Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-11-12

'rlln newspaper, which said ne was
80 and that he had been cordially
, about the city.
Emperor Charles I. of Austria, king
of Hungary, was an unpromising ma
jor in an Austrian infantry regiment
when the shot of the assassin who
killed the archduke, Francis Ferdi-
nand on June 2S, 1914, made him the
heir apparent to the throne in the
Hawks Castle on the banks Of the
River Aar.
Two hundred or more monarchs
Of this historic house Of Hapsburg
ruled for centuries the land Of Mag
bloodshed, tyranny and aggression,
and sleep their last sleep in the won
derful crypt Of the Capauchin church
in Vienna. Emperor Francis Joseph,
the aged predecessor of the youthful
Charles, seeing "the handwriting on
the wall" had hoped to unite the dis
cordant elements among his 50,000,-
isms were complicated by the absorp-
ton by Austria Of the Serbian prov
inces of Bosnia and Herzegovina In
1908.
1t was the Archduke Francis F'erdi-
nand's determination to bring about
a triune empire made up Of Magyar.
Slav and German states, it is general
ly believed, that led to his assassina-
ton in Sarajevo. Francis Ferdinand
feared the dual monarchy might be
ended upon the death of Francis Jo-
seph by the Intervention Of Russia
or Germany and sought thus to fore.
stall it.
Is Only 81 Years Old.
Charles I. was born. August II.
Otto Of saxpny. He married the
Princess zita of the Bourbon house
of Parma (Italian) in 1911 When
the Nunc Dimittis was sung for his
dead granduncle, the Emperor Fran
els Joseph, the only achievements Of
Charles brought to public notice were
that he was keen sportsman, an ex-
he was seen m the parks Of Vienna
wheeling one OF his young dukes inEa
baby perambulator. When he acced-
ed to the throne on December 80.
1916, Austria-Hungary. torn by four
years of war, saw the first faint
CLEAN OF possible peace.
. The course of the new ruler was
regulated largely from Berlin and for
the first six months Of his reign Aus
tria-Hungary was regarded as mere
German state. Hindenburgs sue
| cesses in Galicia in 1916. in which
Charles shared as commander in the
field, gave the young monarch a pres
Austrians to the Central Powers until
the collapse of Bulgaria and Turkey
and the final crash.
Numerous peace overtures and ma
noeuvres characterized the diplomacy
of the dual monarchy after Francis
Josephs death. precipitated doubtless
by bread riots and other outbreaks
throughout Austria Unable to MAIN
tain his pledge to the German en-
peror ito continue the war to the
end" Charles made use of the famous
Dear Sixtus'' letter. an autographed
missive written, in April, 1918, to
Prince Sixtus de Bourbon for trans
which the monarch said Frances
claim Of Alsace-Lorraine was '.iusti-
fed
Indications of Friction.
/ Although the letter was denounced
as a forgery" in Vienna, the foreign
office claiming it had been written by
a French ecclesiastic who had been
acting as confessor, to the Empress
Zita, subsequent events proved Its au-
thenticity. 1t was the first revela-
ton of the break between the German
emperor and his vassal king. Pre-
viously Emperor Charles had indi-
Gated his desire for peace. however,
in speeches before the reichstag. In
December, 1917, he declared his will
Allies if they would guarantee the
integrity Of Austria-Hungary.
Conditions in the dual monarchy
were rapidly growing worse. There
were many cabinet changes and as
sassinations The Magyars, C1echo-
Slavs and other nationalities were
clamoring for constitutional reforms
and autonomous government
Thereafter Charles lot was far
from being a happy one. He was re-
| ported to have refused to send Aus
trian troops to the western battle
front despite the German emperor's
importantly. In every way he en-
deavored to stem the tide Of revolu-
ton which seemed to be rising. He
promised all kinds Of reforms and as
a sop to his discontented subjects.
pardoned "a prisoners awaiting trial
at Sarajevo for high treason.
| On October. 1918, he announced
plans> for the determination Of Aus
tria-Hungary and in, an address to tho
4 throne was in peril" A day or two
later Count Karolyi. leader Of the
Hungarian republicans, announced
the success Of a bloodless revolution
in Budapest and declared Hungary =
free and independent state. Still Ia
ter the German and other Provinces
declared their purpose to become au-
\ tonomous entities and the House of
the Hapsburgz, once the leader Of the
Holy Roman Empire. seemed 70 b
about to collapse like . house Of
cards. S. 4.
WEATHER FORE6AgT.
Wednesday; Glishaay cqader -
4 Nasth Dalkpes: Eaar a1la !;