The World of
the Habsburgs

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Pre-war
1914
Outbreak of the war
1915
1916
1917
1918
End of the war
Post-war
Medium

Emperor Franz Joseph, around 1910, oil painting

Partner 
Bundesmobilienverwaltung - Federal Administration of Moveables
Copyright 
Bundesmobilienverwaltung/Marianne Haller

Verwendet bei

  • Person

    Franz Joseph

    Thanks to his long reign of 68 years, Franz Joseph was a determining figure of the Habsburg Empire in the last decades of its existence. In 1914, he signed the declaration of war on Serbia that triggered the First World War – a war that he would not live to see the end of.

  • Chapter

    ‘God preserve Him, God protect Him’ – The Emperor

    Emperor Franz Joseph was the symbol par excellence of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy. For most of his subjects the Emperor was a sacrosanct figure who deserved their utmost respect. He had been on the throne since 1848 and for one and all was simply ‘the Kaiser’.

  • Chapter

    Franz Joseph: the ageing emperor

    Towards the end of the century the term ‘Fortwursteln’ (‘muddling through’) was coined to describe Emperor Franz Joseph’s policies. The political decision-makers saw no possibility of finding solutions for the pressing problems that beset the Monarchy on all sides.