Editing Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor (section)

== Emperor ==
=== Wars with France ===
[[File:Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor at age 25, 1792.png|thumb|left|Painting of Francis II at the age of 25, wearing the [[Order of the Golden Fleece]], with the [[Imperial Crown of the Holy Roman Empire]] and Hungary's [[Crown of Saint Stephen]] in the background (1792)]]
As the head of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and the ruler of the vast realms of Central and Eastern Europe, Francis felt threatened by the [[French Revolution|French revolutionaries]] and later [[Napoleon|Napoleon's]] expansionism as well as their social and political reforms which were being exported throughout Europe in the wake of the conquering French armies. Francis had a fraught relationship with France. His aunt [[Marie Antoinette of Austria|Marie Antoinette]], the wife of [[Louis XVI]] and Queen consort of France, was guillotined by the revolutionaries in 1793, at the beginning of his reign, although, on the whole, he was indifferent to her fate.{{Sfn|Fraser|2002|p=492}}[[File:Pörträt Kaiser Franz I von Österreich.jpg|thumb|left|Francis I as [[Austrian Emperor]] wearing the Order of the Golden Fleece, undated]]Later, he led the [[Holy Roman Empire]] into the [[French Revolutionary Wars]]. He briefly commanded the Allied forces during the [[Low Countries theatre of the War of the First Coalition|Flanders Campaign]] of 1794 before handing over command to his brother [[Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen|Archduke Charles]]. He was later defeated by Napoleon. By the [[Treaty of Campo Formio]], he ceded the left bank of the [[Rhine]] to [[French First Republic|France]] in exchange for [[Domini di Terraferma|Venice]] and [[Venetian Dalmatia|Dalmatia]]. He again fought against France during the [[War of the Second Coalition]].

On 11 August 1804, in response to Napoleon crowning himself as emperor of the French earlier that year, he announced that he would henceforth assume the title of hereditary emperor of Austria as Francis I, a move that technically was illegal in terms of imperial law. Yet Napoleon had agreed beforehand and therefore it happened.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Whaley |first=Joachim |title=Germany and the Holy Roman Empire |date=2012 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-1996-9307-8 |volume=II: The Peace of Westphalia to the Dissolution of the Reich, 1648-1806 |page=632 |oclc=772967090 |ol=25339319M |author-link=Joachim Whaley}}</ref>{{Efn|Later he was dubbed the first ''Doppelkaiser'' (double emperor) in history.{{Sfn|Posse|1909–1913|pp=256}}) For the two years between 1804 and 1806, Francis used the title and style ''by the Grace of God elected Roman Emperor, ever Augustus, hereditary Emperor of Austria'' and he was called the ''Emperor of both the Holy Roman Empire and Austria''.}}

=== Napoleonic Wars ===
During the [[War of the Third Coalition]], the Austrian forces met a crushing defeat at [[Battle of Austerlitz|Austerlitz]], and Francis had to agree to the [[Treaty of Pressburg (1805)|Treaty of Pressburg]], which greatly weakened Austria and brought about the final collapse of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. In July 1806, under massive pressure from France, Bavaria and fifteen other German states ratified the statutes founding the [[Confederation of the Rhine]], with Napoleon designated Protector, and they announced to the [[Imperial Diet (Holy Roman Empire)|Imperial Diet]] their intention to leave the Empire with immediate effect. Then, on 22 July, Napoleon issued an ultimatum to Francis demanding that he abdicate as Holy Roman Emperor by 10 August.{{Sfn|Whaley|2012|p=643}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gagliardo |first=John G. |title=Reich and Nation. The Holy Roman Empire as Idea and Reality, 1763–1806 |date=1980 |publisher=Indiana University Press |isbn=978-0-2531-6773-6 |pages=279–280 |ol=4401178M}}</ref>

Five days later, Francis bowed to the inevitable and, without mentioning the ultimatum, affirmed that since the Peace of Pressburg he had tried his best to fulfil his duties as emperor but that circumstances had convinced him that he could no longer rule according to his oath of office, the formation of the Confederation of the Rhine making that impossible. He added that "we hereby decree that we regard the bond which until now tied us to the states of the Empire as dissolved"{{Sfn|Whaley|2012|p=643–644}} in effect dissolving the empire. At the same time he declared the complete and formal withdrawal of his hereditary lands from imperial jurisdiction.{{Sfn|Gagliardo|1980|p=281}} After that date, he continued to reign as Francis I, Emperor of Austria.

[[File:Francis I, Emperor of Austria - Dawe 1818-19.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Francis I of Austria|Portrait of Francis I]]'', by [[Thomas Lawrence]], {{Circa|1818–19}}|260x260px]]

In 1809, Francis, deeming another war with France as inevitable and influenced by hawks in Vienna, [[War of the Fifth Coalition|attacked]] France again, hoping to take advantage of the [[Peninsular War]] embroiling Napoleon in [[Kingdom of Spain under Joseph Bonaparte|Spain]]. He was again defeated, and this time forced to ally himself with Napoleon, ceding territory to the Empire, joining the [[Continental System]], and wedding his daughter [[Marie Louise of Austria|Marie-Louise]] to the Emperor. The [[Napoleonic Wars]] drastically weakened Austria, making it entirely landlocked and threatened its preeminence among the states of Germany, a position that it would eventually cede to the [[Kingdom of Prussia]].

