BLESSED CHARLES – THE LAST EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA

BLESSED CHARLES – THE LAST EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA, KING OF HUNGARY AND BOHEMIA

 

On June 28, 2022, the post office of the Portuguese island of Madeira issued a series of stamps commemorating the centenary of the death of Charles I of Habsburg.

 

 

 

 

Charles of Habsburg, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary and Bohemia, was born in Persenbeug, on 17 August 1887. He began his military career at a very young age and, stationed with provincial garrisons, lived at a distance from the throne. As Crown Archduke, he succeeded Franz Joseph at the height of the First World War, and was the only Head of State of a belligerent power to welcome  Pope Benedict XV’s peace initiatives.

 

 

Between October and November 1918, the fall of his empire began. Abandoned by all, he was forced to withdraw from government executives indefinitely. He refused to renounce the throne, believing this to be a dereliction of duty. He lived with his family in Eckartsau Castle, near Vienna, under close surveillance, and left for Switzerland on 24 March 1919. On 3 April that year, he was stripped of all his assets.

The last Austro-Hungarian Emperor, Charles I and his wife, Empress Zita of Bourbon arrived in Funchal, in exile, on 19 November 1921, aboard the British warship Cardiff. They were initially lodged at Vila Vitória, on Estrada Monumental, and later at Quinta do Monte. From the outset, the Emperor won over the people of Madeira, who called him the ‘Holy King’. He was often accompanied by his children, in whom he instilled a love for the Catholic faith, for peace and for the people. He got close to locals, always exuding friendliness and kindness, sharing the little he had with the poor who knocked at his door.

 

He died with a reputation for holiness, on 1 April 1922, and his body was buried at the church of Nossa Senhora do Monte, in Funchal. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II on 3 October 2004.

Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints, said of him: “He served the people with justice and charity; he strove for peace, helped the poor and committed himself to a spiritual life”.

A hundred years after his death, we remember this man of peace who became the first saint to live and die in Madeira, with pilgrims from all around the world flocking to his tomb. A good man. A saint.

The Last Emperor Karl I and the Collapse of the Austrian Empire

 

Karl I, also known as Charles I, ascended to the throne of Austria-Hungary in November 1916 during a critical period of World War I. He succeeded his great-uncle, Emperor Franz Joseph I, who had reigned for nearly 68 years. Karl, born on August 17, 1887, was a relatively young and inexperienced leader when he became emperor, but he quickly sought to bring about significant changes in the hopes of preserving the empire.

         

        

The Austro-Hungarian Empire, a multi-ethnic conglomerate, was already in decline by the time Karl I took power. The empire consisted of numerous ethnic groups, including Germans, Hungarians, Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Ukrainians, Romanians, Croats, Serbs, Italians, and others, each with its own nationalistic aspirations. The empire's dual monarchy system, established in 1867, created a complex and often inefficient governance structure, with Austria and Hungary as separate entities under a single monarch.

World War I further exacerbated the empire's internal tensions. The war drained resources, caused widespread suffering, and intensified nationalist movements within the empire. Karl I inherited a situation where the empire was crumbling from within, with various ethnic groups pushing for greater autonomy or complete independence.

       

      

      

 

 

 

 

Karl I recognized the need for reform and sought to address the empire's internal divisions. He attempted to negotiate peace with the Allies, recognizing that continuing the war would only further destabilize the empire. In 1917, he made secret peace overtures to France through his brother-in-law, Prince Sixtus of Bourbon-Parma, but these efforts were unsuccessful. The Allies demanded Austria-Hungary's total defeat, and Germany, Austria-Hungary's primary ally, rejected any separate peace.

Domestically, Karl I attempted to decentralize the empire by offering greater autonomy to the various nationalities within the empire. He proposed transforming the empire into a federal state with more power given to its constituent nations. However, these efforts came too late. The nationalist movements had gained too much momentum, and the empire's ethnic groups were no longer satisfied with mere autonomy; they sought full independence.

 

   

         

The final collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire came in the wake of military defeat in World War I. By late 1918, the empire was disintegrating rapidly. Czechoslovakia declared independence on October 28, 1918, followed by the establishment of the State of Slovenes, Croats, and Serbs on October 29. Hungary declared its independence on November 1, and Austria itself proclaimed itself a republic on November 12, 1918.

Karl I, realizing that his empire was beyond saving, did not formally abdicate but instead issued a proclamation on November 11, 1918, in which he renounced participation in state affairs. He hoped that by stepping aside, the empire might be preserved in some form, but this was not to be. The empire dissolved, and its various territories either became independent nations or were absorbed by neighboring countries.

 

    

 

The German-speaking regions of the former empire sought to establish their own state, Deutschösterreich. On October 21, 1918, representatives of these regions met in Vienna and proclaimed the creation of the Republic of German-Austria (“Republik Deutschösterreich”), which aimed to unite all German-speaking Austrians within the new state. However, the victorious Allied powers, particularly France and Italy, opposed the unification of Austria and Germany. This opposition was formalized in the Treaty of Saint-Germain, signed on September 10, 1919, which officially ended the war for Austria. The treaty recognized the Republic of Austria (no longer called Deutschösterreich) as a separate state and explicitly forbade any future union with Germany without the consent of the League of Nations.

 

After the collapse of the empire, Karl I went into exile in Switzerland. He made two unsuccessful attempts to regain the Hungarian throne in 1921, but these efforts failed, and he was forced into permanent exile. Karl I spent his final years on the island of Madeira, where he died on April 1, 1922, at the age of 34. His death marked the end of the Habsburg dynasty's rule over Austria-Hungary, a dynasty that had lasted for nearly 400 years.