die with him, the crown prince proposed a suicide pact to Vetsera. While he probably just did not want to die alone, Vetsera seemingly perceived the plans as
582-542: A German one, and that its inclusion would bring millions of non-Germans into the German nation state. If Greater Germany were to prevail, the crown would necessarily have to go to Franz Joseph, who had no desire to cede it in the first place to anyone else. On the other hand, if the idea of a smaller Germany won out, the German crown could of course not possibly go to the Emperor of Austria , but would naturally be offered to
679-591: A coronation. Under Minister-President Karl Hohenwart in 1871, the government of Cisleithania negotiated a series of fundamental articles spelling out the relationship of the Bohemian Crown to the rest of the Habsburg Monarchy. On 12 September 1871, Franz Joseph announced: Having in mind the constitutional position of the Bohemian Crown and being conscious of the glory and power which that Crown has given us and our predecessors … we gladly recognise
776-424: A future Emperor of Austria . This did not change their relationship and Gisela remained close to him until she left Vienna upon her marriage to Prince Leopold of Bavaria . Rudolf's initial education under Leopold Gondrecourt was physically and emotionally abusive, and likely a contributing factor in his later suicide. Influenced by his tutor Ferdinand von Hochstetter (who later became the first superintendent of
873-530: A number of death penalties. The Bohemian question would remain unresolved for the entirety of Franz Joseph's reign. The main foreign policy goal of Franz Joseph had been the unification of Germany under the House of Habsburg . This was justified on grounds of precedence; from 1452 to the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, with only one brief period of interruption under the House of Wittelsbach ,
970-605: A result, the Austro-Hungarian Empire ceased to exist and a republic came into being without revolution. Charles I and his family went into exile in Switzerland after spending a short time at Castle Eckartsau. Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( German : Franz Joseph Karl [fʁants ˈjoːzɛf ˈkaʁl] ; Hungarian : Ferenc József Károly [ˈfɛrɛnt͡s ˈjoːʒɛf ˈkaːroj] ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916)
1067-546: A wealthy noble family from Chios , Greece (then part of the Ottoman Empire ). Albin Vetsera had been the guardian of the orphaned Baltazzi children and married the eldest daughter. He was raised to the rank of Freiherr in 1870 by Emperor Franz Joseph . Mary had three siblings, Ladislaus "Laci" (1865–1881), Johanna "Hanna" (1868–1901), and Franz Albin "Fery" (1872–1915). Freifrau von Vetsera's main goal
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#17327837838241164-584: A young woman aged around 20, but since part of the skull was missing, it could not be determined if there had ever been a bullet hole. Vetsera's bones were re-interred on 28 October 1993. On 31 July 2015, the Austrian National Library obtained copies of Vetsera's farewell letters to her mother and other family members which had been found in a bank safe deposit box , where they had been placed in 1926. Written in Mayerling shortly before
1261-427: Is likely he had contracted syphilis in addition to gonorrhoea. In order to cope with the effects of the disease, Rudolf began taking large doses of morphine. By 1889, it was common knowledge at Court that Stéphanie would not have any more children due to the events of 1886, and that Rudolf's health was deteriorating. In 1886, Rudolf bought Mayerling , a hunting lodge . In late 1888, the 30-year-old Crown Prince met
1358-773: The Reichsrat (Upper House) from 1891 to 1893 in the Young Czech Party and again from 1907 to 1914 in the Realist Party (which he had founded in 1900), but he did not campaign for the independence of Czechs and Slovaks from Austria-Hungary. In Vienna in 1909 he helped Hinko Hinković 's defense in the fabricated trial against prominent Croats and Serbs members of the Serbo-Croatian Coalition (such as Frano Supilo and Svetozar Pribićević ), and others, who were sentenced to more than 150 years and
1455-624: The 12 points that established modern civil and political rights, economic and societal reforms in Hungary. The Compromise partially re-established the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Hungary, separate from, and no longer subject to the Austrian Empire. Instead, it was regarded as an equal partner with Austria. The compromise put an end to 18 years of absolutist rule and military dictatorship which had been introduced by Francis Joseph after
1552-649: The Austrian Chancellor Prince Klemens von Metternich resigned (March–April 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 1848, but never took up the post. Sent instead to the front in Italy , he joined 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
