A VACANT THRONE

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 January 1938, Page 10

A VACANT THRONE

POSITION IN HUNGARY.

A recent cable message from Vienna, •stated that a. new claimant to the [thrones of Austria and Hungary ha : appeared, says a, writer in the Me 1 -! I bourne “Age.'’ 'This claimant, culls [ [himself Prince Karl Rudolph, and. as-1 sens he is the son of the Crown t Frince Rudolph of Austria-Hungary [ 'who. together with his mistress, Alary I Vetsera, was killed in a mysterious [ manner at Mayerling in 1889. Ac-

coruing to the romantic, story of ibid ? claimant, the Crown Prince Rudolph! ?! married in 1880 Princess Marie An-- 1 j'toinetie of Toscana, and lie is the i>-| tp.uo of ibis union. Little support is -[likely to be given to his romantic -|.-torj. ami ovum if Hie- truth of it - could be established, there are insup-> i < ruble difficulties in the way of ac-l ■ cession to the thrones of Austria and; ■ Hungary. '1 he authentic claimant tothese thrones is Archduke Otto, the; eldest son of the Emperor Charles, ! v. ho after a brief reign of two years I jus Emperor of Austria-Hungary (the' • jlast two years of tiie World Wart fled from the Imperial Palace of Schon--1,1. < 4 I . 1- ..

Ibi uh at the outbreak of revolution and died in exile at Fmmlm 1. Madeira, in 1922. The hopes of Archduke Otto, ■pho was 25 on November yo, ;ire centred in the overthrow of ilie re[piiblica.il form of government in Am■tria and an invitation to return to ■Vienna to he crowned King. ! Since 1929 the. Archduke, his mother 'and liis brothers and sisters have

been lixing in Belgium al. Ham Castle, mar Steenockerzeel, which was! placed al the disposal of the ex-lmper- 1 ial family by the Marquis Jean de! Croix. There the ex-Empress Zita! has shaped the life of her eldest son [ Otto t<> fit him for the task of ruling | over lilt- former kingdoms of his J i’albcr. The ex-Empress. who is now j ■!5 years of age, is described as a! woman of remarkable energy and de-[ termination. She is a daughter of L’iil<e Robert, who lost his Ducliy ofi J’iii'ina, in 1860, when it. was jncorpor- [ at.cd in a united Italy. The Duke mar-1 tied twice and was the father of eigh l [ cen children. The matrimonial pros-j poets of I’rincess Zita as a member!

lot a large family of a dispossessed ruler were not bright, bin at the age lof nineteen she married the Archduke Charles Francis, then next but one in the fine of succession to the thrones of Austria-Hungary. Five years after her marriage she became Empress, and though she lost that exulted post when the monarchy fell two years later, she always retained hopes of regaining it. She participatted in the plots which instigated the itwo futile attempts made in 1921 by I her busband, the ex-Emperor Charles, Ito regain the throne of Hungary. j Dr. Otto Ernest, in his book “Kings .in Exile,” writes as follows of the ex--1 Empress Zita in connection with her ceaseless endeavours to secure the return of her son Otto to Austria as its King: “Iler whole will is concentrated with fanatical zeal on the royal idea. She agitates ceaselessly, unswervingly, untiringly. She tells the French, who are supposed to be the greatest props in the diplomatic preparations for restoration of the monarchy, how she combated the excesses I’Of the German conduct of the war, and i how she wrote Kaiser Wilhelm four ’ letters in her own hand, begging, and I even demanding, that Rheiins Cathe-i dral should be spared. The English! are told that she was the most reso-1 lute opponent of submarine warfare.

PREPARING FOR FUTURE. “She talks about the past, in order to .prepare for the future. Conspiracies are hatched, intrigues carried on, agitations set on foot; old ties are drawn more closely, new ones are

> sought and drawn together. The [ newspapers are kept informed, public [opinion is watched and itiflucimcd by all possible means." Two years ago it looked as if the ceaseless effort.-, of ex-Empress Zita on behalf of Archduke Otto were to [be clowned with success. Sime 121!'. [when Austii;i became a republic, it Jims not had a stable Government. I Each successive Geverunieiit has been la minority one. and some of them had [to resort, to force in order to suppress opponents and keep themselves Jin office. In February, 1931, there | was ail armed conflict in Vienna beItwe<m the: Government, forces and the

[ Socialists, and a number of people, ; ere killed, in July ,jf the same year; la Nazi revolt, which aimed al can-| [tilling the Administration and uniting! I-Attstiia. with Germany, jailed after j [the Chancellor, Dr. Del If u. had been j | ti'tiid< red. This internal disordeij e.mc<l to favour the prospects of tliej j t cstoraLion of the Monarchy. TiteJ j country was flooded will, propaganda [ Son behalf of the Archduke Otte. Thoujsands upon thousand.-.- of photographs! and picture postcard- oi "Emperor"! [Cite, in the uniform of the Austrian Army, made their appearance every-j [where. Towns vied with one another! i)i coni erring their freedom on the'!

