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Herzog Franz Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Joseph Maria von Österreich

Male 1863 - 1914  (50 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors and 26 descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Franz Ferdinand Karl Ludwig Joseph Maria von Österreich 
    Prefix Herzog 
    Birth 18 Dec 1863  Graz, Steiermark, Österreich Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death 28 Jun 1914  Sarajevo Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Siblings 3 Siblings 
    Person ID I5336  Geneagraphie
    Last Modified 29 Aug 2000 

    Father Erzherzog Karl Ludwig Joseph Maria von Österreich,   b. 30 Jul 1833, Schönbrunn,, Wien, Österreich Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 19 May 1896, Schönbrunn,, Wien, Österreich Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 62 years) 
    Mother Maria Annunziata Isabella Filomela Sabazia de Bourbon-Sicilie,   b. 24 Mar 1843, Caserta Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 4 May 1871, Vienna Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 28 years) 
    Marriage 21 Oct 1862  Venetia, Italia Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F2260  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family Sophie Maria Josephine Albina Chotek von Chotkova und Wognin,   b. 1 Mar 1868, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Deutschland Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 28 Jun 1914, Sarajevo Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 46 years) 
    Children 
    +1. Fürstin Sophie Marie Franziska Antonia Ignatia Alberta von Hohenberg,   b. 24 Jul 1901, Konopischt, Böhmen Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 27 Oct 1990, Thannhausen Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 89 years)
    +2. Fürst Maximilian Karl Franz Michael Hubert Anton Ignatius Joseph Maria von Hohenberg,   b. 29 Sep 1902, Wien, Österreich Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 8 Jan 1962, Wien, Österreich Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 59 years)
    +3. Fürst Ernst Alfons Karl Franz Ignaz Joseph Maria Anton von Hohenberg,   b. 27 May 1904, Konopischt, Böhmen Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 5 Mar 1954, Graz, Steiermark, Österreich Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 49 years)
    Family ID F2261  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 25 Nov 2003 

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  • Notes 
    • Heir to the Austrian Throne:
      Third in line to the throne at one point, he became heir through two untimely deaths. The first was of the Emperor's son, Crown Prince Rudolph, who killed himself (and his sixteen year old mistress) in 1889. The second was the death of his father, Archduke Charles Louis, in 1896. Now it was Franz Ferdinand that would be next in line for the Crown.
      Politics:
      Considered more flexible in matters of military and domestic affairs than his uncle Emperor Franz Josef, he was a reformist with new ideas to be put into practice when he ascended to the Hapsburg throne. One of these ideas was "trialism" - the reorganization of the dual monarchy into a triple monarchy by giving the Slavs an equal voice in the empire. This would put them on an equal footing with the Magyars and Germans living inside the Austro-Hungarian borders. These politics were in direct conflict with those of the Serbian nationalists.
      Personal: Much has been said about Franz Ferdinand and very little of it good. He has been referred to as a miser, a bigot, and a spoiled child. Shunned by the elite of Viennese society, he was also called "the loneliest man in Vienna". He lacked the two key elements for success in this social scene - charm and elegance. His home life appears to have been surprisingly better. His marriage to Countess Sophia von Chotkowa und Wognin, Duchess of Hohenburg in 1900 was called one of the world's great love affairs. Unfortunately the Emperor considered the Duchess a commoner and tried to convince Franz Ferdinand he was marrying beneath his station. They went through with the marriage against the Emperor's wishes but had to renounce rights of rank and succession for their children. In the years to come, Sophie would not be allowed to ride in the same car with her husband during affairs of state.
      Fate: The Archduke and his wife Sophie were assassinated in Sarajevo on 28-Jun-1914 (their fourteenth wedding anniversary) by Serbian nationalist Gavrilo Princip. The Archduke's role of Inspector General of the Austrian army had brought him to Sarajevo for the summer maneuvers. Neither Emperor Franz Josef or the Kaiser saw fit to attend the funeral.