1649-713: The Austro-Prussian War of 1866, which resulted in the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 . The Hungarian political leaders had two main goals during the negotiations. One was to regain the traditional status (both legal and political) of the Hungarian state, which was lost after the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 . The other was to restore the series of reform laws of the revolutionary parliament of 1848, which were based on
1746-829: The Balkans , which was a hotspot of international tension because of conflicting interests of Austria with not only the Ottoman but also the Russian Empire . The Bosnian Crisis was a result of Franz Joseph's annexation in 1908 of Bosnia and Herzegovina, which had already been occupied by his troops since the Congress of Berlin (1878). On 28 June 1914, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo resulted in Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against
1843-477: The Capuchin Church in Vienna. Vetsera's body was smuggled out of Mayerling in the middle of the night and secretly buried in the village cemetery at Heiligenkreuz . The Emperor had Mayerling converted into a penitential convent of Carmelite nuns and endowed a chantry so that daily prayers would eternally be said by the nuns for the repose of Rudolf's soul. Vetsera's private letters were discovered in
1940-637: The German Confederation . In December 1848, Franz Joseph's uncle Emperor Ferdinand I abdicated the throne at Olomouc , as part of Minister President Felix zu Schwarzenberg 's plan to end the Hungarian Revolution of 1848 . Franz Joseph then acceded to the throne. In 1854, he married his cousin Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria , with whom he had four children: Sophie , Gisela , Rudolf , and Marie Valerie . Largely considered to be
2037-612: The Imperial Natural History Museum ), Rudolf became very interested in natural sciences, starting a mineral collection at an early age. After his death, large portions of his mineral collection came into the possession of the University of Agriculture in Vienna, which is now known as the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna In 1877, Count Karl Albert von Bombelles was master of
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#17327837838242134-589: The Kingdom of Serbia , which was an ally of the Russian Empire. This activated a system of alliances declaring war on each other, which resulted in World War I . Franz Joseph died in 1916, after ruling his domains for almost 68 years. He was succeeded by his grandnephew Charles I & IV . Franz Joseph was born on 18 August 1830 in the Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna (on the 65th anniversary of
2231-485: The League of Three Emperors ( Dreikaiserbund ) with Emperor Wilhelm I of Germany and Emperor Alexander II of Russia , who was succeeded by Tsar Alexander III in 1881. The league had been designed by the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck , as an attempt to maintain the peace of Europe. It would last intermittently until 1887. In 1903, Franz Joseph's veto of Jus exclusivae of Cardinal Mariano Rampolla 's election to
2328-575: The Principality of Transylvania would be reestablished. These events represented a clear and obvious existential threat for the Hungarian state. The new constrained Stadion Constitution of Austria, the revocation of the April laws and the Austrian military campaign against Kingdom of Hungary resulted in the fall of the pacifist Batthyány government (which sought agreement with the court) and led to
2425-406: The hunting lodge in Mayerling , where he arranged for a day of shooting for 30 January. When his valet , Johann Loschek knocked on his door to wake him up early in the morning, he received no answer. Rudolf's hunting companion, Count Joseph von Hoyos-Stichstenstein joined him, and they tried to open the door. In the end, Loschek smashed in a door panel with a hammer and opened the door from
2522-470: The 17-year-old Baroness Marie von Vetsera , and began an affair with her. On 30 January 1889, he and the young baroness were discovered dead in the lodge as a result of an apparent joint suicide . As suicide would prevent him from being given a church burial, Rudolf was officially declared to have been in a state of "mental unbalance", and he was buried in the Imperial Crypt ( Kapuzinergruft ) of
2619-478: The 20th century. However, Franz Joseph remained immensely respected; the emperor's patriarchal authority held the Empire together while the politicians squabbled among themselves. Following the accession of Franz Joseph to the throne in 1848, the political representatives of the Kingdom of Bohemia hoped and insisted that account should be taken of their historical state rights in the upcoming constitution. They felt
