Emperor Karl I of Austria (1887–1922), the last Habsburg emperor, succeeded his great-uncle Emperor Francis Joseph during the turmoil of World War I. Karl was never meant to be emperor, but he found himself inheriting after several deaths left him next in line for the throne. A peace-loving man, he was not fit to be a wartime ruler, and his weak rule helped end the long reign of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty.
Archduke Karl Becomes Emperor Francis Joseph’s Heir
Archduke Karl, the great-nephew of Emperor Francis Joseph, became the imperial heir after several deaths and a morganatic marriage put him next in line for the throne. After the deaths of Francis Joseph’s son, Crown Prince Rudolf, and brother, Karl Ludwig, his nephew Archduke Franz Ferdinand was heir. But Franz Ferdinand married morganatically, meaning that his children could never inherit.
Therefore, Archduke Karl became heir when his uncle Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914. Francis Joseph liked Karl, as he was a good and moral man. Karl succeeded his great-uncle upon the latter’s death in 1916, when Karl was a mere twenty-nine years old.
The Marriage of Emperor Karl and Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma
In preparation for becoming emperor, Karl knew that he had to marry well. He and the Italian Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma had met as children, and later as adults Karl decided that she was the one for him. They became officially engaged in 1911 and married later that same year.
Zita proved to be a good choice for the young emperor. She was strong, stubborn, and ambitious, and helped her husband survive the strain of World War I and the problems it brought to the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty. She was also a strong and involved mother, bearing eight children.
Emperor Karl and World War I
Before becoming emperor, Karl had been a soldier fighting in the Great War. Unfortunately, this had not prepared him for the difficult role of being emperor in such a time of transition and revolutionary thought. Emperor Karl probably would have been a very good ruler in times of peace, as he was a very concerned ruler and a moral figurehead. But unfortunately, he was too weak to be a good wartime leader and his desire for peace at any price cost him the throne.
Although the Habsburg dynasty’s power was declining, it may have been the infamous Sixtus Affair that finally led to Emperor Karl’s overthrow. Karl was so desirous of peace that he used his brother-in-law, Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma, to make overtures to France for a separate peace with Austria. In exchange for peace, Karl agreed to give them Alsace-Lorraine. This agreement came to nothing, and later Karl denied that he had tried to broker a separate peace during the war. But documents were published in 1918 and he was proved a liar. This made him look terrible and both Austria and the international community lost faith in him.
The Banishment of Emperor Karl
Emperor Karl was eventually banished from Austria. He thought of abdicating in 1918 over the Sixtus Affair, but his ambitious wife Zita persuaded him to stay. The end of the war brought a breaking up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, with various nations declaring their independence. Emperor Karl refused allegiance to the new republican government of Austria, and was therefore banished.
However, Emperor Karl never officially abdicated, so until his death he always considered himself still emperor. Hungary had declared itself a monarchy after the war, and twice in 1921 Karl tried to regain the throne in that country. Both attempts failed, and he ended up exiled to Portugal. His health weakened, and in 1922 he died of pneumonia.
Blessed Karl of Austria
Emperor Karl of Austria was an extremely devout Catholic and a very moral man. After a long process, he was finally beatified in 2004, and he may later be canonized and officially declared a saint. This successor to Emperor Francis Joseph, however, was never fit to be emperor, and his decency and love of peace actually helped end the rule of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty.
Sources
- Bogle, James and Joanna. Heart for Europe. Leominster, UK: Fowler Wright Books, 1990.
- McGuigan, Dorothy Gies. Habsburgs. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1966.
- Wandruszka, Adam. House of Habsburg: Six Hundred Years of a European Dynasty. Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964.
- Wheatcroft, Andrew. Habsburgs: Embodying Empire. London: Viking, 1995.
Emily Chauviere - Emily Chauviere earned Bachelor of Arts degrees in history and theology and a concentration in International Studies from the University ...
