Fall of the Habsburgs 04 01 2014 The Habsburgs went into a decline and the decline sped up into the 19th century 1835 Ferdinand became the ruler of Austria purely by hereditary succession Ethnically diverse 1848 Revolutions throughout Europe and the lands of Austria Germans largest minority Hungarians Poles Czechs Slovaks Ruthenes Along with religious groups None of them being a majority just large minorities Don t have a lot in common do not like each other very much Common trait tradition of living under Habsburg rule Austria Habsburg empire almost exploded Held together and clear that Ferdinand had to go So his 18 year old nephew Franz Josef was made emperor Ruled until death in 1916 Longest living serving monarch after Louis Marries an Elizabeth of Germany o Does a lot of traveling only has one child o Killed by an anarchist K Von Metternich 1809 1848 has to go as Foreign Minister well F Zu Schwarzenberg takes over 1852 While getting ready for a white tie affair he dies from a stroke Almost immediately Austria will be confronted by a series of test 1854 Crimean War Russia goes to war against Turkey Great Britain and France help turkey Russia expects Austria to help and they do even though it was a mistake Minister of the Interior Alexander Bach takes over Italian crisis in 1859 War with Bismarck in 1866 Austrians are doing badly Franz Josef and Elizabeth have a son Rudolf Marry him off to a Belgian princess very dull Meets 17 year old Maria Vetsera her nickname was The Turf Goddess o Rudolf asked her How would you like to never be forgotten January of 1889 they committed suicide together Heir to the throne is now a cousin Franz Ferdinand Despised by Franz Josef Married not a German princess but a Czech commoner Sophie Sarajevo Die side by side assassinated in 1914 Austria had no power in Italy no influence in Germany Clear they had to do something different 1867 Ashleigh o Division of the empire of government purposes o Signed in 1867 changed government of Austria so that it was divided north and west governed by Germans east and south by Hungarians Germans and Hungarians ruled over other ethnic groups referred to them as barbarians For war and international trade emperor was sin charge of everything New prime minister Anton Schmerling Tried to balance ethnic groups Balkan Peninsula between Austria Hungary and Greece Various Slavic groups who are slowly winning their independence Most aggressive of them Serbia o Slavic o Saw Russia as a big brother o Dated back into the 1100s middle ages o Wanted to create a country made up of all people who spoke Serbo Croatian Language of south Slavs Serbia Croatia Macedonia Montenegrins Bosnia Herzegovina Slovakia 1878 Austria Hungary gained the right to occupy but not annex Bosnia Herzegovina enormous progress 1908 Austria Hungary annexes B H Even farther off limits for Serbs Serbia tries to conquer everything round it in the Balkans and makes Serbia and Austria are both bigger and more powerful Franz and Sophie go far away from Vienna so that he can do whatever he wants regardless of his wife s previous social class Black Hand Trained assassins terrorists Headed to Seriaivo to assassinate Franz and Sophie in 1914 From the beginning it was clear that Serbia was involved with this Austria Hungary has to retaliate but Russia is the big brother of Serbia If they attack Serbia Russia will defend Serbia Hitler goes to Vienna to study art with the ideas of anti Semitism and with the idea that Germans are right and everybody else is wrong 04 01 2014 04 01 2014