2716-629: The Augustinian Church in Vienna. Although their marriage was initially a happy one, by the time their only child, the Archduchess Elisabeth , was born on 2 September 1883, the couple had drifted apart. After the birth of their child, Rudolf became increasingly unstable as he drank heavily and was having many affairs. This behaviour, however, was not entirely new as Rudolf had a long history of reckless promiscuity prior to his marriage. In 1886, Rudolf became seriously ill and
2813-399: The Austrian Empire a unitary, centralised and bureaucratically administered state. When Franz Joseph returned to constitutional rule after the debacles in Italy at Magenta and Solferino and summoned the diets of his lands, the question of his coronation as king of Bohemia again returned to the agenda, as it had not since 1848. On 14 April 1861, Emperor Franz Joseph received a delegation from
2910-425: The Austrian Empire. 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
3007-524: The Austrian defeat in the Austro-Prussian War , the Peace of Prague (23 August 1866) settled the German Question in favour of Prussia, which prevented the unification of Germany from occurring under the House of Habsburg . Franz Joseph was troubled by nationalism throughout his reign. He concluded the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 , which granted greater autonomy to Hungary and created
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3104-461: The Austrian territories had been suppressed by 1849, in Hungary, the situation was more severe and Austrian defeat seemed imminent. Sensing a need to secure his right to rule, Franz Joseph sought help from Russia , requesting the intervention of Tsar Nicolas I , in order "to prevent the Hungarian insurrection developing into a European calamity". For the Russian military support, Franz Joseph kissed
3201-615: The Austro-Prussian War, and had just seen their historic state rights tossed aside and their land subsumed into the "other" half of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, commonly called "Cisleithania". The Czech hopes were revived again in 1870–1871. In an Imperial Rescript of 26 September 1870, Franz Joseph referred again to the prestige and glory of the Bohemian Crown and to his intention to hold
3298-693: The Bohemian Diet with his words (in Czech): I will have myself crowned King of Bohemia in Prague, and I am convinced that a new, indissoluble bond of trust and loyalty between My throne and My Bohemian Kingdom will be strengthened by this holy rite. In contrast to his predecessor Emperor Ferdinand (who spent the rest of his life after his abdication in 1848 in Bohemia and especially in Prague), Franz Joseph
3395-535: The Buchlau Conference. However, Izvolsky made this agreement with Aehrenthal without the knowledge of Tsar Nicholas II or his government in St. Petersburg, or any of the other foreign powers including Britain , France and Serbia . Based upon the assurances of the Buchlau Conference and the treaties that preceded it, Franz Joseph signed the proclamation announcing the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina into
3492-515: The Emperor was wounded and bleeding, the collar saved his life. Count O'Donnell struck Libényi down with his sabre. O'Donnell, hitherto a Count only by virtue of his Irish nobility, was made a Count of the Habsburg monarchy ( Reichsgraf ). Another witness who happened to be nearby, the butcher Joseph Ettenreich, swiftly overpowered Libényi. For his deed he was later elevated to the nobility by
3589-696: The Empire on 6 October 1908. However a diplomatic crisis erupted, as both the Serbs and the Italians demanded compensation for the annexation, which the Austro-Hungarian government refused to entertain. The incident was not resolved until the revision of the Treaty of Berlin in April 1909, exacerbating tensions between Austria-Hungary and the Serbs. Baroness Mary Vetsera Baroness Marie Alexandrine "Mary" von Vetsera (19 March 1871 – 30 January 1889)
3686-629: The Habsburgs had generally held the German crown. However, Franz Joseph's desire to retain the non-German territories of the Habsburg Austrian Empire in the event of German unification proved problematic. Two factions quickly developed: a party of German intellectuals favouring a Greater Germany ( Großdeutschland ) under the House of Habsburg; the other favouring a Lesser Germany ( Kleindeutschland ). The Greater Germans favoured
3783-673: The Hungarian Revolution of 1848. Franz Joseph was crowned King of Hungary on 8 June, and on 28 July he promulgated the laws that officially turned the Habsburg domains into the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary . According to Emperor Franz Joseph, "There were three of us who made the agreement: Deák , Andrássy and myself." Political difficulties in Austria mounted continuously through the late 19th century and into
3880-621: The Hungarians, who had rebelled against Habsburg central authority in the name of their ancient constitution. 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. However, the military tide began to turn swiftly in favor of Franz Joseph and the Austrian whitecoats. Almost immediately, Charles Albert
