Answer:
Franz Joseph I of Austria was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary and King of Bohemia, among other titles, from December 2, 1848 until his death. His reign of almost 68 years is the third longest in European history, after Louis XIV of France and John II of Liechtenstein. His personal motto was Viribus Unitis ('With union of forces').
The reign of Francisco José developed in the midst of violent international commotions that persecuted him all his life: they began with the Austrian revolution of 1848 and culminated with the First World War (1914-1918). Liberal ideas and democratic thinking gained ground. As soon as he reached the throne, Francisco José had to deal with these two dissociating forces of his centralized monarchy, so that the first 18 years of his government were characterized by a strong absolutism.
In 1848, the political situation of the European monarchies was desperate. Like other kings, he had to face times of growing nationalism and succeeded in his efforts to keep the Austro-Hungarian Empire together. The advances of the democrats and capitalists on the one hand and of the Germanic nationalists who fought for the independence of Bohemia on the other, cornered the monarch's management, which also had to contain the warlike Serbs who also longed to become independent and leave the empire.
All tried to make the sovereign turn in their favor, but the Emperor always tried to maintain an equidistant position without giving in to any, taking particular interest in maintaining the integrity of the empire. He did not see, however, the situation of weakness in which he left to the central power his pretended dispensability in these serious matters.
