Uncrowned Emperor The Life and Times of Otto von Habsburg

by Brook-Shepherd, Gordon

• ISBN13: 9781852855499
• ISBN10: 1852855495
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2007-04-10
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic

Summary

The Austro-Hungarian Empire dominated central Europe until 1918, when the last Habsburg Emperor, Karl, fled into exile. Karl's death in 1921 made his nine-year-old son Otto head of the Hapsburg family, a position he has now held for over eighty years. Born heir presumptive to an empire that stretched from the Tyrol to Transylvania, and from Poland to Sarajevo, Otto von Habsburg's life has both affected and been reflected in some of the most dramatic and historic events of the twentieth century. As a four year old in 1916 he walked in the funeral procession of the Emperor Franz Josef. Otto von Habsburg later became the focus of royalist loyalty, a Habsburg restoration attracting considerable political support until the Second World War. Refusing any contact with Hitler (whose code name for the Anschluss was Operation Otto), he fled first to France then America, where he formed a friendship with F.D. Roosevelt. Never living in the past, he later became a highly respected Member of the European Parliament.

Table of Contents

Illustrations

Introductopn

1. A Shaky Inheritance

2. The Perfect Match

3. Collape: A Child's Eye View

4. Exile at Home: Eckartsau

5. Swiss Dramas

6.. 'Your Majesty'

7. The Conundrum of the Crown

8. Meltdown in Vienna

9. Fatal Encounter

10. Takeover by Telephone

11. Hoecoming

12. New Horizons

13. Across the Water

14. Dropping Anchor

15. Mr Europe

16. Balance Sheet

17. Royal Endgame

Notes

Bibliography

Index