Field Marshal Maximilian Ulysses Browne

One of the most prominent Irish soldiers never to fight for Ireland was Maximilian Ulysses Browne, an Irish refugee who became one of the highest ranking officers serving the Hapsburg Emperor. He was born in Basel, Switzerland to Ulysses Graf von Browne and his wife Annabella Fitzgerald. His father, Ulysses, was from Limerick and his mother was a daughter of the famous Desmond clan and their families were part of the “Flight of the Wild Geese” in the aftermath of Tyrone’s Rebellion in Ireland. Maximilian, born in Switzerland, grew up mostly in Austrian society as his family, since there exile, had served with distinction in the service of the Holy Roman Emperors. Through the influence of his father and some uncles he was able to obtain a commission in the Austrian army and by the time he was 29 Maximilian was serving as colonel of an Austrian infantry regiment. After the death of his father he inherited his title and throughout his life obtained others until he was Maximilian Ulysses Reichsgraf (Imperial Count) von Browne, Baron de Camus and Mountany.

Fairly early in his career, Count von Browne proved to be a very capable battlefield commander in Italy in 1734, the Tyrol the following year and in the off-and-on wars with the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans where he gained such fame that he was promoted to general grade. By the end of the decade he had been promoted to Lieutenant Field Marshal and was placed in command of the Austrian forces in Silesia. Fortunately for the Empress but unfortunately for von Browne, he was in command there in 1740 when the Prussian King and military genius Frederick the Great launched his conquest of the region as part of the War of Austrian Succession. Graf von Browne was a talented military man but, of course, he was no match for Frederick and his expert Prussian forces. However, Browne was able to rally his men and organize a sufficiently robust defense that he held off the Prussians long enough to at least give his Empress time to mobilize her army and give Austria a fighting chance in the region rather than being overrun immediately.

Browne served under Marshal von Neipperg at the Austrian defeat in the Battle of Mollwitz, where he was badly wounded but it in no way dampened his fighting spirit. In typical Irish fashion he was constantly advocating very aggressive measures and was openly critical of anything less than a total commitment of all available forces, viewing it as timidity. This caused numerous problems and bitterness in his relations with his superior officers but his zeal and energy were a major reason for the swift and aggressive actions of the Austrian forces in 1742 and 1743 which prevented a defeat from becoming a total disaster. In 1745 he served under the brilliant Field Marshal Otto Ferdinand von Abensberg und Traun in the Italian campaign and won further promotion. He participated in the battles of Piacenza and Rottofreddo before taking command of the Austrian advance guard, crossing the Apennines and capturing the city of Genoa. As always, he was a soldiers’ soldier who led from the front, slept rough in the field with his men and shared their hardships and privations. His performance was so adept that he was picked to command the planned invasion of France, which never came about and at the close of the conflict he was posted to Bohemia as supreme commander of the forces there and promoted to Field Marshal.

The new field marshal was doing his usually thorough job in Bohemia when the great Frederick and his Prussians again came knocking at the door of the Hapsburg domains. With the start of the Seven Years’ War (the French and Indian War to Americans) Frederick the Great invaded Saxony in 1756 and Marshal Browne and his army was sent marching to the rescue. His destination was Pirna where the Saxons were besieged by Frederick. The wily Prussian monarch took notice and intercepted Browne and his Austrians at the battle of Lobositz (now Lovosice in the Czech Republic). Browne took up a defensive position with his Austrian troops (though the force included various nationalities from the Hapsburg dominions) and the ever aggressive Frederick attacked. In previous conflicts this would not have been much of a contest at all as the Prussians, with their clockwork-like efficiency, were considered almost unstoppable. However, Graf von Browne had done a good job in making his army one of the best in Central Europe and to the shock of the Prussians, they were repulsed. Even a charge by the elite guard cavalry was thrown back, causing Frederick the Great to marvel at the ability of his enemy saying, “These are no longer the same Austrians”.

However, in the end it was not enough and a fierce Prussian bayonet charge broke the Austrian right flank, winning the battle and forcing the Austrians to retreat. Yet, it was not a route and Browne kept control of his men, executed an orderly withdrawal and even managed to dispatch forces around the Prussian army to Pirna though, unfortunately for the Saxons, they arrived too late. Frederick the Great had bested Browne again yet, he gave the Prussians a harder time than they expected and made the conquest of Saxony so difficult that no further progress could be made in the campaign before winter. The following year Browne volunteered to serve as a subordinate to Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine. Browne was the more illustrious military figure and more popular but Charles was the brother-in-law of Empress Maria Theresa so Browne agreed to accept the number two position. On May 6, 1757 the two armies met at the Battle of Prague. The Austrians were slightly outnumbered and were finally defeated but they took such a toll on the Prussians that Frederick had no strength to continue the campaign and the city of Prague was saved. Unfortunately, it was the last battle for the bold Irishman. As always, he was leading from the front, sword in hand, when he was shot down at the head of an Austrian bayonet charge against the Prussian lines.

Browne was carried from the field by his devoted troops and taken into Prague where he lingered for some time. Unfortunately, though the battle was a strategic victory for Austria, it had been a tactical defeat and Charles of Lorraine blamed Browne (quite unjustly) for the failure. He died on June 26, 1757 somewhat embittered by this injustice. However, history would redeem the name of Maximilian Ulysses Browne and he would be known as one of the greatest marshals in the service of Empress Maria Theresa. Even if his own comrades did not always appreciate him, he had, on more than one occasion, saved the Hapsburg empire from disaster and no less a figure in military history than his long-time enemy Frederick the Great held him in very high esteem. The Prussian monarch referred to Browne as his, “teacher in the art of war”. Not a bad legacy at that for the Irish son of refugees forced to find employment in foreign armies. It is also for that reason that, despite not being very well known in these historically ignorant times, you will occasionally find a proud son of Erin who will, with a twinkle in his eye, note that the great Frederick of Prussia learned his military lessons from an Irishman.

My Favorite Hapsburg Emperors

I - Emperor Charles V: Charles V was elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1519. His coronation by Pope Clement VII in Bologna in 1530 was the last ceremony of its kind to date. As the ruler of the lands around Austria, the Low Countries and Spain, with new explorations claiming territory in the Americas, his was the first empire upon which it was said that the sun never set. He was also a man beset by enemies but had a level of determination up to the task, fighting Protestant rebels in Germany, the French in northern Italy and the Turks in Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. In 1525 he won a great victory of France at Pavia, after which the King of France and the Pope allied against him. Charles later made peace with the Protestants, captured Tunis in North Africa, reformed the law code, defeated a French attack on the Low Countries and sent Magellan on his historic voyage of circumnavigation. In 1556 he abdicated and retired to a life of prayer.

II - Empress Maria Theresa: After inheriting the throne of her father in 1740, Empress Maria Theresa was immediately attacked by a large alliance of nations who meant to prevent her succession including the great Frederick II of Prussia, the finest soldier in Europe. Though she was only 23, she refused to give in or show weakness and put up a spirited struggle, losing some territory but retaining her crown. She restored the Austrian economy by taxing the nobility and lowering taxes on the common people. She reformed the army, improved the legal system and made education available to everyone. Under her rule, the peasants gained their freedom and the right to own their own land. The Empress was a devout and pious Catholic woman and gave refuge to the Society of Jesus when others (even her own son) exiled them. In 1772 she gained territory for Austria in the first partition of Poland, perhaps the only regrettable decision she ever made.

III - Emperor Joseph II: Elected Holy Roman Emperor in 1765, Joseph II was an “Enlightened Despot” in every sense of the word. He was ambitious, not very personally charming, autocratic and at the same time extremely forward thinking. He was the first to grant (limited) freedom of religion in the Hapsburg lands, freed the serfs and tried to enforce German as the official common language of the empire. His dream was to make the Hapsburg Empire the most powerful in Europe, leading to clashes with Prussia and the Turks. Joseph II was a great patron of music, most famously commissioning work from Mozart. He built the first truly public parks and housing for the poor. Because of all he did to improve their lives the common folk adored him, hailing him as the “People’s Emperor”. Unfortunately, he brought religion under state control and so earned the wrath of the clergy and many nobles. Though he heard mass every morning of his life he was suspected of being a skeptic.

