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injouable · 10 months

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Was Franz Joseph as boring as he seems?

There are hudreds of different types of media dedicated to empress Elisabeth, including films, books, tv-shows and musical. And in most of them the figure of her husband Franz Joseph, who was much more important in historical and social context, is barely a piece of furniture in the backgroung. Even if his character is somehow developed, the central figure is always Elisabeth and never him. It is simply explained by the outstandind personality on the empress, that can have a lot of more or less romanticized interpretations. Compared to her, the emperor is just a boring and worthless normie, that noone would be interested in. But here are some facts about his young years showing that he also deserves some attention.

1. Just look at this twink and his tiny waist.

I'm 100% sure that he wore corsets.

2. Franz Joseph had a fenomenal memory. He never forgot names and faces and could easily memorise large vocabulary, which allowed him to learn six languages (German, French, Polish, Czech, Hungarian, Italian and a little of Latin and Greek). Also he was a really good dancer and had a talent for drawing. Here's his pencil drawing at the age of 13.

3. That little line from the musical "Feelings are forbidden for me" was actually a really big thing in his upbringing. His mentors literally didn't allow him to show any emotion to make him elaborate an iron discipline and self-control. Eventually his character became highly reserved and devoid of compation and warmth. And when he was already 17 his mother Sophie *suddenly* realized, that it all went in a wrong direction. The best solution that she came up with was to force her son to play a comedy role in a private perfomance at the court, so that he could gain more easiness in communication. Franz hated the whole idea and hated every minute on stage. But, supposingly, it did actually help him to imrove his social skills, because after that contemporaries always described him as a totally amiable and charming lad.

4. Franz Joseph became an emperor when he was 18. At that point the country was on the edge of revolution and the previous emperor, his uncle Ferdinand, decided to simply run away from Vienna refusing from the crown and left the reins of government together with a political disaster to his young nephew. Rumour has it, that when Franz Joseph returned after the transfer of power ceremony he burst into tears.

5. Two weeks later, when it was known, that austrian troops entered Hungary to suppress the rebellion and the civilian war has actually started, there was one peculiar incident. During an evening ball FJ's youngest brother Lugwig Victor accidentally cracked a mirrored door and asked the emperor to protect him from punishment. Unexpectedly Franz Joseph asked his mother, if he could smash the door completely, when there's already a crack in it. And after getting a permition he frantically and furiously shattered the glass into pieces. I didn't find any information about did he do it with some object or with bare hands, but just imagine, if he did it with bare hands.

The craziest is that it wasn't even at the imperial palace, they were on a visit to some archbishop and the man was totally pissed off by this prank.

There will be no conclusion.

#elisabeth das musical #history #19th century #musicals #historical people #franz joseph i

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hannahsbackroom · 6 months

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To kiss…

…. or to be kissed

That is the question.

😌😏

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historyandarthijinks · 1 year

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Historical People: Red Baron

The Red Baron, Manfred von Richthofen, was a famous ace pilot during WW1 who fought in the air force of the German Empire. Despite Richthofen fighting for the offensive military he is hailed a war hero, and good man to this day.

Manfred von Richthofen was born in Prussia, which was once it’s own nation, but then a unified part of the German Empire. Now a days this territory of land is in modern day Poland. He born into an aristocratic family making him a Freiherr which more loosely translates to what we would call a baron.

In his early life Richthofen showed a lot of talent in many different activities. This included hunting, horse back riding, school, and gymnastics. He’d enter military school at the age of 11.

Richtofen would write, and like a lot. He already wrote one of his own autobiographies before his death in war. In it he writes about his childhood disappointment about becoming a cadet in military school, stating that his father “wished it” of him.

Richthofen was a fan of risky tricks. Most notably in his autobiography he wrote that a friend and him climbed the steeple of Wahlstatt using the lightning conductor. He had tied his handkerchief at the top, and was delighted to see 10 years later with his brother, it still flittering in the wind.

WW1 began, being known at the time as the great war, and the worst war that man had ever seen. It took the world by storm, and especially Europe. Millions of young of men, no matter how they felt, were forced to the front lines on all sides. That included the German Empire, who is credited as one of the major aggressors in the war.

Richthofen served on both western and eastern fronts as a cavalry reconnaissance officer. Trench warfare had made cavalry units mostly useless, so he’d find his regiment turned into dispatch runners and telephone field operators. This upset him greatly.

The baron became incredibly interested in the German Air Force after getting to behold one of their planes himself. He decided to transfer and apply to become part of the Imperial German Air Service. It’s reported that he wrote, “I have not gone to war in order to collect cheese and eggs.”. His transfer was granted.

