Blackwell Reference Online

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(1830–1916), Emperor of Austria (1848–1916) and King of hungary (1867–1916). He came to the throne of the habsburg empire during the revolutions of 1848–9, following the abdication of his uncle ferdinand i . During nearly seventy years of rule this deeply conservative emperor proved to be a painstaking administrator with a highly developed sense of God-given dynastic responsibility. Yet he showed little capacity for wider political vision. He was particularly influential in the inept foreign policies that left Austria isolated after the crimean war , and thus vulnerable to bismarck's plottings towards the achievement of a Prussian-led german unification . Reduction of Habsburg influence in Italy ensuing from the franco-austrian war of 1859 was followed in 1866 by the further disaster of the austro-prussian war . After the latter, Francis Joseph was forced to compromise with his Magyar subjects and to restructure the framework of imperial rule over his multi-national domain. The resulting ausgleich of 1867 created the Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary, and involved him in a second coronation to give distinctive recognition to his kingship over the latter element. A few months earlier his brother Maximilian, recently installed with French help as emperor of Mexico, had been executed by rebels. Thereafter, Francis Joseph was dogged by further dynastic tragedies. His ... log in or subscribe to read full text