IV - Emperor Francis Joseph I: Not the most successful Hapsburg emperor in history by any means, Francis Joseph was nevertheless a monarch who refused to adjust his principles, a good and upright man who always sought to do his duty to the best of his ability and to serve the best interests of his people. He came to the throne in 1848, put down the revolutions and reestablished the House of Hapsburg as the great stabilizing force in central Europe. His personal life was beset by tragedy and the international situation for Austria (later Austria-Hungary) declined after a series of diplomatic and military disasters. Nonetheless, Francis Joseph held things together by his own integrity, work ethic and devotion to duty. The country was also developing rapidly and the prestige of the monarchy remained strong until the onset of the First World War in 1914, a conflict the Emperor had deep concerns over and which he had to be deceived into declaring.

V - Emperor Charles I: Coming to the throne in the midst of World War I in 1916, the new monarch already had a reputation as a brave soldier, devoted husband and father and a sincere man of God. He saw monarchy as a sacred duty and behaved accordingly. The Emperor viewed the alliance with Germany as a prison, distrusted the Germans and devoted himself to extricating Austria-Hungary from the First World War. He showed himself willing to sacrifice considerable territories if only he could gain peace but the Allies proved implacable. He agreed to reorganizing the Hapsburg empire into a confederation of autonomous national states but was never allowed the time to carry out such a plan. When the end came in 1918 he bowed to the inevitable but refused to abdicate, viewing such a thing as a renunciation of his responsibility to God. After being forced into exile he tried twice to regain his Hungarian throne but was loathe to shed the blood of his own people.

Not so favorites: Emperor Ferdinand I for not taking religion more into account and his son Maximilian II for not making up his mind on which faith he wanted to follow and, yes, Joseph II -who makes my best and worst lists at the same time for his needless religious antagonism.

General Stefan Baron Sarkotic of Lovcen

Stefan Baron Sarkotic of Lovcen was a Croatian general in the Imperial-Royal Army of Austria-Hungary and served as Governor of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the First World War. He was born on October 4, 1858 in Sinac, Otocac to army Lieutenant Matija Sarkotic of the Second Otocac Border Regiment. He went to school in Senj and joined the army, serving in Herzegovina before being promoted to captain in 1889 and attached to the General Staff in Vienna. He learned Russian and was entrusted with the position of an intelligence officer and journeyed to Serbia, Bulgaria and Macedonia to gather information on these countries. He then went back to regimental service and was promoted to colonel and in 1912 was made a general and given command of the VI Royal Hungarian Honved District.

At the start of World War I he served in the initial campaign against Serbia and for his meritorious service was decorated with the Order of the Iron Crown and later succeeded General Oskar Potiorek as military commander of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the first Croat soldier to hold that position. He recognized the nationalist danger presented by the pan-Slavic ideas and urged Austria-Hungary to implement reforms to negate the danger. One of the ideas he put forward was akin to earlier ideas floated about the creation of a south-Slav state within the Hapsburg Empire but the Hungarian government would not hear of it. In 1916 he led the offensive into Montenegro and within a week had occupied the capital city for which he was awarded the Order of Leopold and given the Hungarian noble title of Baron of Lovcen. The following year he was promoted to Colonel General and remained in command in Bosnia until 1918.

With the dissolution of the Hapsburg Empire Sarkotic was arrested along with other Hapsburg loyalists by the newly established Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later Yugoslavia). This naturally did nothing to diminish his staunch opposition to Serbia and the new Yugoslav state. When he was finally released from prison he moved to Vienna where he continued to voice his opposition to the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and cooperated with Croatian resistance groups operating in exile in Austria. He was also the leader of the Croatian Committee which would later come to be dominated by the notorious Ante Pavelic who allied with Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany to eventually create an independent Croatian monarchy during World War II following the Axis invasion and breakup of Yugoslavia. What the old Baron would have thought of this can only be speculated at as he died still in exile in Vienna in 1939.

General Baron Anton von Lehár

One of the most committed Hungarian monarchists of the tumultuous Twentieth Century was Baron Anton von Lehár. He was born in Sopron in the Kingdom of Hungary on February 21, 1876. His family was fairly well known but more for their musical abilities than anything else. His father was in the musical corps of the Royal Hungarian Army and his brother Franz was a talented composer who would later go on to considerable fame in that field. Anton, however, determined on a military career and attended infantry cadet school in Vienna after completing his preliminary education. He graduated in 1893, first in his class, and was posted as a lieutenant to Regiment No. 50 where his father served as band master. From 1897 to 1899 he attended the war college where he earned further promotion and in 1900 was posted to the Imperial & Royal General Staff. Lehár was promoted to captain, taught rifle tactics and earned the military cross along with other awards including honors from Romania and the Ottoman Empire.

By 1913 Lehár had attained field rank as a major and when World War I broke out he was given command of a battalion of Regiment 13 in Army Group Kummer. Lehár and his men were soon thrown into combat against the Russian 4th Army at the battle of Chodel south of Lublin. Lehár greatly distinguished himself in very hard fighting as the Russians tried to separate Army Group Kummer from Baron von Dankl’s First KuK Army. For his skill and courage he was decorated with the knights cross of the Maria Theresa Order and, for this action, was later ennobled with the title of baron in 1918. The next month, September, with brutal combat still raging in the Lublin area, Lehár was badly wounded and further decorated with the Order of the Iron Crown. Forced out of front line service while he recovered from his wounds he was posted to the general staff, specifically the Tyrol defense department. He distinguished himself in that position as well and was soon promoted to lieutenant colonel and decorated by the Germans with the Iron Cross in 1915.

However, Lehár was a man of action and pressed for a return to combat duty and was posted to the Italian front. However, in 1916, he was pulled out of the line to take command of the Infantry and Cavalry Weapons Department. While there he pushed for more machine guns on the company level but was never content with serving behind a desk and soon persuaded the high command to send him back into battle. In 1917 he was posted to command Landsturmbataillon 150 which he led in heavy fighting in the Bukovina region. In early 1918 he was sent to the Piave sector to command infantry regiment 106 where he earned promotion to colonel and the officers’ gold medal for bravery. His bravery and tactical skill inspired his troops and they were devotedly loyal to him and, at the end of the war, even as the empire was dissolving around them, he brought his regiment home without a single incidence of desertion. As a loyal Hapsburg monarchist and a zealous Hungarian patriot he was greatly disturbed by the fall of the Dual Empire and the Allied treaties which stripped the Kingdom of Hungary of most of its territory.

Many men in the position that Baron Lehár was in were leaving the country as the situation in Hungary descended into chaos with the fall of the monarchy and a wave of communist infiltration. However, Baron Lehár was made of sterner stuff and with the support of his brother Franz he determined to stay in Hungary and fight for his king and the preservation of the monarchy. Mobilizing loyal troops, he took command of a division to drive the Bolsheviks out of Lemberg before going on to Styria to fight the invading forces of Yugoslavia. In 1919 the regent, Admiral Horthy, promoted Lehár to major general and gave him command of the military district of western Hungary. Horthy and his forces had defeated an attempted communist takeover of Hungary by Bela Kun, however, Lehár and other loyal monarchists became discontented with the rule of Horthy as he maintained the monarchy but continually put off any suggestions of actually returning the King to the throne. The king, also Emperor Charles I of Austria, was in exile in Switzerland and anxious to return to Hungary to save what he could of the Hapsburg lands.

In 1921, Emperor Charles (Karoly IV in Hungary) returned to Hungary from Switzerland to resume his royal duties. Arriving on Holy Saturday, the “Easter Crisis”, as it became known, ended when Admiral Horthy persuaded the king to go back into exile, still protesting his loyalty to the monarchy, but arguing that the time was still not right for a full restoration. Charles did so but became convinced that, left on his own, Horthy would never think the time was right and meant to rule Hungary himself for the rest of his life. Therefore, in October, a new and more coordinated restoration attempt was made. Charles returned to Hungary, accompanied by his pregnant wife, to show that the King and Queen were determined to come home to stay. Upon landing, Baron Lehár was the first major figure they met with and he quickly began organizing loyal Hungarian soldiers for the return of the King to Budapest, with or without the support of the regent.

