Seine Majestät Kaiser Franz II

Richter von Manthofen

Part 1 - Double Death and a surprising speech​

On September 10th 1898 the Italian Anarchist Luigi Lucheni killed the Austrian Empress Elisabeth, wife of Emperor Franz Joseph II.


When Franz Joseph received the telegram informing him of Elisabeth's death, he stared at his secretary and attempted to say something. But his words were only a slur and he fell into the arms of his aide.

Despite the timely arrival of his doctor, only the death of the aging ruler could be determined.

So Austria Hungary lost both his Emperor and his Empress within a few hours.

When the Thronfolger Franz Ferdinand was informed about the tragic deaths he immediately took the train to Vienna and arrived just after midnight.

Within hours he assembled the ministers of War, Finance and Exterior to determine what to do.

Of course there was a funeral to prepare. The entire Austro-Hungarian Empire was in deep mourning; 82 sovereigns and high-ranking nobles followed funeral cortege of the imperial couple on the morning of 17 September to the tomb in the Church of the Capuchins.

Franz Ferdinand was not a popular man, but had clever advisors.

Three months after the funeral he was crowned as Franz II, Emperor of Austria. It was the December 18th 1898 - his 35th Birthday.


After some short celebrations in Vienna he left for Prague where he also was - unlike his predecessor - crowned King of Bohemia a week later on Christmas day.

There it was that he mentioned in his coronation speech that the days of the Double Monarchy were counted and that the Monarchy was to have a strong centralized imperial government. But the nations were to elect local goverments that would handle all things not declared "imperial responsibility". His closing words were: 1867 the Hungarians got their Ausgleich. Now its time that my Slavic People also get theirs. May god help Us to lead you to a bright future.

How would the Hungarians react? - What was really going on?

Because of this political earthquake only a few noticed that during the coronation ball the new Emperor seemed to dance only with two women more than once. His stepmother Maria Theresa and a certain Countess Sophie Chotek...

Assassinato_luigi.jpg
 
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Grey Wolf

Grey Wolf

Donor
This is rather nice!

And short enough that I can read an episode between the work I am supposed to be doing!

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 

Lalli

Sounds very intresting. Anyway, why doesn't Franz Ferdinand take as his regnal name Franz Ferdinand I?
 
Grey Wolf

Grey Wolf

Donor
abc123 said:
And IMO he would be Franz III, not II.
Click to expand...

IIRC the numbering system began anew with Francis II who was renumbered to Francis I of Austria after the establishment of the imperial crown as opposed to the Holy Roman Empire

And Franz Ferdinand let it be known he wanted to be Franz II not Franz Ferdinand I, which would have been anyway an unusual way of doing things - Louis Philippe only did it to separate him in the minds of the French people from Louis XVI and Louis XVIII.

Best Regards
Grey Wolf
 

Richter von Manthofen

Lalli said:
No. In Austria has been only one kaiser who has been Franz. Franz I was last emperor of Holy Roman Empire as name Franz II but as emperor of Austria he was Franz II.
Click to expand...

Franz II of the Holy Roman Empire and Franz I of Austria - So Franz II is correct for Franz Ferdinand as Emperor - its a bit confusing ;)
 

Razgriz 2K9

Banned
Franz II is correct, since when the Austrian Empire replaced the Holy Roman Empire, the title numbers got the big reset.
 

isabella

Very very interesting start and considering who a certain Countess was almost noble enough (very high and ancient nobility, some royal ancestress and one of them, Elizabeth of Habsburg, was the sister of Rudolph I of Germany, the founder of the Habsburg dynasty, but her family was not mediatized)....
 

Richter von Manthofen

Part I - continued​

As was expected by all but the most clueless the speech of the Emperor immediately created a reaction in Hungary - and some neighbours also prepared to take spoils if the opportunity arose.

But the coronation had not been delayed three months without a reason.

When the Hungarian parliament - which was dominated by the magnates and other elites of the country - threatened armed resistance to the announced changes, they found a prepared Emperor.

Officers and senior NCOs loyal the the parliament in Budapest were on christmas leave, while proven monarchists were on duty and not willing to act against the rightful emperor.

Newspapers printed a prepared proclamation throughout the Hungarian part of the empire:

"To our loyal citizens!

