The Last Habsburg Emperor

Most likely you’ve heard of Archduke Francis (Franz) Ferdinand and you’ve probably heard of Emperor Franz Josef of the Austro-Hungarian Empire but have you heard of Blessed Charles (Karl) of Austria?  And do you know who was the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire?

 
The Habsburgs could trace their ruling power back to the late 13th Century A.D.  At its largest extent in the late 15th Century, the Habsburg ruled Spain, Austria, the Netherlands and a vast area of Central and Eastern Europe.  The Habsburg Dynasty split into Austrian and Spanish branches in the mid-16th Century, with the Spanish branch ending in 1700.   Political tensions between the German Austrians and the Magyar Hungarians led to the formation of a Dual Monarchy in 1867 under Emperor Franz Josef.   Though dominated by Germans and Magyars, the Empire also included many ethnic minorities including Slovaks, Czechs, Serbians, Croatians, Slovenes, and Poles.  The Empire was also predominantly Catholic with size-able numbers of Protestants, Orthodox Christians, Jews and Muslims.  

 
Emperor Franz Josef became Emperor of Austria in 1848 and King of Hungary in 1867 when the Dual Monarchy was established.  His only son eligible to succeed him, Crown Prince Rudolf, committed suicide in 1889.  The line of succession transferred to the Emperor’s brother Archduke Karl Ludwig but Karl Ludwig died in 1896 and his son Archduke Franz Ferdinand became the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne.  The relationship between Emperor and heir was strained and outright hostile at times.  Unlike his uncle, Franz Ferdinand recognized the need for reforms within the Empire, especially with regard to the ethnic minorities. 

 
On 28 June 1914, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie were visiting Sarajevo prior to a major military training exercise for the empire’s army.  While there, they were assassinated by members of a Serbian terrorist group known as the Black Hand. Emperor Franz Josef used the assassination to provoke a war with Serbia, elements of whose government had clandestinely supported the assassins.  

 
Thus, World War One began with the death of two people and claimed the lives of over 20 million soldiers and civilians before it was over.  This war never should have progressed beyond a localized dispute between Austria-Hungary and Serbia. Instead, the network of military and political alliances and a massive miscalculation by the European ruling elite brought Russia, Germany, France, the Ottoman Empire, and Britain into a disastrous global war.  Later, Bulgaria, Romania, Japan, Italy and the United States would be dragged into the war.

After Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sofie were assassinated in Sarajevo, the next in line to succeed Emperor Franz Josef was his grand-nephew Charles (Karl).  Charles was born in the Castle of Persenbeug in Lower Austria into a family of great royal power in Central Europe on 17 August 1887.  His maternal grandfather was the last King of Saxony. His father was Archduke Otto Franz Josef who died in 1906.    Charles received an excellent Catholic education and developed a strong devotion to the Holy Eucharist and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  In October 1911, he married Princess Zita of Bourbon and Parma;  they had eight children together. 

 
Archduke Karl played a prominent role in the Empire’s war efforts as a high-ranking military officer.   He commanded a corps in the spring 1916 offensive against Italy in the South Tyrol and then commanded Army Group Archduke Karl (Heeresgruppe Erzherzog Karl) against the Romanians and Russians.  

Upon the death of his Great Uncle Emperor Franz Josef in November 1916, 29-year-old Karl (Charles) became Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary.  Emperor Charles alone of the political leaders of Europe worked with Pope Benedict XV in his failed attempts to end the war and restore peace.   In November 1918, with Austria-Hungary’s armies defeated and the empire crumbling, Emperor Charles chose to split the dual monarchy and relinquish power, but he never formally abdicated. Following the war, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dismantled with Austria and Hungary becoming separate countries, and the new countries Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were established.  In addition, lands in Galicia became part of the new Polish Republic.  

Following the war, Karl and his family were forced into exile and he died of illness on the island of Madeira on 1 April 1922 in poverty.  

 
Throughout his life, Karl was a devout Catholic and devoted husband and father.  Pope John Paul II beatified him on 3 October 2004.   “From the beginning, the Emperor Charles conceived of his office as a holy service to his people,” said Pope John Paul II.  “His chief concern was to follow the Christian vocation to holiness also in his political actions [emphasis in original].” 

 
Thus due to the complicated protocols of Imperial succession, the suicide of Emperor Franz Josef’s direct heir and the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the 29-year-old Karl became Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire upon the death of his great-uncle Emperor Franz Josef.  As a result of the disastrous First World War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was dismantled and the monarchy ended.  Thus Blessed Karl of Austria was the last Habsburg Emperor.  

 
More about Blessed Karl’s cause for canonization may be found at https://www.emperorcharles.org/  and his official biography is posted on the Vatican website at https://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/ns_lit_doc_20041003_charles-austria_en.html