Franz Joseph declares war at Bad Ischl

At his summer villa in Bad Ischl, a month after his heir was shot in Sarajevo, Emperor Franz Joseph signed Austria-Hungary's declaration of war on Serbia and a manifesto 'To my peoples' explaining it. Within a week alliances had drawn Russia, Germany, France and Britain into the war. The emperor left days later and never returned to the villa; his empire did not outlive the war.