Franz II

The son of Archduke Leopold, the future Emperor Leopold II , and Maria Louis of Spain, daughter of Charles III , the King of Spain.

Childhood spent in Florence; from 1784, he was brought up in Vienna at the court of his uncle, Joseph II , who considered him to be a very capable and very stubborn youth. In 1788 he married Elizabeth Wilhelmina, Princess of Württemberg.

In the war with the Turks discovered personal courage; in the campaign of 1789 he was even commander in chief, but only nominally; in fact, it was led by Field Marshal Loudon .

After the death of Joseph II (February 20, 1790), Franz, before his father Leopold arrived in Vienna (March 12), was the regent of the state; at the head of the government was still Kaunitz . In 1791, he was present at the Pilnitsa congress of sovereigns, which developed a plan of action against the French revolution ; here he became close with the Prussian crown prince, subsequently King Frederick William III . All the major events of his life Franz had the habit of detailing in diaries.

On March 1, 1792, the death of Leopold II called him to the throne of Austria; thereafter, he was elected emperor, and was crowned king on July 14 in Frankfurt am Main; he was also crowned by the Hungarian crown in Ofen and the Bohemian in Prague. During these coronations, Franz discovered a great love of simplicity and a desire for economy, which later turned into stinginess.

More Leopold II, in February 1792, concluded a treaty of alliance with Prussia against France; in April, Franz began the war and led it not without perseverance, as the monarch of both Austria and the Holy Roman Empire, even after Prussia concluded a separate peace with France in Basel (April 5, 1795). In 1794, Franz went to the army, which after that won two minor victories with Kato and Landrecy, attributed to his presence. After an indecisive battle of Tournai, in June 1794, Franz returned to Vienna. The victories of General Bonaparte in Italy forced Franz to unfavorable peace in Campoforio (October 17, 1797), according to which Austria lost the Netherlands and Lombardy, but received Venice, Istria and Dalmatia.

With the third section of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1795), Austria received Krakow and part of Malaya Poland between Pilica, Vistula and Bug, part of Podlasie and Mazovia, with a total area of ​​47 thousand km², and a population of 1.2 million people.

In 1799, Franz joined the second coalition (with Russia and Britain) against France, but the defeats at Marengo and Hohenlinden forced him to agree to the extremely difficult for Austria Luneville world .

When Napoleon obviously began to strive for the proclamation of France as an empire, then even earlier than it took place, Franz declared himself emperor of Austria ( August 11, 1804 ). By that time, Austria was the core of the Habsburg monarchy, and the German states were virtually independent of the emperor.

In 1805, he happily joined the Third Coalition of Russia , Sweden and England against France . The approach of the French to Vienna led him to flee from there, first to Pressburg , then to Brunn , then to the military camp in Olmutz , leaving the capital to the French. On September 23, the French occupied Vienna, and on September 29, Franz entered into peace negotiations with them, without ceasing, however, military operations. On December 2, 1805, the famous Austerlitz Battle of the Three Emperors took place , in which the Emperor Franz took a personal part, who turned out to be just as little able to understand the strategic considerations of Napoleon as his generals did. On December 26, 1805, he concluded the Presburg Peace , according to which he had to sacrifice Tyrol and Venice . On August 6, 1806, he abdicated the crown of the Holy Roman Empire.

The damage of Austria in the last war was so heavy that Franz was not able to take part in the new alliance of Prussia with Russia and the war of 1806-107 , despite the fact that his hatred of France and of Napoleon, as the bearer of revolutionary principles, did not diminished. He found an opportunity to satisfy this feeling in 1809, for the fourth time declaring war on France ( War of the Fifth Coalition ), but the defeat at Wagram forced him to conclude Schönbrunn (Vienna) peace (October 14, 1809), according to which Austria lost Illyria and reached its apogee misfortunes.

Personally, Franz suffered another humiliation: Napoleon demanded the hand of his daughter Marie-Louise , and Franz had to agree to this relationship with Napoleon , whom he considered a simple adventurer. Franz looked at this marriage as a great sacrifice to the fatherland, but the country's political situation did not improve. After personal negotiations with Napoleon in Dresden , in May 1812, Franz was forced to send his troops against Russia ; but in July 1813 he joined the sixth coalition of the Allies, who fought with Napoleon. In the first Parisian world, he received back most of the lost lands.

From 1815 until the death of Franz in Austria dominated the world, interrupted only in 1821 by uprisings in Italy, which were relatively easily suppressed.

