Franz Joseph I
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- "With united forces!"
- — Franz Joseph, personal motto
- — Franz Joseph, personal motto
Franz Joseph I was the emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1848 to 1916.
Bio[edit | edit source]
The longest-reining emperor in the history of Austria-Hungary (with a reign of some 68 years) and president of the German Confederation (for 16 years) Franz Joseph's rulership was not only marked by its extraordinary length, but also by the fact that he managed to hold most of this giant clusterfuck together in a time of international crisis.
Heir to the Habsburg dynasty, he simultaneously had to deal with the Austrian Revolutions of 1848, as well as simultaneous calls for independence from Hungary and Bohemia. He managed to cool down all three, but failed to assert himself in the subsequent 'German Question' that would see the unification of Germany and its dismissal from the Austro-Hungarian crown in 1871. The Balkan rebellions against Ottoman rule during the mid 1870s resulted in renewed crisis when Austria-Hungary annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina, and a further diplomatic disaster that would eventually result in World War I.
None of this was helped by the string of disaster that marked Franz Joseph's personal life - members of his family had the unpleasant tendency to meet untimely deaths - including the death of his daughter Sophie at only two years old, the assassination of his wife Elisabet "Sissi" of Austria, and the assassination of his son Rudolf, which took place only one year later and served as the spark for WWI. Modern myth turned him into a benevolent, but ultimately fatalistic ruler that had to witness the waning years of a once-great empire.
In 8chanmania[edit | edit source]
Franz Joseph fought in 8chanmania XXIV. He set out to an impressive opening by not only defeating, but also chewing out Mecha Hitler for his catastrophic failure as a leader of the German people. The megalomania of Dr. Robotnik likewise did little to perturb him. It took the resilience of a stupidly tough security guard to take him out during the quarter-finals.