His first time ever riding in a plane changed Richthofen’s life for both better and eventually worse. The feeling of being above the world in the flying machine, even as a passenger, was thrilling and breathtaking. Although very nervous to fly on his own, his first ever time as a pilot during training proved to himself that this was where he was meant to be. His own flying mentor, Boelcke would collide accidentally with another plane in battle and die.

Richthofen’s first ever confirmed kill happened to his rival, and British ace, Lanoe Hawker. Richthofen referred to Lanoe as the British Boelcke. This fight would cause Richthofen to begin searching for faster planes that suited his own flying style. From then on his victories skyrocketed. By the end of the war he would be credited with downing 80 planes. The most he ever took out in one day was 22.

Richthofen became the Red Baron, and his crew the flying circus, after he had added a red painting motif to the planes he flew. Most notably the Fokker Dr I. He went by many variations of the name Red Baron, including Der rote Kampflieeger, Le Petite Rouge, and Red Pilot. He became a commander of his own flight crew. His crew became known as the flying circus when they all followed in his footsteps painting their own planes a various amount of bright colors.

Richthofen became a propagandist for the Imperial German Military, a symbol of moral, and eventually part of the cult that was hero-worship during the world wars. However in his own writings and recorded behaviors, the war was certaintly something he didn’t enjoy or endorse.

During the war his autobiography was published with heavy signs of temperament and censorship. Lines were often added to make him seem even more blood thirsty and pro-war than he actually was. English translations did the opposite as well, adding lines making him even more remorseful for the war. However he truly did show signs of both, more so a transition over time, from young war hero to equally young regretful soldier.

He even began to hate his own book before his death, stating that he’s changed. There was nothing he could do though, he was now a legend among both sides. Special rewards and calls to bring him down from Allied forces were spread around British and French Air Forces. It didn’t help that he himself shared a strong sense of honor towards his fellow pilots, calling the Englishmen his friends.

He even would even speak to two that he downed without killing. He found the situation comical as he had to land due to last minute engine problem. He said they landed perfectly despite being on fire, while he ended up in the barbwire of his own trenches and flipped his plane. The honor was shared among the Englishmen and other Allied pilots in return.

Richthofen was obsessed with downings. Originally he had a jeweler make him a silver cup per each person, which he would decorate his dashboard with. But the jeweler started to say no due a shortage of silver. After that the Red Baron would track down his downed opponents and pluck a souvenir from their plane. One his most notable being a plane engine he had turned into a chandelier.

The soldier would have a major head injury which changed a lot about him in the war, most notably making flight very migraine inducing and difficult to focus on doing. The war itself was also taking a great toll on him, especially in both his physical and mental health. Other sighted his face as becoming sunken. His family noted he was growing very no-nonsense and quiet. He himself wrote of his growing hatred to the war.

His mother mother had a diary of her own in which she wrote about her son. She wrote, “I think he has seen death too often.”. One evening while he showed her pictures from his time in Russia, she began asking about the other men in the photo. She wrote he became harsh with her, stating that all where dead except him. She knew to stop asking. She wrote that his final visit with her before his death was like talking to a ghost.

Other of his revealed writings, including a diary unveiled that he began to hate himself truly. He wrote about depression, wanting to lock himself up in a room and never seeing another person ever again, about debating his future death. He talked frequently about how awful he felt after every battle now. There was no longer pride in his flight, the deaths began to weigh on him, and his head was truly hurting.

All of this lead to Richthofen’s death at age 25 in the war. Although being chased down by planes the Red Baron wasn’t knocked out of the sky by them, but AA instead, or at least that was most probably. There are several candidates about who dealt the killing blow, but no one truly knows for sure. Wilfred May was the pilot chasing after him that day, or really the Red Baron pursuing him. Arthur Brown, Cedric Popkin, and W.J. Evans were the AA on the ground that day trying to protect May. There are other variations of who killed him though, including pilots in the air.

Brown is overall credited with the kill, but to be honest as much the Englishmen wanted him dead, they were still disappointed to see him actually so. Richthofen had been shoot through the side, the .303 exited his chest, killing him within minutes. Richthofen managed to land his plane although very roughly, breaking his nose, fracturing his jaw, and beating up his face. Englishmen rushed to his plane to hear his apparent final words, “Kaput.”

There is still an air of mystery to his death has that following week, and especially that day Richthofen was flying out of character. The ground men reported him being unusually low and flying recklessly, going much farther into friendly air space than stratigically okay. This all even goes against his own words where he advocated for tactics and smoothness.

Richthofen is thought to have been suffering from CSR (Cumulative Combat Stres), and he wasn’t the only ace pilot at the time to have this problem. He also was suffering from his head trauma awfully, and was likely experiencing target fixation. Some even speculate, especially due to his writing and tone, he may have wanted to be shot down that day. He was noted to be flying extremely fast on top of everything.