We , II Ferenc, consider Hungary an important part of our Empire. But too long a small group of powerful individuals has attempted to gain ever more power and wealth. But this group of individuals has failed to work for the common good of the empire and its citizens.

We have thus decided to abolish the current Hungarian and Austrian parliaments and create a new common imperial parliament. I decree that the first elections for this new parliament are to be held on february 3rd to February 5th throughout the Empire.

The first duty of this parliament will be to determine the rules for regional parliaments.

The right to vote will be expanded greatly compared to the current situation to guarantee that the imperial parliament can represents Our People and make their wjhisheds known to US.

..."

More articles followed detailling the future composition of the Empire (see a later post - not decided - yet) and the details of the voting process. Key element was that all man above 24 had the right to vote and all above 30 could be elected as MP.

Of course this article immediately swayed the Hungarian people - no so the current rulers which lost all hope to gain popular support. Some pointed out that the announcements said nothing about the rights that the parliament would have (in fact not many). But the common man only saw that he could vote for the first time with an equal vote.

Hungary was also not a country that was homogenous. In Croatia and Slavomia support for the Emperor was almost absolute. the Romanians, Slovaks and other minorities throughout Hungary also supported the Emperor.

On January, 2nd it was clear that Hungary would not revolt and the few who had been arrested for treason (because they spoke for armed resistance) would get only light sentences - and most would be free 2 weeks after the election by imperial pardon.

Franz Ferdinand.JPG
 

Richter von Manthofen

Technical Interlude: First Election Results

In the form er Austrain Part of the Monarchy there were 268 memebers of parliament (roughly one for each 100.000 inhabitants).

The election yielded the following results:

Christlich Soziale (Christian Social Party) - 49 seats (conservative, catholic, antisemitic, pro Habsburg)
Deutscher Nationalverband (german nationals) - 42 seats (conservative, pro german, anticatholic)
Polenklub (Poles ;)) - 35 seats (Polish interests, backing the emperor for the time)
deutsche Sozialdemokraten (german social democrats) - 27 seats - needless to describe their program
Böhmische Agrarier (bohemian agrarians) - 15 seats (farmers interests, composed from Bohemians and Moravians)
Ruthenenklub (White russians) - 14 seats
Böhmischer Klub - (Bohemians) - 13 seats (bohemian nationals)
Slowenischer Klub (Slovenians) - 12 seats (slovenian nationals)
Böhmische Sozialdemokraten - 12 seats (bohemian social democrats)

in additions there were 9 other groups with less than 10 seats (among them some slavic, Romanian, Italian groups, some of them social democrats and even a jewish group and 5 "independents"

In addition there were 176 seats for Hungary - but the results are nor in (yet) - and 25 for the Croatia Slavonia for a total of 469 seats. 16 additional seats were reserved for Bosnia and Hercegovina - those latter were filled by officials appointed by the emperor (Bosnia was Annexed in 1908 in OTL, so currently there are no elections there)

BTW the election result mirrors somewhat the OTL 1907 result which had a similar election law)

The "partys" are more along natioal lines instead of ideological (see there are germans bohemian and other social democrats which might cooperate, but this is not guaranteed. The parliamnt is splintered and majorities have to be found for the time being. The ministers are appointed by the emperor and may suggest laws which are then discussed by the parliament. The parliamentarians may also suggest their own law proposals, but usually they don't find a majority to eben be discussed and even then are more often turned down than not. As the parliamnt only decides on "general" rules that are to be made into separate "local" laws in the different "Kronländer" of the empire. (the local parliaments rage from 176 (Hungary - are the same as the elected persons for the common parliament) to 20 in Salzburg (smallest Kronland, with sending only 3 parlamentarians to Vienna)

You might wonder, but the Hungarians are underrepresented, they have one seat for roughly 110.000 inhabitants (though Croatians need only 100.000 ;))
 