3977-571: The Italians at Custoza in late July 1848, the court felt it safe to return to Vienna, and Franz Joseph travelled with them. But within a few weeks Vienna again appeared unsafe, and in September the court left once more, this time for Olmütz in Moravia . By now, Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz , an influential military commander in Bohemia, was determined to see the young archduke soon put on
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4074-427: The Mayerling incident. In it, Mary confirms that she lost her virginity to Rudolf on 13 January 1889. Coatman states that this proves Mary could not have died of a botched abortion, as a pregnancy would not have been evident at the time of their deaths. In 1991, Vetsera's remains were disturbed again, this time by Helmut Flatzelsteiner, a Linz furniture dealer obsessed with the Mayerling incident who removed them for
4171-593: The Ottomans, sought and obtained an agreement with Austria-Hungary. In the Budapest Convention of 1877 , the two powers agreed that Russia would annex southern Bessarabia , and Austria-Hungary would observe a benevolent neutrality toward Russia in the pending war with the Turks. As compensation for this support, Russia agreed to Austria-Hungary's annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. A scant 15 months later,
4268-575: The Russian foreign minister, Alexander Izvolsky , offered Russian support, for the third time, for the annexation of Bosnia and Herzegovina by Austria-Hungary, in exchange for Austrian support for the opening of the Bosporus Strait and the Dardanelles to Russian warships. Austria's foreign minister, Alois von Aehrenthal , pursued this offer vigorously, resulting in the quid pro quo understanding with Izvolsky, reached on 16 September 1908 at
4365-575: The Russians imposed on the Ottomans the Treaty of San Stefano , which reneged on the Budapest accord and declared that Bosnia-Herzegovina would be jointly occupied by Russian and Austrian troops. The treaty was overturned by the 1878 Treaty of Berlin , which allowed sole Austrian occupation of Bosnia-Herzegovina but did not specify a final disposition of the provinces. That omission was addressed in
4462-606: The Three Emperors' League agreement of 1881, when both Germany and Russia endorsed Austria-Hungary's right to annex Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, by 1897, under a new tsar , the Russian Imperial government had again withdrawn its support for Austrian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Russian foreign minister, Count Mikhail Muravyov , stated that an Austrian annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina would raise "an extensive question requiring special scrutiny". In 1908,
4559-413: The age of 16. One of the main focuses of the lessons was language acquisition: in addition to French, the diplomatic language of the time, Latin and Ancient Greek , Hungarian , Czech, Italian and Polish were the most important national languages of the monarchy. In addition, the archduke received general education that was customary at the time (including mathematics, physics, history, geography), which
4656-466: The coffin. Upon careful examination, Holler found no sign of a bullet wound on the skeleton. The skull cavity showed signs of trauma, which could have been inflicted by the grave robbers , or could indicate that Vetsera had died from a blow to her skull and not by the hands of the crown prince. Holler claimed he petitioned the Holy See to inspect their archives of the incident, including records of
4753-513: The conflict between the Hungarian parliament and Francis Joseph. The Austrian Stadion Constitution was accepted by the Imperial Diet of Austria , where Hungary had no representation, and which traditionally had no legislative power in the territory of Kingdom of Hungary; despite this, it also tried to abolish the Diet of Hungary (which existed as the supreme legislative power in Hungary since
4850-431: The constitutional concessions he had made, especially as the Austrian parliament meeting at Kremsier had behaved—in the young Emperor's eyes—abominably. The 1849 constitution was suspended, and a policy of absolutist centralism was established, guided by the Minister of the Interior, Alexander Bach . On 18 February 1853, Franz Joseph survived an assassination attempt by Hungarian nationalist János Libényi . The emperor
4947-602: The couple was directed to the island of Lacroma (present day Croatia) for his treatment. In transit, Stéphanie also became seriously ill and described "suffering terrible pain". The couple's diagnosis of peritonitis was kept secret by order of the Emperor. After intensive treatment, Stéphanie was able to recover from the illness but she was left unable to have children as the illness had destroyed her fallopian tubes. Stéphanie's symptoms and outcome indicate Rudolf had most likely infected her with gonorrhoea . Rudolf himself did not improve with treatment and grew increasingly ill. It