Archduke. Sporting and shoolinj clubs anil veterans' associations elect cd him as their honorary president [The m wspapers were filled with :n' ticks utilising the ttouso of H.tbs [burg, and describing iho former great iiicss <;! Austria limit;- Habsburg rule A Bill was inirodiic d in iho ,\ns I trian Senate Council which rescinded Hie law passed in I'.tl't banishing th< ■ Habsburg family ITmn Austria ami I confiscating their propcry. The Hili ( was gem rally regarded as preliminji'i'y ;<> an invitatioi: to Archduke Otto jto accept the throne of Austria. But jnolhing further happened. ;( ikl ;he (hopes of Olio ;uid his mother suffered i severe disappoint mem . I Arcnd uk c Ottos lio pcs of I><■co mi n g [King of Austria are st r< iigl honed by 1.1)0 tact that several ol the n'igniiig j monarchs in Europe to-day ;i ro kings who ascended iheir thrones after living in exile. The two out .aa nd ing instances are King t’arol of Rumania .“.nd King George. II ol Greece. Before his accession to the throne of Rumania, in 1930. King Carol had a

j cheque red career which can scarcely j I be regarded as u suitable, preparation I ■ fur kingship. After Hie German and [ iAustrian armies overran Rumania, in J th<j World AX'ar he eloped with a Ru[manian girl. Mlle. Zizi Lambrino. and [ i married her al. Odessa. For a fowl months he was devoted io his bride, and formally renounced his right of succession to the' thione of Rumania, j The idea, of a. prince renouncing a t throne for the sake of the girl he! loved appealed to that romantic element in human nature, and a great deal was written in the. newspapers about the noble-hearted Carol and his bride,. But the. romance- did not last, lung. Carol, succumbing to the masterful influence of his mother. Queen Mario, a granddaughter of Queen Vic-

toiia, renounced his bride, and returned to the Rumanian Court as Grown Prince and heir-apparent. Steps were taken io have the marriage annulled by a. Rumanian court of law, as illegal.. on a minor technicality. Carol was sent on a. tour of the world by his mother in order that change of i scene might enable him to forget the l.vcting wife he had deserted, and when j he came back he was betrothed Lot 1 1 tince.ss Helen of Greece, a daughter! I ci King Constantine. This marriagei duly Look place with much ceremony. I hut Carol soon grew tired of the role; of dutiful husband, and ran away to I Faris with a lady. He again re-! nounced his right of succession to 1 the throne as an indication of eternal ' fidelity to his new love, and when i his father died in 1927 Carol’s little s son Michael, aged four, was pro- 1

[claimed King, and a. Regency was esItablished to govern the country until |iiie. young King became of age.

: DIVORCED BY WIFE. ' I Tine css Helen formally divorced [(Wol. wiio went to England to live [in exile. But there he plotted with li romimut people in Bucharest for his return to his country, and the [overthrow of (lie Regency. In 1930 I lie arrived in Bucharest without warn- | ing. having flown over from England by aeroplane. He effected a coup d’etat and had himself proclaimed King in place of his sou.

.■[ King George ol Greece spent twelve. ■ I years in exile before being recalled |lo his throne after having lost it in j ,11923. And previous to that he had ac-[ ■ j compmiii- d his fattier. King Constan-1 jtine, into e.xile. Constantine, who was brother-in-law <>f Kaiser Wilhelm 11, [was deposed as King of Greece in [ ■ 'June. I'.’lT. as the result of pressure' [applied by th.? Allies, who wanted! Greece io associate hci-sc-lf with them [in til-:- war against Germany, Austria- [ Hungary, and Turkey. Frince George. ■ who was the King’s eldest son, was i'.xih.d with him, and George's brother.! | Alexander, a young man of 2-1, was ! proclaimed King. Alexander died

ihiw: years later as the result of blood prisoning caused by a bite from a monkey. On December 5. 1.92(1, a ■rkbiscito was held in Greece to deji.ide the oecupaucy of the throne, ami 199'J,95-1 votes wore ansi for the return [if King <'onstauiinc and' only 10.383 [against. A fortnight later King Conji'lni’titte and Frince George returned [tri Giaico. and the former resumed I the throne. Hess than two years litter he was forced to abdicate in order to avert civil war. The ctinse of hisj >. arid decline iu popularity was the} disastrous result of his ambitious inili-l lavy campaign against Turkey. J Const anti u o abdicated in favour ofj t j im.-e (tiorge. who ascended tlm i tliroi.ie- i lie day bis father surrendered it- (borne began his reign by con-

.‘■■."iiliiig to the execution of several [Ministers and generals as scapegoats ;t"i’ (lie disastrous military catnpagn against the Turks. These executions shocked public opinion abroad, and Great Britain broke off diplmatic relations with Greece. Iu order to pru’pitiate foreign opinion', King George [ dismissed the Government which had (authorised the executions, and a new [Cabinet, was formed. When the King’s uncle, Frince Andreas, was degraded and banished by a court-martial fori [his conduct, as commander of the (Greek second army, which had been defeated by the Turks, the King want-j ed to abdicate, but. he was not allowed ( ■to do so. and was kept a prisoner in i ■the Royal palace by M. Fangios. the[ I Frinie Minister. Next, year the King took part, in a j,lot to overthrow the Government of IVI. Fangios, but it was unsuccessful, and the Prime Minister requested the King to leave the country for the duration of the Parliamentary session, while the question of the future political constitution of Greece was dis-

. cussed. The King complied with the request on December 18. 1923, and .went, to live at Bucharest as the guest ■of his father-in-law, King Ferdinand of Rumania, and subsequently took up his residence in England. On March 25. 1924, the Greek Parliament proclaimed a republic, and the decision was ratified by a plebiscite in! the following month by 758,742 votes! ito 325,322. The former ruling dynasty was declared to have forfeited the-1 throne, and all its members were ban-’ jished from, the country. King George I 'replied with a public protest against.' his deposition, and asserted that he! j would never renounce his rights and) 'claims to the throne. As the result of! a. succession of political troubles during the next ten years there was a ’ swing-back to the monarchy, and a plebiscite taken on November 3, 1935,

gave an overwhelming majority in favour of the return of King George. He was given an enthusiastic public welcome when he arrived in Greece on November 25 to occupy the throne again.