Page 4607 - 1970S

his views may well cause the entire
world to stand up and take notice of
the drama tic developments unfolding
on the European Continent.
Former Archduke
Just to look at him, von Habsburg
does not seem very "menacing."
Lean, bald on top, with a graying
moustache, he is mild-looking and
bears a pleasant smile and demeanor.
He immediately strikes one as being
intelligent and cultured. Yet many
who have met him comment that he
exudes a sense of tremendous energy,
drive, and purpose.
Otto von Habsburg was born in
Austria in 1912, the eldest son of
Emperor Charles (or Karl) and Em–
press Zita of Austria- H ungar y.
Charles lost the thrones of Austria
a nd Hungary when the Central
Powers were defeated at the end of
World War 1---only two years afler
he had succeeded his grand-uncle,
Emperor Franz Josef l.
Exi led lo Switzerland in March
1919, Charles was formally deposed
by lhe Austrian National Assembly
one month later, at which time all the
family properties in Austria were
confiscated. In 1921 he twice tried to
regain his throne, but failed. In 1922
Charles died in exile on the island of
Madeira, and his eldest son, Arch–
duke Otto, assumed the leadership of
the imperial family at age 1O.
In 1932 Hitler offered Otto the
opportunity to return to the Habs–
burg throne if he accepted the Nazi
ideology and prometed it in Austria .
Otto fl a tly refused. But his ambition
to regain the Habsburg throne did
not wane. In 1936, he declared, " I
am ready al any bour to return to the
Fatherland." But in 1938, Adolf
Hitler annexed Austria to Gcrmany
in the infamous Anschluss
("union"). Otto spent the major por–
tien of the war in Washington, D.C.
Today, von Habsburg no longer
pursues his royal claim. In 1961 he
renounced the restoration of the Aus–
trian throne, resulting (in 1966)–
after a number of legal and political
battles- in his receiving permission
from the Austrian Supremc Court to
reenter Austria. He now has an
apartment in Innsbruck for use on
vi si ts t here.
8
Last year, von Habsburg was
granted West German citizenship by
Bavarian authorities. He explained
in an interview with the Austrian
Broadcasting Network lhat he bad
sought il because it offered him the
opportunity to work for a unified Eu–
rope; specifically, to run for a Ger–
man seat in the elect ions for the Eu–
ropean Parliament. (Only citizens of
the nine member nations of the EEC
were eligible as candidates. Austria
is nota member.) At the same time,
von Habsburg received permission
from authorities in southern Austria
to keep his Austrian passport.
Von Habsburg is ma rried to a
German princess, Regina of Saxe–
Meiningen . They have seven chil–
dren-five daughters and two sons,
ranging in age from 15 to 26. His
eldest son, Charles, is 19. T heir borne
líes about 25 minutes by train outside
Munich in the village of P5cking, not
far from the Austrian border.
Among other achicvements, von
Habsburg has earned a doctorate in
política! science from the University
of Louvain in Belgium. He lives
mainly as a writcr and journalist,
producing a regu la r column ex–
poundíng his conservative views on
world affai rs. The column is syndi–
cated to newspapers and magazines
worldwide. He has also occasionally
written articles for the Saturday
Evening Post. He is in constant de–
mand as a speaker, and is a wide
traveler, spea king seven languages
fluently. He is the author of over a
dozen books on política! science,
world affairs and history, including
The Social Order of Tomorrow and
Politics for the Year 2000.
Von Habsburg says he has no re–
grets about giving up bis imperial
clai ms. Though he prefers to be
called simply " Dr. Habsburg," many
of his supporters- especially elderly
Habsburg loyalists- persist in refer–
ring to him as Kaiserliche Hocheit
(" Imperial Highness"). He never
uses the title of "Archduke," which
he once bore as a youth.
United Europe
Regarding the charges made against
him by Germany's Social Democrats
and others, von Habsburg recently
observed: " lf they are going so hard
on me, it is because tbey can't handle
someone who is on the conservative
side and wbo has no Nazi past. lf
they can't do better than tbe sneering
undertone they employ for me, then I
feel sad for them. T his sounds rather
a rrogant, but I suppose I could turn
out to be an important part of the
Parliament."
During his recent election cam–
paign for the European Parliament,
von Habsburg delivered sorne 165
speeches in the towns and villages of
Upper Bavaria, traveling more than
35,000 miles in campaigning. T he
main message in each of his speeches
was simple: The threat from Soviet
Communism is ever present and con–
stant ly growing; countries of West–
ern Europe must find a new resolve
anda new unity to meet the threa t. A
brake must be applied quickly to the
foolhardy policy of detente.
Thc main tbeme of von Habs–
burg's life has been the urgent need
for European unity. He views the re–
cent European election as "a sta rting
point toward a greater Europe." Dur–
ing the campaign he said he would
attempt, if elected, to represent not
only the views of Bavaria, but of
West Germany and "the whole of
Europe, including Eastern Europe"
in the European Parliament. He em–
phasized that it should not be forgot–
ten by the Parliament that Europe is
a divided continent.
In a recent interview with the
weekly West German newsmagazine
Der Spiege/, von Habsburg observed:
"T he Europe of the nine is a starting
point. Just like the ltalian unification
in the 19th century started with the
part of a state, Piedmont , so s ha ll the
greater Europe evolve from this Eu–
rope of the nine."
Asked "Where, then, does your
Europe end ?" von Habsburg an–
swered: " lt extends to the borders of
Russia." To the question, "Does that
mean that you intend to expel the
Soviets from Eastern Europe?" von
Habsburg replied: "That means that
we have a feeling of solidarity for the
Europeans on the other side of the
Yalta line, that we have to stand up
for the right of self-determination of
these Europeans with a ll peaceful
means. lt is for us an unbea rable
thought that decolonizatioh is appli-
The PLAIN TRUTH September 1979