The History of Austria 21There were growing concerns within the empire: the
working class was demanding better pay and working
conditions; nationalistic tendencies among the many ethnic
groups were on the rise, but German-speaking Austrians
were reluctant to grant them more rights; and tensions were
running high. The emperor was also plagued by personal
problems: while Franz Josef had survived an assassination
attempt in 1853 by the Hungarian Janos Libenyi, his wife,
Empress Elisabeth (better known as Sissi), was killed in
Geneva in 1898 by an Italian anarchist. Earlier, his son, Crown
Prince Rudolph, had committed suicide after killing his lover,
Baroness Maria Vetsera, in Mayerling in 1889.
The 20th Century
World War I
On 28 June 1914, Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand and his
wife were assassinated in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina
(which had come under Austro-Hungarian rule in 1878), by
the young Serbian nationalist, Gavrilo Princip. About two
months later, Austria declared war on Serbia. Russia came
to its fellow Slavic country’s defense.
Russia’s allies, France and Britain, joined in and World
War I was under way. Austria, aided by Germany, was unable
to claim victory on the battlefield. Emperor Franz Josef died in
1916 and his successor, Kaiser Karl I, tried unsuccessfully to
keep the empire intact. Austria eventually signed an armistice
treaty on 3 November 1918. Eight days later, Karl I renounced
participation in the government, although technically not the
throne. South Tyrol was lost to Italy, Galicia went to Poland,
and Yugoslavia was formed, encompassing some of the
former Habsburg possessions. Hungary finally received its
long-awaited independence, as did the Czechs and Slovaks.
Austria was reduced to one-eighth its former size with one-
ninth its former population, primarily the German-speaking
areas of the former empire.
The First Republic
Delegates to parliament proclaimed the Republic of
German Austria on 12 November 1918. Like many citizens,