Archduke Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria of Austria (18 December 1863 – 28 June 1914) was the heir presumptive to the throne of Austria-Hungary. His assassination in Sarajevo was the most immediate cause of World War I.
Franz Ferdinand
was the eldest son of Archduke Karl
Ludwig of Austria, and the younger brother of Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria. Following the death of Crown Prince Rudolf in 1889 and the
death of Karl Ludwig in 1896, Franz Ferdinand became the heir presumptive
to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His courtship of Sophie Chotek, a lady-in-waiting, caused conflict within the
imperial household, and their morganatic marriage in 1900 was only allowed
after he renounced his descendants' rights to the throne. Franz Ferdinand held significant influence over the military, and
in 1913 he was appointed inspector general of the Austro-Hungarian armed
forces.
On 28 June 1914, Franz
Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated in Sarajevo by the 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, a member of Young Bosnia. Franz Ferdinand's
assassination led to the July Crisis and precipitated Austria-Hungary's
declaration of war against Serbia, which in turn triggered a series of events
that eventually led – four weeks after his death – to Austria-Hungary's allies
and Serbia's allies declaring war on each other, starting World War I.
Biography
Early life
Franz Ferdinand
was born in Graz, Austria, the eldest son of Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria (the younger brother of Franz Joseph and Maximilian) and of his second wife, Princess Maria Annunciata of Bourbon-Two Sicilies. In 1875, when
he was eleven years old, his cousin Francis
V, Duke 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.
Heir presumptive
In 1889, Franz
Ferdinand's life changed dramatically. His cousin Crown Prince Rudolf committed suicide at his hunting lodge in
Mayerling. This left Franz Ferdinand's
father, Karl Ludwig, as first in
line to the throne. Karl Ludwig died
of typhoid fever in 1896. This left Franz
Ferdinand as the heir to the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Despite this burden, he did manage to find time for travel
and personal pursuits, such as his circumnavigation of the world between 1892
and 1893. After visiting India he spent time hunting kangaroos and emus in
Australia in 1893 and then traveled on to Nouméa, New Hebrides, Solomon
Islands, New Guinea, Sarawak, Hong Kong, and Japan. After sailing across the
Pacific on the RMS Empress of China from Yokohama to Vancouver he crossed the
United States, arriving at the World's Columbian Exposition 1893 on the
Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad on a private Pullman car named
Mascotte, and staying at the Lexington Hotel, before continuing through to New
York and returning to Europe.
Franz Ferdinand
had a fondness for trophy hunting that was excessive even by the standards of the European nobility of this time. In his diaries, he kept track of 272,511 game
kills, 5,000 of which were deer. About 100,000 trophies were on exhibit at his Bohemian castle at Konopiště which he also stuffed with various antiquities, his other
great passion.
Military career
Franz Ferdinand,
like most males in the ruling Habsburg line, entered the Austro-Hungarian Army
at a young age. He was frequently and rapidly promoted, given the rank of
lieutenant at age fourteen, captain at twenty-two, colonel at twenty-seven, and
major general at thirty-one. While never receiving formal staff training, he
was considered eligible for command and at one point briefly led the primarily Hungarian 9th Hussar Regiment. In 1898
he was given a commission "at the
special disposition of His Majesty" to make inquiries into all aspects
of the military services and military agencies were commanded to share their
papers with him.
He also held honorary ranks in the Austro-Hungarian Navy and received the rank of Admiral at the close of the Austro-Hungarian naval maneuvers
in September 1902.
Franz Ferdinand
exerted influence on the armed forces even when he did not hold a specific
command through a military chancery that produced and received documents and
papers on military affairs. This was headed by Alexander Brosch von Aarenau [de] and eventually employed a staff
of sixteen. His authority was reinforced in 1907 when he secured the retirement
of the Emperor's confidant Friedrich von
Beck-Rzikowsky as Chief of the
General Staff. Beck's successor, Franz
Conrad von Hötzendorf, was personally selected by Franz Ferdinand.
Franz in 1913, as heir-presumptive to the elderly emperor,
had been appointed inspector general of all the armed forces of Austria-Hungary
(Generalinspektor der gesamten bewaffneten Macht), a position superior to that
previously held by Archduke Albrecht and including presumed command in wartime.
