Who was the first Emperor of Austria?
On August 11th, 1804, the the Austrian Empire was founded
Francis II (German: Franz II., Erwählter Römischer Kaiser) (12 February 1768 – 2 March 1835) was the last Holy Roman Emperor, ruling from 1792 until 6 August 1806, when he dissolved the Holy Roman Empire after the decisive defeat at the hands of the First French Empire led by Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz. In 1804, he had founded the Austrian Empire and became Francis I (Franz I.), the first Emperor of Austria (Kaiser von Österreich), ruling from 1804 to 1835, so later he was named the one and only Doppelkaiser (double emperor) in history.
What are your thoughts on this subject?
11 Comments
Charlie Harding
Francis II became Francis I. Author of the question added Joseph to have an out. I call BS. He tricked 90% of the people and will now run for the democrat nomination for president in 2020. Should do well.
davidgrimsrud
I spent 2 weeks in Austria, so I learned a lot of the history
Albeck1994
Romi , where in the explanation does it even mention Franz Joseph.
Albeck1994
Barbara Toms, no he was the nephew of Francis 1
Albeck1994
Cory Ledwitch, no his predecessor was Francis 1 you need to recheck your facts
Marilyn Lindsay Cotter-Tucker
Cory Ledwitch, that was what I thought .
Janice Fish
Royalty is too confusing
Lorna Lake
Francis II feared for the future of the Holy Roman Empire and wished to maintain his and his family's Imperial status in the event that the Holy Roman Empire should be dissolved. Therefore, on 11 August 1804 he created the new title of "Emperor of Austria" for himself and his successors as heads of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine.
Ed Bona
I still fail to see how mere mortals got so much power and got so many people to follow and worship them.
Ray Sullivan
Francis I. Stupid question
Cory Ledwitch
Wrong. I googled after and according to wiki Franz Joseph I was the first emperor of Austria. Not Francis II!