Francis, Joseph Charles. Emperor of Austria and king of Hungary. Born in 1830, the son of the Emperor Francis I and nephew of the Emperor Ferdinand I. The revolution of 1848 compelled Ferdinand to abdicate, and his brother, resigning his claims to the throne in favor of his own son, the latter was at the early age of 18 called to rule an empire shaken by civil war. He took part in the campaign against the Hungarians, and was present at the capture of Raab in June, 1849. Restored to the mastery of his dominions, he proceeded to undo the work of 1848. The Hungarian constitution was suspended, the absolute authority of the Habsburg monarchy in the Austrian dominions proclaimed, and the imperial ministers were declared responsible only to the emperor. The absolute regime was maintained during the first ten years of his reign, though his own sentiments inclined to a more liberal rule. It was not until Austria had sustained severe reverses abroad that the system fell. The demand of Napoleon III that the question of the Lombardo-Venetian states should be referred to a European conference being refused, war was declared. The Austrians were defeated at the Battle of Solferino on June 24, 1859, and the emperor was compelled to sign the Treaty of Villafranca, by which all claims to Lombardy were resigned. A dispute between Austria and Prussia as to Schleswig-Holstein led to war between the two nations in 1866. Here again the Austrians were completely defeated, and were compelled to accept the North German Confederation under the leadership of Prussia, and to give up Venice to Italy. After these disasters the emperor restored national self-government to Hungary and, in June of 1867, was declared king of that country. After these events, the emperor's influence in foreign politics was chiefly directed to forming a closer alliance with Germany and Italy. In 1878, the Treaty of Berlin allowed Austria to occupy Bosnia and the Herzegovina. In 1887 the emperor took part in a series of military councils held to provide for the defense of Galicia against Russia. By the suicide of the Crown Prince Rudolph in 1889, he was deprived of all hope of a direct successor, and his nephew, Francis Ferdinand, became the heir-apparent. The assassination of Francis Ferdinand at Sarajevo, Bosnia, June 28, 1914, precipitated the great European War. After a notable reign of 68 years, Francis Joseph died at Schonbrunn November 21, 1916, and the crown passed to his grand-nephew, Charles Francis Joseph.