Editing Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (section)

== Early life ==
[[File:Archduke Franz Joseph Karl (1770).jpg|thumb|upright|left|1770 painting by [[Anton Raphael Mengs]] depicting Archduke Francis at the age of 2]]
Francis was a son of [[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Leopold II]] (1747–1792) and his wife [[Maria Luisa of Spain]] (1745–1792), daughter of [[Charles III of Spain]]. Francis was born in [[Florence]], the capital of [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany|Tuscany]], where his father reigned as [[Grand Duke of Tuscany|Grand Duke]] from 1765 to 1790. Though he had a happy childhood surrounded by his many siblings,<ref>{{harvnb|Wheatcroft|1996|p=233}}</ref> his family knew Francis was likely to be a future Emperor (his uncle [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Joseph]] had no surviving issue from either of his two marriages), and so in 1784 the young Archduke was sent to the Imperial Court in [[Vienna]] to educate and prepare him for his future role.<ref name="wheatcroft234">{{harvnb|Wheatcroft|1996|p=234}}</ref>

[[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Joseph II]] himself took charge of Francis's development. His disciplinarian regime was a stark contrast to the indulgent Florentine Court of Leopold.  The Emperor wrote that Francis was "stunted in growth", "backward in bodily dexterity and deportment", and "neither more nor less than a spoiled mother's child."  Joseph concluded that "the manner in which he was treated for upwards of sixteen years could not but have confirmed him in the delusion that the preservation of his own person was the only thing of importance."<ref name=wheatcroft234/>

Joseph's [[martinet]] method of improving the young Francis was "fear and unpleasantness."<ref>{{harvnb|Wheatcroft|1996|p=235}}</ref> The young Archduke was isolated, the reasoning being that this would make him more self-sufficient as it was felt by Joseph that Francis "failed to lead himself, to do his own thinking." Nonetheless, Francis greatly admired his uncle, if rather in fear of him. To complete his training, Francis was sent to join an army regiment in [[Kingdom of Hungary (1526–1867)|Hungary]] and he settled easily into the routine of military life.<ref>{{harvnb|Wheatcroft|1996|p=236}}</ref> He was present at the [[Siege of Belgrade (1789)|siege of Belgrade]] which occurred during the [[Austro-Turkish War (1788–1791)|Austro-Turkish War]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Malleson |first=George Bruce |author-link=George Bruce Malleson |title=Loudon: A Sketch of the Military Life of Gideon Ernest, Freiherr von Loudon |year=1884 |location=London |publisher=Chapman & Hall |url=https://archive.org/details/loudonasketchmi00mallgoog |page=[https://archive.org/details/loudonasketchmi00mallgoog/page/n252 229] }}</ref>

After the death of Joseph II in 1790, Francis's father became Emperor. He had an early taste of power while acting as Leopold's deputy in Vienna while the incoming Emperor traversed the Empire attempting to win back those alienated by his brother's policies.<ref>{{harvnb|Wheatcroft|1996|p=238}}</ref> The strain took a toll on Leopold and by the winter of 1791, he became ill.  He gradually worsened throughout early 1792; on the afternoon of 1 March Leopold died, at the relatively young age of 44. Francis, just past his 24th birthday, was now Emperor, much sooner than he had expected.