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#17327837838245044-456: The death of Francis of Lorraine ) as the eldest son of Archduke Franz Karl (the younger son of Francis I ), and his wife Sophie, Princess of Bavaria . Because his uncle, reigning from 1835 as the Emperor Ferdinand , was disabled by seizures, and his father unambitious and retiring, the mother of the young Archduke "Franzi" brought him up as a future emperor, with emphasis on devotion, responsibility and diligence. For this reason, Franz Joseph
5141-454: The death of her father. In November of that year, she managed to meet him and soon they began an affair. She was 17 and he was 30. Upon finding out, her family reacted negatively: her sister Hanna called her foolish, and her mother was enraged, accusing her of compromising herself and ruining the lives of all of her family members. Historian Lucy Coatman disputes Larisch's claims (who Georg Markus refers to), citing letters by Mary and from within
5238-434: The dramatic union-in-death of star-crossed lovers . She wrote: "If I could give him my life I should be glad to do it, for what does life mean for me?" In her farewell note to her sister, she wrote "we are both going blissfully into the uncertain beyond." On 29 January 1889, the imperial couple hosted a family dinner party before leaving for Budapest , Kingdom of Hungary . The crown prince excused himself and travelled to
5335-429: The dreams of her mother. For education, she was sent to the Institute for Daughters of the Nobility in the Salesian convent in Vienna's third district. When she came of age, her mother threw parties and tried to be invited to court so that she could find the best husband for her daughters. It seems that Vetsera had a strained relationship with her mother, confiding in a friend that "Mamma has no love for me... Ever since I
5432-435: The dual monarchy of Austria-Hungary. He ruled peacefully for the next 45 years, but personally suffered the tragedies of the execution of his brother Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico in 1867, the suicide of his son Rudolf in 1889, and the assassinations of his wife Elisabeth in 1898 and his nephew and heir presumptive, Archduke Franz Ferdinand , in 1914. After the Austro-Prussian War, Austria-Hungary turned its attention to
5529-411: 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 Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian called upon Europe's royal families for donations to construct a new church on the site of the attack. The church was to be a votive offering for
5626-404: The emperor himself effectively took over as prime minister. He was one of the most prominent Roman Catholic rulers in Europe, and a fierce enemy of Freemasonry . The 1850s witnessed several failures of Austrian external policy: the Crimean War , the dissolution of its alliance with Russia, and defeat in the Second Italian War of Independence . The setbacks continued in the 1860s with defeat in
5723-426: The family which prove Helene and Hanna had no knowledge of Mary's affair with Rudolf until the tragedy occurred. Vetsera appears to have been deeply in love, maybe even thinking that she was a credible threat to her lover's wife, Crown Princess Stéphanie (1864–1945). Meanwhile, Rudolf was involved in a long-term relationship with actress Mizzi/Mitzi Kaspar (1864–1907). It was to Kaspar that Rudolf first proposed
5820-484: The fundaments of modern civil and political rights, economic and societal reforms in the Kingdom of Hungary. The crucial turning point of the Hungarian events were the April laws which was ratified by his uncle King Ferdinand, however the new young Austrian monarch Francis Joseph arbitrarily "revoked" the laws without any legal competence. The monarchs had no right to revoke Hungarian parliamentary laws which were already signed. This unconstitutional act irreversibly escalated
5917-444: The hand of the tsar in Warsaw on 21 May 1849. Tsar Nicholas supported Franz Joseph in the name of the Holy Alliance , and sent a 200,000 strong army with 80,000 auxiliary forces. Finally, the joint army of Russian and Austrian forces defeated the Hungarian forces. After the restoration of Habsburg power, Hungary was placed under brutal martial law . With order now restored throughout his empire, Franz Joseph felt free to renege on
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#17327837838246014-442: The head of the largest and most powerful German state outside of Austria—the King of Prussia . The contest between the two ideas, quickly developed into a contest between Austria and Prussia . After Prussia decisively won the Seven Weeks War , this question was solved; Austria lost no territories to Prussia as long as they remained out of German affairs. In 1873, two years after the unification of Germany, Franz Joseph entered into
