General Notes

Charles I (of Austria) (1887-1922), emperor of Austria (1916-1918) and, as
Charles IV, king of Hungary, born in Persenbeug, Austria. He was the last
Austro-Hungarian monarch and the last of the Habsburg rulers. Charles was the
eldest son of Archduke Otto and grandnephew of Emperor Francis Joseph I.
Following the assassination of his uncle, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, and the
death of Francis Joseph, Charles succeeded as emperor of Austria and king of
Hungary. During World War I, in a secret letter, he supported the claims of
France against those of the Austrian ally Germany in Alsace-Lorraine and
proposed that Germany withdraw from Belgium. Charles disavowed the letter when
it was published in April 1918, but it had a disheartening effect on the
Central Powers. Upon the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire on November
11, 1918, Charles abdicated the throne of Hungary. In March 1919 he left
Austria, and in April the Austrian parliament formally deposed him. Twice in
1921 Charles launched unsuccessful attempts to regain the Hungarian throne.
Banished from Hungary, he went into exile on the island of Madeira, where he
died.