Archduke Joseph August of Austria

Archduke Joseph August Viktor Klemens Maria of Austria, Prince of Hungary and Bohemia (9 August 1872 – 6 July 1962) was a Feldmarschall (field marshal) of the Austro-Hungarian Army and for a short period head of state of Hungary. He was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, the eldest son of Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria (1833–1905) and his wife Princess Clotilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1846–1927). Joseph August's grandfather had been Palatine Joseph of Hungary (1776–1847), Palatine and Viceroy of Hungary, a younger son of Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor.

The Archduke Joseph Diamond, a 76.02 carat colourless diamond with internal flawless clarity, is named after the Archduke and officially recorded as his property.

Early life
August was born at Alcsút, Kingdom of Hungary. On 15 November 1893, in Munich, he married Princess Auguste Maria of Bavaria (1877–1964), daughter of Prince Leopold of Bavaria (1846–1930) and his wife Archduchess Gisela of Austria (1856–1932).

Archduke Joseph August became thus from 1893 grandson-in-law to Austrian Emperor Francis Joseph I. His wife's mother, Archduchess Gisela, was the eldest surviving daughter of Francis Joseph and Empress Elisabeth ("Sisi"). The young couple's children were born in their great-grandfather's lifetime.

They had six children:
 * Archduke Joseph Francis of Austria, born on 28 March 1895; died on September 25, 1957
 * Archduchess Gisela Auguste Anna Maria, born on 5 July 1897; died on March 30, 1901
 * Archduchess Sophie Klementine Elisabeth Klothilde Maria, born on 11 March 1899; died on April 19, 1978
 * Archduke Ladislaus Luitpold, born on 3 January 1901; died on August 29, 1946
 * Archduke Matthias Joseph Albrecht Anton Ignatius, born on 26 June 1904; died on October 7, 1905
 * Archduchess Magdalena Maria Raineria, born on 6 September 1909; died on May 11, 2000

Joseph August began his military career in 1890 when he was commissioned into the 1st Infantry Regiment as a Leutnant. He was soon promoted to Oberleutnant and was transferred to 72nd Infantry Regiment in 1893. He was transferred to Dragoon Regiment #6 in 1894 and then transferred to the 1st Royal Hungarian Honvéd Hussars by the emperor and promoted to the rank of Major. He took command of this regiment in 1904 and then went on to command 79th Honvéd infantry brigade in 1908 then finally the 31st infantry division at Budapest in 1911.

World War I
In 1914, he was involved in combat in the Galician theatre and took command of the VII Corps and was involved in fighting in the Carpathian Mountains for which he was awarded, among others, the Austrian Order of Leopold and the Prussian Iron Cross. After Italy became involved in the war, he was transferred to the Carinthian border and involved in fighting the Isonzo army. August remained on the front until the Ninth Battle of the Isonzo in 1916, a period in which once again he was highly decorated. Joseph August was highly popular among his troops, especially those of Hungarian nationality.

In November 1916, Joseph August was put in command of the Heeresfront fighting against Russian and Romanian forces, and in 1917, he was awarded the Military Order of Maria Theresa and the Pour le Mérite. In January 1918 he was put in command of the 6th Army in the Southern theatre and that July took over the South Tyrolean Army Group, which was the 10th and the 11th Armies. Finally, on 26 October 1918, he was sent to the Balkans theatre to take command of the Heeresgruppe Kövess, which had lost Serbia, Albania and Montenegro. He was the last person to be appointed a Feldmarschall (Field Marshal) of the Austro-Hungarian Army on 24 October 1918 as an attempt by his cousin, Emperor Charles I to placate Hungarian nationalists.

Later life
On 27 October 1918, Emperor Charles made August the "Homo Regius" of Hungary, but August asked to be released from his oath of allegiance to the emperor. He then began negotiations and appointed Count János Hadik to build a new national government. However, the Aster Revolution broke out on 31 October 1918, deterring his plans. In November, the socialist Hungarian Democratic Republic was proclaimed, only to be replaced a few months later by the communist Hungarian Soviet Republic. The revolution failed; the popular Joseph August survived unharmed; and on 7 August, he became head of state of Hungary once again, officially as regent (Reichsverweser) for Charles. He appointed István Friedrich as Prime Minister. When it became apparent that the Allies would not recognise a Habsburg as Hungary's head of state, Joseph August was forced to resign on 23 August 1919.

In 1920 the Archduke became the first knight of the Hungarian Order of Vitéz, in 1927 he became a member of the newly re-established House of Magnates. He later became an honorary member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and was its president from 1936–1944. He fled Hungary for the United States in 1944 but later returned to West Germany. He died in 1962 at Rain, near Straubing.

Children
His eldest son, Archduke Joseph Francis of Austria, had predeceased him, dying in 1957.

Thus, Joseph August's main heir was his eldest grandson, Archduke Joseph Árpád of Austria (1933–2017), the eldest son of Joseph Francis and his wife, Princess Anna of Saxony. Joseph Árpád married Princess Maria of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg, and had children in Joseph August's lifetime. His surviving eldest son is Archduke Joseph Karl (born 1960).

August's granddaughter Archduchess Ilona of Austria (1927–2011) married George Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg. Her son George Borwin, Duke of Mecklenburg is the current head of the House of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Honours
He received the following orders and decorations: • Austria-Hungary:

• * Knight of the Golden Fleece, 1891

• * Gold, Silver and Bronze Military Merit Medals on the Ribbon of the Military Merit Cross, with Swords

• * Knight of the Iron Crown, 1st Class with War Decoration and Swords, 1914

• * Grand Cross of the Imperial Order of Leopold, with War Decoration and Swords, 1915

• * Military Merit Cross, 1st Class with War Decoration and Swords, 1916

• * Decoration for Services to the Red Cross, with War Decoration, 1917

• * Commander of the Military Order of Maria Theresa, 1917

• * Grand Cross of the Royal Hungarian Order of St. Stephen, 18 March 1918

• 🇧🇪 Belgium: Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold

•  Principality of Bulgaria:

• * Grand Cross of St. Alexander, 1895

• * Knight of Saints Cyril and Methodius, 22 June 1912

• Regency Hungary: Captain General of the Order of Vitéz, 1959

•  Military Order of Malta: Bailiff Grand Cross of Honour and Devotion, with Breast Cross, 1895

•  Tuscan Grand Ducal Family: Grand Cross of St. Joseph, 1897

•  Ottoman Empire: Gold and Silver Imtiyaz Medals

•  Persian Empire: Order of the August Portrait, in Diamonds

•  undefined: Grand Cross of the Order of Charles III, 25 January 1908

•  undefined: Honorary Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, 21 August 1908

•  German Empire:

• * Knight of the Black Eagle, 1906

• * Knight of the Red Eagle, 1st Class

• * Iron Cross (1914), 2nd Class, 1 November 1914; 1st Class, 1915

• * Pour le Mérite (military), 30 March 1917; with Oak Leaves, 26 March 1918

• * undefined:

• ** Knight of St. Hubert, 1893

• ** Knight of the Military Merit Order, 4th Class with Swords, 4 July 1916