Austrian politics, led by Metternich at this time, was a policy of extreme reaction both inside and outside Austria (especially in Italy). Inside was dominated by a harsh police system; press and all other manifestations of public opinion were shy to the last extreme; espionage was encouraged in the most diligent manner. Franz himself was most interested in political crimes cases; he had prison plans, took care of all the details of political prisoners' lives, ordered them to be transferred from one prison to another, trying to ensure that no political offense was left without retribution. The regime created or at least strengthened by him was distinguished by extremely petty cruelty (for a description of his and Franz's personal role, see “Miei prigioni” (“My dungeons”) Silvio Pellico and the additions of Maroncelli and Andrian to them). In foreign policy, Franz fully stood guard over the Holy Alliance .

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  First wife, Elizabeth of Württemberg

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  The second wife, Maria Theresia of Sicily , the mother of his children

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  Third wife, Maria Ludovika Modenskaya

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  Fourth wife, Charlotte Augusta of Bavaria

Despite cruelty and pettiness in relations with his opponents, Franz wanted to be considered a kindly heartfelt man, performing only heavy duty when imposing punishments; in his treatment of people, he had the appearance of patriarchal simplicity; fluent in many languages, he willingly spoke to the common people in the Viennese folk dialect.

In 1790, Franz's first wife, Elizaveta of Württemberg , died; after 7 months he married Maria Theresia of Sicily , who bore him 13 children, between them Ferdinand , later the emperor, and Marie-Louise , Napoleon's spouse. In 1807 she died too; after 8 months, Franz married the third time to Maria Louis Beatrice, Princess of Modena , who died in April 1816. In November of the same year, he married for the fourth time Carolina-Augusta , daughter of King Maximilian-Joseph of Bavaria , divorced wife of the Crown Prince, later King William I of Württemberg . The last two marriages, as well as the first, remained childless. Despite the speed of new marriages, Franz was considered a good family man and, apparently, loved all his wives. He erected monuments in Vienna , Prague , Graz and Franzensbad ( Františkovy Lázně ).

1. Elizabeth of Württemberg (1767-1790) . Since 1788.
   1. Louis Elizabeth (1790–1791)
2. Maria Theresa of Bourbon-Neapolitan (1772-1807). Since 1790.
   1. Maria Louise ( 1791 - 1847 ), in the first marriage with Napoleon Bonaparte , in the second with Count Neipperg , in the third with Count Bombel;
   2. Ferdinand I ( 1793 - 1875 ), Emperor of Austria;
   3. Maria Leopoldina ( 1797 - 1826 ), married to Emperor Pedro I of Brazil;
   4. Maria Clementine ( 1798 - 1881 ), married to her uncle Leopold, Prince of Salerno ;
   5. Maria Carolina ( 1801 - 1832 ), married to Friedrich Augustus II , Prince of Saxony;
   6. Franz Karl ( 1802 - 1878 ), married to Sofia of Bavaria ;
   7. Maria Anna ( 1804 - 1858 ), died unmarried.
3. Maria Louis of Modena (1787-1816). Since 1808
   1. No kids
4. Carolina Augusta of Bavaria (1792-1873). Since 1816
   1. No kids

• Order of the Golden Fleece
• Military Order of Maria Theresa , large cross
• Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen , a large cross
• Austrian Order of Leopold , a large cross
• Order of the Iron Crown 1st Class
• Army Cross 1813/14
• Order of Pedro I (1827, Brazil)
• Order of the Garter (UK)
• Order of St. Joseph , a large cross ( Grand Duchy of Tuscany )
• Order of the Elephant (Denmark)
• Order of St. Januarius ( Kingdom of the Two Sicilies )
• Order of St. Ferdinand and Merit , large cross (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies)
• Triple Order (Portugal)
• Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew Pervozvanny (01 (13) .03.1826, Russia) ^[4]
• Order of St. Alexander Nevsky (01 (13) .03.1826, Russia)
• Order of the Legion of Honor , a large cross (1811, France)
• Order of the Holy Spirit (France)

• Hormayr . Kaiser Franz und Metternich. - Leipzig , 1848.
• de: Hermann Meynert . Kaiser Franz I. - B., 1871–73.
• Ad. Beer . Leopold II, Franz II und Katharina II. - Leipzig, 1874.
• Eduard von Wertheimer . Die drei ersten Frauen des Kaisers Franz. - B., 1893.
• Eugen Guglia. Kaiserin Maria-Ludovica. - B., 1894.

• Franz II // Encyclopedic dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron : in 86 tons (82 tons and 4 extra). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
• Franz II - an article from the Krugosvet encyclopedia