Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1916-11-24
UNFRAMED YOUTH
TO RULE AUSTRIA
DEATH AT LAST CLAIMS FRANZ
JOSEPH. EMPEROR FOR
G8 YEARS.

The eyes of Europe are turned now
en- the Archduke Charles Francis ,Jo-
seph, emperor of Austro-Hungary
now that official confirmation has
been given of the death Tuesday of
the aged emperor Franz Josef. one
of the strongest rulers of modern
times. The new ruler of the nation,
whose demands on Serbia precipi-
tated the great war. is 80 years of
age.
The death of Franz Josef ends a
reign longer than any in modern his
tory, except that of Louis XIV. of
France-and Louis, unlike the Haps-
burg sovereign, ascended the throne
when mere child of five.
1t was a reign bathed in blood and
shrouded in tragedies. Franz Josef
ascended the throne when he was IS
wears of age and has therefore held
the scepter of imperial authority for
eS years. He was born August IS,
1880.
Starts and Ends in War.
War marked the beginning of his
reign, as war has marked its close.
Domestic tragedies, murders. sui
c,des. violent deaths have decimated
his family. His dearest relative, as
a child, was his grandfather, man
bowed with sorrows Of having seen
tis own aunt, Marie Antoinette. gull
lotined in Paris.
Five years after he had assembled
the throne he was seriously wounded
BY a would-be assassin. Wars came
next and internal dissensions. Then,
in 1889. his only son. the Crown
Prince Rudolph, died violent death
near Vienna, the details of which,
even after these years. have never
been revealed. It was either a mur-
der or a suicide, with the woman he
loved--probably no one will ever
know.
Nine years later. the empress, his
ccnsort, was assassinated In Geneva.
His favorite niece was next the VIC
tim of the family misfortune. burn
ing to death at Schoenbrunn. The
Duchess d'Alencon, favorite OF his
wife's sisters, died in the charity
bazaar fire in Paris.
Meanwhile, constantly a reminder
Of tragedy, was the Empress Carlotta,
who lost her reason years before
when her husband Emperor Maxmil-
ian of Mexico was executed.
The next domestic tragedy oc-
Cured when the Archduke John. the
emperor's nephew and heir to the
throne, renounced his royalty. took
the name of John Orth, and sailed
away with the woman he loved. The
earth swallowed him up. He has
never been heard from since.
A little later the Archduke Will
lam Francis Charles, another of the
royal family. died from hunting
fall. Then Archduke Ladislaus was
horribly wounded by accidental gun
fire. Last of all, his heir, the Arch
duke Francis Ferdinand, who had
been forgiven for contracting NOR
ganatic marriage, was assassinated,
with his morganatic wife at Serajevo,
Bosnia. It was on the ground that
this assassination was done by Serb
ians that Austria started the great
conflagration Of the European war
by declaring war on Serbia.
The man who will now become
Austria's ruler is known to have had
e good military education and has
achieved some success as military
commander in the great war. He has
lacked any training whatever In
statecraft or diplomacy. Moreover,
he assumes the throne at time when
the strongest of men would have a
task in maintaining the empire or
Austro- Hungary intact and strong.
Democratically inclined, very little
vas known of him up to the time that
ar assassin's bullet murdered the
Archduke Francis Ferdinand. the
heir. in Sarajevo, June 2s. 1914.
Hungary has grown restive under
the Hapsburg yoke. Strong leaders
of men have recently appeared there
They fear swallowing up of Hungary
II. the Teutonic empire and have not
hesitated to express that belief and
work for Hungary as separate
Kingdom.
But immediate results of the re-
moval OF the strong figure OF the
aged emperor are believed to near
an increase in Prusssian domination
OF the central empires.