The Sound of Martial Music: Difference between revisions

{{quote|"We are chained to a corpse!"|'''Unnamed German general, World War I'''}}

 

 

The first Habsburg was a warlord named Rudolph who was [[Feudal Overlord]] of an alpine fortress called ''Habichtsburg'', which translates into English as "the Hawk's Castle", whence the name "Habsburg." He was elected Emperor of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] in 1273, ''because'' of his lack of resources, which it was hoped would make him controllable. As it turned out, Rudolph had considerable military skill and sacked enough rebellious barons' castles to persuade them of the advisability of good order and loyalty to the crown. The Habsburg family became known for its skill in diplomacy and acquired many possessions by marriage, giving rise to the motto "Let others wage wars, but you, merry Austria, marry!" (''Bella gerant alii, tu, felix Austria, nube!)''. At one time, because of a previous merger with the royal family of Spain, it was an empire with holdings in the Western as well as the Eastern hemisphere, becoming the first "Empire on which the sun never sets"; however, the Spanish-based section of the family and the Austrian-based one were split, with Charles V giving Spain and the Netherlands to his son Phillip (Felipe I of Spain) and the Central/Eastern European realms to his brother Ferdinand, and the Spanish branch eventually died out for lack of legal issue (and [[Royally Screwed-Up|sanity]]).

** Also, the famous Lipizzaner stallions of the Spanish Riding School, which even merited a [[Disney]] movie, ''[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057312/ Miracle of the White Stallions]''.

* [[Determinator]]: Until [[World War I]], Austria/Austria-Hungary had gone through ''centuries'' of threats that would have torn up other countries. This could also apply to the Austro-Hungarian military, which for all its weaknesses effectively ''outlasted their own Empire.''

** Though ironically, he is still remembered somewhat fondly in the former Empire.

* [[Death Seeker]]: What Franz Josef was hinted in records to have become this towards the end of his life. This may have also affected how he perceived what is now World [[War I]].

* [[Iron Woobie]]: For some reason they ''always'' seem to lose. Yet the Empire survived. One wonders why.

** Perhaps they followed the Habsburg tradition of "muddling through."

*** Speaking of which, his coronation feast was a model of [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|royal style]]. He had his chefs bring a grand variety of expensive meals and displayed them to his courtiers. After they had been displayed, he had them taken away and shipped to a nearby hospital for wounded soldiers.

*** Unfortunately, the "patron saint of losers" line is also used by critics who stress his failure to save the Empire.

* [[The Millstone]]: Austria-Hungary was this for [[Imperial Germany]] during [[World War I]].

* [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero]] : But overlaps a little with [[Mis Blamed]]. They unwillingly gave their ally, [[Imperial Germany]], a [[Pretext for War]] by trying to avenge the assasination of Franz Ferdinand via a short war with Serbia (which had funded some of the assasins, including Gavrillo Princip). [[Irony|Ironically]], if Franz Ferdinand was alive, he'd never approve of vengeance like this. Needless to say, everybody was crossing their fingers and hoping "the Serbian episode" would be over quickly. Tough luck. In a few days, the rest of the European powers and alliances had already hopped on the bandwagon, hoping that the [[Darkest Hour|long-feared]] [[World War One|Great War]] [[Hope Spot|will be over]] [[Harsher in Hindsight|by Christmas]].

* [[Old Soldier]]: Many, from Austrian Captain von Trapp to Hungarian Regent-Admiral Horthy, became this after the War.

* [[Real Men Love Jesus]] : The Habsburgs have their share of saints in their rather large family tree. But this Catholic royal family in general runs the gamut from the very pious to the [[Raised Catholic|staunchly regular/nominal]], which is more often than not difficult to pin down. For instance, contrast Maria Theresa or Karl "the Blessed" to, say, Leopold II, Charles V or even Franz Ferdinand.

** It even ''outlasted'' the Empire well into the 1920s thanks to its pro-Habsburg remnants.

*** Of course, this was largely during the period it was run by [[M

** Later on, especially during the Austro-Hungarian Empire, there was ''Viribus Unitis.''

** Sometimes AEIOU is also read as ''Alles Erdreich Ist Oesterreich Untertan'': All Earth Is Subject to Austria

 

* Captain von Trapp in ''[[The Sound of Music]]'' (and in [[Real Life]]) was a former Habsburg officer.

* ''Sunshine'': A 1999 Hungarian film staring [[Ralph Fiennes]] follows a Jewish family through three different successive eras with the first set during the final years of the Habsburg Empire.

* The Habsburg Empire exists in ''[[Europa Universalis]]'' and is a fan favourite. There was a fan write-in campaign to keep Austria's traditional white colour for ''Victoria II''.

* Appear as bad guys in [[1632]].

** Ditto for just about ''any'' work that focuses on [[Napoleon Bonaparte]].

* Apart from ''Švejk'', there was a Polish novel and later a film, ''C.K. Dezerterzy''. Its [[Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain|similarity in depiction]] of WWI-era KundK army brought a number of plagiarism accusations, but was a genuine work. Which is yet another example of KundK forces' image of a [[Redshirt Army]].

 

{{reflist}}