Major David Blake organised Richthofen’s military funeral when the Allied forces found him. They could do nothing to stop souvenir scavengers from tearing the Red Baron’s plane apart though. He would have a few more funerals as his body was moved back home, and when he was held as a war hero. He received many awards. His grave is now in Südfriedhof in Wiesbaden.

The Red Baron became a pop culture icon among both sides, becoming the face of Ace pilots. Like most pilots or snipers his kill count and victories were questioned. This time however it’s more likely all his victories were true and that he more so had more unconfirmed kills under his belt.

#history #german empire #ace pilots #ace pilot #red baron #german history #ww1 #air force #military history #historical people #war hero #war heroes #military #german military #manfred von richtofen #famous people #long post #educational post

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liebgotts-lovergirl · 1 year

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Historical Moodboards: Bonnie Parker

"I couldn't help loving him madly; for him, even I would die."

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herzeliebes-waltherlin · 1 year

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health tips !

-drink enough water

-go for a walk

-read your primary sources and actually make sure you understand what they mean before you decide to put your opinion out there

-stop treating historical people like theyre fictional characters you can impose headcanons that you got from third hand sources on instead of actual human beings that lived ! thought ! spoke ! made choices ! made history !

-eat your vegetables

#feeling a little salty #just from so many things that are suddenly happening at once #its been bothering me for a while but like ? is it me or does it happen more often rn #historical people

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muttball · 11 months

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Albert Gallatin (1801-1814)

He helped create the powerful House Ways and Means Committee to assure Treasury's accountability to Congress. He was called a 'financial genius' and "steadfast defender of democracy". Serving 13 years as Secretary of Treasury, the longest term of any Secretary in the Department's history. He was a 'Democratic Republican'.

#muttball #travel photography #photography #travel america #image by muttball #historical people #secretary of treasury #statues #american historuy

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enbycrip · 5 months

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EDITED TO ADD: Sources from the OP in the comments

#trans #nonbinary #trans nonbinary #ancient history #sumer #gender #we have always been here #historical trans people #you cannot legislate us away and you cannot wipe us out while humanity still exists #we are as perennial as the grass #inanna #trans is sacred

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rosencrantzsguildenstern · 5 months

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all period typical nicknames are free reign

#chitra.txt #historical #i could have fit more but i feel like that wouldnt be in the spirit of the era #like people existed who werent these but less common #polls

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injouable · 7 months

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A silly little comic dedicated to the fact that historically Elisabeth was 4 cm taller than Franz Joseph (with height of 172 and 168 cm accordingly)

#silly #empress elisabeth of austria #elisabeth das musical #franz joseph i #historical people #art #comics

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hannahsbackroom · 4 months

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Young Ludwig getting an education 😏

Passionate, even from a young age.

#young beethoven #young ludwig #ludwig #ludwig van beethoven #beethoven #mozart #wolfgang amadeus mozart #wolfgang #wolfie #amadeus #classical composer #naughty boys #lgbt art #doodle #he likes it #coffee boy au #historical people #original art

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chaotic-archaeologist · 2 years

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What are your thoughts about whether people should be able to say famous and historical figures had or have disabilities (without them or people close to them saying they had or have the disability)? For example, people sometimes say Albert Einstein had autism. Separately some people say FDR did not have Polio but had a different disability. Do you think we should be questioning what might have been known about someone like him even if the diagnosis we know for them might not be correct?

I think this is potentially less straightforward than assigning gender/sexual identities for people of the past. In that example, there's a blanket rule of not projecting modern cultural definitions onto people of the past.

With disabilities, sometimes we can objectively know what that person was experiencing. We know that Richard III had scoliosis because his skeleton showed a severe spinal curvature. That's not up to interpretation.

However, as a person with a disability, I think that the world has an unhelpful and unhealthy obsession with a diagnosis. People ask me all the time about what particular disability I have, when really it should be enough for them to know that I struggle to stand for long periods of time. To me, the most important thing about my disability is how it affects the way I interact with the world.

Let's go back to the Richard III example. It doesn't really matter that scoliosis was what was causing his back problems, just that he had them. And it is equally important to know that saddle and armor designs of his time would have acted as very effective back braces, allowing him to participate in horse and foot combat.

I don't necessarily mind when we know/are able to find out a specific diagnosis for a historical person, but I really don't think it's the most important thing.

Does it matter if FDR had polio or some other condition, or just that he had a limb difference? In terms of the way he existed in an able bodied world, the diagnosis means less than the challenges he faced as the result of his physical differences.

At the same time, I understand that it can be incredibly affirming to find out that a historical person had the same disability that you do. That is understandable, if that is something that helps you cope, go ahead. I would just encourage the sentiment of solidarity in experience over solidarity in diagnosis in your everyday interactions with the world.

-Reid

#he speaks #he answers #disability #disabled #historical people

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