Charles I of Austria
Charles I was the last Emperor of Austria and, as Charles IV, the last King of Hungary, reigning for two years while the empire he inherited disintegrated. Born in 1887, a great-nephew of Franz Joseph, he was not expected to rule; he became heir in June 1914 when Franz Ferdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo, the event that began the war he would inherit. He married Zita of Bourbon-Parma in 1911 and served on the Italian and Eastern fronts. He succeeded Franz Joseph in November 1916, aged twenty-nine, with the war more than two years old and the monarchy exhausted. He tried to end it. In 1917, through Zita's brother Prince Sixtus, who was serving in the Belgian army, he opened secret negotiations with France, indicating willingness to support French claims to Alsace-Lorraine. When the correspondence became public in April 1918 he denied it, was humiliated, and left Austria-Hungary wholly dependent on Germany. He also banned duelling, flogging and the use of poison gas by his forces, and created a ministry of social welfare. He recalled parliament and offered federalisation in October 1918, far too late; the nationalities declared independence within weeks. On 11 November 1918 he renounced participation in state affairs without abdicating, and went into exile in Switzerland. He twice attempted to reclaim the Hungarian throne in 1921, and the second attempt led to fighting and his deposition by the Hungarian parliament under Admiral Horthy. He was exiled to Madeira, where the family lived in a damp unheated house on very little money. He died of pneumonia in April 1922, aged thirty-four. He was beatified by the Catholic Church in 2004.
- Lived: 1887 CE – 1922 CE
- Nationality: Austrian
- Roles: emperor, king
