Emperor Karl of Austria & Empress Zita, their family, Part II

[KarlandZita]

Zita and her kids, around 1919-1920 :



Courtesy onb.at.

[JamesAPrattIII]

I have some data on a couple of the photos:
reply 85 the men with the red cross and Knights of malta armbands are wearing the uniform of civilian officials
reply 102 Karl with the troops the book  Uniforms and equipment of the Austro-Hungarian army in World war I Spencer a Coil has this picture in color. and dates it as 1915. Przemyl was under siege and captured and held by the Russians the first have of 1915 so if it was taken at Przemyl in 1915 it was taken in the fall of that year. This book has a number of other pictures taken of karl in a 1917 visit to the Southern (Italian) front.

I hope this is of some use and interest.

[shvic300]

Hi! As I understand she is the only daughter of Charles Adelheid.
Look at the color and texture of hair.
Where was this child in the previous 2 photos?
I think you will see there just Zita's niece.
)

[shvic300]

[Maria Sisi]

http://www.crisismagazine.com/2012/blessed-karl-von-habsburg


http://mult-kor.hu/20121128_mibol_eltek_a_habsburgok_a_ket_vilaghaboru_kozott?pIdx=2

Has there been any talk of bringing Karl's remains back to Austria to lie next to Zita in the Imperial Crypt?

[Maria Sisi]

Two photos of Zita and Karl around the time of the engagement.

[JamesAPrattIII]

More pics and data on Kaiser Karl:

The great war channel week 95 has a picture of then archduke Karl this week they discuss the Asiago offensive or Strafexpedition (Punishment expedition). It began on 15 may 1916 and Karl was there as commander of the Austrian XX Corps.
This Austrian offensive made some gains and the Italians got into a panic and begged all their Allies for help. One result of this was the Russian Brussilov Offensive.

more information on youtube:

Strafexpedition: La Spedizione Punitiva 1916 has a film clip of Karl

boardgamegeek.com has the boardgame Strafexpedition 1916 played online

[JamesAPrattIII]

100 years ago AD Karl was put in command of Army Group Archduke Karl consisting of the Austrian 1st and 7th armies and the German 9th army. He was pretty much a figurehead a German General Hans Von Seekt ran things. One day Von Seekt was unhappy with the German 9th army's operations and sent an order for a detailed account of it's operations. The 9th army commander was General Von Falkenhayn the former Chief of Staff on the German army. He thought the order was unnecessary and refused to obey it as he had a battle to fight. One day Karl met up with Falkenhayn and things didn't go very well.
Falkenhayn: "What is your Imperial Highness thinking about? Who do you think is in front of you? I am a experienced Prussian General!"
Karl: said the order stands and walked off. I would say this incident didn't German-Austrian relations any good.

[Kalafrana]

James

This is very interesting - especially when I always thought that Karl was a sensible fellow!

Hans von Seekt was an interesting figure. He subsequently became Commander in Chief of the German Army under the Weimar Republic, when it was limited by the Versailles Treaty to 100,000 men on a minimum of 12 years' service, to make it impossible to build up a large reserve. Seekt created a highly professional army with a nucleus of very able officers, which became the foundation for the very effective army of the Nazi period.

Ann 

[JamesAPrattIII]

Yes Von Seekt was a very interesting figure.

on the great war forum Italy section and the forumaxishistory.com First world war section there is a new posting of WW I photos taken by a soldier of the KUK 43 Infantry regiment/ 17th Infantry division on the Italian front during WW I. It includes a picture of Karl and what looks like one of Zita. A few of the other photos are graphic. the posting is www.worldwaronephotos.com

[JamesAPrattIII]

100 years ago the Italian army suffered it's worst defeat in its history the battle of Caperetto 24 Oct-19 Nov 1917 when a german and Austrian offensive broke through Italian lines and the Italians fled. For the last time in history church bells were rung in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to celebrate a victory of the Habsberg army.

[JamesAPrattIII]

10 June 1918 was one of disaster for the KUK marine the dreadnought battleship Szent Istvan was torpedoed and sunk by an Italian motor torpedo boat MAS 15. There is a famous film clip of the ship capsizing and sinking on youtube

[JamesAPrattIII]

The battle of the Piave 15-23 June 1918 was the last great offensive launched by the KUK Armee. It was a disaster where the army suffered heavy casualties that it could not replace. Karl deserves a lot of the blame for this disaster. One of his Army Group commander Conrad wanted to attack in the Tyrolean Alps the other Bonoevic wanted to attack across the Piave. So Karl splits the forces up equally and attacks in both locations. Result neither force was strong enough to break through and the Austrians were defeated.
 To have launched such an offensive the first place was not a good idea. The KUK Armee was starving and in rags and short of everything. On the home front the people were also starving and in rags and short of everything. There was also major unrest on the home front as the Empire was falling apart and this defeat made matters worse.

[JamesAPrattIII]

I am a little late but:
24-Oct-4 Nov 1918 the battle of Vittorio Vento the Allied offensive against the Austrians. This was the last battle fought by the KUK Armee which was in a state of disintegration as was the rest of the Empire. 4 Nov was the day of the Armistance on the Italian front. On 11 November Kaiser Karl abdicates even though his wife Zita tried her best to stop him. One of the reasons he abdicated is there were no loyal troops around to defend him except for some cadets from a local military academy. In late life Zita says they sent out a number of telegrams requesting loyal troops but got no replies. GFM Baron Boroevic von Bojna the Italian front commander said he had some loyal troops and wanted to march on Vienna but, when he sent a telegram to Kaiser Karl the reply came back no. This reply most likely was not from Karl.

read about the last battles of the KUK Armee online:
"Austria-Hungary's Last war 1914-1918 Volume 7