When Wilhelm Franz Josef Karl of Austria was a child, Johahn Strauss was in his heaven and all was well with the world. But Wilhelm's youth was soon shadowed by death. First, Cousin Rudolf (the Crown Prince) committed suicide at Mayerling. Then Cousin Franz-Ferdinand (the Heir Apparent) was killed at Sarajevo. Suddenly everyone became terribly solemn and said that young Archduke Wilhelm, the descendant of Holy Roman Emperors, would soon occupy a throne.
In 1916, when the Central Powers' victory seemed certain, an Austrian clique dreamed of welding Austria, Hungary and the Ukraine into a new tripartite empire. They picked...
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