The King appointed the loyal baron Minister of Defense in the new administration he was drawing up. Baron Lehár was right beside his King as they made their way toward the capital, despite orders from Horthy to halt the advance, and Charles was hailed and cheered by crowds in every town they passed through. However, Horthy was organizing his own forces and gained a great deal of support when the British government stated their total opposition to a Hapsburg restoration in Hungary. Divisions appeared as the government officials, in the face of international opposition, began to hold aloof or drift back toward Horthy. Emperor Charles knew he could count on the support of Baron Lehár and Major Gyula Ostenberg but for the rest, there was doubt. Horthy warned of disaster if Charles was restored and used the British statement of opposition as “proof” that the world community would never accept a restoration in Hungary to sway top leaders and military officials to his side. Baron Lehár and Colonel Ostenberg wanted to fight it out, convinced that they could win, but Charles wanted no bloodshed and forbid any further struggle. He returned to exile and Admiral Horthy, still calling himself regent, remained safely in power in Budapest.

Lehár was heartbroken by this and in immediate danger as Horthy considered him a “traitor” to him personally for siding with the King. Labeled as a criminal by the government, Baron Lehár was forced to leave his beloved country, via Czechoslovakia, and go to Germany where friends of his brother took him in. He began to establish himself again, drawing upon his family ties with music, as the leader of a group of writers, artists and composers, however, when the Nazi Party came to power his position as a noted monarchist endangered him and Lehár had to leave Germany and move to Austria where the new regime was more friendly toward monarchists. In Vienna he started a music publishing company but gave it up to his brother and moved to the country when the Nazi tendrils began reaching into Austria as well. When the Nazis occupied and annexed Austria the Baron and his wife were forced to move back to Vienna where they were kept under house arrest by the Nazi secret police. He promoted the music of his brother, taking over his estate after his death, and continued until his own death in Vienna in 1962, never reconciled with the brutal communist occupation of his native country.

General Franz Graf Thun-Hohenstein

Count Thun-Hohenstein may not be widely known in Austria (or the Czech Republic) today, but he has a very unique position in history as the leader of the only major Hapsburg military force to fight on the American continent in the 19th Century. He was born on July 27, 1826 in Bohemia and in 1844 entered the Imperial Royal Army as an officer cadet with Infantry Regiment No. 28. Promotions and transfers followed and it was while serving with the First Infantry as a captain that he saw his first major action in Italy during the Revolution of 1848. In March he and his men were engaged in heavy fighting in Milan, street to street and house to house. Other battles in other cities followed (including Vienna) but it was his courage and heroism at Milan and Vienna against the revolutionary forces that earned him the Military Merit Cross. He fought with distinction in numerous other battles throughout 1849, being wounded in action and for which he received much praise and many commendations. In the aftermath of the conflict, he was so highly regarded that he was promoted to major and later personal adjutant to the famous Field Marshal Radetzky.

The legendary field marshal died in 1857 and Thun-Hohenstein was sent back to his regiment and given the prestigious appointment to command the grenadier battalion in 1859. He fought at the brutal battle of Solferino in the 1859 war and his conduct on that occasion earned him a commendation from Emperor Francis Joseph himself. His conduct in other battles earned him more decorations (the Order of Leopold among them) and finally promotion to full colonel. By this time he had achieved a high reputation for skill, courage and efficiency whether fighting the French, Italians or assorted revolutionaries. So, it was no great surprise when Archduke Maximilian of Austria, who had recently agreed to become Emperor of Mexico, chose Graf Thun-Hohenstein to be the commander of the Austrian forces he wished to take to Mexico with him as added security. The French were carrying the bulk of the conflict against the Mexican republicans but it was only natural that Maximilian and Carlota welcomed having some soldiers from their own countries as well.

So, in 1864, Emperor Francis Joseph authorized the formation of the Austrian Volunteer Corps which recruited out of Laibach in Slovenia. Men enlisted from almost every corner of the Hapsburg empire and Graf Thun-Hohenstein was the man Maximilian wanted to command the force. The Emperor agreed to transfer him to the Imperial Mexican Army and he, in due course, took command of the 6,800 men of the Austrian corps as well as the two battalions of Belgian volunteers as the formations were grouped together into the “Imperial Mexican Corps of Austrian and Belgian Volunteers”. After crossing the Atlantic, Thun-Hohenstein established his headquarters at Puebla and his forces would operate mostly in eastern Mexico. However, as was bound to happen, he was often at odds with the French over his desire to maintain the Austrian corps as a totally separate entity under his own command, apart from the French forces. He was immediately at odds with the French commander Marshal Bazaine and this eventually led to a souring of his relationship with Emperor Maximilian as well.

Nonetheless, the Austrian forces were often called upon to act in smaller detachments, as flying columns to counter insurgents and as shock troops to stiffen less reliable forces. He was praised and decorated for his efforts (though not as much as the commander of the Belgian contingent which enjoyed the unqualified support of the Empress) but his relationship with his French and Mexican counterparts remained tense. Things worsened when the French began to pull out of Mexico such as at a battle near San Luis Potosi where a small force of Austrians were decimated while a French column sat within earshot and took no action to come to their aid. It thus came as no great surprise that when diplomatic pressure forces the recall of the foreign troops in Mexico, Graf Thun-Hohenstein refused to remain on hand and join the regular Mexican Imperial Army. Nonetheless, he was further honored by Emperor Francis Joseph with the Order of the Iron Crown upon his return to Austria. The record of the Austrian corps had been impressive. With 55 battles fought only 9 of them could even be argued to be defeats.

As the fighting in Mexico ground to its eventual, glorious doom, the count was recalled to service in the Imperial Royal Army with promotion to major general and a brigade to command. Transferred from Innsbruck to Trient and finally given command of the 25th Infantry Division he earned further praise and honors for his services before being promoted to lieutenant marshal in 1873 and put in command of the Tyrol military sector, an area he regarded as his second home. He married in 1877 and won further promotion, especially for his action in dealing with a disastrous storm in the winter of 1882-83. Poor health finally forced him to retire from active duty and he died on July 30, 1888 with the rank of Feldzeugmeister.

Empress Zita of Bourbon-Parma

 She was born on May 9, 1892, the 17th child of Roberto I, Duke of Parma. in Lucca, Italy. Named after a famous Tuscan saint she was only a child when the unification of Italy dethroned the House of Bourbon-Parma and she grew up moving between family homes in Lucca and Lower Austria. Being from a French royal family, reigning in Italy and forced to spend alot of time on the move they were a very international group and Princess Zita grew up speaking Italian, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese and English. Like all her siblings she was given a strict religious education and was raised to be a devout Catholic where regular charitable work was a family tradition. It was this quality which particularly impressed the young Austrian Archduke Charles who she met during stays in Lower Austria. Charles was smitten right away but for Zita the relationship grew over time before the Archduke proposed for fear she might be married to someone else if he did not act quickly.

On October 21, 1911 Charles and Zita were married with the full approval of Emperor Francis Joseph I. Over the years the couple had eight children and it was a very happy marriage and a very close and happy family. They shared a love of simple pleasures, family life and devout faith. It came as a great shock in 1914 when the murder of Archduke Francis Ferdinand suddenly made Zita wife of the heir to the Austrian-Hungarian throne. Soon after World War I broke out and Charles, a general in the Austrian army, was called to the front. Archduchess Zita was very sorrowful about the war, both because of the risks to her husband, her dislike of Austria's German allies and the fact that her family was split by the hostilities; some fighting in the Austrian army and others (denied permission to fight for France) serving in the Belgian army. When Italy entered the war against the Central Powers some in Austria became suspicious of their Italian archduchess. However, the Emperor was very kind to her, brought her and the children to the palace at Schoenbrunn and often confided in her about his thoughts, concerns and worries about the war and the national situation.

In 1916, when Francis Joseph died, Zita became the last Empress of Austria and Queen of Hungary. She was very involved in national issues and was constantly at her husband's side. When they had to be apart Charles called her several times a day. She also played a major part in 1917 in the effort to make peace. Working secretly through her brother Prince Sixtus, an officer in the Belgian army, messages were sent via Switzerland to try to negotiate a seperate peace between Austria and France. Empress Zita also used her influence to stop a German plan to bomb the residence of the Belgian King and Queen. Unfortunately, the peace efforts went nowhere. King Albert I of the Belgians was in favor but the French and British were not and while Emperor Charles was in favor the Germans were not. The situation became worse when the Allies made the negotiations public which greatly endangered Austria and Charles and Zita in particular. There had never been any love lost between them and the Germans and the news that they had attempted a seperate peace brought threats of a German takeover of Austria.

