Franz Joseph I was the Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, Bohemia and Croatia. A member of the great Habsburg dynasty, he ascended the throne after his uncle, the Emperor Ferdinand, was forced to abdicate in the revolutions of 1848. A staunch conservative, his lengthy reign was one of the longest in European history. Nevertheless, he largely spent it attempting to resist the fracturing of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the face of numerous nationalist uprisings; under him, Austria was forced to relinquish much of its territory in Italy, and cede leadership of the German states to Prussia (later the German Empire). His personal life was marred by numerous tragedies, including the suicide of his son and heir, Crown Prince Rudolf, in 1889 and the assassination of his wife in 1898. Defeat