#franz josef i of austria
SISI (2021-) SEASON 1 - EPISODE 5
At eight o'clock on the morning of Saturday, 9 April, the Imperial train with Franz Josef on board drew up at the private station at Miramar, where Maximilian was waiting to receive him. The Emperor was accompanied by an impressive retinue: seven Archdukes, including his two brothers, Karl Ludwig and Ludwig Viktor; three ministers, one of them Count Rechberg; the Chancellors of Hungary, Croatia and Transylvania; the Chief of the General Staff and the civil and military governors of Venetia and of Istria, accompanied by a bevy of secretaries and aides-de-camp. But not even Count Rechberg was witness to the private conversation between the two brothers, which lasted for nearly two hours. Officers of the Themis and the Novara, anchored off Miramar, assert that at one time during the interview they saw the Archduke come out on to the terrace and pace up and down in an obvious state of agitation, till he was recalled by one of the Emperor’s aides-de-camp. It was past eleven when the two brothers returned to the state apartments to put the final signature to the “Family Pact”, witnessed by the highest dignitaries of the Empire. And though Maximilian was later to declare that he had been forced to sign under duress, it was noted at the time that not only the Archduke but also the Emperor had reddened eyes, as if he regretted what he had been forced to do.
The “pact” was signed. The naval band playing ouftide the castle struck up “Gott Erhalte Unser Kaiser” and Charlotte, her radiant composure in striking contrast to that of her husband and brother-in-law, came forward to take the Emperor’s arm and lead him into the state banqueting hall. At half past one, Franz Josef was already at the station. The farewells had been formal and correct. But at the moment of boarding the train, he appears to have felt a twinge of tenderness and regret. All the dissensions of the last years, all the bitterness and suspicions were forgotten. He knew only that he was parting, perhaps for ever, from a once-beloved brother. In a voice broken with emotion, he called out, “Maxl”, holding out his arms to embrace him for the last time.Ministers and generals looked away, for both the brothers were in tears.
Haslip, Joan (1971). The Crown of Mexico: Maximilian and his Empress Carlota
ON THIS DAY, IN 1864, ARCHDUKE FERDINAND MAXIMILIAN OF AUSTRIA RENOUNCED TO HIS HEREDITARY RIGHTS IN ORDER TO BECOME EMPEROR OF MEXICO. Archduke Maximilian was the second son of Archduke Franz Karl of Austria and his wife Princess Sophie of Bavaria, and therefore, a younger brother of Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria. Maximilian had been offered the crown of Mexico, at that time under French intervention, assured that the people had voted in favor of establishing a monarchy. Renouncing to his Habsburg rights was the condition that his brother Franz Josef put forward if he accepted the Mexican offer, which he did. When Maximilian signed the deal, he was second in the line of succesion to the throne of the Austrian Empire.