By the fall of the next year Austria-Hungary was coming apart and Charles and Zita and their family were forced to flee the country to Switzerland. Zita was a great source of strength and comfort to her husband in these hard times and the strain on her had to be great. In 1920 she showed again what she was made of when she accompanied Charles in his effort to regain his throne in Hungary. After both attempts failed the family eventually settled on the Portuguese island of Madeira where Charles died not long after. Empress Zita carried on with the same grace and dignity she always showed, raising her children in royal fashion and never giving up hope for a Hapsburg restoration. The family moved to Spain and later to Belgium. When Engelbert Dollfuss became chancellor of Austria the possibility of a restoration seemed good but all hopes were ended when Dollfuss was assassinated and Austria was occupied by Germany. World War II and the invasion of Belgium forced the family to flee to the United States where two of her sons joined the American army. Empress Zita contributed by raising money in the US and Canada. In 1982 she was finally allowed to return to Austria where she died, still loved and respected by all, in 1989 at the age of 96. Her funeral was attended by 6,000 people, over 200 Hapsburg and Bourbon-Parma royals and a personal representative of Pope John Paul II.

Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany

Grand Duke Ferdinand III of Tuscany was born on May 6, 1769 to the future Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and his wife the Infanta Maria Luisa of Spain. He succeeded to the throne of Tuscany when his father was elected Emperor in 1790 and that same year was married to his cousin Princess Luisa of the Two Sicilies. The couple eventually had six children though the last was stillborn. However, Ferdinand was to have a very troubled reign due to the effects of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic Wars. When the French Revolutionary Wars first broke out Ferdinand III, understandably for the ruler of a small country, tried to remain neutral but his efforts in this regard went unappreciated and in 1799 French troops marched in to occupy Florence to the cheers of local Tuscan revolutionary republicans.

The loyal people of Tuscany, encouraged by Pope Pius VII, rose up in a counterrevolutionary movement in the name of Ferdinand III against the French. The fighting was often extremely brutal but in the end the French were driven out and with Austrian support Florence was also recovered. However, in October of 1800 the French came back and due to the fact that the occupying Austrians had not always behaved with the best manners there was more local support for France this time around. A provisional government was set up by the French marshal Joachim Murat and in the treaties of Luneville and Aranjuez the Grand Duchy of Tuscany became the Kingdom of Eturia as part of the Spanish empire and with the former Duke Louis of Bourbon-Parma as king.

In an effort to keep the deposed Ferdinand III placated he was made the Duke-Elector of Salzburg in Austria; a duchy made from the seized lands of the former Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. At the end of 1802 he was further promoted to Prince-Elector of the Holy Roman Empire but that body itself would ultimately be dissolved in 1806. However, it did not matter much to Ferdinand at that point as a year earlier he had been forced to relinquish his rule of Salzburg when it was annexed by his brother, Emperor Francis II, in the Treaty of Pressburg. 1802 was a particularly difficult year for Ferdinand as it was also in that year that his wife Luisa died in Vienna during childbirth. The baby boy was still born and was entombed in his mother’s arms in the Imperial Crypt of the Hapsburgs.

Again, using lands seized from the Bishop of Wü rzburg, Ferdinand was made Duke of Würzburg, retaining his electoral title for another year until the Empire was dissolved at which time he was compensated by a promotion to Grand Duke of Wü rzburg. It was not until Napoleon had been defeated that on May 30, 1814 Ferdinand III was restored to his original place as Grand Duke of Tuscany, though he would suffer another minor territorial loss the following year. In 1821 Grand Duke Ferdinand married again to Princess Maria of Saxony in Florence. They never had any children and Ferdinand III died a few years later on June 18, 1824. He was succeeded by his son Leopold II who would be the last Grand Duke of Tuscany.

Maria Josepha of Bavaria

Maria Josepha of Bavaria was the second wife and Empress consort of the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. She was born Marie Josephe Antoine Walburga Felicitas Regula in Munich, Bavaria on March 30, 1739. Her father was the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VII, of the House of Wittelsbach, Prince-Elector and Duke of Bavaria. Her mother was Maria Amalia of Austria. She married Archduke Joseph of Austria, King of the Romans on January 23, 1765 in Vienna. It may have looked like a good match, the daughter of Emperor Charles VII marrying the heir of Empress Maria Theresa of the Holy Roman Empire, but in fact it was ill-fated from the start and there was little Maria Josepha could do about the situation.

Joseph had previously been married to Isabella of Parma who had died in 1763, who he had adored, as had most everyone. The rather difficult “enlightened despot” was heartbroken and had not wanted to remarry at all but Empress Maria Theresa was adamant that her son take another wife and produce an heir to the Hapsburg throne. Maria Josepha came to Austria in the shadow of Isabella and she could never hope to take her place. Going into the marriage reluctantly, Joseph criticized his new wife for her weight and her bad teeth but also admitted that her character was “irreproachable”, that she did love him and that she had many admirable qualities. Yet, Joseph declared it a pity for all of that as he simply had no love for her in return.

If Maria Theresa had pushed the marriage to obtain an heir she was to be disappointed. Joseph always kept Maria Josepha at a distance and it is doubtful that their marriage was ever even consummated. He went to considerable lengths to stay apart from her and avoid even having to see her. Maria Josepha suffered on under these conditions which did not improve in 1765 when her husband became Emperor Joseph II and she became Holy Roman Empress beside him. Whereas ordinarily she would have the place of ‘first lady’ in Vienna, that post was still very much filled by the formidable Empress Maria Theresa, a very religious and conservative woman, who distrusted the more liberal “enlightenment” tendencies in her son.

It would be tempting to think that Joseph II and Maria Josepha could have, over time, grown closer and perhaps had at least some sort of workable relationship. Alas, it was not to be as after being married for only about two years the Holy Roman Empress Maria Josepha died of smallpox, the very same disease that had taken the life of Archduchess Isabella. At the same time Empress Maria Theresa was sick with the disease, though thankfully she survived. Sadly, even in her final days the Emperor did not visit his stricken wife. It would be pleasant to think that Joseph II was too overcome with grief due to memories of his previous wife to deal with it, but the obvious answer cannot be ignored; that he had never desired Maria Josepha as his wife nor did he ever really accept her as such. She died on May 28, 1767 and in the aftermath Joseph II (who did not attend her funeral) claimed part of Bavaria on the basis of his marriage to the late Bavarian princess which led to the War of Bavarian Succession.

Marie Henriette of Austria

The Archduchess Marie Henriette Anne of Austria was born in Budapest, Hungary on August 23, 1836 to the Archduke Joseph of Austria, Palatine of Hungary and his wife Maria Dorothea of Wurttemberg. Her grandfather was the Holy Roman Emperor Leopold II and she had a happy life in Hungary where he father was very popular amongst the Magyar population. She loved horseback riding and the wide open spaces Hungary. However, she was just a teenager when her fate was sealed by a marriage arranged mostly by her mother and the Belgian King Leopold I. Leopold was a Protestant monarch in a Catholic country but he had his children raised Catholic and wanted the newly independent Belgium to be accepted into the community of established Catholic monarchies. There seemed no better way to accomplish this than to marry his son and heir to the granddaughter of a Hapsburg Holy Roman Emperor. For the family of Archduchess Marie Henriette the match also offered the chance of their daughter becoming a Queen.

So it was that at the age of 17 she was married to the 18-year-old Prince Leopold, considered even at that age to be a rather cold and off-putting character. It was not to be a happy marriage and ill-omens seemed present from the very start. Leopold was taken ill and had to send a substitute to stand-in for him at his own wedding ceremony. The couple could not have been more mismatched. Marie Henriette was vivacious, boisterous and outgoing. Leopold was shy, aloof and grim. About the only thing they had in common was being short-tempered which naturally did not bode well for the future. One observer referred to the match as that of a stable boy and a nun (the princess being the stable boy and the prince being the nun). Leopold seemed willing to tolerate his bride only for the purpose of obtaining an heir and even that required some marriage counseling from his relatives Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Great Britain.