Richter von Manthofen

Technical Interlude - Election Final Result

Christlich Soziale -66
Magnatenpartei (Hungarian Nationalists) -56
Deutscher Nationalverband -44
Verband der Südslawen (inklusive Kroaten/Including Croats) - 37
Polenklub - 35
deutsche Sozialdemokraten - 27
Rumänenklub - 26
ungarische Kronloyalisten (Hungarians supporting the Monarchy) - 25
Ruthenenklub - 18
slowakischer Klub (slovaks) - 17
böhmische Agrarier - 15
Serben (serbs) - 14
Böhmischer Klub - 13
Slowenischer Klub - 12
böhmische Sozialdemokraten - 12
Ohne Klub (independents) - 10
Böhmisch katholisch-nationaler Klub (bohemian catholics) - 9
ungarische Sozialdemokraten (hungarian social democrats) - 9
böhmisch nationalsoziale radikalfortschrittliche und staatsrechtliche Abgeordnete (honestly thats the name ;)) - 7
Italienische Volkspartei (italian nationals) - 5
Polnische Sozialdemokraten (polish social democrats) - 4
liberale Italiener (liberal italians) - 3
italienische Sozialdemokraten (istalian social democrats) - 3
jüdischer Klub (jews) - 2
 

abc123

Banned
Richter von Manthofen said:
Technical Interlude: First Election Results

In the form er Austrain Part of the Monarchy there were 268 memebers of parliament (roughly one for each 100.000 inhabitants).

The election yielded the following results:

Christlich Soziale (Christian Social Party) - 49 seats (conservative, catholic, antisemitic, pro Habsburg)
Deutscher Nationalverband (german nationals) - 42 seats (conservative, pro german, anticatholic)
Polenklub (Poles ;)) - 35 seats (Polish interests, backing the emperor for the time)
deutsche Sozialdemokraten (german social democrats) - 27 seats - needless to describe their program
Böhmische Agrarier (bohemian agrarians) - 15 seats (farmers interests, composed from Bohemians and Moravians)
Ruthenenklub (White russians) - 14 seats
Böhmischer Klub - (Bohemians) - 13 seats (bohemian nationals)
Slowenischer Klub (Slovenians) - 12 seats (slovenian nationals)
Böhmische Sozialdemokraten - 12 seats (bohemian social democrats)



You might wonder, but the Hungarians are underrepresented, they have one seat for roughly 110.000 inhabitants (though Croatians need only 100.000 ;))
Click to expand...

Bolded:
Have you forgot Croats from Dalmatia and Istra?


About Hungarians and 110 000, how's that? Aren't all nationalities in Empire equal?
 

abc123

Banned
Richter von Manthofen said:
Technical Interlude - Election Final Result

Christlich Soziale -66
Magnatenpartei (Hungarian Nationalists) -56
Deutscher Nationalverband -44
Verband der Südslawen (inklusive Kroaten/Including Croats) - 37
Polenklub - 35
deutsche Sozialdemokraten - 27
Rumänenklub - 26
ungarische Kronloyalisten (Hungarians supporting the Monarchy) - 25
Ruthenenklub - 18
slowakischer Klub (slovaks) - 17
böhmische Agrarier - 15
Serben (serbs) - 14
Böhmischer Klub - 13
Slowenischer Klub - 12
böhmische Sozialdemokraten - 12
Ohne Klub (independents) - 10
Böhmisch katholisch-nationaler Klub (bohemian catholics) - 9
ungarische Sozialdemokraten (hungarian social democrats) - 9
böhmisch nationalsoziale radikalfortschrittliche und staatsrechtliche Abgeordnete (honestly thats the name ;)) - 7
Italienische Volkspartei (italian nationals) - 5
Polnische Sozialdemokraten (polish social democrats) - 4
liberale Italiener (liberal italians) - 3
italienische Sozialdemokraten (istalian social democrats) - 3
jüdischer Klub (jews) - 2
Click to expand...

Why name Sudslawische Verband for MPs from Croatia?
Because if Slovenes and Serbs have their own clubs, there's no need for South Slavic club, you should name it Croatian club.
 

DanF

Man a working coalition is going to be a pain to form from that, but then again that might be "as intended." If Franz II wants the centralized state to be actually centralized cause parliament will always be divided.

Franz II has some advantages, the economic growth of A-H is the fastest in Europe at the time (It could potentially be even better growth with a more centralized state creating uniform & not heavy handed regulations). He has a decade til the OTL Bosnian Crisis (though he controls when this may happen), the House of Obrenovic still rules Serbia (so it is an ally), and the Balkans Wars are about a decade and half in the future (if they still happen). Lastly, railroad uniformity/construction and military spending would be light years better without Hungarian hindrance.

Good Luck
 
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