page_title: Franz Joseph I of Austria
section_title: Relationship with Franz Ferdinand
hierarchical_section_title: Franz Joseph I of Austria / Family / Relationship with Franz Ferdinand
caption_attribution_description: English: Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria, King of Hungary, and his grand nephew and heir to the throne Archduke Otto von Habsburg.Français&#160;: L'empereur François-Joseph 1er d'Autriche et son petit-neveu Otto de Habsbourg日本語: オーストリア皇帝フランツ・ヨーゼフ1世とオットー大公。
context_page_description: Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, Croatia, and Bohemia, and monarch of other states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from 2 December 1848 until his death. From 1 May 1850 to 24 August 1866 he was also President of the German Confederation. He was the longest-reigning ruler of Austria and Hungary, as well as the fourth-longest-reigning monarch of any country in European history.
  In December 1848, Emperor Ferdinand abdicated the throne at Olomouc, as part of Minister President Felix zu Schwarzenberg's plan to end the Revolutions of 1848 in Hungary. This allowed Ferdinand's nephew Franz Joseph to accede to the throne. Largely considered to be a reactionary, Franz Joseph spent his early reign resisting constitutionalism in his domains. The Austrian Empire was forced to cede its influence over Tuscany and most of its claim to Lombardy–Venetia to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia, following the Second Italian War of Independence in 1859 and the Third Italian War of Independence in 1866.
context_section_description: Archduke Franz Ferdinand became heir presumptive (Thronfolger) to the throne of Austria-Hungary in 1896, after the deaths of his cousin Rudolf (in 1889) and his father Karl Ludwig (in 1896). The relationship between him and Franz Joseph had always been a fairly contentious one, which was further exacerbated when Franz Ferdinand announced his desire to marry Countess Sophie Chotek, a match that was out of the question in the mind of the emperor, as Sophie was merely of nobility as opposed to being of dynastic rank.
  Although the emperor received letters from members of the imperial family throughout the fall and winter of 1899 importuning him to relent, Franz Joseph stood his ground. He finally gave his consent in 1900; however, the marriage was to be morganatic, and any children of the marriage would be ineligible to succeed to the throne. The couple were married on 1 July 1900 at Reichstadt. The emperor did not attend the wedding, nor did any of the archdukes. After that, the two men disliked and distrusted each other.
  Following the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and Sophie in 1914, Franz Joseph's daughter, Marie Valerie, noted that her father expressed his greater confidence in the new heir presumptive: his grandnephew Archduke Charles. The emperor admitted to his daughter, regarding the assassination: "For me, it is a relief from a great worry."
caption: The emperor and his great-grandnephew Otto von Habsburg, in 1914
exif: {"Image Software": "Google", "Image ExifOffset": "46", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "816", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1137"}