Their relationship was strained from the very start but, nonetheless, children were eventually forthcoming. Princess Louise Marie Amelie was born in 1858 but a son was what was required. The next year the job was done with the birth of Prince Leopold Ferdinand, followed in 1864 by another girl; the Princess Stephanie. The next year Marie Henriette officially became Queen when her husband succeeded his father as King Leopold II of the Belgians. Now on the throne and with the succession secured it seemed that the royal couple could take a break from each other. However, disaster struck with the death of the little Prince Leopold in 1869. Marie Henriette was grief stricken and it seemed to many that Leopold II blamed her for the loss of his son. They tried the baby game one more time but when the result was another daughter, Princess Clementine, the two effectively gave up on their charade of a marriage.

The two lived apart from each other and Leopold could indulge his mistress while Queen Marie Henriette busied herself with the usual good causes and her lifelong love of Hungarian horses. She was something of a martinet with her daughters but, lest anyone be too harsh towards her, it must be remembered that she had been forced into a miserable life with a loveless marriage when she was only 17 and that could not have but had an impact on her. She also did a good deal of charity work, was a musical and artistic patron and she attentively cared for her tragic sister-in-law, Empress Carlota of Mexico, when she returned home mad with grief while her older brother would have little to do with her (which I will admit causes me to overlook other things). Marie Henriette had always been kept at something of a distance at court and soon even her title as Queen became mostly symbolic as she spent most of her time at her home in Spa while her daughter Princess Clementine looked after the King and provided the feminine presence at court functions. The unfortunate and unhappy Queen of the Belgians died on September 19, 1902 at her estate in Spa and was buried at the Royal Castle of Laeken.

Enlightened Despot: Emperor Joseph II

Known as one of Europe's "Enlightened Despots" was Joseph Benedict Augustus John Anthony Michael Adam von Habsburg-Lothringen. The son of Maria Theresa, over whom the War of Austrian Succession was fought, Joseph II broke with the devoutly Catholic policies of his mother to embrace the sweeping trend of the so-called "Enlightenment" which viewed traditional Europe as a place of injustice and intolerance. In fact, of all the so-called "Enlightened Despots", Joseph II was the only one not to be titled "the Great" despite the fact that he certainly lived up to the ideals to an infinitely greater degree than many others who were. His reign saw an increase in the German culture, Austrian dignity, and unheard of advances in social and religious toleration. In many ways he was a monarch years ahead of his time. Yet, his reign also saw the destruction of many of the core Catholic principles which had held the Holy Roman Empire together for a long time. I tend to think some Catholic writers have been rather too hard on Joseph II, but there is no doubt that he was not a friend of the favored position of the Church in Austria.

After the death of his father Joseph became, in name at least, Emperor of the Romans, King of Germany, Jerusalem, Hungary and Bohemia, Archduke of Austria, Grand Prince of Transylvania, Grand Duke of Tuscany, etc, etc. However it was not until the death of his mother that he became absolute ruler of Austria. Upon his ascension he gave his large inheritance to ease the national debt and ordered his brother to do likewise. He cut government spending, built the first truly public parks, charged the Church with caring for the sick and destitute and granted religious toleration to Jews and Protestants. He abolished such traditional Catholic devotions as the Rosary and religious processions, expelled the Jesuits and seized a great deal of Church property. Yet, throughout his reign, whether in Vienna or on the battlefield, he heard mass every morning and was an enemy of Protestant Prussia (though both monarchs had a great deal of respect for the other's abilities). It was under Joseph II that Wolfgang Mozart rose to fame, though his music was a little too extravagant for the very simple Joseph. Nevertheless his support of Mozart & his contemporaries earned Joseph the nickname, "The Musical King".

This taste in music corresponded with the rest of his reign, whether religious or political. He was very German, he favored always simplicity and efficiency. It was said that his poor houses and government buildings looked like army barracks. He himself usually wore a military uniform rather than the latest fashions and he despised court ceremony and lavish Church rituals. The fact that his cold relationship with the Church would probably not be so notable were it not for the fact that he was the Holy Roman Emperor, and the son of Maria Theresa, expected to be the Church's first defender. However, he was often disdainful of the ecclesiastical leadership, just as he was of the elites of society, whom he saw as contributing nothing to the good of the nation.

For all of these things Joseph was adored by the common folk but despised by the aristocracy and high clergy. Certainly the Emperor had his share of heartaches and trouble. His beloved first wife died early on and Joseph never recovered from the loss. Victory over Prussia's Frederick the Great constantly escaped him and his sister was the famous Marie Antoinette who was murdered by French revolutionaries. In the royal community of Europe, most of whom were also adherents of the "Enlightenment", Joseph was consistently held in very high regard. Czarina Catherine the Great of Russia was greatly impressed with the young monarch who oddly insisted on wearing an Austrian army uniform rather than lavish costumes, and Prussia's Frederick the Great never ceased to express his admiration for Joseph even when they faced each other in battle. In fact, it was partly the high esteem in which Joseph held the Prussian king that led to his desire to emulate his victories in the field.

Emperor Joseph viewed it as his duty, as an absolute monarch, to protect and serve his nation and all of his people, regardless of their religion or class. He was beloved by his people, but, perhaps unwittingly, removed some of the key supports of his empire. Yet, in the sense of helping the common people of his country, setting aside his anti-Church policies, he was probably the only "Enlightened Despot" who actually did improve the lives of his subjects.

Was Austria-Hungary Doomed?

It frequently happens in history that the odd remark, even addressing a situation truthfully, can be repeated so often over the years that it is blown out of all proportion to historic reality. To some extent this has been the case with the Dual-Monarchy of Austria-Hungary. Because it was not the most powerful nation in Europe and because her military was not the most efficient or cohesive, Austria-Hungary is often portrayed as a decaying, weak, decrepit power that was doomed to fall, war or no war. Yet, if one takes an objective look at Austro-Hungarian society, the economy and even the military and their war record, a rather different picture reveals itself. Austria-Hungary had its problems certainly and probably more than her share due to the rise of nationalist sentiment in the multi-national Hapsburg lands but had it not been for the war there is at least some evidence that Austria-Hungary could have survived and that the Hapsburg Empire was not, in fact, a doomed ghost of a bygone era.

First, one area in which Austria-Hungary was positively thriving was in the artistic and scientific segment of her society. This was the country of architects like Frederick Schmidt, Theophil Hansen and Karl Hasenauer. Inside their magnificent buildings one could find great composers of the period like Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler, Brahms, Hugo Wolf and Richard Strauss. For the less grand there was pieces known as light operas by Johann Strauss, Karl Millocker and Franz Lehar. There were poets like Hugo von Hofmannsthal, painters like Hans Makart, Gustav Klimt, Franz von Stuck and Kolo Moser. There were writers like Adalbert Stifter, Franz Kafka and Arthur Schnitzler. The medical department of the University of Vienna was renowned as probably the best in the world and produced such famous names in medicine as Theodor Billroth in antiseptic surgery, Theodor Meynert in brain surgery and Sigmund Freud in psychiatry. In other fields of study Vienna gave the world the philosopher Ernst Mach, the economist Carl Menger, the war historian Heinrich Friedjung, the legal experts Rudolf von Ihering and Joseph Unger, and the anthropologist Rudolf Poech. Does this sound like the product of a doomed and decaying society? For some, their theories are still hotly debated, for the artistic types their work is subject to individual taste, but no one can deny the wealth of talent represented in these products of late Imperial Austria. This certainly does not look like a society on the verge of collapse considering it had one of the greatest concentrations of artistic and scientific talent then in the world.

Secondly, there is the economic arena. While it is true that Austria-Hungary labored behind countries like Germany, France and Britain in the area of modernization and industrialization, significant economic progress was being made right up to the start of the First World War and the people of Austria-Hungary were nowhere close to being among the most impoverished or over-burdened in Europe to say nothing of the wider world. Industry was growing, railroad networks were expanding and between 1870 and 1913 per capita GNP in Austria-Hungary actually grew at a slightly higher rate than in Britain, France or Germany. The Austrian Empire was more developed than other areas but the Kingdom of Hungary, before World War I, was a major source of food exports to the rest of Europe and had a thriving agricultural industry. As the Twentieth Century dawned the Austro-Hungarian economy was growing by leaps and bounds. The rapid expansion of railways, particularly after the government sold much of these to private investors, greatly increased trade and economic opportunities across the empire. Still, as stated, Austria-Hungary was by no means the economic powerhouse of Europe but nor was it poor or backward and the economy was growing faster than in most other countries.

