Stories

Putting (Central) Europe in Order

Napoleon had to go – and once the Napoleonic wars were over, Europe had to be ordered anew. The period from the Congress of Vienna of 1814/15 to the downfall of the Monarchy in 1918 was marked by a whole series of major political and social upheavals. Following the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, the conservative great powers of Europe were intent upon restoring and consolidating their power. To this end they concluded alliances that may have been holy in name but were far from holy in their results. The ‘Restoration’ led to the violent suppression of a number of uprisings, the people’s demands for a measure of political say being quashed by their rulers. The conflicts culminated in the revolution of 1848, when many locations in Europe – the first once again being France – saw the discharge of tensions between fundamentally opposed world views. Large sectors of the population rose up against the ‘Metternich System’. The 1867 Compromise (Ausgleich) with Hungary was one of the last major re-shapings of the lands ruled by the Habsburgs. With the First World War, the Habsburg Monarchy came to an end.

(Im)Morality and (Dis)Order in the Imperial House

The ideal of the family is widely held to be that of a well-ordered and harmonious association of related individuals. Amongst the Habsburgs as in many other families, however, the good order was sometimes given something of a shaking. Not all the members of this huge clan adhered to a lifestyle ‘in keeping with their station’. Although as head of the family the Emperor had the official say, he did not always know exactly how to handle his more disagreeable relatives. The nineteenth century saw numerous scandals concerned with Habsburg black sheep becoming public knowledge. For a number of members of the dynasty in this period, the arenas of bourgeois life clearly offered attractive alternatives to the ways traditionally considered by the dynasty as proper to its standing. As a result, good breeding and order did not always hold the upper hand in the extended family – ‘the Habsburgs’ were not a unified group with uniform family characteristics, but a large constellation of individuals with various and quite different inclinations and attitudes to life.

The Monarchy in Upheaval

In the Habsburg Monarchy the people had been vigorously demanding a constitution, or regulated body of laws, since 1848. But how could the Emperor met these demands without giving up too much of his power? Concessions, revocations and modifications to the draft constitutions demonstrate how difficult it was to reconcile absolutist rule with the aspirations of the people. The people, similarly, could not always agree on what a constitution should look like.

Reigns and Rulers VII

The conservative states of Europe could breathe again – Napoleon had had his day. The Habsburgs reacquired all the territories they had lost and ruled on absolutist principles. Until the end of the Monarchy they maintained their claim to power under the motto of ‘doing their duty’. But their losses of power and authority could not be ignored. The dominant political figure of the first half of the nineteenth century was not a Habsburg but Prince Metternich, whose name has become synonymous with a pervasive ‘system’ of hard-line policing involving informers and censorship. The second half of the century belonged to Emperor Franz Joseph, the ‘old gentleman of Schönbrunn’. In the course of his long period of rule, Franz Joseph had to cope with numerous internal and external conflicts. As Emperor – in his own eyes the strong man who ‘did his duty’ – he increasingly became a relic of conventional claims to power that were in contradiction with the social upheavals of his time. The Danube Monarchy finally came to an end under the last Emperor of Austria, Karl, at the close of the First World War.

War and Peace

The love of peace is alleged to have been a typical Habsburg family characteristic. The innumerable wars waged during its centuries of rule contradict this claim. The education of most of the male members of the family included becoming familiar with military tasks. Archduke Albrecht was one of the Habsburgs who after their training did in fact pursue military careers and became actors on the battlefields of Europe. In these wars, innumerable men and women died in the name of their rulers. In the nineteenth century, Solferino and Königgrätz, where decisive and particularly cruel battles took place, became places of definitive importance for the history of the Danube Monarchy, their very names burdened with negative overtones through their association with ominous defeats. In spite of these setbacks, Emperor Franz Joseph was concerned to extend his sphere of influence in the Balkans. The Danube Monarchy finally came to an end in the First World War under Karl, the last Emperor of Austria.

Love Stories and Marriage Business

‘Habsburg, single, interested in marriage, seeks ...’ – these might be the opening words of a Habsburg personal advertisement. However, members of the dynasty hardly had to bother themselves with looking out for wives and husbands – others did it for them. Habsburg love-life was governed by strict rules: as members of the higher nobility they could not simply marry in accordance with their personal wishes, but had to take account of the dynasty’s demanding strictures as to what was ‘in keeping with rank and title’. This naturally imposed considerable limitations on the number of potential partners and also made it far from rare for Habsburgs to marry blood relatives. In spite of all the demands made on them to behave in accordance with their exalted standing, the Habsburgs, especially the men, were not over-scrupulous with regard to their marriage vows – affairs and extramarital relationships were no exception.

The Battle for a Political Voice

13 March 1848 – Revolution in the imperial capital. Metternich’s rigid system collapsed. The once influential statesman had to flee and the Habsburg government was forced to produce a first constitution. Since this did not treat all levels of society ‘equally’, a conflict-ridden struggle for political participation ensued. Censorship regulations, prohibition of assembly and franchise disqualification were the central points of contention.

Where the Emperor and the People Meet

‘See and be seen’ was the motto: whether at an audience or at court festivities – many people sought proximity to the Emperor. But the Imperial household also knew how to give an accomplished performance, to make the most impressive effect on its subjects. Religious festivals, military parades, public admittance to the Imperial parks and a distinctive ‘cult of monuments’ brought dynastic values into the public domain. An encounter of a very different nature occurred in the attempted assassination of Franz Joseph, an event commemorated in the Votivkirche, commissioned immediately afterwards.

Is Only the Emperor Powerful?

The Habsburg family is known above all as a ruling dynasty. Over a period of several centuries it brought forth a large number of emperors and thus made a decisive contribution to the shape of European history. However, the Habsburgs did not only wield power as emperors – numerous family members were able to exert political influence in other official and unofficial functions. Archduchess Sophie did so in her capacity as mother of the Emperor of Austria, and Archduke Josef as governor in Hungary; even Habsburgs who had no interest in politics at all occupied political positions, such as Franz Joseph’s father Archduke Franz Karl. And even when a Habsburg was emperor, non-Habsburgs often had an important say in political decisions through their activities as advisors and collaborators. The dominant political figure of the first half of the nineteenth century, for example, was Prince Metternich. His name has become synonymous with a whole system of strict police methods.

Died of Unnatural Causes

Not all Habsburgs were granted the privilege of breathing their last in peace and quiet. Some had to pay for their positions of power with premature deaths: Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian, for instance, succeeded in rising to imperial status in Latin America but with little success and for only a brief term. Empress Elisabeth was stabbed by an anarchist, and the heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated. Others for their part chose to take their lives, the most famous of these being Crown Prince Rudolf.