Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria: Encyclopedia - Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria

His Imperial and Royal Highness Archduke Franz Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Joseph of Austria-Este (sometimes called Francis Ferdinand in English) (December 18, 1863 – June 28, 1914) was born in Graz, Austria and was a Habsburg Archduke of Austria and heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination by Gavrilo Princip on June 28, 1914 in Sarajevo, Austrian-annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina, precipitated the Austrian declaration of war against Serbia which triggered World War I.

See the article Assassination of Franz Ferdinand for a detailed discussion of these events.

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria - Family and marriage

Franz Ferdinand was the eldest son of the Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria and of his second wife, Princess Maria Annunciata of the Two Sicilies. He was born at Graz. In 1875, when he was only 12 years old a distant cousin, Francis V, Duke of Modena died. Francis was the last male member of his line of the Habsburgs; in his will he made Franz Ferdinand his major heir on condition that he add the name Este to his own. Franz Ferdinand thus became one of the wealthiest men in Europe.

The marriage of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie became known as one of the world's greatest love affairs. Countess Sophie Maria Josephine Albina Chotek von Chotkova und Wognin was from a noble Bohemian family, but however, she was still considered to be of a lower rank than Ferdinand, and therefore, unsuitable for marriage. (To be considered suitable, Sophie would have had to have been descended from one of the ruling dynasties of Europe, or from the House of Hapsburg, from which Ferdinand was also descended from.)In fact her lineage could be traced back to the House of Hohenzollern-see Lineage link under her name.

The pair first met a dance in Prague in 1888. Sophie at the time was a lady-in-waiting to Archduchess Isabella of Croy, who was the wife of Archduke Friedrich. After this meeting, Franz Ferdinand frequently visited the villa of the Archduke Friedrich in Pressburg; all assumed that Ferdinand was enamored with one of Isabella's daughters. Ferdinand and Sophie kept their relationship a secret for more than two years.

However, soon after this, one of Isabella's servants found Ferdinand's watch lying on a tennis court. The watch was then brought to Isabella. She assumed that in opening the watch, she would find a photograph of one of her daughters; instead, she found a photograph of Sophie. Shocked and appalled, Isabella expelled Sophie from her home, even though Sophie had been a faithful lady in waiting for many, many years.

Franz Ferdinand refused to consider marrying anyone else. Several people, including Pope Leo XIII, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia, and Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany all made representations to Franz Josef, the emperor of Austria at the time, on Franz Ferdinand's behalf arguing that the disagreement between Franz Josef and Ferdinand was undermining the stability of the monarchy.

Finally, in 1899, a deal was struck between Franz Josef and Ferdinand. Franz Ferdinand would be allowed to marry Sophie, but none of her descendants (including their children together) would be able to hold the throne; their marriage would be morganatic. She would not share her husband's rank, title, precedence, or privileges. Also, Sophie would be forbidden to accompany her husband in the royal carriage, nor could she sit by his side in the royal box.

The wedding took place on July 1, 1900, at Reichstadt in Bohemia. Franz Josef did not attend the affair. Nor did his brothers or their families. The only people of the royal family who went to the ceremony was Franz Ferdinand's stepmother, Maria Theresia, and her two daughters. Even Franz Ferdinand's father and brothers steered clear of the ceremony. Upon the marriage, the Countess was made Her Serene Highness Fürstin Sophie von Hohenberg, but in 1909 her title was raised to Her Highness Duchess Sophie von Hohenberg. This raised her status considerably, but she was still considered much less royal than her fellow 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 and surrounded by hostile people.

Franz Ferdinand's children were:

• HSH Princess Sophie von Hohenberg (1901-1990), married Count Friedrich von Nostitz-Rieneck (1891-1973); had issue
• HSH Duke Maximilian von Hohenberg (1902-1962), cr. 1st Duke of Hohenberg 1917, married HIllH Countess Elisabeth von Waldburg (1904-1993); had issue
• HSH Prince Ernst von Hohenberg (1904-1954), married Marie-Therese Wood (1910-1985); had issue
• Stillborn son (1908)

Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria - Politics

Franz Ferdinand alienated many sections of Austro-Hungarian political opinion: Hungarian nationalists opposed his advocacy of universal male suffrage which would undermine Magyar domination in the Hungarian kingdom; both supporters and opponents of the Empire's existing dualist structure were suspicious of his idea for a third Croat-dominated Slav kingdom including Bosnia and Herzegovina as a bulwark against what was perceived in Vienna's Ballhausplatz (Foreign Ministry) as Serbian irredentism; and non-Catholics and anticlericalists were angered by his patronage (April 22, 1900) of the Catholic Schools Association.

Although Franz Ferdinand was seen outside Germany as a leader of the "war party" within Austria-Hungary, this was entirely untrue. In fact, the Archduke was one of the leading advocates of maintaining the peace within the Austro-Hungarian government during both the Bosnian Crisis of 1908-1909 and the Balkan Wars Crises of 1912-1913.

No evidence has been found to support suggestions that his low-security visit to Sarajevo was arranged by elements within Austro-Hungarian official circles with the intention of exposing him to the risk of assassination so as to remove a potentially troublesome royal personage from the scene.

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Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria - Assassination

On June 28, 1914, at 10:15 am Franz Ferdinand, and his wife Countess Sophie were killed in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of Young Bosnia. The event, known as the Assassination in Sarajevo, was one of the triggers of World War I. Franz Ferdinand is interred in Schloß Artstetten, Austria.

See also

• Franz Ferdinand (band)

Categories: 1863 births | 1914 deaths | Firearm deaths | Murder victims | Murdered royalty | Austro-Hungarian World War I people | Knights of the Garter | Non-ruling Austrian royalty | Habsburg | Habsburg-Lorraine

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki