Austria: Franz Joseph I and World War I

On Tuesday I got five postcards from my recent trip to Vienna.

One of them shows the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I. Franz Joseph became the Emperor of Austria in 1848 at the age of 18 after his uncle Ferdinand I abdicated in the course of the Revolutions in the Austrian Empire. In 1854 he married Elisabeth "Sisi", the duchess of Bavaria. During his life he had to suffer many strokes of fate. His first child Sophie died in 1857, his brother Maximilian was executed in Mexico in 1867, his only son Rudolf committed suicide in 1889, Sisi was killed in 1898 and his nephew and the heir apparent Franz Ferdinand was assassinated in 1914 in Sarajevo. Although he did not want a war he wanted to demonstrate power against the Kingdom of Serbia and agreed to an ultimatum. During World War I the German Empire supported the Austro-Hungarian Empire, but Italy, the other member of the Triple Alliance, first remained neutral and later fought alongside the Triple Entente. For the Triple Entente an aim was the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. After 68 years on the throne Franz Joseph I died in 1916 in Schönbrunn Palace. 

Stamps:
Centenary of the Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (whole set from souvenir sheet) (issued 28-06-2014)
Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie of Hohenberg were killed on the 28th June 1914 in the Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip, a member of Mlada Bosna. Although Franz Ferdinand was not very popular, the Austro-Hungarian government used the assassination as reason for an intervention in the Kingdom of Serbia. After the Austro-Hungarian Empire got support ensured by the German Empire they gave the Kingdom of Serbia an unacceptable ultimatum. Meanwhile the Kingdom of Serbia got support ensured by its protecting power, the Russian Empire. Because of the abandonment of some of the points in the ultimatum the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on the Kingdom of Serbia on the 28th July 1914. This led after a few days because of the European alliances to the World War I.

In Vienna I also bought two others World War I related cards.

One of them shows the car used by Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife in Sarajevo. It is shown in the Sarajevo Room of the Museum of Military History in Vienna. 

The other card comes also from the Museum of Military History and shows a tank cupola from the Siege of Przemyśl.
Przemyśl in today's Poland was besegied by Russian troops during World War I. First Przemyśl was besegied from the 24th September to the 11th October 1914 and then for 133 days from the 9th November 1914 onwards. The Siege of Przemyśl was the largest siege of World War I and ended with a defeat of the Austro-Hungarian troops.