Marriage and family
In 1894, Franz
Ferdinand met Countess Sophie
Chotek, a lady-in-waiting to Archduchess
Isabella, wife of Archduke
Friedrich, Duke of Teschen. Franz began to visit Archduke Friedrich's villa
in Pressburg (now Bratislava), and in turn, Sophie wrote to Franz Ferdinand during his convalescence from tuberculosis on the
island of Lošinj in the Adriatic. They kept their relationship a secret until
it was discovered by Isabella herself.
To be eligible to marry 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. Deeply in
love, Franz Ferdinand refused to
consider marrying anyone else. Finally, in 1899, Emperor Franz Joseph agreed to permit Franz Ferdinand to marry Sophie, on the condition that the marriage
would be morganatic and that their descendants would not have succession rights
to the throne. 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 in
theaters.
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. The only members of the imperial family
who were present were Franz Ferdinand's
stepmother, Princess Maria Theresa of
Braganza; 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 was still required to yield
precedence at court to all the archduchesses. Whenever a function required the
couple to assemble with the other members of the imperial family, Sophie was
forced to stand far down the line, separated from her husband.
Franz Ferdinand's children were:
Princess Sophie of
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 of
Hohenberg (1904–1954), married Marie-Therese
Wood (1910–1985)
Stillborn son
(1908), buried in Artstetten Castle, near his parents
Franz Ferdinand
and Sophie visited England in the autumn of 1913, spending a week with George V and Queen Mary at Windsor Castle before going to stay for another week
with the Duke of Portland at Welbeck
Abbey, Nottinghamshire, where they arrived on 22 November. He attended a
service at the local Catholic Church in Worksop. Franz Ferdinand and the Duke
of Portland went game shooting on the Welbeck estate when, according to
Portland's memoirs, Men, Women and Things:
One of the loaders fell down. This caused both barrels of
the gun he was carrying to be discharged, the shot passing within a few feet of
the archduke and myself. I have often wondered whether the Great War might not
have been averted, or at least postponed, had the archduke met his death there
and not in Sarajevo the following year.
Assassination
As described by the contemporary Spanish magazine El Mundo Gráfico: "The moment when the Austrian archdukes, following the first
attempt against their lives, arrived at the City Council (of Sarajevo), where
they were received by the mayor and the municipal corporation."
On Sunday, 28 June 1914, at about 10:45 am, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were
assassinated in Sarajevo, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian province of
Bosnia and Herzegovina. The perpetrator was 19-year-old Gavrilo Princip, a member of Young
Bosnia and one of a group of assassins organized and armed by the Black Hand.
Earlier in the day, the couple had been attacked by Nedeljko Čabrinović, also a Young Bosnia conspirator, who had
thrown a grenade at their car. However, the bomb detonated behind them,
injuring the occupants of the following car. On arriving at the Governor's
residence, Franz asked "So you welcome
your guests with bombs!"
After a short rest at the Governor's residence, the royal
couple insisted on seeing all those who had been injured by the bomb at the
local hospital. However, no one told the drivers that the itinerary had been
changed. When the error was discovered, the drivers had to turn around. As the
cars backed down the street and onto a side street, the line of cars stalled.
At this time, Princip was sitting at a cafe across the street. He instantly
seized his opportunity and walked across the street and shot the royal couple.
He first shot Sophie in the abdomen and then shot Franz Ferdinand in the neck. Franz leaned over his crying wife. He
was still alive when witnesses arrived to render aid. His dying words to Sophie
were, "Don't die darling, and live
for our children." Princip's weapon was the pocket-sized FN Model 1910
pistol chambered for the .380 ACP cartridge provided to him by Serbian Army Military Intelligence
Lieutenant-Colonel and Black Hand leader
Dragutin Dimitrijević. Franz
Ferdinand's aides attempted to undo his coat but realized they needed
scissors to cut it open: the outer lapel had been sewn to the inner front of
the jacket for a smoother fit to improve his appearance to the public. Whether
or not as a result of this obstacle, his wound could not be attended to in time
to save him, and he died within minutes. Sophie also died en route to the
hospital.
A detailed account of the shooting can be found in Sarajevo by Joachim Remak:
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 was unhurt) a thin streak of bloodshot 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 during his last
few minutes, but, his voice growing steadily weaker, he repeated the phrase
perhaps six or seven times more.
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.
The assassinations, along with the arms race, nationalism,
imperialism, militarism of Imperial
Germany, and the alliance system all contributed to the origins of World War
I, which began a month after Franz
Ferdinand's death, with Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against
Serbia. The assassination of Franz
Ferdinand is considered the most immediate cause of World War I.
