On this day (02/12/1848 at 8 o'clock in the morning) Emperor Ferdinand abdicated in favour of his 18 year old nephew, Franz. During the 1848 revolution the imperial family was forced to flee from Vienna and took refuge in Olmütz (Olomouc). It was this provincial Moravian town that witnessed the handover of power. Due to the unrest in the empire, it was considered that the abdication of the feeble Emperor Ferdinand would save the dynasty. Ferdinand's brother, Archduke Franz Karl, who was next in line, waived his right to the throne after forceful persuasion by his wife Archduchess Sophie, who saw that the moment had come to realise her lifelong dream of her firstborn son becoming emperor. At first it had been planned to let the eighteen-year-old emperor ascend the throne as Franz II, in memory of his grandfather, Franz I. However, the addition of his second name was intended to recall the ‘People’s Emperor’ Joseph II, resulting in the double name of Franz Joseph I, an unusual choice for the House of Habsburg. After Ferdinand declared his nephew Emperor, he is supposed to have whispered to him: "God bless you, remain steadfast, God will protect you".
