Funeral Cortege Of Emperor Franz Joseph

The funeral cortege of Emperor Franz Joseph.

At the time of his death in November 1916, Franz Joseph believed The Great War to be no longer winnable—yet he had been powerless to affect the course or conduct of the war since autumn 1914.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire had lost control over wartime decision-making involving The Central Powers in the war’s very earliest months, when the armed forces of The Austro-Hungarian Empire had failed miserably on The Eastern Front and had had to be bailed out by The German Army. After its debacle on The Eastern Front, The Austro-Hungarian Empire had become effectively a vassal state of Germany—and it was to remain so until the war’s conclusion.

Kaiser Wilhelm did not attend Franz Joseph’s funeral. The Kaiser sent German Crown Prince Wilhelm to Vienna to represent him.

After Franz Joseph’s death, the war was to grind on for another twenty-four months.

Two days before the 1918 cease-fire that finally ended hostilities, The House Of Hohenzollern fell.

One day after the cease-fire, The House Of Habsburg met a similar fate.