The Habsburgs rank among the most celebrated ruling dynasties in history. At one point, their territories stretched not only across Europe but into Asia, Africa and the Americas. By virtue of their long pre-eminence, the family made an indelible mark on European affairs, shaping the course of international politics and diplomacy and maintaining the peace in the Central European melting pot. At the same time, however, the family was notorious for inbreeding, and the Spanish branch suffered from grotesque biological decline. In the nineteenth century the operatic last act of the family's history encompassed revolution, suicide and the notorious assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which precipitated the First World War. The story of the Habsburgs is not only theatrical and compelling; it is vital to an understanding of how the nations and national identities of modern Central Europe came into being.
