Page:Collier's New Encyclopedia v. 04.djvu/240

FBANCIS FERDINAND 196 FBANCIS JOSEPH I. tionary, being in favor of a "strong" foreign policy; in other words, he was in close sympathy with the elements which stood for the "ironing out" of the Slavic nationalities within the Empire and the gradual expansion of its terri- tories at the expense of the Balkan na- tions, especially Serbia. In 1900 he con- tracted a morganatic marriage with the daughter of a Bohemian nobleman, the Countess Sophie Chotek, later created the Duchess of Hohenberg. The chief claim to a place in history of Francis Ferdinand, however, will ever be based on his death. In the middle of June, 1914, the Archduke had gone to Bosnia on his first visit, since that territory had been annexed to the Empire, in 1908, to take charge of mili- ARCHDUKE FRANCIS FERDINAND tary maneuvers there. Before his de- parture he was warned by the Serbian Minister in Vienna that there was dan- ger of a popular demonstration being made against him by the Serbian popu- lation of the annexed province. On arriving in Sarajevo, June 28, 1914, the Archduke, his wife and their party proceeded from the railroad sta- tion to the town hall, where the provin- cial authorities were gathered to receive them. On the way a bomb was thrown from the roof of a house into the Arch- duke's automobile, but he had the pres- ence of mind to catch the missile in his hand before it exploded and hurl it out into the street, where it burst without doing any harm except slightly wound- ing one of his adjutants. The assailant. a Serbian by the name of Gabrinovics, was arrested on the spot. On arriving at the town hall, the Archduke pro- ceeded to berate the officials for the at- tempt on his life, accusing them of not having taken proper precautions. The ceremony of welcoming him then pro- ceeded. On leaving the town hall, and after the Archduke had seated himself in his automobile, a man rushed out of the ci'owd on the sidewalk and emptied the contents of an automatic revolver into both the Archduke and his wife, who were both killed. This second assailant was arrested, and also proved to be a Serbian, by the name of Prinzip. The Austrian Government immediately took the attitude that the assassination was the result of a conspiracy by Ser- bian expansionists, encouraged by the Serbian Government. FBANCIS JOSEPH I., Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary. He was born on Aug. 18, 1830, at Laxenburg Castle, near Vienna. His father was the Archduke Francis Charles, younger son of Emperor Francis I., and his mother was the Archduchess Sofia. He was carefully educated, and in 1848 served under Radetzky in Italy. On Dec. 2, 1848, following political disturb- ances which threatened the dissolution of the Empire, the Emperor Ferdinand abdicated and the brother, the Archduke Francis, abandoned his claims to the crown. Francis Joseph thereupon be- came Emperor. During the first year of his reign he carried on campaigns which resulted in the defeat of the revolting Italian provinces. He was then obliged to direct his attention to Hungary, which was in revolt, under the leadership of Louis Kossuth. This revolt was put down only with Russian aid. As a pun- ishment, Hungary was absorbed into the Empire and was deprived of its constitu- tional liberties. In 1853 an attempt was made on the life of the Emperor by a Hungarian, but he escaped with a slight wound. Two years later he concluded a concordance with Pope Pius IX. by which there were restored to the Roman Catho- lic Church many of the liberties of which it had been deprived since the time of the Emperor Joseph II. In 1859 Francis Joseph was forced into a war with France and Sardinia. This ended with the loss of Lombardy by Austria. Fol- lowing this disaster, the Emperor aban- doned his former conservative policy and began many necessary measures of re- form. Following the disaster of the Seven Weeks' War with Prussia, the monarchy was reconstituted on a dualis- tic basis in 1867. Francis Joseph always