1-217-261 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria, 23 July 1914. Acting on the advice of his foreign minister, Leopold von Berchtold, Franz Josef I (1830-1916) issued an ultimatum to Serbia following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, Franz Josef's nephew and heir, in Sarajevo. The ultimatum was rejected as unacceptable by the Serbs, prompting Austria to declare war and setting in motion a chain of events that would plunge Europe into the First World War and bring an end to the Austro-Hungarian Empire. By the time of his death in November 1916 Franz Josef believed victory to be impossible. He was succeeded by his grand-nephew the Archduke Karl (1887-1922), who ruled as Karl I, the last Austrian emperor.