Finally we come to the way most powers at the time judged their national strength and that was, of course, the military. It is true that Austria-Hungary did not have the best military in the world or the best military in Europe. They were hampered by the basic fact that Austria had never been a militaristic country. If you wanted a country that lived by the sword you went to Prussia. Austria was always more famous for its music, art, grand buildings and glamorous society than it was for its military and battlefield successes. Additionally, the Austro-Hungarian military was hampered by the fact that most of the officers spoke German but relatively few of the soldiers understood the language. The dizzying array of languages and ethnic differences made the sort of rigid unit cohesion present in other armies virtually impossible in the Imperial-Royal military. However, all of that being said, the Austro-Hungarian armed forces were nothing to sneer at. They were a formidable fighting force, among the largest in the world with some excellent units and some brilliant commanders. They also had a record that included a number of often over-looked victories as well as their much talked about defeats.

The driving force behind the Imperial-Royal Army was Field Marshal Conrad von Hoetzendorf. He, like the empire he served, has suffered from a great deal of bad press in recent histories (regarding his ability and not his personality and opinions -in that regard he was certainly among the most vociferous and aggressive). Yet, it must be kept in mind that at the time of the outbreak of war the Field Marshal was widely respected, around the world, and considered by contemporaries to be the most brilliant strategic mind in Central Europe. He should also be given credit for his efforts to modernize the army and keep up to date with technological innovations which was always a struggle since Vienna was constantly cutting the military budget in preference for other things. The campaigns in the east that the Germans are given so much credit for winning were all based on the original strategies put down by Hoetzendorf. The disabilities of the army may have tainted the results but few would deny that grand strategy of Hoetzendorf was the work of a military genius and were ultimately successful. And, despite the disabilities of the army it was a formidable force and upon mobilization was able to field over three million well armed men with some of the biggest and best artillery in Europe, guns of such superior quality that they were imported by the Germans to level the Belgian fortresses that gave them so much trouble.


Austrian troops in the Holy Land

When it came to actually fighting there is no doubt that the initial campaign against Serbia was a disaster for Austria-Hungary and much is often made of this, however, it happened because of some crucial and unavoidable reasons. First, the Austrian-Hungarians had to weaken their forces for the drive on Serbia because of the need to concentrate the bulk of their forces to meet the Russian threat to the east. Second, the Serbs had the advantage of fighting a defensive war on their own ground -and that is a very rugged part of the world and perhaps most importantly the Serbs were simply extremely tenacious, tough and determined fighters, much more so than anyone at the time gave them credit for. However, working alone or in conjunction with the Germans, the Austro-Hungarian forces won numerous victories against the Russians, Romanians, finally did conquer the Serbs and when Italy joined the war the forces of Austria-Hungary performed magnificently. To the very end of the conflict they held off superior Italian forces, made daring counter-attacks and even forced the French and British to divert troops to help the Italians to keep them in the war. It is also true, though not widely known, that Austria-Hungary sent small forces to aid Germany on the western front and even to the Middle East to support the faltering Ottoman Turks toward the end of the war.

On the naval front, Austria-Hungary was far from helpless as well. Simply their presence prevented Allied forces operating with impunity due to their fear of an all-out battle with the formidable Austrian fleet. Large surface ships were mostly confined to the Adriatic because of this stand-off but the Imperial-Royal Navy did launch a number of damaging raids against the Allied blockading squadrons. Likewise, on the undersea front, for her small size the Austrian u-boat fleet proved extremely effective. In fact, the Austrian u-boats actually had a higher ratio of hits versus torpedoes fired than even the legendary German submarine force did. Another interesting fact is that the top scoring Austrian sub captain was none other than Georg Ritter von Trapp of “The Sound of Music” fame. Similarly, the Imperial and Royal Aviation Troops, despite working under severe hardships, proved themselves extremely capable with about 20 flying “aces” which included such pilots as Julius Arigi with 32 confirmed victories and Godwin Brumowski with 35 confirmed victories.

Considering all of this, it seems quite clear to me that, despite some considerable problems, Austria-Hungary was not an empire destined to collapse in any event. This is not something that should be seen as an inevitable event that would have happened with or without the war. Austria-Hungary had a vibrant social, scientific and artistic life, a growing economy and a respectable military. Of course no one can say for sure what would have happened but I think it is clear that it is at least very possible that without the war Austria-Hungary could have survived, it could have instituted the changes favored by many for “trialism” or a “United States of Greater Austria” and could have carried on very well. All the proper ingredients were there and in the person of either Archduke Franz Ferdinand or Emperor Charles I significant political changes would have been made. Austria-Hungary was not doomed, its collapse was not inevitable and people should not think that it was.

Maria Carolina of Austria, Queen of Naples

One of those royals who was famously converted to conservatism after being confronted with the harsh realities of revolution was Maria Carolina of Austria who was the Queen of Naples. She was born Archduchess Maria Carolina in Vienna, the thirteenth child of the prolific power couple Holy Roman Emperor Francis I and Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. Her godfather was King Louis XV of France and she was said to look the most like her mother who was a very formidable and outstanding woman. Her favorite sibling was her ill-fated sister Marie Antoinette and the two girls got up to such mischief that their mother had to separate them because they were always causing trouble. Empress Maria Theresa, who was a very astute stateswoman, wanted a marriage alliance with the Bourbon Royal Family of southern Italy (the Spanish branch that ruled Naples & Sicily) to keep Austria and Spain allied. Originally it was Archduchess Maria Josepha who was supposed to marry King Ferdinand IV of Naples but when she died of smallpox the duty fell on young Maria Carolina because the only other choice was considered too old.

Maria Carolina was not too happy about this and threw a fit, saying that no good ever came to those who married into the House of Naples. Personal preference, of course, did not come into these things and Maria Carolina and Ferdinand IV were married by proxy on April 7, 1768. When husband and wife met they seemed quite different. Ferdinand was a rather simple man, more comfortable talking to a workingman on the street than elites in the palace. Queen Maria Carolina on the other hand was a very complex and complicated person. She was very kind, very intelligent, curious, generous and compassionate but she could also be imperious and ruthless toward enemies and she knew how to hold a grudge. However, in spite of their problems, the new King and Queen of Naples had 18 children so Maria Carolina was made of tough stuff, though not all of them survived, an army nonetheless. Many people sympathized with her, thinking the king rather crude and it was true that Maria Carolina was often unhappy but she did her duty like the professional royal she was, no matter how upset she would get at her husband eating spaghetti with his fingers in the royal box at the opera.

Particularly after the birth of her son Francis she became extremely influential in Naples and ran the place to large extent. She kept an eye on being a help to Austria but she was also much taken with the fashionable trend of the liberalism of the “Enlightenment”. She employed the Englishman John Acton in reforming the Neapolitan army, finances and he finally became prime minister all amidst gossip that Acton and the Queen were having an affair. She supported the work of many liberal thinkers, artists and so on and even when trouble began brewing in France she was originally supportive of many of the ideals of the revolutionaries. However, that all changed of course when the monarchy was abolished and seeing the results of the ideas she had once championed, she totally reversed herself. It became worse when poor Marie Antoinette was executed and forever after Maria Carolina carried a portrait of her sister with her and vowed to avenge her death. It was due to her influence that her husband put the Kingdom of Naples in the First Coalition of European powers against the French republic.

Of course, things did not go so well and in the wake of hostilities the local revolutionaries in Naples tried to overthrow their monarchy, which they did on the mainland at least, establishing a republic while the King and Queen Maria Carolina had to escape to Sicily to continue their opposition to the revolutionaries. The British Royal Navy helped protect them there and finally the royalist forces were able to retake Naples and Queen Maria Carolina took a leading role in bringing down the republic and meting out strict punishments to the revolutionaries. About 1,000 were charged with treason and 100 ringleaders were hanged or beheaded for their betrayal. Later, under the more able leadership of Napoleon, the French invaded the Kingdom of Naples and once again the King and Queen sailed to Sicily. In 1812 King Ferdinand abdicated, passing the throne to Francis under a regent and Queen Maria Carolina had no more influence and went home to Austria. She died there on September 8, 1814 unable to see the final defeat of France she so desired.

