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Archduke Joseph August of Austria

Archduke Joseph August Viktor Klemens Maria of Austria, Prince of Hungary and Bohemia (9 August 1872 – 6 July 1962) was a Feldmarschall (field marshal) of the Austro-Hungarian Army and for a short period head of state of Hungary. He was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, the eldest son of Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria (1833–1905) and his wife Princess Clotilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1846–1927). Joseph August's grandfather had been Palatine Joseph of Hungary (1776–1847), Palatine and Viceroy of Hungary, a younger son of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Archduke Joseph August
Palatine of Hungary (titular)
Regent of Hungary
In office
7 August 1919 – 23 August 1919
MonarchVacant
Prime MinisterIstván Friedrich
PredecessorGyula Peidl
(as acting head of state)
SuccessorIstván Friedrich
(as acting head of state)
Born(1872-08-09)9 August 1872
Alcsút, Kingdom of Hungary
Died6 July 1962(1962-07-06) (aged 89)
Rain, Bavaria, West Germany
SpousePrincess Auguste of Bavaria
Issue
Detail
  • Archduke Joseph Francis
  • Archduchess Gisela Auguste
  • Archduchess Sophie Klementine
  • Archduke Ladislaus Luitpold
  • Archduke Matthias Joseph
  • Archduchess Magdalena Maria
Names
German: Joseph August Viktor Klemens Maria von Habsburg-Lothringen
Hungarian: Habsburg–Lotaringiai József Ágost Viktor Kelemen Mária
HouseHabsburg-Lorraine
FatherArchduke Joseph Karl, Palatine of Hungary
MotherPrincess Clotilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha

The Archduke Joseph Diamond, a 76.02 carat colourless diamond with internal flawless clarity, is named after the Archduke and officially recorded as his property.[1]

Early life

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August was born at Alcsút, Kingdom of Hungary. On 15 November 1893, in Munich, he married Princess Auguste Maria of Bavaria (1877–1964), daughter of Prince Leopold of Bavaria (1846–1930) and his wife Archduchess Gisela of Austria (1856–1932).

Archduke Joseph August became thus from 1893 grandson-in-law to Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph I. His wife's mother, Archduchess Gisela, was the eldest surviving daughter of Francis Joseph and Empress Elisabeth ("Sisi"). The young couple's children were born in their great-grandfather's lifetime.

They had six children:

  • Archduke Joseph Francis of Austria, born on 28 March 1895; died on 25 September 1957(1957-09-25) (aged 62)
  • Archduchess Gisela Auguste Anna Maria, born on 5 July 1897; died on 30 March 1901(1901-03-30) (aged 3)
  • Archduchess Sophie Klementine Elisabeth Klothilde Maria, born on 11 March 1899; died on 19 April 1978(1978-04-19) (aged 79)
  • Archduke Ladislaus Luitpold, born on 3 January 1901; died on 29 August 1946(1946-08-29) (aged 45)
  • Archduke Matthias Joseph Albrecht Anton Ignatius, born on 26 June 1904; died on 7 October 1905(1905-10-07) (aged 1)
  • Archduchess Magdalena Maria Raineria, born on 6 September 1909; died on 11 May 2000(2000-05-11) (aged 90)

Joseph August began his military career in 1890 when he was commissioned into the 1st Infantry Regiment as a Leutnant. He was soon promoted to Oberleutnant and was transferred to 72nd Infantry Regiment in 1893. He was transferred to Dragoon Regiment #6 in 1894 and then transferred to the 1st Royal Hungarian Honvéd Hussars by the emperor and promoted to the rank of Major. He took command of this regiment in 1904 and then went on to command 79th Honvéd infantry brigade in 1908 then finally the 31st infantry division at Budapest in 1911.

World War I

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In the front, the Boroevic Throne, named after Svetozar Boroević, near Opatje selo in Slovenia.[2] In the back, a fingerpost and a monument built by the 43rd Infantry Regiment in honour of Archduke Joseph.[3]

In 1914, he was involved in combat in the Galician theatre and took command of the VII Corps and was involved in fighting in the Carpathian Mountains for which he was awarded, among others, the Austrian Order of Leopold and the Prussian Iron Cross. After Italy became involved in the war, he was transferred to the Carinthian border and involved in fighting the Isonzo army. August remained on the front until the Ninth Battle of the Isonzo in 1916, a period in which once again he was highly decorated. Joseph August was highly popular among his troops, especially those of Hungarian nationality.