After his death, Archduke Karl became the heir presumptive
of Austria-Hungary. Franz Ferdinand
was buried with his wife Sophie in Artstetten Castle, Austria.
Character
The German historian Michael
Freund described Franz Ferdinand as "a
man of uninspired energy, dark in appearance and emotion, who radiated an aura
of strangeness and cast a shadow of violence and recklessness ... a true personality
amidst the amiable inanity that characterized Austrian society at this
time." As his sometime admirer Karl
Kraus put it, "he would not greet you ... he felt no compulsion to reach out for the unexplored
region which the Viennese call their heart." His relations with Emperor Franz Joseph were tense; the
emperor's personal servant recalled in his memoirs that "thunder and
lightning always raged when they had their discussions." The commentaries and orders that the heir to the throne wrote
as margin notes to the documents of the Imperial Central Commission for Architectural Conservation (where he was Protector) reveal what can be
described as "choleric conservatism." The Italian historian Leo Valiani provided the following description.
Francis Ferdinand
was a prince of absolutist inclinations, but he had certain intellectual gifts
and undoubted moral earnestness. One of his projects – though because of his
impatient, suspicious, almost hysterical temperament, his commitment to it, and
the methods by which he proposed to bring it about, often changed – was to
consolidate the structure of the state and the authority and popularity of the
Crown, on which he saw clearly that the fate of the dynasty depended, by
abolishing, if not the dominance of the German Austrians, which he wished to
maintain for military reasons, though he wanted to diminish it in the civil
administration, certainly the far more burdensome sway of the Magyars over the
Slav and Romanian nationalities which in 1848–49 had saved the dynasty in armed
combat with the Hungarian revolution. Baron
Margutti (de), Francis Joseph's aide-de-camp, was told by Francis Ferdinand in 1895 and – with a
remarkable consistency given the changes that took place in the intervening
years – again in 1913, that the introduction of the dual system in 1867 had
been disastrous and that, when he ascended the throne, he intended to
re-establish strong central government: this objective, he believed, could be
attained only by the simultaneous granting of far-reaching administrative
autonomy to all the nationalities of the monarchy. In a letter of February 1,
1913, to Berchtold, the Foreign Minister, in which he gave his reasons for not
wanting war with Serbia, Franz Ferdinand said that "irredentism in our country ... will cease immediately if our
Slavs are given a comfortable, fair and good life" instead of being
trampled on (as they were being trampled on by the Hungarians). It must have
been this which caused Berchtold, in a character sketch of Francis Ferdinand written ten years after his death, to say that,
if he had succeeded to the throne, he would have tried to replace the dual
system with a supranational federation.
Political views
"The three
cornerstones of Ferdinand’s political conviction were clericalism,
anti-democratic views, and anti-Hungarianism,” and the basis of his
worldview was that “politics is a matter
only for the ruler, while the people, the masses have to obey.” Franz Ferdinand often complained that in Hungary, the glorification of
revolutionary hero Lajos Kossuth,
the decline of the monarchical principle, and the dominance of the Freemasons and
the Jewish people were prevalent. Historians have disagreed on how to
characterize the political philosophies of Franz
Ferdinand, some attributing generally liberal views on the empire's
nationalities while others have emphasized his dynastic centralism, Catholic
conservatism, and tendency to clash with other leaders.
He advocated granting greater autonomy to ethnic groups
within the Empire and addressing their grievances, especially the Czechs in
Bohemia and the south Slavic peoples in Croatia and Bosnia, who had been left
out of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise
of 1867. Yet his feelings towards the Hungarians were less generous, often
described as antipathy. For example, in 1904 he wrote that "The Hungarians are all the rabble, regardless of whether they are
minister or duke, cardinal or burgher, peasant, hussar, domestic servant, or
revolutionary", and he regarded even István Tisza as a revolutionary
and "patented traitor". He
regarded Hungarian nationalism as a revolutionary threat to the Habsburg
dynasty and reportedly became angry when officers of the 9th Hussars Regiment (which he commanded) spoke Hungarian in his
presence – even though it was the official regimental language. He
further regarded the Hungarian branch of the Dual Monarchy's army, the
Honvédség, as an unreliable and potentially threatening force within the
empire, complaining at the Hungarians' failure to provide funds for the joint
army and opposing the formation of artillery units within the Hungarian forces.
He also advocated a cautious approach towards Serbia –
repeatedly locking horns with Franz
Conrad von Hötzendorf, Vienna's hard-line Chief of the Austro-Hungarian General Staff, warning that harsh
treatment of Serbia would bring Austria-Hungary into open conflict with Russia,
to the ruin of both empires.