Queen Maria Carolina is an example of many of the “Enlightenment” characters who were shocked to their senses by the French Revolution. They imagined liberal progress occurring under the guidance of wise monarchs and the educated elite of society (such as the Freemasons which she allowed back in Naples after they had been banned before) but of course once the fire was lit nothing could stop it burning out of control and bringing down the world as they knew it. As a result she became as ardent a counterrevolutionary as one could find. She is also an example of what a real royal thoroughbred was expected to be. She never found much personal happiness but it was her duty to be the Queen of Naples and she was a zealous queen just as she did her duty in securing the succession by having plenty of children. She did her job, putting duty first and personal happiness second.

Basil the Embroidered

In hindsight most historians would agree that World War I was the conflict which determined whether monarchy or republicanism would dominate the 20th Century; whether the old dynastic empires would continue or if political ideologies would become the chief method of dividing the world. Had things gone differently then our world would certainly be considerably different, and one way we can glimpse this is by looking at the actions of the Central Powers on the Eastern Front, where Germany and Austria-Hungary were ultimately successful in defeating Imperial Russia and set about re-working the map of Eastern Europe. However, unlike that done by the Allies at Versailles, the remodeling done by Germany and Austria was to be very monarchist in nature, planning for a Kingdom of Finland, a "United Baltic Duchy" of Latvia and Estonia and a Kingdom of Lithuania all reigned over by minor German royals. There was also a short-lived Kingdom of Poland established which would likely have gone to Archduke Karl Stephan von Hapsburg. There was also talk about the possibility of establishing a Kingdom of Ukraine with the crown perhaps going to the Hapsburg Archduke Wilhelm von Austria-Toskana.

Many in the Ukraine had long been dissatisfied with Russian rule and a republican government was quickly declared after the Germans drove out the Russian armies. This was soon replaced by a new government under the rule of a pro-German "Hetman" who ruled as a sort of Cossack military dictator with a cabinet made up of mostly Russian monarchists. The Hetman therefore faced constant accusations of being both too greatly pro-German and pro-Russian. The attention of the Ukrainian monarchists focused mostly on the Archduke Wilhelm who was the third son of the possible Hapsburg King of Poland Archduke Karl Stefan. A graduate of the Maria Theresa Military Academy, he commanded the Ukrainian Legion in World War I, later given the more historical title, "the Ukrainian Sich Rifles". He was fluent in Ukrainian and very familiar with the culture, even taking the name Vasily Vyshyvaniy. His friends began calling him "Basil the Embroidered".

He gained a fairly considerable following and rumors began to abound that he would become the King of the Ukraine in 1918. However, he failed to gain the necessary support of the Germans who were, for the time being, sticking with the Hetman, Pavel Skoropadsky. Certainly, with his undeniable knowledge and love of the country there could have been no better candidate for Ukrainian king among all the royals of the German and Austrian Empires. In fact, talk of his elevation to the throne became so widespread that the Hetman began to worry about his political future, complaining to the German Ambassador and even German Kaiser Wilhelm II himself, demanding that the Hapsburg Archduke be removed from his country. The Kaiser looked into the matter, but the German Ambassador advised that it be best for "Basil the Embroidered" to stay where he was as a way to make sure the Hetman realized he could be replaced if his pro-Russian sentiments became too strong.

It is proof of his character that Archduke Wilhelm remained in the Ukraine even after the retreat of the Germans and continued to serve as a colonel in the Sich Rifles in the hopeless fight against the invading Russian Red Army. Later, a Polish-controlled directory took power but was itself soon overthrown by the Red Army forcing Basil and his men to retreat through Poland back to Germany. He based himself in Munich, setting up a headquarters for Ukrainians who wished to work to drive out the Russians and restore Ukrainian independence. By the early 1920's Basil had gained some financial backing as well as a diverse collection of Ukrainians, Baltic Germans, Cossacks, Poles and even a Romanov claimant to the throne of Russia, Prince Cyril Romanov. There was finally enough resources for Basil to order the formation of a Free Ukrainian army under a Polish-Russian general named Biskupski, even the famous General Erich Ludendorff associated with them on occasion in his on-going denunciations of Bolshevism and the Versailles Treaty.

Unfortunately, Basil came to discover that his supporters were not the sort he had hoped for. Most had their own agendas for advancement and impossibly grandiose dreams of an invasion of the Soviet Union and every other variety of ridiculous schemes. Time and resources were squandered on fantastic schemes rather than on more immediate, and most importantly, reasonably possible goals. It became clear that the causes of the Baltic, Ukraine and Russian monarchists were too diverse to form a well-working, coordinated group. Finally, the German government disbanded his force and after a Russo-German treaty was signed all enemies of the Soviet regime operating in Germany were to be suppressed. Basil lost his funding with General Ludendorff managing to have most of the funds diverted to the growing German Nazi Party.

After living for a time in Spain, Basil moved back to Austria where he kept in constant contact with the Ukrainian exiles and never ceased to work on their behalf, especially when the Red Army began a campaign of persecution in the country. Basil served on an international committee, formed at the request of the Greek-Catholic Episcopate for the Ukraine led by Andrei Sheptytsky. Prior and during World War II Basil was placed under tight surveillance by the Gestapo. When the Red Army re-conquered Eastern Europe Basil was taken and died sometime in the 1950's though the details remain a mystery. Some say he died in Kiev while Austrian POW's assert he was tortured and killed by the Communists. In any event, the last hope for an independent Ukrainian kingdom had died with him. Given all of the oppression, starvation and horrific murder the people of the Ukraine were subjected to after their initial liberation in World War I, we can only imagine how much more happy and peaceful the country could have been as a free monarchy with Allied support.

Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa of Austria

One of my favorite royal figures, and a reigning monarch in all but name, was the Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. During a time when Europe seemed overrun with rulers so taken by the ideas of the “Enlightenment”, who delighted in attacking organized religion, lived lives of sin and debasement and who accepted eagerly every new liberal trend that came along, God provided at least one monarch who set an example for all people in the person of Archduchess Marie Theresia von Habsburg. Born on May 13, 1717, she was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, who had hoped for a son but was never given one. Desperate to secure the succession for his daughter, he spent vast sums of money influencing the crowned heads of Europe to agree to the “Pragmatic Sanction” which they did, promising to recognize Maria Theresa as heiress to the Hapsburg empire and to respect her rights and territory. Sadly, this agreement did not have the effect that the Kaiser hoped and his fortune would probably have been better spent beefing up the Austrian army instead of trusting in the goodwill of his neighbors as Prince Eugene of Savoy had advised him.

In 1740 Emperor Charles VI died, leaving behind a daughter he had never really prepared for the role of Empress and a state that was almost bankrupt. Given the character of the new wave of liberal “enlightened despots”, it is perhaps not surprising that the Emperor was hardly cold in the ground before King Frederick the Great of Prussia broke his word and marched 30,000 men into Silesia. To oppose him, the greatest soldier in Europe, was the 23-year-old Empress Maria Theresa, pious and inexperienced, who could have hardly seemed like a very imposing figure to the famous old warrior. Furthermore, the British were pushing the new Empress to give in to Prussian demands for territory and the French were backing Karl Albrecht, Graf von Bayern (Bavaria) as a claimant to the Austrian throne.

Against all of these enemies, and with her own court lacking in faith in the young woman and urging her to submit to Frederick, Maria Theresa held her ground and turned for support to the Hungarians. In a show of chivalry that should inspire pride in every Magyar heart, the Hungarians defied the odds and rushed to her side with enthusiastic loyalty. Heartened by the support of the fierce and faithful Hungarians, the Empress wrote to the ambassador of Great Britain, “Not only for political reasons, but from conscience and honor, I will not consent to part with much in Silesia. No sooner is one enemy satisfied than another starts up; another, and then another must be appeased, and all at my expense.” If the nations of Europe were determined to take advantage of Maria Theresa, they would certainly have a fight on their hands. During the War of Austrian Succession the Empress gained the grudging respect and recognition of the rest of Europe. Austria became a great power and Maria Theresa’s husband, Franz Stefan von Lothringen (or Francis Stephen of Lorraine) was elected Holy Roman Emperor though Maria Theresa continued to rule as she was simply far more suited to the task than her husband, to whom, nonetheless, she was lovingly devoted.

