Blessed Karl of Austria

Mata Hari Sun Apr 01, 2012 10:40 pm

An article on Blessed Karl from the Radical Royalist.

http://radicalroyalist.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/1st-april-1922-death-of-emperor-no-one.html

"No one will ever persuade me that the war could not have been ended long ago. The Emperor Karl offered peace. There is the only honest man who occupied an important position during the war, but he was not listened to. In my opinion his offer ought to have been accepted. The Emperor Karl had a sincere desire for peace, so everyone hates him."~Anatole France

On 1st November 1921 the Austrian Emperor and Hungarian Karl and is wife Empress-Queen Zita were taken aboard the British monitor HMS Glowworm, and removed to the Black Sea from where they were transferred to their final exile, the Portuguese island of Madeira. Determined to prevent a restoration attempt, the Council of Allied Powers had decided to exile the Imperial couple to Madeira because the island's isolation in the Atlantic Ocean.

Originally the couple and their children, who joined them on 2nd February 1922, lived at Funchal at the Villa Vittoria, next to Reid's Hotel, and later moved to Quinta do Monte.

Emperor Charles should not leave Madeira again. On 9th March 1922 he caught a cold walking into town and developed bronchitis which subsequently progressed to severe pneumonia. Having suffered two heart attacks he died of respiratory failure on 1st April in the presence of his wife, who was pregnant with their eighth child and nine-year-old Crown Prince Otto, retaining consciousness almost to the last moment.

Read more: http://radicalroyalist.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/1st-april-1922-death-of-emperor-no-one.html

Christina Croft Tue Nov 06, 2012 11:16 am

Having just completed a trilogy of novels about the royalties in the First World War, in which Emperor Karl plays a prominent role, I feel so deeply for this good man who tried every possible means to bring an end to the war. From the moment of his accession, he stated that he wanted to bring peace to Austria-Hungary, and he immediately set about trying to negotiate with the 'enemy'. The 'Sixtus Affair' - when he contacted the French via his brother-in-law, is well known and led to poor Karl being accused of betraying his allies - but this was not his only attempt. He wrote to Woodrow Wilson; he sent Lammasch to speak with a former American pacifist in Switzerland; he absolutely supported the Pope's peace plan...In fact he never stopped trying to create peace.
At the same time, in so short or a reign and in the middle of a war, he made numerous reforms at home. He improved conditions for his soldiers and condemned the use of gas and attacks on civilians; he made plans to grant autonomy to different regions....
and in the end he was completely betrayed by those who had set their minds on completely dismantling his Empire as they dismantled those of the Tsar and the Kaiser.

Blessed Karl of Austria

Blessed Karl of Austria

Re: Blessed Karl of Austria