      *******************************************************************
      At the turn of the century, the statesmen of the Austro-Hungarian Empire were quite aware of the real danger inherent in the Balkans. The time was long past when it was sufficient to maintain the status quo: henceforth, it was essential that the position of the Dual Monarchy in Europe should be consolidated. The Emperor Francis Joseph I, prompted both by temperment and experience, hoped to achieve such a consolidation by judicious contacts with sovereigns and statesmen, just as he attempted to resolve the internal conflicts in his Empire by the discreet preservation of equilibrium. A different view was held by a prince of his family whom circumstances had made the second person of the dynasty and the state. After the death of the Archduke Rudolph, since the family decrees allowed no rights of succession to his daughter, the little Archduchess Elizabeth, the heir presumptive became the Archduke Charles Louis, the Emperor's second brother. But this prudent and self-effacing prince did not interfere in politics. On his premature death in 1896, the situation changed with the advent of the advent of his eldest son. When he was quite young and far removed from the succession, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand had been chosen as heir by the last duke of Modena, in exile in Vienna, who had transmitted to him his fortune and the name of Austria-Este. Intelligent, strong-willed, serious, deeply religious and imbued with the grandeur of the monarchic ideal, the new heir, the Thronfolger, assumed a position of importance in the politics of Austria-Hungary. His strong personality was not generally appreciated. Above all, he was loyal. He never sought to take his uncle's place or to create difficulties for him. He fulfilled his military functions with devotion, a competence and a zeal that persuaded the Emperor to entrust him over the years with the highest offices and finally to appoint him inspector-general of all land and sea forces. But, as the Emperor grew old, the archduke began to think in terms of his approaching reign. His residence at the Belvedere became, not a hotbed of intrigue, but a centre of consultation where he received all those capable of informing him about the state of the monarchy. Public opinion, in consequence, looked to the Belvedere, wondering what plans were being laid there. The archduke stood by two invisible principles: the greatness of the monarchy as a whole, which was not open to question and which every good citizen, whatever his nationality, must serve; and respect for the Catholic religion. The archduke believed that no civil order could survive unless it was illuminated by fidelity to the Church, but he had no intention of interfering with the personal convictions or private life of anyone. His own private life was irreproachable, although he caused surprise by the marriage which he contracted in 1900 with a young woman of the Czech aristocracy, the Countess Sophie Chotek. The archduke solemnly promised not to transmit the rights of succession to his children, of lower birth than himself. These rights passed to his younger brother, the Archduke Otto, who died in 1906 and then to his nephew, who became the Emperor Charles in 1916. The Thronfolger never contemplated going back on his word. The Archduke Franz Ferdinand had a poor opinion of Dualism, which he regarded as an unfortunate dismemberment of the monarchy, and he reproached Hungary for being governed by a nationalist aristocracy which, by not showing justice to the non-Magyar inhabitants, was allowing them to develop separatist sentiments. He therefore sought to win the sympathies of the opposition elements among the Croats (Dr. Frank), the Slovaks (Dr. Milan Hodza, a Protestant) and the Roumanians (Maniu and the patriarch Miron Cristea), promising them that he would not allow their legitimate rights to be forfeited. He disliked the parliamentary system wherever he found it, observing its impotence and the manner in which its energies were squandered in intrigue and speech-making. A man of agrarian and seigniorial tradition, he felt a certain repugnance for the capitalist system and liberalism, which were often accompanied by religious indifference, even anti-clericalism and atheism. He disliked the Jews because of their financial power and he regarded freemasonry as a baneful influence. On the other hand, he took an interest in the working-class question. He inclined towards Christian Socialism, for he could not accept that the enrichment of some should result in the enslavement and poverty of others. Such was the powerful personality of the man who intended to restore Austria-Hungary on monarchic and religious principles which, in the existing social structure of the Dual Monarchy, cannot be said to have been in contradiction either with the facts or with the aspirations of a large proportion of the population. The archduke was not popular. His coldness concealed a certain timidity and his dignified manner gave the impression of haughtiness. Everyone agreed in thinking that many things would change on his accession: some hopefully, others with apprehension. Franz Ferdinand had been accredited with various projects, in particular "trialism", which presented two possible forms. One would have been the restoration of the kingdom of Bohemia. That he loved Bohemia, where he often stayed in the palace of Konopiste, and that he never forgot that his children were half-Czech, is beyond doubt. But he mistrusted the policy of the Young Czechs, owing to their anticlericalism, their Hussitism and their Slav propensities, which he believed to be contaminated with Pan-Slavism. The other form of "trialism", which he apparently preferred, would have involved the nucleus of a South Slav kingdom embracing Dalmatia and Slovenia (both Austrian provinces) and, after the annexation of 1908, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Such a solution, which was much discussed, would have foiled Serbian ambitions and there can be no doubt that, as a result, certain Serbs looked on the Thronfolger as their most dangerous adversary.
