The World of
the Habsburgs

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Pre-war
1914
Outbreak of the war
1915
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1917
1918
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Medium

Hermann C. Kosel: Official portrait of Karl I with family, photo, 1914

The photo shows the heir to the throne together with his wife Zita and his son Otto, in the uniform of a major, below a painting of Empress Maria Theresa.

Partner 
Austrian National Library
Copyright 
ÖNB Bildarchiv

Verwendet bei

  • Chapter

    The problem of the succession

    The circumstance that Karl, a great-nephew of Franz Joseph, ended up becoming emperor is due to a chain of dramatic vicissitudes. When Karl was born in 1887 no one could have guessed that he would one day ascend the throne, as Crown Prince Rudolf, the only son of Franz Joseph, was the heir apparent.

  • Chapter

    The New Emperor

    The death of Franz Joseph was no surprise, but for the Habsburg Monarchy it meant the loss of a major symbolic figure. The succession was exploited as propaganda before the war-fatigued population as the sign of a new era.