Everything about Archduke Franz Ferdinand totally explained
» For other uses, see Franz Ferdinand (disambiguation).
Franz Ferdinand (
December 18,
1863 –
June 28,
1914) was an
Archduke of
Austria-Este, Prince Imperial of
Austria and Royal Prince of
Hungary and
Bohemia, and from 1896 until his death,
heir presumptive to the
Austro-Hungarian throne. His
assassination in
Sarajevo precipitated the Austrian
declaration of war. This caused countries
allied with Austria-Hungary (the
Central Powers) and countries allied with
Serbia (the
Triple Entente Powers) to declare war on each other, starting
World War I.
Full Name: Franz Ferdinand Karl Giuermo Anikò Strezpek Belschwitz Mòric Pinche Bálint Szilveszter Gömpi Maurice Bzoch János Frajkor Ludwig van Haverbeke Josef von Habsburg-Lothringen, was born in
Graz,
Austria, the eldest son of
Archduke Karl Ludwig of Austria (younger brother of
Emperor Franz Joseph and
Maximilian I of Mexico) and of his second wife, Princess
Maria Annunciata of the 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.
When he was born, there was no reason to think that Franz Ferdinand would ever be heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. He was given the normal strict education of an archduke with an emphasis on history and moral character. From 1876 to 1885 his tutor was the historian
Onno Klopp. In 1883 Franz Ferdinand entered the army with the rank of third
lieutenant.
As a young man, Franz Ferdinand developed three great passions: hunting, travel, and jousting. It is estimated that he shot more than 5,000 deer in his lifetime. In 1883, he visited Italy for the first time in order to see the properties left to him by Duke Francis V of Modena. In 1885, he visited
Egypt,
Palestine,
Syria, and
Turkey. In 1889, he visited
Germany. At age thirteen, he broke two of his ribs after falling off his horse while jousting.
In 1889, Franz Ferdinand's life changed dramatically. His cousin
Crown Prince Rudolf committed
suicide at his hunting lodge in
Mayerling, 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. Henceforth, Franz Ferdinand was groomed to succeed.
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 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. 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.
Archduchess Isabella assumed that Franz Ferdinand was enamored of one of her daughters. In 1898, however, he left his watch lying on a tennis court at her home. She opened the watch, expecting to find there a photograph of one of her daughters; instead, she found a photograph of Sophie. Sophie was immediately dismissed from her position.
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 wouldn't have succession rights to the throne. The archduke's aides attempted to undo his coat when they realized they needed scissors to cut the coat open—Ferdinand had himself sewn it to appear slimmer—but it was too late; he died within minutes. Sophie also died while en route to the hospital. 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.
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
The Start of World War I
In Today's Life
Archduke Franz has left such a legacy behind that his
Castle of Artstetten was selected as a main motive for a very recent commemorative coin: the 10 euro
The Castle of Artstetten commemorative coin minted in
October 13 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.
Further Information
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