6111-413: The inclusion of Austria in a new all-German state on the grounds that Austria had always been a part of Germanic empires, that it was the leading power of the German Confederation , and that it would be absurd to exclude eight million Austrian Germans from an all-German nation state. The champions of a lesser Germany argued against the inclusion of Austria on the grounds that it was a multi-nation state, not
6208-437: The inside. In the dark room, he found the crown prince sitting motionless by the side of the bed, leaning forward and bleeding from the mouth. Vetsera's body lay on the bed, with rigor mortis having already set in. Later it was determined that the crown prince had first shot Vetsera, then himself. Vetsera's maternal uncles were quickly summoned to remove their niece's body and bury it as discreetly as possible. Even her mother
6305-426: The investigation by an apostolic nuncio , Archbishop Luigi Galimberti , who had found that only one bullet was fired. Lacking forensic evidence of a second bullet, Holler advanced the theory that Vetsera died accidentally, probably as the result of an abortion , and that Rudolf then shot himself. Lucy Coatman, who is planning a biography of Vetsera, argues against this, citing a letter written by Mary shortly before
6402-426: The inviolable understanding of rulership of divine origin (divine grace), and therefore a belief that no participation of the population in rulership in the form of parliaments was required. The educators Heinrich Franz von Bombelles and Colonel Johann Baptist Coronini-Cronberg ordered Archduke Franz to study an enormous amount of time, which initially comprised 18 hours per week and was expanded to 50 hours per week by
6499-514: The king was alive and unable to do his duty as ruler, a governor (or regent, as they would be called in English) had to assume the royal duties. Constitutionally, Franz Josef's uncle Ferdinand was still the legal king of Hungary . If there was no possibility to inherit the throne automatically due to the death of the predecessor king (since King Ferdinand was still alive), but the monarch wanted to relinquish his throne and appoint another king before his death, technically only one legal solution remained:
6596-442: The late 12th century.) The new Austrian constitution also went against the historical constitution of Hungary, and even tried to nullify it. Even the territorial integrity of the country was in danger: On 7 March 1849 an imperial proclamation was issued in the name of the Emperor Francis Joseph, according to the new proclamation, the territory of Kingdom of Hungary would be carved up and administered by five military districts, while
6693-408: The long personal union between the Kingdom of Hungary and other Habsburg ruled areas, the Habsburg monarchs had to be crowned as King of Hungary in order to promulgate laws there or exercise royal prerogatives in the territory of the Kingdom of Hungary. From a legal point of view, according to the coronation oath, a crowned Hungarian king could not relinquish the Hungarian throne during his life; if
6790-412: The new heir presumptive . However, Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 (an event that precipitated World War I ), so when Emperor Franz-Joseph died in November 1916, he was succeeded instead by his grandnephew, Charles I of Austria . The demands of the American President, Woodrow Wilson forced Emperor Charles I to renounce involvement in state affairs in Vienna in early November 1918. As
6887-545: The original wooden coffin to a copper one and reburied. The official story of murder-suicide was unchallenged until after the Second World War . After Soviet troops had disturbed Vetsera's grave, and when it was being repaired in 1955, the monks found a small skeleton inside the coffin, with no apparent bullet holes in its skull . In 1959, physician Gerd Holler and a member of the Vetsera family, accompanied by other specialists, inspected her remains. The bones were in disarray, but shoes and long black hair were found in
6984-565: The papacy was transmitted to the Papal conclave by Cardinal Jan Puzyna de Kosielsko . It was the last use of such a veto, as the new Pope Pius X prohibited future uses and provided for excommunication for any attempt. During the mid-1870s a series of violent rebellions against Ottoman rule broke out in the Balkans, and the Turks responded with equally violent and oppressive reprisals. Tsar Alexander II of Russia , wanting to intervene against
7081-417: The parliament had the power to dethrone the king and elect a new king. Due to the legal and military tensions, the Hungarian parliament did not grant Franz Joseph that favour. This event gave to the revolt an excuse of legality. Actually, from this time until the collapse of the revolution, Lajos Kossuth (as elected regent-president) became the de facto and de jure ruler of Hungary. While the revolutions in
7178-430: The position of Bohemia within the Habsburg monarchy should have been highlighted by a coronation of the new ruler to the king of Bohemia in Prague (the last coronation took place in 1836). However, before the 19th century the Habsburgs had ruled Bohemia by hereditary right and a separate coronation was not deemed necessary. His new government installed the system of neoabsolutism in Austrian internal affairs to make
7275-608: The recognition of separate Bohemian state rights for which they had hoped. Bohemia remained part of the Austrian Crown Lands . In Bohemia, opposition to dualism took the form of isolated street demonstrations, resolutions from district representations, and even open air mass protest meetings, confined to the biggest cities, such as Prague. The Czech newspaper Národní listy complained that the Czechs had not yet been compensated for their wartime losses and sufferings during
7372-534: The remains of a bullet, as well as the hair being singed from the impact. When Flatzelsteiner approached a journalist to sell both the story and the skeleton, the police became involved. Flatzelsteiner confessed and surrendered Vetsera's remains, which were sent to the Legal Medical Institute in Vienna for further examination. Forensic experts found the bones were indeed 100 years old and those of
7469-709: The rights of the kingdom and are prepared to renew that recognition through our coronation oath. For the planned coronation, the composer Bedřich Smetana had written the opera Libuše , but the ceremony did not take place. The creation of the German Empire , domestic opposition from German-speaking liberals (especially German-Bohemians ) and from Hungarians doomed the Fundamental Articles . Hohenwart resigned and nothing changed. Many Czech people were waiting for political changes in monarchy, including Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk and others. Masaryk served in
7566-458: The same time, the imperial family was fleeing revolutionary Vienna for the calmer setting of Innsbruck , in Tyrol . Called back from Italy, the archduke joined the rest of his family at Innsbruck by mid-June. It was here that Franz Joseph first met his cousin and eventual future bride, Elisabeth, then a girl of ten, but apparently the meeting made little impression. Following Austria's victory over
7663-420: The sudden emergence of Lajos Kossuth 's followers in the Hungarian parliament, who demanded the full independence of Hungary. The Austrian military intervention in the Kingdom of Hungary resulted in strong anti-Habsburg sentiment among Hungarians, thus the events in Hungary grew into a war for total independence from the Habsburg dynasty . On 7 December 1848, the Diet of Hungary formally refused to acknowledge
7760-487: 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 . The survival of Franz Joseph was also commemorated in Prague by erecting a new statue of St. Francis of Assisi , the patron saint of the emperor, on Charles Bridge . It was donated by Count Franz Anton von Kolowrat-Liebsteinsky , the first minister-president of
7857-567: 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 Ferdinand. 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 at Olmütz on 2 December 1848. At this time, he first became known by his second as well as his first Christian name. The name "Franz Joseph"
7954-499: The title of the new king, "as without the knowledge and consent of the diet no one could sit on the Hungarian throne", and called the nation to arms. While in most Western European countries (like France and the United Kingdom) the monarch's reign began immediately upon the death of their predecessor , in Hungary the coronation was indispensable; if it were not properly executed, the kingdom remained " orphaned ". Even during
8051-483: The uniform of a military 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, father of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria ), and Archduke Ludwig Viktor (born 1842), and a sister, Archduchess Maria Anna (born 1835), who died at the age of four. During the Revolutions of 1848 ,
8148-405: The young prince. Bombelles had been the custodian of Rudolf's aunt Empress Charlotte of Mexico . In contrast with his deeply conservative father, Rudolf held liberal views that were closer to those of his mother. Nevertheless, his relationship with her was at times strained. In Vienna, on 10 May 1881, Rudolf married Princess Stéphanie of Belgium , a daughter of King Leopold II of Belgium , at
8245-468: Was Emperor of Austria , King of Hungary , and the ruler of the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his death in 1916. In the early part of his reign, his realms and territories were referred to as the Austrian Empire , but were reconstituted as the dual monarchy of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1867. From 1 May 1850 to 24 August 1866, he was also president of
