Many people now regard the Rothschild family as a myth in the financial world. Some people even believe that it is this family that controls everything on the earth.
This statement is of course a bit exaggerated, but the glory of the Rothschild family is indeed not to be underestimated. After all, since the beginning of their fortunes in the 19th century, the Rothschilds have been circling the world's leading capitalist countries, and they have profited from the division of Germany, from the Franco-Prussian War to the First World War.
In fact, in the history of Europe, there is one family that is definitely more prosperous than the Rothschilds, and that is the Habsburgs. This family is more direct, and their business does not have to be placed in the dark, but can be placed directly on the table, because they have to serve as the monarchs of european countries.
According to statistics, members of the Habsburg family have served as emperors of the Holy Roman Empire (the First German Empire), the Emperor of Austria, the king of Hungary, the king of Bohemia (Czech Republic), the king of Castile, the king of Spain, the king of Portugal, the emperor of Mexico, and various dukes of Italy.
In this way, the Habsburgs served as monarchs in at least 9 principalities, kingdoms or empires. What kind of family is this?
The Habsburgs became famous during the Holy Roman Empire.
The ancestors of the Habsburgs were actually French, and they were the Dukes of Alsace in France. In fact, a long time ago, France, Italy, Germany, these three major areas, all belonged to the Frankish Kingdom.
In 395 AD, the Roman Empire split into Eastern Rome and Western Rome.
In 476 AD, the Western Roman Empire was destroyed by the Germans. Thereafter, among the Germanic tribes, there was a Frankish kingdom that became the ally of the Germanic peoples. During the reign of Charlemagne, the Frankish kingdom reached its peak and was also known as the Charlemagne Empire.
In 843, in the generation of Charlemagne's grandson, the Frankish kingdom was divided into three parts:
- The Kingdom of East Francia, equivalent to Germany, Austria and other places.
- The Kingdom of West Francia, equivalent to France.
- Middle Frankish kingdom, equivalent to Italy.
In this way, the basic prototype of the European continent was established. Therefore, in the 6th century AD, the French Duke of Alsace was actually subordinate to the Frankish Kingdom, and at that time, France, Germany, Italy and other places were a family.
In 911 AD, Louis the Child, the king of the Kingdom of East Francia, died without descendants. Thus the throne of the East Frankish kingdom was occupied by conrad I, Duke of Frank.
This event marked the beginning of the transformation of the Kingdom of East Francia into the Kingdom of Germany. After all, it was not Charlemagne's descendants who continued to be kings, but the princes of the German region who did it.
In 962 AD, the German king Otto I, after subduing various princes, became the hegemon of Europe, and even received the crown of the Pope of Rome, becoming the "Roman Emperor" of the Eight Classics. At this time, the prototype of the Holy Roman Empire appeared.
In the 12th century, Frederick I conquered his neighbors and became the strongest in Europe. Therefore, he added the word "holy" in front of the "Roman Emperor", and since then he has become the Holy Roman Emperor, and the empire he led officially became the Holy Roman Empire, also known as the First German Empire.
The Habsburgs were one of the many princes within the Holy Roman Empire at the time. In 1020 AD, the Duke of Alsace built the Eagle Castle and named it "Habsburg", a family that has since been named "Habsburg".
The Habsburgs ruled the Holy Roman Empire for 369 years.
In 1250, Frederick II, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, died, and from this time on, the princely German region was in turmoil, and in 1254, the family's rule over the Holy Roman Empire came to an end.
At this time, the German region entered a vacuum period without emperors. The princes fought each other for the throne until 1273.
Why stop? Because Rudolf I, the leader of the Habsburgs, successfully obtained the position of German king in the election of the German king. But he was not crowned by the Pope, so he could not be called Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
But with the first step, the back is much easier to do. During the reign of Rudolf I, he also defeated King Ottoka II of Bohemia and took control of Austria and other places. Since then, the Habsburg sphere of influence has been transferred from the Alsace region to the Austrian region.
After the death of Rudolf I, the Habsburgs did not continue to serve as King of Germany. However, because they transferred their base to Austria, they became one of the most important princes in Germany.
By 1422, hopes for the Habsburgs had emerged, and Albrecht, Duke of Inner Austria, had become the son-in-law of Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor at the time, and was appointed heir.
In 1437, after Sigismund's death, Albrecht inherited the positions of King of Germany, King of Hungary, King of Bohemia, etc., but he could not get the crown of the Pope.