As Empress consort, Maria Theresa certainly succeeded in securing the succession of the Hapsburg throne, having 16 children, 9 of whom lived to adulthood. She also set an example of moral and devout Catholic leadership when most of the rest of Europe had fallen prey to ideas of nationalistic tyranny, influenced by the “Enlightenment”. Maria Theresa also cared deeply for her people and would visit them in disguise to learn the true state of affairs in her realm and hear the honest opinion of her people. She greatly improved the lives of her people and the economy of Austria by cutting taxes for the poor and, for the first time in Austrian history, taxing the nobility. She built up a strong and efficient military so that Austria would not be caught at a disadvantage again, she improved the justice system, gave the poor the opportunity for an education and allowed peasants to own their own land rather than constantly being at the mercy of the landed aristocracy. She also provided a refuge for the Jesuits when her son, Emperor Joseph II, and even the Church turned against them.

In the Seven Years War (known as the French & Indian War in America) she took Austria in on the side of France and Russia against Portugal, Great Britain and Prussia. Silesia was retaken for a time but a change in leadership in Russia saved Frederick the Great from defeat. Empress Maria Theresa was greatly distressed by the huge losses for France, particularly their eclipse by Britain in North America but Austria at least broke even in the conflict. The military campaigns Maria Theresa undertook were not always unqualified successes but she certainly surprised everyone by her determination and under weaker leadership the Hapsburgs would have certainly lost a great deal more. So courageous and strong-willed was the Austrian empress that she once said, in all honesty, that had she not been constantly pregnant (16 children remember!) she would have taken to the battlefield herself and led her forces in person, which would certainly have been a sight to see. She was a formidable woman in every way.

Aside from going along with Prussia and Russia in the unfortunate partition of Poland, which she did against her better judgment, Empress Maria Theresa stands in sharp contrast to other rulers of her time for her courage, piety and true concern for the welfare of her people. While other “enlightened” government officials in foreign lands ruled with an iron fist, Maria Theresa earned the loyalty of her people through her benevolent policies and by improving their lives. Likewise, while others (we will mention no names) were living lifestyles marked by scandal, murder and debauchery, Maria Theresa set an example of Christian virtue and as a loyal daughter of the Church. All of these rulers, whether Frederick the Great or Catherine the Great, had their own personal talents which cannot be ignored, but Maria Theresa sets an example as one who was able to rule with wisdom and compassion, being both a clever monarch and an example of morality for her people, which is truly the mark of a great leader.

Don Juan of Austria

For me, there’s nothing better than a good old fashioned adventure story, be it in fiction (Hercules to Horatio Hornblower) or in actual history (the Conquistadors, Lord Cochrane, William Walker or Baron von Ungern). One of my favorite historical figures whose life reads like an historical adventure novel was Don Juan of Austria, illegitimate son of an emperor, a savior of Christendom, soldier, sailor and would-be rescuer of a certain damsel in distress. His very name and blood speaks of an earlier Europe before rigid nationalism became all the rage. The son of a German-born mother, a Belgian-born father, inheriting an Austrian name and being raised in Spain. Don John was born in Bavaria, the result of a fling between a singer named Barbara Blomberg and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, who was also King Carlos I of Spain. Shortly after his birth his Hapsburg father sent him to Spain where he essentially grew up Spanish. Being of imperial blood, however, he was given the best education possible, taught French and Latin, history, geography and, of course, the manly arts.

He did not see much of his father until his abdication when he left Brussels to retire to Spain. The former emperor hoped the boy would become a priest, which was not an uncommon expectation for someone in his position. He actually had no idea who his real father was until he was dead and gone and his half-brother, then King Philip II of Spain, told him so. He was not allowed to live at the palace but was taken care of, ranked behind the legitimate members of the Royal Family but ahead of the ranks of the Spanish aristocracy. He was sent to university to further his expected goal of becoming a cleric, but the consecrated life was not the life for Don Juan of Austria. He dreamed of adventure and military glory. When the Knights of St John were enduring their heroic siege on Malta in 1565, Don Juan left Barcelona to join the fleet King Philip was sending to their rescue.

It was the beginning of an illustrious naval career, fighting the Ottoman Turks, masters of the most powerful naval forces in the Mediterranean and advancing with seemingly unbeatable might. In 1566 the King made Don Juan a Knight of the Golden Fleece and in 1568, upon turning 21, his half-brother made him Captain-General of the Spanish naval forces in the Mediterranean. He gained experience and respect in numerous engagements against the Barbary corsairs who plagued Hapsburg shipping along the Spanish and African coasts. For such a swashbuckling figure, with a reputation already as something of a ladies man, it might be tempting to think Don Juan was lacking in concern for more serious matters but such was not the case. Once past his youthful indiscretions he took his religion seriously as well as the political situation facing Christendom and the Hapsburg empire at the heart of it. When his nephew Don Carlos (son of Philip II) turned against his father, Don Juan told his brother of the deranged plan of his son. When Don Carlos died while under arrest, Don Juan was deeply saddened, as he was also at the death of the Queen. The whole situation caused a slight falling out between the two brothers and Don Juan retreated to a monastery to spend time in prayer and sort things out.

However, when Spain was threatened, Don Juan was quick to ride to the rescue as he did in 1569 when a rebellion broke out in Granada amongst the Moorish population there. King Philip gave him command and Don Juan set to work, educating himself on strategy, logistics, siege tactics and so on. He left nothing to chance and showed great care in his preparations for battle. He crushed the rebellion thoroughly and showed such courage, leading his troops at the front with little regard for his own safety, that he became immensely popular with the common soldiers who were inspired by his coolness under fire, heroism and willingness to share the dangers of battle with them. He had started out at sea, gained great fame as a general on land but he would soon be back to sea again where he was to earn his most famous place in history.

Ottoman naval forces were on the advance and southern Europe was shocked when Cyprus (previously a possession of the Republic of Venice) fell to the Turkish forces. Pope Pius V immediately began trying to organize a Christian naval coalition to stop their advance. Finally, a Spanish and Italian fleet of galleys was organized with contingents from Spain, Genoa, Venice, Savoy, Parma, Malta and the Papal States. Don Juan of Austria was given command and sailed out to meet the much larger Turkish fleet at the battle of Lepanto in the Gulf of Corinth in 1571. A seemingly miraculous change in the wind, some better weapons and a lot of heroism combined to give victory to the Christian forces, ending the Turkish threat in the Mediterranean. Don Juan was the hero of Catholic Europe for this daring naval victory and nothing seemed impossible for him.

After continuing his fight against the Turks in the Mediterranean, in 1576 he was appointed to command the Spanish forces in the long, grueling war in the Netherlands. This offered many opportunities for success but was also a terrible appointment too. Supporting the army had proved difficult, the fighting was fierce and the Low Countries had become, in many ways, the epicenter of the Catholic-Protestant religious struggle across northern Europe. He had to assume a disguise just to reach the Netherlands but he had lost none of his zeal and audacity. After crushing the rebels in the Netherlands he planned to lead an invasion of England where he would liberate Mary Queen of Scots, then being held prisoner by her cousin Queen Elizabeth, and, who knows, perhaps marry the widow renowned as such a beauty and rule England, Scotland and Ireland alongside her.

However, that was not to be. He won many battles for the Hapsburg Crown in the Netherlands and Belgium but was hampered by a lack of support from Spain. Worn out and increasingly ill he died of typhus on October 1, 1578 near Namur, Belgium. He was only 31-years-old. Still, the fame he acquired in his short lived earned him a degree of immortality. He had crushed rebel forces in Spain, beat back a Turkish invasion at sea and planned to sail across the Channel to rescue an imprisoned queen; it is no wonder his short life has been the subject of numerous books, plays, poems and so on. He was one of the great heroes of the Catholic countries in Renaissance Europe, rightly credited with saving Italy from Islam and saving Belgium from Protestantism.