8342-454: Was a little girl she has treated me like something she means to dispose of to the best advantage". During the winter of 1887, the Vetsera family travelled to Cairo , Khedivate of Egypt because of the illness of the father. While there, Vetsera supposedly had an affair with an English officer . In 1888, Vetsera became infatuated with Crown Prince Rudolf (1858–1889), a married man 13 years her senior, after returning from Cairo following
8439-490: Was abroad in Geneva , Switzerland , she was murdered by an Italian anarchist, Luigi Lucheni . Rudolf's death had left Franz Joseph without a direct male heir. Franz-Joseph's younger brother, Archduke Karl Ludwig , was next in line to the Austro-Hungarian throne, though it was falsely reported that he had renounced his succession rights. In any case, his death in 1896 from typhoid made his eldest son, Archduke Franz Ferdinand ,
8536-650: Was an Austrian noblewoman and the mistress of Rudolf, Crown Prince of Austria . Vetsera and the crown prince were found dead at his hunting lodge in Mayerling on 30 January 1889, following an apparent murder-suicide, which is known as the Mayerling incident . Marie Alexandrine Mary Freiin von Vetsera was born on 19 March 1871 as the third child and second daughter of Albin Freiherr von Vetsera (1825–1887), an Austrian diplomat from Pozsony , Kingdom of Hungary (present day Bratislava, Slovakia ), and his wife, born Eleni Hélène Baltazzi (1847–1925), member of
8633-399: Was born at Schloss Laxenburg , a castle near Vienna , as the son of Emperor Franz Joseph I and Empress Elisabeth . He was named after the first Habsburg King of Germany , Rudolf I , who reigned from 1273 to 1291. Rudolf was raised together with his older sister Gisela and the two were very close. At the age of six, Rudolf was separated from his sister as he began his education to become
8730-405: Was chosen to bring back memories of the new Emperor's great-granduncle, Emperor Joseph II (Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790), remembered as a modernising reformer. Under the guidance of the new prime minister, Prince Felix of Schwarzenberg , the new emperor at first pursued a cautious course, granting a constitution in March 1849 . At the same time, a military campaign was necessary against
8827-426: Was consistently built up as a potential successor to the imperial throne by his politically ambitious mother from early childhood. Up to the age of seven, little "Franzi" was brought up in the care of the nanny ("Aja") Louise von Sturmfeder. Then the "state education" began, the central contents of which were "sense of duty", religiosity and dynastic awareness. The theologian Joseph Othmar von Rauscher conveyed to him
8924-415: Was decisively beaten by Radetzky at Novara and forced to sue for peace, as well as to renounce his throne. Unlike other Habsburg ruled areas, the Kingdom of Hungary had an old historic constitution , which limited the power of the crown and had greatly increased the authority of the parliament since the 13th century. The Hungarian reform laws ( April laws ) were based on the 12 points that established
9021-591: Was forbidden to attend the ceremony. The body was taken to the closest cemetery, the one at the Cistercian monastery in Heiligenkreuz . As her death was thought to be a suicide, her uncles had a hard time persuading the abbot to give permission for a Christian burial , eventually convincing him that she had only committed it because of momentary insanity . On 16 May 1889, Vetsera's mother had her daughter exhumed. Vetsera's remains were transferred from
9118-417: Was later supplemented by law and political science. Various forms of physical education completed the extensive program. On his 13th birthday, Franz Joseph was appointed Colonel- Inhaber of Dragoon Regiment No. 3 and the focus of his training shifted to imparting basic strategic and tactical knowledge. From that point onward, army style dictated his personal fashion—for the rest of his life, he normally wore
9215-491: Was never crowned separately as king of Bohemia. In 1861, the negotiations failed because of unsolved constitutional problems. However, in 1866, a visit of the monarch to Prague following defeat at the Battle of Königgrätz was a huge success, testified by the considerable numbers of new photographs taken. In 1867, the Austro-Hungarian compromise and the introduction of the dual monarchy left the Czechs and their aristocracy without
9312-456: Was taking a stroll with one of his officers, Count 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 collars of uniforms at that time were made from very sturdy material, precisely to counter this kind of attack. Even though
9409-424: Was to advance socially, for which she had the support of the imperial family , even though she did not have the right to visit the court . She wanted to break out from the parvenu status she had as the wife of a newly made noble, and for this, she needed her daughters to marry into the best possible families. Vetsera was thus raised in a strict household under the pressure of having to climb socially and fulfill
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