Excerpt from Francis Joseph and His Times This book needs no prefatory remarks. I am very desirous, however, to acknowledge the unstinted use I have made in it of Doctor Heinrich Friedjung's admirable narrative of the Austro-Prussian struggle for supremacy in Grermany, and his, as yet incomplete, work on the vicissitudes of Austria during the eventful period of 1848-60. As regards the illustrations which appear in the volume, I owe special thanks to Count Albert Mensdorff Pouilly Dietrichstein for a portrait of the Empress Elizabeth, taken shortly after her marriage, as well as for that of his ancestress Countess Therese Dietrichstein. To Count Harrach and his sister-in-law. Countess Alfred Harrach, I am much indebted for an unpublished photograph of the Empresss portrait, painted by Horowitz, under the Emperors direction, for the late Mistress of the Robes, Countess Harrach. I have to thank Herr Max Herzig for permission to copy some illustrations from the sumptuous work entitled Das Buch vom Kaiser, which was brought out by him in the Jubilee year, 1898. For a few details of the Emperor Francis Josephs daily habits and life, I also had recourse to the same highly interesting publication. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1909 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER III FRANCIS II. AUSTERLITZ AND WAGRAM 1801-1809 ALTHOUGH Francis II. is not by any means to be reckoned among faineant sovereigns, he left so much latitude to his chief counsellors that the first and more eventful part of his long reign may conveniently be divided into periods marked by the Prime Ministers to whom he successively entrusted the affairs of his Empire. Count Louis Cobenzl, who now replaced Thugut, was an experienced diplomatist of good old family in Carniola, and in his early days had graduated at the then renowned University of Strasburg, where Talleyrand was one of his fellow-students. He was a protege of Prince Kaunitz, and had held for twenty years the important Embassy at St. Petersburg, where he was in the good graces of the Empress Catherine. He cannot have owed the distinction with which he was treated by that sovereign to the good looks that were so often a passport to her favor, for Hormayr draws a positively repulsive portrait of him. His head, says that gossiping historian, was in shape like that of a cat, his hair whitey-brown, and his complexion of a sickly, pallid hue. He was short and obese, or, as Hormayr prefers to call it, bloated and flabby. Small eyes with a squint in them complete the seductive picture. In spite of these serious drawbacks, he must have been endowed with some special charm; "his ugliness," we are told, "being interesting, and even graceful!" He seems at any rate to have been an accomplished courtier, and was before long admitted to the small and select coterie of the Hermitage, which helped to beguile the Empress's declining years. Cobenzl, whom Meneval in his Memoirs describes as being so Frenchified "qu'il n'avait d'AUemand que le nom" had a pretty turn for vers de societe, ...

Presents a biography of the emperor of Austria as well as a history of Europe during his reign.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

In 1848, 28-year-old Francis Joseph became King of Hungary and Emperor of Austria. He would reign for almost 68 years, the longest of any modern European monarch. Focusing on the life of Emperor Francis Joseph and his family, this book examines their personal relationships against the turbulent background of the 19th century.