      Finally, the proposals put forward by Aurel C. Popovici engaged the attention of the archduke, who had long conversations with the author. But Franz Ferdinand had far too much political sagacity to draw up, years in advance, a plan which he would then put into operation in toto on the day of his accession. In his chancellery he gradually gathered together those persons capable of illuminating the decisions that he would take when he was finally empowered to do so. In the meantime, the most important thing was to strengthen the army so that Austria could command the respect of foreign countries and occupy the position in Europe to which it was entitled by the prestige of its past, the extent of its territory and the size of its population.
      In the field of foreign policy, established alliances called for unswerving fidelity. The archduke, sure of the alliance with Germany, had less confidence in Italy, for he had misgivings with regard to the Trentino and Dalmatia. He desired a durable entente with Russia, even if only for the sake of the monarchic solidarity and because reason required a fair balance of influence. Great Britain and France were more distant; in general, the Europe for which the archduke hoped was a Europe of states governed by wise and faithful rulers who would care for the well-being of their peoples and would respect the promises which they had given each other.

      by Victor L. Tapie, Member of the Institut de France. Copyright.
      The Rise and Fall of the Habsburg Monarchy. Praeger Publishers.

      28 June, 1914, The Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
      Borijove Jevtic, one of the leaders of the Narodna Odbrana who was arrested with Gavrilo Princip immediately after the assassination, gave this firsthand account of the killing.
      A tiny clipping from a newspaper, mailed without comment from a secret band of terrorists in Zagreb, capital of Croatia, to their comrades in Belgrade, was the torch which set the world afire with war in 1914. That bit of paper wrecked old, proud empires. It gave birth to new, free nations. I was one of the members of the terrorist band in Belgrade which received it.
      The little clipping declared that the Austrian Archduke Francis Ferdinand would visit Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia, June 28, to direct army maneuvers in the neighboring mountains.
      It reached our meeting place, the cafe called Zeatna Moruna, one night the latter part of April, 1914. To understand how great a sensation that little piece of paper caused among us when it was passed from hand to hand almost in silence, and how greatly it inflamed our hearts, it is necessary to explain just why the Narodna Odbrana existed, the kind of men that were in it, and the significance of that date, June 28, on which the Archduke dared to enter Sarajevo.
      As every one knows, the old Austrio-Hungarian Empire was built by conquest and intrigues, by sales and treacheries, which held [...] men of the upper classes were ardent patriots. They were dissimilar in everything except hatred of the oppressor.
      Such were the men into whose hands the tiny bit of newsprint was sent by friends in Bosnia that April night in Belgrade. At a small table in a very humble cafe, beneath a flickering gas jet we sat and read it. There was no advice nor admonition sent with it. Only four letters and two numerals were sufficient to make us unanimous, without discussion, as to what we should do about it.
      They were conived [sic] in Sarajevo all the twenty-two conspirators were in their allotted positions, armed and ready. They were distributed five hundred yards apart over the whole route along which the Archduke must travel from the railroad station to the town hall.
      When Francis Ferdinand and his retinue drove from the station they were allowed to pass the first two conspirators. The motor cars were driving too fast to make an attempt feasible and in the crowd were many Serbians; throwing a grenade would have killed many innocent people.
      When the car passed Gabrinovic, the compositor, he threw his grenade. It hit the side of the car, but Francis Ferdinand with presence of mind threw himself back and was uninjured. Several officers riding in his attendance were injured.
      The cars sped to the Town Hall and the rest of the conspirators did not interfere with them. After the reception in the Town Hall General Potiorek, the Austrian Commander, pleaded with Francis Ferdinand to leave the city, as it was seething with rebellion. The Archduke was persuaded to drive the shortest way out of the city and to go quickly.
      The road to the maneuvers was shaped like the letter V, making a sharp turn at the bridge over the River Nilgacka. Francis Ferdinand's car could go fast enough until it reached this spot but here it was forced to slow down for the turn. Here Princip had taken his stand.
      As the car came abreast he stepped forward from the curb, drew his automatic pistol from his coat and fired two shots. The first struck the wife of the Archduke, the Archduchess Sofia, in the abdomen. She was an expectant mother. She died instantly.
      The second bullet struck the Archduke close to the heart. He uttered only one word, 'Sofia' -- a call to his stricken wife. Then his head fell back and he collapsed. He died almost instantly.
