Editing Emperor (section)

===Austrian Empire===
{{Main|Emperor of Austria}}
[[File:Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Franz Joseph I of Austria]]]]
The first Austrian Emperor was the last Holy Roman Emperor, [[Francis I of Austria|Franz II]]. In the face of aggressions by [[Napoleon]], Francis feared for the future of the [[Holy Roman Empire]]. He wished to maintain his and his family's Imperial status in the event that the Holy Roman Empire should be dissolved, as it indeed was in 1806 when an Austrian-led army suffered a humiliating defeat at the [[Battle of Austerlitz]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=liamfoley63|date=2020-08-06|title=August 6, 1806. Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire.|url=https://europeanroyalhistory.wordpress.com/2020/08/06/august-6-1806-dissolution-of-the-holy-roman-empire/|access-date=2020-11-27|website=European Royal History|language=en}}</ref> After which, the victorious Napoleon proceeded to dismantle the old ''Reich'' by severing a good portion from the empire and turning it into a separate [[Confederation of the Rhine]]. With the size of his imperial realm significantly reduced, Francis II, ''Holy Roman Emperor'' became Francis I, ''Emperor of Austria''. The new imperial title may have sounded less prestigious than the old one, but Francis' [[dynasty]] continued to rule from Austria and a Habsburg monarch was still an emperor (''Kaiser''), and not just merely a king (''König''), in name. According to the historian Friedrich Heer, the Austrian Habsburg emperor remained an "auctoritas" of a special kind. He was "the grandson of the Caesars", he remained the patron of the [[Catholic Church|Holy Church]].<ref>Friedrich Heer "Der Kampf um die österreichische Identität" (1981), p. 259.</ref>

The title lasted just a little over one century until 1918, but it was never clear what territory constituted the "[[Austrian Empire|Empire of Austria]]". When Francis took the title in 1804, the Habsburg lands as a whole were dubbed the ''Kaisertum Österreich''. ''Kaisertum'' might literally be translated as "emperordom" (on analogy with "kingdom") or "emperor-ship"; the term denotes specifically "the territory ruled by an emperor", and is thus somewhat more general than [[Reich]], which in 1804 carried connotations of universal rule. Austria proper (as opposed to the complex of Habsburg lands as a whole) had been part of the [[Archduchy of Austria]] since the 15th century, and most of the other territories of the Empire had their own institutions and territorial history. There were some attempts at centralization, especially during the reign of [[Maria Theresa]] and her son [[Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor]]. These efforts were finalized in the early 19th century. When the [[Lands of the Crown of Saint Stephen]] (Hungary) were given self-government in 1867, the non-Hungarian portions were called the Empire of Austria. They were officially known as the "Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the [[Imperial Council (Austria)|Imperial Council]] (''Reichsrat'')". The title of Emperor of Austria and the associated Empire were both abolished at the end [[World War I]] in 1918, when [[German Austria]] became a [[republic]] and the other kingdoms and lands represented in the Imperial Council established their independence or adhesion to other states.

The ''Kaisers'' of the Austrian Empire (1804–1918) were [[Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor|Franz I]] (1804–1835), [[Ferdinand I of Austria|Ferdinand I]] (1835–1848), [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Franz Joseph I]] (1848–1916) and [[Charles I of Austria|Karl I]] (1916–1918). The current head of the House of Habsburg is [[Karl von Habsburg]].<ref>Lonnie Johnson "Central Europe: Enemies, Neighbors, Friends" (2011), p. 118.</ref><ref>Anatol Murad "Franz Joseph I of Austria and his Empire." (1968) p. 1.</ref>