But it doesn't matter, this time the Habsburgs are very powerful, they know that God has given them a second chance, so they must firmly grasp it. Thus, for the next 369 years, the Habsburgs held the throne of the Holy Roman Empire until the fall of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806.
So the question is, how did they do it? After all, the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire needed to be elected by the seven electors to succeed to the throne, and it was not an ordinary hereditary system. This is a rule set by Charles IV in 1356, and no one can break it.
Third, the Habsburgs stood firm by constant marriage.
After taking Austria, the Habsburgs seemed to have mastered the victory. They understood that without a powerful force, it was difficult to guarantee that the family would be able to control the position of Holy Roman Emperor.
So the habsburgs' expansion began. Originally rudolf I, during his reign, he enfeoffed his two sons to Austria and Styria as Grand Dukes.
After that, the Habsburgs began to choose to marry with the major princes of Europe to ensure the interests of their families.
- In 1477, Maximilian I married Mary, the only daughter of the Duke of Burgundy. This had a great impact, so that most of the land of the Duchy of Burgundy was incorporated into the territory of the Habsburg family, which greatly increased the power of the family. Is it just such a coincidence? In fact, people are looking at the target.
- Maximilian I's son Philip I, in 1496, married Juana, Crown Princess of Spain. In this way, Spain became one of the territories of the Habsburgs.
- Maximilian I's grandson Ferdinand I, in 1521, married Princess Anna of Bohemia. The following year, Ferdinand I's sister Mary married King Lajos II of Hungary and the Kingdom of Bohemia.
These two events directly laid the groundwork for Austria's annexation of Bohemia and Hungary in the future, after all, everyone is related, is it not fragrant to unite together?
Therefore, the European continent at that time, except for France, other countries and regions, to a greater or lesser extent, were related to the Habsburg family. Can you say they can not be strong?
After the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, the Habsburgs remained strong for 112 years.
Fast forward to 1806, when Napoleon, France's most bullish monarch, rubbed the Holy Roman Empire to the ground over and over again. Seeing that the Holy Roman Empire was about to fall, the Habsburgs had already arranged a way back for themselves.
As early as 1804, Emperor Franz II of the Holy Roman Empire separated Austria from the Holy Roman Empire and established the Austrian Empire. Franz II, on the other hand, continued to serve as Emperor of the Austrian Empire.
Thus, in 1806, after the Holy Roman Empire was destroyed by Napoleon, Franz II could still serve as Emperor of Austria, continuing the afterglow of the Habsburg family.
Due to the incompetence of the Habsburgs, the German region was bullied by the French. Therefore, another German prince, Prussia, did not agree!
At that time, Franz II also wanted to reintegrate the resources of the German region as Emperor of Austria. Unfortunately, Prussia had become strong and did not give him this opportunity anymore. So the Austrian Empire even formed the German Confederacy against Prussia.
In 1866, a large-scale Austro-Prussian War broke out between the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire. The result of the war was a complete victory for Prussia and a crushing defeat for the Austrian Empire.
After the war, the Austrian Empire had to dissolve the German Confederation, and in 1870 Prussia defeated France with a group of horses from the German region, regaining face for the princes of the German region.
Therefore, in 1871, King William I of Prussia, with the assistance of the iron-blooded chancellor Bismarck, fled to the Palace of Versailles in France to be crowned emperor and established the Second German Empire.
The Hohenzollern family behind William I officially replaced the Habsburgs as the rulers of the German region. But history has left the Habsburgs for a long time, after all, they still have Austria in their hands.
In 1867, Franz Joseph I, with the help of his wife Princess Sissi, was successfully crowned King of Hungary. So the dualistic empire, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, was thus established. This is the last cry of the Habsburgs.
Summary: World War I became the end of the Habsburgs.
Franz Joseph I was not well-lived, his wife Princess Sissi was assassinated, his only son Rudolf committed suicide, and his brother Emperor Maximiliano I of Mexico was shot and killed. Even grand Duke Ferdinand, nephew and heir apparent, was shot dead in Sarajevo.
The old man immediately became a loner, and under the attack of all sides, Franz Joseph I marched into Serbia in 1914, marking the outbreak of World War I.
In 1916, the First World War was still fighting, and the old man Franz Joseph I died at the age of 86, which is a very long life. He was replaced by his nephew Karl I.
During the 2 years of karl I's reign, he had wiped out all the family wealth of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Finally, in 1918, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was declared to be extinct, and the Habsburgs' rule in Europe officially came to an end.