Charles I of Austria
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Blessed Charles I (Karl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Maria von Habsburg-Lothringen) (17 August 1887 – 1 April 1922) (Hungarian: IV. Károly (Károly Ferenc József)) was (among other titles) the last Emperor of Austria, the last King of Bohemia, Hungary and Croatia and Slavonia, and the last monarch of the Habsburg dynasty. He reigned as Charles I as Emperor of Austria and Charles IV as King of Hungary from 1916 until 1918, when he "renounced participation" in state affairs, but did not abdicate. He spent the remaining years of his life attempting to restore the monarchy until his death in 1922.
LifeEarly lifeCharles was born on August 17 1887, in the Castle of Persenbeug in Lower Austria. He was the son of Archduke Otto Franz of Austria (1865–1906) and Princess Maria Josepha of Saxony (1867–1944); he was also a nephew of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Este. As a child, Charles was reared a devout Catholic. In 1911, Charles married Princess Zita of Parma. Charles became heir-presumptive with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, his uncle, in Sarajevo in 1914, the event which precipitated World War I. Charles' reign began in 1916, when his great-uncle, Francis Joseph I died. Charles also became a Generalfeldmarschall in the Austro-Hungarian Army. ReignOn 2 December 1916, he took over the title of Supreme Commander to a whole army from Archduke Frederick. In 1917, Charles secretly entered into peace negotiations with France. Although his foreign minister, Ottokar Czernin, was only interested in negotiating a general peace which would include Germany as well, Charles himself, in negotiations with the French with his brother-in-law, Prince Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma, an officer in the Belgian army, as intermediary, went much further in suggesting his willingness to make a separate peace. When news of the overture leaked in April 1918, Charles denied involvement until the French prime minister Georges Clemenceau published letters signed by him. This led to Czernin's resignation, forcing Austria-Hungary into an even more dependent position with respect to its seemingly wronged German ally.
The Austro-Hungarian Empire was wracked by inner turmoil in the final years of the war, with much tension between ethnic groups. As part of his Fourteen Points, US President Woodrow Wilson demanded that the Empire allow for autonomy and self-determination of its peoples. In response, Charles agreed to reconvene the Imperial parliament and allow for the creation of a confederation with each national group exercising self-governance. However, the reforms quickly spiraled out of control, as the nationalities were now determined to pull away from Vienna at the earliest possible moment. Foreign Minister Baron Istvan Burián asked for an armistice based on the Fourteen Points on October 14, and two days later Charles issued a proclamation transforming Austria into a federal union. However, Secretary of State Robert Lansing replied four days later that the Allies were now committed to the causes of the Czechs, Slovaks and South Slavs (in fact, a Czechoslovak provisional government had joined the Allies on October 14). Therefore, autonomy for the nationalities was no longer enough.
The Lansing note effectively ended any efforts to keep the Empire together. One by one, the nationalities proclaimed their independence, and Charles' political future became uncertain. On October 31, Hungary officially ended the personal union between Austria and Hungary, effectively ending the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Nothing remained of Charles' realm except the Danubian and Alpine provinces, and he was challenged even there by the German Austrian state council. His last prime minister, Heinrich Lammasch, advised him that it was fruitless to stay on. On November 11--the same day as the armistice ending the war--Charles issued a carefully worded proclamation in which he recognized the Austrian people's right to determine the form of the state and "relinquish(ed) every participation in the administration of the State." He also released his officials from their oath of loyalty to him. On November 13, he issued a similar proclamation for Hungary. Although it has widely been cited as an "abdication," that word was never mentioned in either proclamation. [1]. Charles held out hope that he would be returned to the throne of an independent Austria. Instead, the day after he issued his proclamation, German Austria proclaimed itself an independent republic. He then fled to Switzerland, escorted by Edward Lisle Strutt, and continued to pursue regaining power from exile. In 1919, the Austrian parliament passed a law which banished the Habsburgs from Austrian territory unless they renounced all intentions of reclaiming the throne and accepted the status of ordinary citizens.
Encouraged by Hungarian nationalists, Charles sought twice in 1921 to reclaim the throne of Hungary, but failed due to various factors including the lack of support of the Hungarian Regent Miklós Horthy. Horthy's failure to support Charles' restoration attempts is often described as "treasonous" by monarchists. Critics suggest that Horthy's actions were more firmly grounded in political reality than the King of Hungary and his supporters. Charles left Hungary from the city of Baja forever, and later in 1921 the Hungarian parliament formally dethroned the Habsburgs. (For a more detailed account of Charles' attempts to regain the throne, see Charles IV of Hungary's conflict with Miklós Horthy.) DeathCharles died of severe pneumonia (brought on after Charles, an already sickly man, walked into town on a freezing winter's day) on the Portuguese island of Madeira in 1922. His remains except for his heart are still kept on the island, in the Church of Our Lady of the Monte, in spite of several attempts to move them to the Habsburg Crypt in Vienna. His heart, and that of Empress Zita, repose in the Loreto Chapel of Muri Abbey. During his stay on the island, his personal chaplain was Priest Jorge de Faria e Castro. Charles' brief rule is considered by the Roman Catholic Church to have expressed Catholic social teaching, and he created a social legal framework which survives in part to this day. After his failed attempts to regain the Hungarian Crown, he and his Queen were first imprisoned and then exiled to Madeira, together with their children, where they lived in impoverished conditions until his death.[2] Post-mortemImage:Tomb of blessed carl.JPG
Tomb of Charles I
Historians have been mixed in their evaluations of Charles and his reign. One of the most critical has been Helmut Rumpler, head of the Habsburg commission of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, who has described Charles as "a dilettante, far too weak for the challenges facing him, out of his depth, and not really a politician." However, others have seen Charles as a brave and honorable figure who tried as emperor-king to halt World War I. The English writer, Herbert Vivian, wrote:
Furthermore, Anatole France, the French novelist, stated:
All of these various viewpoints give weight to the words of Pope Saint Pius X during an audience with a young Charles: "I bless Archduke Charles, who will be the future Emperor of Austria and will help lead his countries and peoples to great honor and many blessings--but this will not become obvious until after his death." BeatificationCharles has been solemnly declared blessed in the ceremony of beatification by the Roman Catholic Church. The Church has praised Charles for putting his Christian faith first in making political decisions, and for his perceived role as a peacemaker during the war, especially after 1917. During the Mass of Beatification on 3 October 2004, Pope John Paul II stated:
The cause or campaign began in 1949 when testimony of his holiness was collected in the Archdiocese of Vienna. In 1954, he was declared venerable, the first step on the process beatification. The League of Prayers established for the promotion of his cause has created this website. Christoph Cardinal Schönborn of Vienna has been the Church's sponsor for his beatification. Recent milestones
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