      The officers seized Princip. They beat him over the head with the flat of their swords. They knocked him down, they kicked him, scraped the skin from his neck with the edges of their swords, tortured him, all but killed him.
      The next day they put chains on Princip's feet, which he wore till his death....
      I was placed in the cell next to Princip's, and when Princip was taken out to walk in the prison yard I was taken along as his companion...
      Awakened in the middle of the night and told that he was to be carried off to another prison, Princip made an appeal to the prison governor:
      'There is no need to carry me to another prison. My life is already ebbing away. I suggest that you nail me to a cross and burn me alive. My flaming body will be a torch to light my people on their path to freedom.'

      "Some damn foolish thing in the Balkans,"
      This was Bismarck's prophecy as to what would set off the seemingly unavoidable European war. He had hit the nail directly on the head. The Balkans of 1914 were a hotbed of nationalistic intrigue. The Bosnian Serbs inhabiting the southern Austro-Hungarian provinces of Bosnia-Herzogovina wanted to be united with their brothers living across the Danube in Serbia proper. Austria-Hungary, having officially annexed Turkish Bosnia-Herzogovina in 1908, was not about to let go of it. Maybe an act of supreme defiance would convince Vienna otherwise; maybe the dream of a greater Serbia could be realized by such an act.
      An assassination of Emperor Franz Josef was out of the question. He was well respected throughout the empire and his heir's politics were even worse for Serbian cause than his own. The heir to the Hapsburg throne, Archduke Ferdinand, was in favor of giving an equal voice to the Slavs of the empire - a belief counter to the very core of the Serb cause.1 The Archduke was also Inspector General of the Austrian army. The summer maneuvers would bring him into the area and diplomacy would ordain a visit to Sarajevo on June 28th, St. Vitus Day, a Serbian holiday. It seems fate had decided the act.
      1 While this may sound contradictory, it should be noted the common belief was that if the Slavs within the Austro-Hungarian empire were appeased, the chance of an insurrection would be greatly reduced, and consequently, the goal of a greater Serbia would never be realized.
      Prologue
      28-Jun-1914 in Sarajevo was a typical summer day in the Balkans - blistering. For the Serbs it was St. Vitus day. It memorialized the Battle of Kosovo in 1389 where the Serbs were defeated by Turkey. The Serbs would mark the day with a feast. It was also a special day for Archduke Franz Ferdinand - it was his 14th wedding anniversary. He would make it a special day for his wife Sophie. In Vienna she, not being of royal enough blood, was not allowed to ride in the same car with her husband during high affairs of state. But this was Sarajevo. Here, on their anniversary, she would be afforded all the royal treatment of which she was deprived at home. The Duchess of Hohenburg would most certainly ride in the car with her husband today. To seven tubercular Bosnian Serb youths, 28-Jun-1914 would be the day they made their mark for the Serbian cause - a mark that would ultimately be left on the entire world.
      The Assassins
      "The Narodna Odbrana proclaims to the people that Austria is our first and greatest enemy." ø Exerpt from "Narodna Odbrana" pamphlet
      The group of seven ranged in age from 19 to 27. Only one had a police record which was only for striking a teacher. They were all members of the secret Serbian nationalist movement Mlada Bosna ("Young Bosnia"). All had tuberculosis, a death sentence in 1914.
      Nedjelko Cabrinovic , Vasco Cubrilovic , Trifko Grabez , Danilo Ilic, Mohammed Mehmedbasic, Cvijetko Popovic , Gavrilo Princip
      Their training and arms came from Belgrade's "Union or Death" terrorist league. This faction of the Serbian "Black Hand" was under the leadership of a "Colonel Apis" (the bee), whose real identity was Colonel Dragutin Dimitrievitch, no less than the head of Serbian military intelligence. The assassins returned to Sarajevo on Jun-3 with pistols, bombs and cyanide to await the visit of the Archduke.
      Security Arrangements
      The diplomatic teletype had been busy clicking out warnings from consulates all over the world. The messages were clear: the Archduke would be wise to cancel his planned visit to Sarajevo. In Vienna, Serbian ambassador Jovan Jovanovic (acting on orders from Prime Minister Pasic) visited Austrian finance Minister Bilinski to warn that if the Archduke should visit then:
      "some young Serb might put a live round instead of a blank cartridge in his gun, and fire it."
