Francis II.

Francis II., emperor of Germany, and I. of Austria, was born at Florence, 12th February 1768, and in 1792 succeeded his father, Leopold II. The reign of Francis may be summarised as a series of wars against Napoleon, in which, except in the last, he was worsted. The first contest was that terminated by the Peace of Campo Formio in 1797, when Austria lost the Netherlands and Lombardy, receiving in return Venice, Dalmatia, and Istria; the next that in which Austria, after the great reverses of Marengo and Hohenlinden, was compelled to sign the Treaty of Lunéville in 1801. Then followed the short campaign of 1803, in which the defeat of the Russians at Austerlitz left Austria no alternative but to purchase peace at Presburg by the cession of Venetia, Tyrol, and Vorarlberg. In the following year, on the foundation of the Confederation of the Rhine, Francis renounced the title of German-Roman emperor, and contented himself with that of emperor of Austria, which he had already assumed in 1804. In 1809 another futile attempt to break the power of Napoleon again ended in disaster, Austria losing by the Treaty of Vienna (1809) the provinces of Salzburg and Carinthia, also Villach, Görz, Trieste, and a part of Croatia, Dalmatia, and Galicia. Then, after a short alliance with France, the emperor once more assailed his western antagonist; and this time, in conjunction with the Russians and Prussians, Austria won the battle of Leipzig (1813), and helped to complete the first overthrow of Napoleon. By the Treaty of Vienna (1815) Francis recovered his possessions in Lombardy and Venetia and Galicia. This success was probably due almost entirely to Metternich, who became virtual ruler of Austria in 1809. Francis was a type of the absolute despot who rules in such a way as to promote what he conceives to be the welfare of his subjects. His internal policy was, however, marked by the suppression of all liberal views in politics and in intellectual life, by a jealous concentration of political power in the hands of the emperor and his minister, and by a rigid adherence to the conservatism of the past. Although narrow in both mind and sympathy, Francis was a popular ruler, owing to his urbanity of manner and the simplicity of his courtly life. He died on 2d March 1835, and was succeeded by his son Ferdinand I. See MEYNERT, Franz I. (2 vols. Vienna, 1871–73).