In November 1916, Joseph August was put in command of the Heeresfront fighting against Russian and Romanian forces, and in 1917, he was awarded the Military Order of Maria Theresa and the Pour le Mérite. In January 1918 he was put in command of the 6th Army in the Southern theatre and that July took over the South Tyrolean Army Group, which was the 10th and the 11th Armies. Finally, on 26 October 1918, he was sent to the Balkans theatre to take command of the Heeresgruppe Kövess, which had lost Serbia, Albania and Montenegro. He was the last person to be appointed a Feldmarschall (Field Marshal) of the Austro-Hungarian Army on 24 October 1918 as an attempt by his cousin, Emperor Charles I to placate Hungarian nationalists.

Later life

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On 27 October 1918, Emperor Charles made August the "Homo Regius" of Hungary, but August asked to be released from his oath of allegiance to the emperor. He then began negotiations and appointed Count János Hadik to build a new national government. However, the Aster Revolution broke out on 31 October 1918, deterring his plans. In November, the socialist Hungarian Democratic Republic was proclaimed, only to be replaced a few months later by the communist Hungarian Soviet Republic. The revolution failed; the popular Joseph August survived unharmed; and on 7 August, he became head of state of Hungary once again, officially as regent (Reichsverweser) for Charles. He appointed István Friedrich as Prime Minister. When it became apparent that the Allies would not recognise a Habsburg as Hungary's head of state, Joseph August was forced to resign on 23 August 1919.[4]

In 1920 the Archduke became the first knight of the Hungarian Order of Vitéz, in 1927 he became a member of the newly re-established House of Magnates. He later became an honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and was its president from 1936–1944. He fled Hungary for the United States in 1944 but later returned to West Germany. In 1957, at the death of the Former regent of Hungary, Miklos Horthy, he became the Captain General of the Order of Vitéz. He died in 1962 at Rain, near Straubing.

Children

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His eldest son, Archduke Joseph Francis of Austria, had predeceased him, dying in 1957.

Thus, Joseph August's main heir was his eldest grandson, Archduke Joseph Árpád of Austria (1933–2017), the eldest son of Joseph Francis and his wife, Princess Anna of Saxony. Joseph Árpád married Princess Maria of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, and had children in Joseph August's lifetime. His surviving eldest son is Archduke Joseph Karl (born 1960).

August's granddaughter Archduchess Ilona of Austria (1927–2011) married George Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg. Her son George Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg is the current head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Honours

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He received the following orders and decorations:[5]

Ancestry

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References

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  1. ^ "'Perfect' Archduke Joseph diamond sells for $21m". BBC News. 13 November 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2012.
  2. ^ "A0002 - Kostanjevica - The Boroevic's throne". Pro Hereditate. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  3. ^ "A0003 - Kostanjevica - The monument-signpost near Lokvica". Pro Hereditate. Retrieved 7 July 2015.
  4. ^ "Die amtliche Meldung über den Rücktritt" (in German). Neue Freie Presse, Morgenblatt. 1919-08-24. p. 2.
  5. ^ "Genealogie des Allerhöchsten Herrscherhauses", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1918, p. 15, retrieved 23 July 2020
  6. ^ a b c d "Ritter-Orden", Hof- und Staatshandbuch der Österreichisch-Ungarischen Monarchie, 1918, pp. 50, 52, 58, 82, retrieved 23 July 2020
  7. ^ "A Szent István Rend tagjai" Archived 22 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Real y distinguida orden de Carlos III", Guóa Oficial de España (in Spanish), 1930, p. 224, retrieved 21 March 2019
  9. ^ The London Gazette, issue 28170, p. 6145
  10. ^ "Foreign Pour le Mérite Awards: Foreign Awards During World War I". pourlemerite.org. Archived from the original on 31 October 2019. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  11. ^ Hof- und Staats-Handbuch des Königreich Bayern (1906), "Königliche Orden" p. 9
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Honorary titles
Preceded by Palatine of Hungary
1905–1918 		Title abolished
Preceded by Captain General of the Order of Vitéz
1959–1962 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded byas Acting Head of State Regent of Hungary
1919 		Succeeded byas Acting Head of State
Cultural offices
Preceded by President of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
1936–1944 		Succeeded by
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