Famously, his motto as emperor was ‘Viribus unitis’ – ‘With united strength’ – which illustrates the image still commonly held of Franz Joseph holding the Monarchy together during the last decades of its existence. He felt closely attached to the absolutist- feudal form of state, and on account of his pedantic civil servant-like commitment to official paperwork he has been characterized by some historians as the ‘supreme bureaucrat’. However, it is clear that he was an adamant opponent of constitutionalism: for example, he expressed great resistance to the so-called December Constitution of 1867. It is difficult to assess Franz Joseph’s political attitudes, as only a few written records of his personal statements have been preserved. He was not the only one who received a successful education to monarchhood: his brother Ferdinand Maximilian also became an emperor, albeit under quite different auspices and on another continent, in Central America. Having – like other monarchs – been subjected to a strict education calculated to prepare him for his potential future role as ruler, Franz Joseph was greatly influenced by his powerful mother Sophie. On 2 December 1848, at a mere eighteen years of age, Franz Joseph became Emperor of Austria, succeeding his uncle Ferdinand after his father Franz Karl had renounced his claim to the throne.
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