He was disappointed when Austria-Hungary failed to act as a
great power, such as during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. Other nations,
including, in his description, "dwarf
states like Belgium and Portugal", had soldiers stationed in China,
but Austria-Hungary did not. However, Austria-Hungary did participate in the Eight-Nation Alliance to suppress the
Boxers, and sent soldiers as part of the
"international relief force".
Franz Ferdinand
was a prominent and influential supporter of the Austro-Hungarian Navy in a time when sea power was not a priority
in Austrian foreign policy and the Navy was relatively little known or
supported by the public. After his assassination in 1914, the Navy honored Franz Ferdinand and his wife with a
lying-in-state aboard SMS Viribus
Unitis.
Commemorations
Commemorative postage
stamp (Austria-Hungary)
Archduke Franz
Ferdinand and his Castle of Artstetten were selected as a main motif for
the Austrian 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. Two portraits are showing Archduke Franz Ferdinand and
his wife Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg.
Titles, styles, honors, and arms
Titles and styles
18 December 1863 – 20 November 1875: His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke and Prince Franz Ferdinand of Austria, Royal Prince of Hungary, Bohemia and
Croatia
20 November 1875 – 28 June 1914: His Imperial and Royal Highness Franz Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria-Este
Honors and awards
Domestic
Knight of the Golden Fleece, 1878
Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen,
1893
Military Merit Cross, in Diamonds
Silver Military Merit Medal on Red Ribbon
Long Service Cross for Officers, 2nd Class
1898 Jubilee Medal for the Armed Forces
1908 Military Jubilee Cross
Sea Voyage Medal 1892-1893
Foreign
Anhalt Anhalt: Grand Cross of the Order of Albert the Bear
Baden: Knight of the
House Order of Fidelity, 1908
Bavaria:
Knight of St. Hubert, 1895
Commemorative Medal for the 70th Anniversary of Military
Service of Prince Regent Luitpold
Belgium: Grand Cordon
of the Order of Leopold
Bulgaria: Knight of
Saints Cyril and Methodius, with Collar
Denmark: Knight of
the Elephant, 12 May 1908
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Duchy of Saxe-Altenburg Saxe-Meiningen
Ernestine duchies: Grand Cross of the Saxe-Ernestine House Order
Italy: Knight of the
Annunciation, 22 January 1891
Tuscany Tuscan Grand Ducal family: Grand Cross of St. Joseph
Kingdom of the Two Sicilies Two Sicilian Royal family: Grand
Cross of St. Ferdinand and Merit
Holy See:
Knight of the Supreme Order of Christ
Grand Cross of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem
Sovereign Military Order of Malta Military Order of Malta:
Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion
Japan: Grand Cordon
of the Order of the Chrysanthemum, 27 July 1893
Johor: Grand Cordon
of the Crown of Johor
Montenegro: Grand
Cross of the Order of Prince Danilo I
Mecklenburg: Grand
Cross of the Wendish Crown, with Crown in Ore
Oldenburg: Grand
Cross of the Order of Duke Peter Friedrich Ludwig, with Crown in Gold
Portugal: Grand Cross
of the Sash of the Two Orders
Prussia:
Knight of the Black Eagle, with Collar
Grand Commander of the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern,
with Collar
Military Merit Cross
Romania:
Grand Cross of the Order of Carol I
Grand Cross of the Star of Romania
Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach:
Grand Cross of the White Falcon, 1892
Württemberg:
Grand Cross of the Württemberg Crown, 1889
Golden Jubilee Medal
Saxony: Knight of the
Rue Crown, 1886
Serbia: Grand Cross
of the White Eagle
Thailand Siam: Knight of the Order of the Royal House of
Chakri, 1 June 1902
Spain: Grand Cross of
the Order of Charles III, with Collar, 5 May 1906
Sweden Norway Sweden-Norway: Knight of the Seraphim, 19
September 1890
Russia:
Knight of St. Andrew, 1891
Knight of St. Alexander Nevsky
Knight of the White Eagle
Knight of St. Anna, 1st Class
Knight of St. Stanislaus, 1st Class
United Kingdom:
Honorary Grand Cross of the Bath (civil), 19 February 1901
Stranger Knight Companion of the Garter, 15 July 1902
Commemorative Medal for the Diamond Jubilee of Queen
Victoria
Silver Commemorative Medal for the Coronation of King Edward
VII
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