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Emperor Karl I

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Monarch

The Resume

    (August 17, 1887-April 1, 1922)
    Born in Austria
    Emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (1916-1918)
    Succeeded his great-uncle, Emperor Franz Joseph I
    Married Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma
    Beatified by the Catholic Church (2004)

Why he might be annoying:

    He was the last emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
    He was also the last Habsburg monarch.
    One prime minister said, 'He is 30 years old, looks 20, and thinks like a 10-year-old.'
    His chief of staff added, 'He can't even write properly.'
    He tried to regain the throne twice, without success.
    His beatification provoked controversy.
    Historian Helmut Rumpler says he was 'a dilettante, far too weak for the challenges facing him, out of his depth, and not really a politician.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was a military officer who never expected to take the throne.
    He only became heir presumptive after the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.
    He had the misfortune to become emperor in the middle of World War I.
    He did not want to continue fighting the war.
    He tried to pursue a separate peace.
    He banned flogging and duels in the army.
    He limited the use of poison gas by Austrian troops.
    The writer Anatole France called him 'the only decent man to come out of the war in a leadership position.'

Credit: truffle


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 34 Votes: 32.35% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 18 Votes: 11.11% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 63 Votes: 69.84% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 28 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 33 Votes: 48.48% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 26 Votes: 53.85% Annoying