Franz Joseph, Prince of Oppolzer
The Prince of Oppolzer | |
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_-_Prince_Albert,_The_Prince_Consort_(1819-1861)_-_RCIN_407566_-_Royal_Collection.jpg) | |
| 4th Premier of Werania | |
| In office 7 October 1860 – 14 March 1869 | |
| Monarch | Adalbert |
| Preceded by | Ferdinand Karl von Schönborn-Buchheim |
| Succeeded by | Ludwig Gustav von Middendorff |
| Minister-President of Cislania | |
| In office 2 July 1856 – 7 October 1860 | |
| Monarch | Adalbert |
| Preceded by | Konrad von Blumenfeld (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Karl Richard von Wiesenburg |
| In office 5 April 1846 – 27 April 1856 | |
| Preceded by | Philipp von Rietberg |
| Succeeded by | Konrad von Blumenfeld (acting) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 June 1812 Augustenburg, Cislania |
| Died | 14 March 1869 (aged 56) Westbrücken, Werania |
| Political party | Leftist Bloc |
| Spouse | Josephine Caroline und Rothenlöwen |
| Alma mater | Academy of Weisstadt |
Cislanian offices held
Weranian offices held
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Xaver Franz Joseph Gerhard, Prince of Oppolzer (12 June 1812 - 14 March 1869) was a Weranian aristocrat and statesmen who served as the fourth Premier of Werania from 1860 to his death as well as serving as Minister-President of Cislania from 1846 to 1860. He is best known for his role in the suppression of the Jurgaitytė rebellion, expanding the Weranian colonial empire and helping formulate an alliance with Etruria.
Oppolzer came from one of the most powerful noble families in Cislania and was a confidante of Ulrich von Bayrhoffer during Weranian Unification. He would become Werania's first public works minister in 1842, a position mainly concerned with railway construction and aligned himself with von Bayrhoffer and pan-Weranicists in the Bundestag. In 1846 Oppolzer became Minister-President of Cislania leading a pro-government liberal coalition. A moderate liberal Oppolzer as supported the von Bayrhoffer cabinet and often emerged as a key powerbroker between the interests of Cislania and the central government. During the War of the Triple Alliance he was regarded as being amongst the more dovish and strongly supported the Torrazza accords that ended the war. Following the war Oppolzer supported the use of armed repression towards the revolutionaries during the Easter Revolution although opposed the tactics used by Adolf von Hoetzsch. He continued as minister-president throughout the 1850's.
In 1860 the monarch Adalbert invited Oppolzer to lead a liberal cabinet after the conservatives lost favour, with Oppolzer taking the opportunity. Oppolzer was a reformist committed to the ideals of laissez-faire economics and imperialism. As premier Oppolzer launched reforms to cut wasteful spending and reduce patronage. On the domestic front he reversed some of the more repressive measure that had introduced during the Easter Revolution although did not abolish censorship entirely. During his premiership he created the "eisenring", a political system that marginalised republicans whilst forging alliances with conservative sectors of society.
During his term there was a rebellion in Ruttland after the Ruttish economy collapsed which was put down by the federal government. Because of this Oppolzer implemented reforms in Ruttland which placed the region under less repressive rule although he baulked at allowing a more democratic system being implemented.
In foreign affairs Oppolzer supported the notion of rapprochement with other great powers to ensure peace. To this end he supported the creation of an alliance with Etruria and with deepening the one with Estmere whilst pursuing moderate reconciliation with Gaullica. However his Soravophobia led to tensions with the new Soravian republic under Eduard Olsov and he was unable to reorient from the essentially anti-Kirenian thrust of Weranian foreign policy. In colonial affairs Oppolzer was more successful overseeing the expansion of colonial outposts in Silberküste and Nainan whilst supporting commercial relations with the Asterian powers. Oppolzer would die in office in 1869, the first Weranian premier to do so in office.
Oppolzer today is often ranked as one of Werania's most effective premiers with his tenure marked by domestic prosperity and peace abroad beginning a period known as the Prachtvolle Epoche. For decades after his death Oppolzer was seen as the epitome of Weranian liberalism - however he was long ridiculed by conservative opponents for his sordid personal life and alleged naiveite. More recent criticism focuses on his unabashed imperialism, firm belief in the "white mans burden" and the beginning of a conservative stagnation in Weranian politics that lasted until the liberal reforms of the 1890s. Nevertheless historians continue to rate him highly. He holds the third longest consecutive term as premier after Rasa Šimonytė and Ludolf Ostermann.
Early life
Franz Joseph was born into the Cislanian princely family of Oppolzer in 1812. His father the prince of Oppolzer Felix Adolf was a rural landlord and courtier to the Cislanian monarchy whilst his mother Elisabeth Constanze was the daughter of the wife of prince Johannes, the third son of the former Rudolphine protector Leopold III making his family partially related to the House of Schwarzollen-Brücken. The House of Oppolzer was one of the most prominent being based in west Cislania and owned vast estates around Volkhöfen.
Franz Joseph received a religious education which he detested imbuing him with a lifelong distrust in the Catholic Church. He studied law at the Academy of Weisstadt. According to a classmate, Antonin von Schnitzler, Franz Joseph was a "cocksure student more focused on womanising then studying, but was able scrape by academically".
Franz Joseph served for three months in the Cislanian army as part of the conscription law at the time as an officer but resigned from his commission due to finding military rigidity dull and unrewarding. Due to his high social status he was able to pay to end his military service early as was common at the time.
As the second son Franz Joseph was expected to enter a profession and in his twenties served as a bureaucrat in the Cislanian diplomatic service despite a poor academic track record. He was a polyglot speaking Weranian, Gaullican, Estmerish, Vespasian and Ruttish. Whilst in the diplomatic service he met Ulrich von Bayrhoffer, with the two striking up a friendship that would mark Franz Josephs political career.
His older brother Johan Frederick who inherited his fathers princely title in 1821 but died in a hunting accident nine years later in 1830. Franz Joseph subsequently became the Prince of Oppolzer although left the administration of the family estates to his mother Elisabeth Constanze.
As a young man he would travel extensively, mainly to Estmere and Kirenia and would be continually impressed at the economic and social progress of the former and the comparative stagnation of the latter.
Franz Joseph would meet the daughter of an aristocrat Josephine Caroline und Rothenlöwen in 1832. He was enamoured by her and proposed to marry her on their third meeting, although she would only accept a year later. Their marriage would largely be unhappy due to Oppolzer's constant womanising although retained moments of affection.
Early political career
Oppolzer would begin a political career in 1832, shortly after a failed revolution across the Weranian states. Oppolzer had been opposed to the revolutionary violence that had occured in 1828 albeit did sympathise with the move towards constitutionalism and was even more strongly opposed to the Kirenian suppression of the revolutionaries. Von Bayrhoffer, a friend from Oppolzer's stint in the diplomatic service, had become minister-president of Cislania with Oppolzer seeing him as the best candidate to govern Cislania. Oppolzer was at the time a royalist and conservative, but sympathised with the liberal anti-clericalism of von Bayrhoffer. He was elected to the Cislanian landtag and sat in the left-wing faction despite his conservative views.
Oppolzer would move slowly to the left, supporting the development of industrial capitalism over agrarian feudalism and the restriction of the powers of the church. He authored several laws that undermined the power of the church restricting their ability to own land, control schools and supervise marriage laws. Bishops who protested were exiled or punished. This stance made Oppolzer extremely unpopular amongst conservatives resulting in him moving further to the left.
