Franz Joseph I | |
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Franz Joseph in c. 1905
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Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Bohemia, Dalmatia, and Croatia (more...) |
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Reign | 2 December 1848 – 21 November 1916 |
Coronation | 8 June 1867, Budapest |
Predecessor | Ferdinand I & V |
Successor | Charles I & IV |
King of Lombardy–Venetia | |
Reign | 2 December 1848 – 12 October 1866 |
Predecessor | Ferdinand I |
Head of the Präsidialmacht Austria | |
In office | 1 May 1850 – 24 August 1866 |
Predecessor | Ferdinand I |
Born |
Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austrian Empire (now Austria) |
18 August 1830
Died | 21 November 1916 Schönbrunn Palace, Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria) |
(aged 86)
Burial | Imperial Crypt, Vienna |
Spouse | Duchess Elisabeth in Bavaria |
Issue | |
House | Habsburg-Lorraine |
Father | Archduke Franz Karl of Austria |
Mother | Princess Sophie of Bavaria |
Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Signature |
Monarchical styles of Franz Joseph I of Austria-Hungary |
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Reference style | His Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty |
Spoken style | Your Imperial and Royal Apostolic Majesty |
Alternative style | My Lord |
Monarchical styles of Franz Joseph I of Austria |
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Reference style | His Imperial Majesty |
Spoken style | Your Imperial Majesty |
Alternative style | My Lord |
Monarchical styles of Ferenc József I of Hungary |
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Reference style | His Apostolic Majesty |
Spoken style | Your Apostolic Majesty |
Alternative style | My Lord |
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (German: Franz Joseph I., Hungarian: I. Ferenc József, Czech: František Josef I, Romanian: Francisc Iosif, Slovene: Franc Jožef I., Italian: Francesco Giuseppe, Croatian: Franjo Josip I.) (18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, King of Bohemia and many others (see grand title of the Emperor of Austria) from 2 December 1848 until his death on 21 November 1916. From 1 May 1850 to 24 August 1866 he was also President of the German Confederation. He was the longest-reigning Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, as well as the third longest-reigning monarch of any country in European history, after Louis XIV of France and Johann II of Liechtenstein.
In December 1848, Emperor Ferdinand abdicated the throne at Olomouc as part of Ministerpräsident Felix zu Schwarzenberg's plan to end the Revolutions of 1848 in Hungary. This allowed Ferdinand's nephew Franz Joseph to accede to the throne. Largely considered to be a reactionary, Franz Joseph spent his early reign resisting constitutionalism in his domains. The Austrian Empire was forced to cede its influence over Tuscany and most of its claim to Lombardy–Venetia to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, following the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859 and the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866. Although Franz Joseph ceded no territory to the Kingdom of Prussia after the Austrian defeat in the Austro-Prussian War, the Peace of Prague (23 August 1866) settled the German question in favour of Prussia, which prevented the unification of Germany under the House of Habsburg (Großdeutsche Lösung).