The New International Encyclopædia/Francis Joseph I.

​FRANCIS JOSEPH I. (1830–). Emperor of Austria. He was born August 18, 1830, at Vienna, the eldest son of Archduke Francis and a nephew of Ferdinand I., Emperor from 1835 to 1848. Francis was taught the various languages of the heterogeneous Austrian monarchy. In 1848 he served under Radetzky in Italy. On December 2, 1848, amid the convulsions which threatened the dissolution of the Empire, the weak Emperor Ferdinand abdicated, his brother, the Archduke Francis, gave up his claims to the crown, and Francis Joseph, whose youth and popularity it was believed would make it easier to harmonize the conflicting interests of the monarchy, mounted the Austrian throne. Hungary was now in a state of open revolt, and in April, 1849, declared itself a republic with Kossuth as Governor. In Italy Charles Albert of Sardinia again took up arms against Austria. Both in Hungary and Italy Austria triumphed, and the Emperor devoted himself to the reëstablishment of his authority. (See Austria-Hungary.) In 1853 an attempt on his life was made by an Hungarian, but the Emperor escaped with a slight wound. In 1855 a concordat was concluded with Pius IX., which restored to the Roman Catholic Church throughout the Empire many of the liberties of which it had been deprived since the hostile reign of the Emperor Joseph II. In 1859 Francis Joseph was called to face a war with France and Sardinia, which ended with the loss of Lombardy. After this war Francis Joseph abandoned his conservative policy, and began the necessary work of reform, and after the disastrous Seven Weeks’ War (q.v.) with Prussia, a reconstruction of the monarchy on a dualistic basis was effected by the Ausgleich of 1867. The abrogation in 1870 of the concordat of 1855 antagonized the Pope. Francis Joseph has since striven to maintain a constitutional and parliamentary régime in his dominions. He enjoys the respect and affection of his subjects, and it is his personal influence that really holds his dominions together under the most discouraging political conditions. During his reign the Austro-Hungarian monarchy has experienced a great industrial development. Francis Joseph married, April 24, 1854, Elizabeth, daughter of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, who was assassinated by an Italian anarchist in Geneva September 10, 1898. The Emperor’s only son, Rudolph, died a violent death in January, 1889. The present heir presumptive is the nephew of Francis Joseph, Francis Ferdinand. See Austria-Hungary.

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