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 Joseph Franz of Austria place of his siblings Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma, Ferdinand I of Austria, Archduchess Marie Caroline of Austria, Archduchess Caroline Ludovika of Austria, Archduchess Maria Anna of Austria, Archduke Johann Nepomuk of Austria, Archduchess Amalie Theresa of Austria, and (possibly) Archduke Franz Karl of Austria. His parents, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor and Maria Theresa of Naples and Sicily, and his great-grandmother, Maria Theresa of Austria, are also buried there. Archduke Joseph Franz of Austria Archduke Joseph Franz Leopold of Austria (9 April 1799 – 30 June 1807) was the second son and seventh child of Francis II, the last