In 1813, for the fifth and final time, Austria turned against France and joined [[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|Great Britain]], [[Russian Empire|Russia]], Prussia and Sweden in their [[War of the Sixth Coalition|war against Napoleon]]. Austria played a major role in the final defeat of France—in recognition of this, Francis, represented by [[Clemens von Metternich]], presided over the [[Congress of Vienna]], helping to form the [[Concert of Europe]] and the [[Holy Alliance]], ushering in an era of conservatism in Europe. The [[German Confederation]], a loose association of Central European states was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 to organize the surviving states of the Holy Roman Empire. The Congress was a personal triumph for Francis, who hosted the assorted dignitaries in comfort,{{Sfn|Wheatcroft|1996|p=249}} though Francis undermined his allies [[Alexander I of Russia|Tsar Alexander]] and [[Frederick William III of Prussia]] by negotiating a secret treaty with the restored French king [[Louis XVIII]].{{Sfn|Wheatcroft|1996|p=250}}

=== Domestic policy ===
[[File:1 thaler Austria 1820.png|thumb|1 [[Thaler]] [[silver coin]] with portrait of Emperor Franz I, 1820|left]]

The violent events of the French Revolution impressed themselves deeply into the mind of Francis (as well as all other European monarchs), and he came to distrust radicalism in any form.  In 1794, a "[[Jacobin (politics)|Jacobin]]" conspiracy was discovered in the Austrian and Hungarian armies.{{Sfn|Wheatcroft|1996|p=239}} The leaders were put on trial, but the verdicts only skirted the perimeter of the conspiracy.  Francis's brother [[Archduke Alexander Leopold of Austria|Alexander Leopold]] (at that time [[Palatine of Hungary]]) wrote to the Emperor admitting "Although we have caught a lot of the culprits, we have not really got to the bottom of this business yet." Nonetheless, two officers heavily implicated in the conspiracy were [[hanging|hanged]] and [[gibbet]]ed, while numerous others were sentenced to imprisonment (many of whom died from the conditions){{Sfn|Wheatcroft|1996|p=240}}

[[File:Basel, Switzerland, Napoleonic Wars Medal of Francis II by P. J. Treu (better version).jpg|thumb|upright|Medallion of Francis I, designed by [[:de:Philipp Jakob Treu|Philipp Jakob Treu]] in [[Basel]], [[Switzerland in the Napoleonic era|Switzerland]] on 13 January 1814. This was the date in the [[War of the Sixth Coalition]] when the allied monarchs of Austria, Prussia, and Russia crossed the Rhine at Basel into France.]]
Francis was from his experiences suspicious and set up an extensive network of police spies and censors to monitor dissent{{Sfn|Wheatcroft|1996|p=240}} (in this he was following his father's lead, as the Grand Duchy of Tuscany had the most effective secret police in Europe).{{Sfn|Wheatcroft|1996|p=234}} Even his family did not escape attention. His brothers, the Archdukes [[Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen|Charles]] and [[Archduke Johann of Austria|Johann]] had their meetings and activities spied upon.{{Sfn|Wheatcroft|1996|p=248}} Censorship was also prevalent. The author [[Franz Grillparzer]], a Habsburg patriot, had one play suppressed solely as a "precautionary" measure. When Grillparzer met the censor responsible, he asked him what was objectionable about the work. The censor replied, "Oh, nothing at all.  But I thought to myself, 'One can never tell'."{{Sfn|Wheatcroft|1996|p=241}}

In military affairs Francis had allowed his brother, the [[Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen|Archduke Charles]], extensive control over the army during the Napoleonic wars.  Yet, distrustful of allowing any individual too much power, he otherwise maintained the separation of command functions between the [[Hofkriegsrat]] and his field commanders.{{Sfn|Rothenburg|1976|p=6}} In the later years of his reign he limited military spending, requiring it not exceed forty million [[Austro-Hungarian florin|florins]] per year; because of inflation this resulted in inadequate funding, with the army's share of the budget shrinking from half in 1817 to only twenty-three percent in 1830.{{sfn|Rothenburg|1976|p=10}}

Francis presented himself as an open and approachable monarch (he regularly set aside two mornings each week to meet with his imperial subjects, regardless of status, by appointment in his office, even speaking to them in their own language),{{Sfn|Wheatcroft|1996|p=245}} but his will was sovereign.  In 1804, he had no compunction about announcing that through his authority as Holy Roman Emperor, he declared he was now Emperor of Austria (at the time a geographical term that had little resonance).  Two years later, Francis personally wound up the moribund Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation.  Both actions were of dubious constitutional legality.{{Sfn|Wheatcroft|1996|p=246}}

To increase patriotic sentiment during the war with France, the anthem "[[Gott erhalte Franz den Kaiser]]" was composed in 1797 to be sung as the Kaiserhymne to music by [[Joseph Haydn]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Robbins Landon |first1=H. C. |title=Haydn: His Life and Music |last2=Wynne Jones |first2=David |date=1988 |publisher=Thames and Hudson |isbn=978-0-5000-1438-7 |ol=7653170M |author-link=H. C. Robbins Landon}}</ref> The lyrics were adapted for later Emperors and the music lives on as the German national anthem "[[Deutschlandlied]]".