To my peoples was made plural. After the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife Sophie in Sarajevo on June 28, 1914, diplomatic relations between Austria-Hungary and Serbia became strained. After weeks of discussions, government and army leaders of the Empire decided to risk war with Serbia, hoping for a short and victorious campaign. Emperor Franz Joseph signed the declaration of war in his Imperial Villa in Bad Ischl on July 28. The document was distributed all over the empire and was widely published on the morning of the next day. At this time, several
Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria Archduke Franz Salvator of Austria, in Italian Francesco Salvatore Maria Giuseppe Ferdinando Carlo Leopoldo Antonio di Padova Giovanni Battista Gennaro Lodovico Gonzaga Raniero Benedetto Bernardo, in German Franz Salvator Maria Joseph Ferdinand Karl Leopold Anton von Padua Johann Baptist Januarius Aloys Gonzaga Rainer Benedikt Bernhard (Altmünster, 21 August 1866 – Vienna, 20 April 1939), was a member of the Tuscan branch of the House of Habsburg. He was a son of Archduke Karl Salvator, Prince of Tuscany and his wife Princess Maria Immaculata of Bourbon-Two-Sicilies. He was a cavalry general in the Imperial and Royal