1-3: 1912 Definitives: Views
4-6: 1912 Definitives: Franz Josef I
7: 1913 Newspaper Stamp
8: First Charity Issue (1914)
9: Second Charity Issue (1915)
1: Third Charity Issue (1915)
2: Fourth Charity Issue (1916)
3,4: War Invalids Fund (1916)
5,6: 1916 Definitives: Franz Josef I
7: 1916 Newspaper Express Stamps
8: War Widows Fund (1917)
9-11: Assassination of Austro-Hungarian Heir to the Throne 3rd Anniversary (1917) (1)
1,2: 1917 Definitives: Emperor Karl I (2)
3,4: War Invalids Fund (1918)
5,6: 1918 Welfare Fund: Emperor Karl I and Empress Zita (3)
7,8: 1918 Overprints on Definitive Stamps
9: 1904 Postage Due Stamps
10: 1916 Postage Dues
(1) Franz Ferdinand, Archduke
of Austria-Este (1863–1914) was an Archduke of Austria, Prince Imperial
of Austria, Prince Royal of Hungary and Bohemia, and from 1896 until his death,
heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo
precipitated the Austrian declaration of war which triggered World War I.
Franz Ferdinand was born in Graz. In 1877 he entered the army with the rank
of third lieutenant. In 1889, Franz Ferdinand's life changed dramatically. His
cousin Crown Prince Rudolf committed suicide, leaving Franz Ferdinand's father,
Archduke Karl Ludwig, as first in line to the throne. In 1900, Franz married
Countess Sophie Chotek.
On June 28, 1914, Franz Ferdinand and his wife were killed in Sarajevo by Gavrilo
Princip, a member of Young Bosnia. The event, known as the Assassination in
Sarajevo, was one cause of World War I.
(2) Karl of Austria (1887-1922),
more formally known as Karl Franz Josef Ludwig Hubert Georg Maria von Habsburg-Lothringen,
was the last Emperor of Austria, the last King of Hungary, and the last monarch
of the Habsburg Dynasty. He reigned as Emperor Karl I of Austria and King Karoly
IV of Hungary from 1916 until 1918, when he renounced the government (but did
not abdicate). Karl was the son of Otto Franz of Austria (1865-1906), younger
brother of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination triggered World War
I. In 1911 he was married to Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma.
His reign began in 1916. In 1917, Karl secretly sued for a separate peace with
France, deserting his German ally. When news of the overture leaked, he denied
all involvement, until the French published letters signed by him.
He fled to Switzerland after the empire collapsed at the end of the war, but
refused to abdicate. Encouraged by Hungarian nationalists, he sought twice in
the early 1920s to reclaim the throne of Hungary, but failed, due to various
factors including the betrayal of the Hungarian Regent M. Horthy, whom Karl
had helped to appoint. He died on the island of Madeira in 1922.
(3) Zita of Bourbon-Parma, Princess of Parma(1892-1989)
was the last Empress-consort of Austria and Queen-consort of Hungary. She was
a daughter of the deposed Robert I, Duke of Parma and his second wife. Zita
married Karl of Austria in 1911. She was accused by critics of being behind
her exiled husband's attempts to regain the throne of Hungary from which he
had not abdicated.
After Karl's death in 1922, Zita left Madeira but continued living abroad and
kept in contact with many of Europe's royal houses throughout her exile.She
died in Switzerland. In 1982, the Austrian government granted Zita the right
to re-enter Austria, although she had never renounced the Habsburg claim to
the throne. She was buried in Vienna's Imperial Crypt which had served for centuries
as the Habsburg family's burial place.