Twilight of the Habsburgs
Release on 2014-09-04 | by Alan Palmer

'With great skill Mr Palmer blends in the Emperor's private life with the story of the Empire. . . This is an important book; also an entrancing one.' Allan Massie, Daily Telegraph 'A compelling read' Lawrence James, Evening Standard

Twilight of the Habsburgs
  • Author: Alan Palmer
  • Publisher: Faber & Faber
  • ISBN: 9780571305858
  • Category: History
  • Page: 416
  • View: 904

Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Jerusalem, King of Bohemia, King of Dalmatia, King of Transylvania, King of Croatia and Slovenia, King of Galicia and Illyria, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Cracow, Margrave of Moravia, Duke of Salzburg, Duke of Bukovina, Duke of Modena, Parma, and Piacenza and so on, another thirty or so titles could be added. Was ever a monarch so festooned as Emperor Francis Joseph? He ruled from the Year of the Revolutions, 1848 until his death in 1916. His empire was the most multi-national state ever. An ethnic map of 1910 shows there to be Germans, Magyars, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Ruthenes, Serbs, Croats, Slovenes, Italians, Jews, Muslims, Ladins (in the Tyrol) and Roumanians. What is more, even together the Germans and the Magyars constituted a minority. And yet, as Alan Palmer observes no other European monarch 'exercised full sovereignty for so long.' Unlike Queen Victoria he ruled rather than merely reigned. That alone suggests he was something more than the humourless bureaucrat he is commonly thought to have been, and Alan Palmer is successful in providing a more rounded and sympathetic portrait of him both as head of an empire and head of a family. His personal life was punctuated with tragedy: his brother, Maximilian was executed y Mexican republicans; his only son, Rudolf shot himself and his mistress at Mayerling; his wife, Empress Elizabeth, was stabbed to death in Geneva, and his nephew and heir, Francis-Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo. This was the first biography of Francis Joseph by an English writer and was acclaimed when originally published in 1994. 'With great skill Mr Palmer blends in the Emperor's private life with the story of the Empire. . . This is an important book; also an entrancing one.' Allan Massie, Daily Telegraph 'A compelling read' Lawrence James, Evening Standard

More Books:

Twilight of the Habsburgs
Language: en
Pages: 416

Twilight of the Habsburgs

Authors: Alan Palmer
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2014-09-04 - Publisher: Faber & Faber

Emperor of Austria, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Jerusalem, King of Bohemia, King of Dalmatia, King of Transylvania, King of Croatia and Slovenia, King of Galicia and Illyria, Grand Duke of Tuscany and Cracow, Margrave of Moravia, Duke of Salzburg, Duke of Bukovina, Duke of Modena, Parma, and Piacenza
The Pomp and Politics of Patriotism
Language: en
Pages: 263

The Pomp and Politics of Patriotism

Authors: Daniel L. Unowsky
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2005 - Publisher: Purdue University Press

This book examines the promotion and reception of the image of Franz Joseph (Habsburg emperor from 1848 to 1916) as a symbol of common identity in the Austrian half of the Habsburg Monarchy (Cisleithania). In the second half of the nineteenth century and the first decades of the twentieth century
Emperor Francis Joseph
Language: en
Pages: 256

Emperor Francis Joseph

Authors: John Van der Kiste
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2005-05-19 - Publisher: The History Press

In 1848, 28-year-old Francis Joseph became King of Hungary and Emperor of Austria. He would reign for almost 68 years, the longest of any modern European monarch. Focusing on the life of Emperor Francis Joseph and his family, this book examines their personal relationships against the turbulent background of the
The Emperor and the Peasant
Language: en
Pages: 287

The Emperor and the Peasant

Authors: Kenneth Janda
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-01-12 - Publisher: McFarland

There was more to World War I than the Western Front. This history juxtaposes the experiences of a monarch and a peasant on the Eastern Front. Franz Josef I, emperor of Austria-Hungary, was the first European leader to declare war in 1914 and was the first to commence firing. Samuel
The End of the Habsburgs
Language: en
Pages: 208

The End of the Habsburgs

Authors: John Van der Kiste
Categories: Biography & Autobiography
Type: BOOK - Published: 2019-12-08 - Publisher: Fonthill Media

In 1806, the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist when Francis II became Emperor of Austria. 112 years later, the Habsburg empire collapsed after the First World War after surviving many tribulations. During the year of revolutions in 1848 the much-loved but incompetent Emperor Ferdinand had abdicated in favour of