Question

Who was Franz Joseph? How did his interactions with the Serbs contribute to the beginnings of WWI?

Answer 1

Answer:

Franz Joseph was Emperor of Austria from 1848 and King of Hungary from 1867 until his death in 1916.

He ascended the throne in Austria since his uncle, Ferdinand I of Austria, abdicated as a result of the unrest in 1848. His father had already relinquished the right to the throne, after pressure from his wife, Sofia, who considered their son better suited.

World War I arose, among other causes, as a result of the internal instability of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The constant tension between the central power and the separatist minorities (Czechs, Serbs, Italians and Romanians) led to a multinational conflict within the Empire, which could not be less exploited by its external enemies. In addition, Franz Joseph allowed the military leaders led by Count Conrad von Hötzendorf (supporter of a preventive war with Serbia) to direct the imperial policy in a hostile and warmongering way towards the menacing Serbia, supported by Russia, which with its nationalist aspirations put the stability and unity of the Empire is in danger.

The hatred of Serbian separatists for the annexation of Bosnia-Herzegovina led to the murder of Archduke Franz Ferdinand (nephew of Franz Joseph I and imperial heir) and his wife, Sofia von Chotek, in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914 at the hands of the young Serbian nationalist student Gavrilo Princip, a member of a nationalist group known as the Black Hand, who acted with impunity from Serbia with Russian funding.