      Belinski replied:
      "Let us hope nothing happens,"
      Jovanovic's warning was never passed on. For some reason, despite all of these pleas and warnings, the Archduke not only insisted on going to Sarajevo, but he also put the city off-limits to the nearby Austrian army for the day. This same army could have been used to provide a much needed security presence on the crowded streets. Perhaps he didn't want any trace of Vienna to ruin his anniversary.
      The Act
      The motorcade consisted of four cars; the Archduke and his wife rode in the second car. On their way to city hall they were to cross the Miljacka river at Cumuria Bridge. Mehmedbasic and Cabrinovic were waiting. Mehmedbasic did not throw his bomb, later stating that a policeman was blocking his way. Cabrinovic's path was not blocked and he threw his bomb at the second car. It was a good shot but the Archduke, protecting Sophie, deflected it onto the street. A fragment from the explosion hit Sophie in the face and others wounded passengers in the third car - Count Boos-Waldeck, Colonel von Merizzi and Sophie's attendant, Countess Lanjus. About a dozen onlookers were also injured. Cabrinovic swallowed his cyanide and jumped into the Miljacka but he vomited up the poison and found that the river was only a few inches deep. He was taken into custody. The first two cars continued on their way to city hall. Franz Ferdinand joked that the would-be assassin would probably be given the Medal of Merit in Vienna. The mayor of Sarajevo, Fehim Effendi Curcic, rode in the first car and was unaware of what had transpired at the bridge. The noise of the motorcade had drowned out the bomb. The motorcade now passed Cubrilovic, Popovic, and Ilic who did nothing. There were only two chances left and they were Grabez and Princip. When they arrived at City Hall the furious Archduke interrupted Curcic's welcome speech, seizing him by the arm:
      "One comes here to visit and is received with bombs. Mr. Mayor, what do you say? It's outrageous! All right, now you may speak."
      The Archduke calmed down during the mayor's speech and gave the diplomatic closing words:
      "I assure you of my unchanged regard and favor." Franz Ferdinand announced he would like to go to the hospital to check on the other bomb victims. He begged Sophie to stay behind but she insisted on accompanying him. Oskar Potiorek, Military Governor of the province, assured the angry Archduke:
      "Your Imperial Highness, you can travel quite happily. I take the responsibility." And with that they were off. The Archduke's chauffeur was following the mayor's car. They passed the sixth assassin, Grabez, at Imperial Bridge. He merely watched as the car sped by. The mayor's driver made a wrong turn. Where he should have taken the Appel Quay, he turned onto Francis Joseph street, a street named for the Archduke's uncle. Potiorek, riding with the Archduke and Sophie, cried out: "What's this? We've taken the wrong way!" The driver applied the brakes and the car came to a stop not five feet from Gavrilo Princip. Unlike his cohorts, Princip acted quickly and precisely, drawing his pistol and firing twice before the car could complete its turn. The shots made little noise and the car sped off. Potiorek looked at the couple and, at first, thought that they were unhurt. In actuality, the Archduke had been hit in the neck and Sophie in the stomach. The Archduke opened his mouth and a stream of blood poured out. Sophie cried: "For heaven's sake, what's happened to you?" She was in shock and unaware that she too had been shot. She then lost consciousness. Franz Ferdinand turned to his wife with the words: "Sophie dear, Sophie dear, don't die. Stay alive for our children." He then keeled over whispering: "Es ist nichts, Es ist nichts..." (It is nothing, It is nothing...) They were both dead by 11:30 that morning. Meanwhile back at Francis Joseph Street, Princip had tried to kill himself first with his gun and then with cyanide. The gun was knocked from his hand, and the cyanide, as was the case with Cabrinovic, only made him retch. The throng closed in on him and roughed him up. He was, astonishingly, taken into custody alive.
      Epilogue
      Princip and Cabrinovic both held their tongues under police interrogation. It was Ilic, caught by chance in a suspect roundup, who broke and exposed the identities of his co-conspirators. By July 5th all were apprehended with the exception of Mehmedbasic, the only member to escape. The inquest lasted through July but was left to Sarajevo by Vienna and, to say the least, was grossly mishandled. The only fact that was established was that the weapons had come from Serbia. The complicity of the Serbian government was never proven. Friedrich von Wiesner, an Austrian official sent to investigate the proceedings in Sarajevo, wired his findings back to Vienna: "There is nothing to indicate that the Serbian government knew about the plot." This wire would not spare Serbia.



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