For nearly two years Germany and Austria-Hungary have fought side by side against the Entente
forces. German Kaiser Wilhelm II and Austro-Hungarian Emperor Franz Josef spoke of their unwavering
loyalty to each other, and indeed on the Eastern Front faced a single, common foe. But how
close were these two empires really? And how deeply rooted was the “Nibelungentreue”
of the two Kaisers, sharing a common Germanic culture? Let’s take a look.
I’m Indy Neidell; welcome to a Great War special episode about Franz Josef’s hunt,
and the relations between emperors.
To answer my own question, how deeply rooted was this common Germanic culture?
Well, not so much. Before I explain though, I’d like to mention that this episode is
a collaboration between ourselves and the Rock Island Auction Company, an American company
that is the #1 firearms auction house in the world. They’re auctioning off a collection
called the Royal Hunt Collection later this month, April 29, 30, and May 1st. They provided
us with some great pictures of this collection which you will see throughout this episode.
Rock Island also supported us financially and we want to continue this collaboration
the future. Anyway, we thought this was a good way to
talk about the hunt in general, and what it meant to central European politics. I’ll
give you auction details at the end.
So... If you go back from the war more than a generation or two, you’ll find that Prussia,
before German unification in 1871, was not only a rival of Austria, going back to the
times of Frederick the Great, but Prussia and Austria had met each other several times
on the battlefields of Europe, and after Austria’s defeat in the Austro-Prussian War in 1866,
the question of who would dominate Central Europe was laid to rest and you saw a big
shift in power in the Germanic states away from Austrian and toward Prussian hegemony.
Prussian Chancellor Otto von Bismarck urged Prussian King Wilhelm I, later the first Kaiser
Wilhelm, to not humiliate the defeated Austrians, but still their relationship was at an all
time low, with Austria now in the shadow of Prussia. Funnily enough, Bismarck’s overriding
foreign policy doctrine wasn’t concerned with Austria; it was to never break the friendship
with Russia, under any circumstances. A strong alliance with Austria was kind of out of the
question.
When Wilhelm II came to power in 1888, though, the days of Bismarck’s system were numbered.
The old chancellor looked with deep concern on the affection the young emperor expressed
toward the Austrian royal House of Habsburg, which endangered friendly ties with Russia.
Wilhelm had deep feelings for the old heritage of German culture that Austria represented,
and Emperor Franz Josef symbolized the ancient traditions of the Habsburg Empire. Both emperors
attached great importance to the military glory of their nations, and the Austrian royalty
initially shared Wilhelm’s affection and looked forward to new approaches from Berlin
that might strengthen their political relationship.
This was actually in progress even before Wilhelm came to power.
In 1882, for example, Franz Josef invited Wilhelm to one of his famous hunts. This invitation
was enthusiastically received. Now, throughout his life, Franz Josef was a keen hunter, and
was much more relaxed and comfortable during the hunting trips than he often was at court.
He made repeated requests that no particular importance should be attached to his person.
It was a sport among equals. Well, highly noble male equals. But of course it wasn’t
just for sport. During his famous journey to St. Petersburg in 1874 he met the Prince
of Wales and the Russian Crown Prince on the vast hunting grounds near the capital to talk
politics, and while secret diplomatic talks were taking place, the international press
hailed Franz Josef for shooting a bear between the eyes at 75 meters.
On the 1882 trip, Wilhelm met the Austrian Royal Family, including the Crown Prince,
Archduke Rudolph. On the surface, they projected the image of two young nobles sharing a deep
fraternal friendship, but in reality, there were great differences between the two. Rudolph
hated the reactionary, militaristic Prussian ideals and knew very well Austria was just
the junior partner in the Zweibund. Restrained, intellectual, and liberal thinking, he rejected
Wilhelm’s chauvinistic attitude and competitive speeches during the hunt, and feared “that
once the time would come when Europe sinks to ruins and Austria and Germany would drown
in blood.” It also didn’t help that Wilhelm was very good at making himself disliked.
He openly described the Habsburg Empire as rotten and that its downfall was inevitable.
Rudolf had this to say about Wilhelm from the winter hunt of 1886-87, “He did not
speak very respectfully about our Emperor, very detrimental about me... He says he likes
hunting with us; we are all very pleasant people, but useless, effete sybarites who
are no longer viable. In politics, he says, there is no sympathy.”
You might think that this sounds at odds with the Wilhelm I described before, but it’s
not. He had the remarkable ability to alienate everybody by making what he thought were compliments.
He did love the German-Austrian culture, so he said things like, “How I love the German
part of your empire. I can’t wait until the rest collapses and the Reich can absorb
it.” He didn’t realize how much affront trying to be a friend and at the same time
a chauvinistic emperor caused others. He did this all the time.
But I’d like to talk about the hunt for a minute.
From 1882 on, a group of prominent men met in mid October in Styria, these included the
Grand Duke of Tuscany, the Graf of Meran, House Esterhazy, and Wilhelm. They discussed
the political situation in Europe while admiring the antlers of Franz Josef’s trophies proudly
on display. They hunted specially imported game from France and England on the massive
royal estates and held a ball in the evening. It was all part of an old tradition, with
the hunt symbolic as a place of relaxation away from the busy affairs of the day. Europe
had indeed changed greatly, but the noble houses still maintained their hunting grounds
and kept the sport exclusive to their society.
But politics was always on the agenda. This, for example, was a time when Serbs and Bulgarians
were quarreling over their borders, and of course this was much discussed. The next year,
at a time when the two Germanic royal houses were at each other’s throats and Wilhelm
and Rudolph were leveling accusations at each other, they still met for the hunt, because
the Serbian and Bulgarian situation had escalated. Politics had to prevail, so they weren’t
there just to hunt, but to agree on a common political line.
The hunt was not just a place for personal and political retreat, though; it was also
a place of scandal.
Such as that which would lead to Rudolph’s demise. Now, women weren’t technically allowed
on the hunt, but it didn’t keep certain ladies from the company of the men. Rudolph
was accused of having more than one affair during the hunting trips, and when one of
the women accused him of being the father of her child, the social stigma and humiliation,
and his father’s demands that he end the relationship, drove him to suicide in an apparent
pact with his teenage lover, an event that would have huge consequences for the Empire,
among them making the Archduke Franz Ferdinand heir to the throne. Look it up.
Wilhelm’s period as Kaiser broke with many traditions.
He deliberately failed to extend the reassurance contract with Russia in order to further his
relationship with Austria-Hungary. Russia looked for a new ally, and found it in France.
The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy was in part built on wishful thinking,
foiled by Italian and Austrian national dreams of regaining lost lands. So the German Empire
finally found in Austria-Hungary an ally whose domestic problems would ultimately be the
breaking point for war. Austria’s fear of being only a junior partner would become entirely
true as the war stretched on, and that ancient empire, soon both militarily and economically
depending on Germany, would drown in a sea of blood.
We hope you liked the different perspective and angle of this episode. If you want to
see some of the hunting trophies from those trips in Austria and many more historical
firearms and items not just related to World War 1, be sure to check out their upcoming
auction right here. Maybe you’ll find something awesome for your own collection. And let us
know what you think about our collaboration and what items from their collection you find
interesting.
Don’t forget to subscribe and see you next time.