When the Archduke of Austria (Franz Ferdinand Carl Ludwig Joseph Maria) was assassinated on 28 June 1914....there are ton of events that occurred in the four years that followed, and basically drove all of the events in the 1920s, 1930s, and all of WW II to occur.
Little is ever mentioned of Ferdinand, and how he got to the seat of Crown Prince. You see....he was actually number three in line for the Crown Prince job, and naturally assummed for most all of his life....he'd never get stuck with the 'duty'.
Most don't realize that he was the oldest son of the Archduke of Austria (Karl Ludwig).....who was the younger brother of the Emperor (Franz). Franz's two sons were safely above Ferdinand....up until 1889.
Number one son of Franz? Rudolf (dying in 1889). What you can say of the guy.....he was fairly educated...had a great interest in the natural sciences, and probably had a more liberal view of society than his dad.
Rudolf (in simple terms) got fairly bored with his arranged marriage, and had various affairs on the side. At some point in the late part of 1888....Rudolf began a hundred-odd day affair with a seventeen-year-old non-royal gal, and got into an extremely intense affair.
When I say intense.....it's probably better to say he was consumed day and night over this teenage girl. It reached the level where members of the royal family were aggravated over his behavior, and trying to arrange various ways to end this relationship. This outside influence situation led to a huge amount of pressure being applied on the prince....which he really couldn't handle.
On 30 January 1889, the Crown Prince and his teenager lover were found dead (suicide) at a hunting lodge that he owned.
So opened the door for the replacement Crown Prince....the younger brother of the Emperor....Karl Ludwig. For around seven years Karl Ludwig held the position as the Crown Prince and led what you'd consider a fairly quiet life (yes, he was married three times, but the first two died).
In the spring of 1896 (at age 62), he ventured off on a tour of Egypt and the Holy Lands. Upon the return to home.....he had Typhoid and died.....so opening the door to the next replacement (Ferdinand).
I've always thought that there ought to be a twelve-hour mini-series over the three Crown Princes and their lives. If any of the three had 'lived'....the odds of WW I going the way it did....probably would never have occurred.
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