The Red Prince: The Secret Lives of a Habsburg Archduke

by Timothy Snyder

Book Overview

Wilhelm Von Habsburg wore the uniform of the Austrian officer, the court regalia of a Habsburg archduke, the simple suit of a Parisian exile, the collar of the Order of the Golden Fleece, and, every so often, a dress. He could handle a saber, a pistol, a rudder, or a golf club; he handled women by necessity and men for pleasure. He spoke the Italian of his archduchess mother, the German of his archduke father, the English of his British royal friends,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0465018971
• ISBN13: 9780465018970
• Release Date: September 2010
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.9" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Fallible and Noble

This beautifully written book describes the historical background and fate of the last Hapsburgs--the dynasty that was the last form of the Holy Roman Empire. It centers upon one of the last archdukes, Wilhelm. His own choice of the Ukraine as a nation he hoped some day to head as its monarch, is the centerpiece of his life. His was not a dilettante's interest: he lived among, fought alongside, and became fluent in the language of Ukrainians during the period that the first World War was fought. In search of the sovereignty of Ukrainians, his own journey covered the range from political far left to far right...ending with democratic politics immediately at the conclusion of the second World War. He continued as he had during the war, helping Western intelligence to make connections with Ukrainians intent upon having their own country. He--and they--failed, and his fate, like so many of theirs, took the form of interrogation, trial, and sentence by the Soviet political-judicial apparatus. He died of tuberculosis a few days after being given what was effectively a death sentence via hard labor. The author does a good job of describing the tenor of various locales and periods that help us understand the person Wilhelm was. Further, there is a final rumination about the parallels between what the Hapsburgs sought in trying to rescue their empire from the cauldron of the first war, and how the fate of contemporary Europe--and Ukraine in particular--compares with that vision. Wilhelm is shown as a flawed person, alternately naive and cynical, but also capable of growth, and as never wavering from his devotion to the ultimate goal of Ukrainian independence. All in all, a very good historical read, and--it bears emphasis by repetition--wonderfully written.

Archduke ISO Committed Relationship with Kingdom

This is an excellent overview of the fading of the Habsburg Monarchy and 20th Century history of the Ukraine and Poland. For all I have read on causes and consequences of WWI and II, this short book, covering one small corner of history helped me frame not so much what happened, but how it happened. Through the lives of this minor branch of the Habsburg family we learn how the Ukraine developed its national identity and, despite the dedication of Wilhelm Habsburg (aka Vasyl Vyshyvanyi) and other martyrs, was swallowed by Russia. Similarly, we see how Poland was forced into the Soviet yoke. We see how former royals minimized their losses through the intercession of their still enthroned royal relatives. We see the limits of Hitler's control of his killing machine... and so much more. Best of all, we see how countries were formed from the former Habsburg lands. Page 263 has a map which shows the blends of nationalities the Habsburgs were attempting to unify and the stunning changes that took place in the last 100 years. For me, this was a wonderfully enjoyable book, and through it I was better able to visualize 20th century European history.

Delightful Introduction to Central European History

This is one of those books that you pick up on a whim and then the next day wonder why on earth you bought it, and then, once you begin to read it, realize that you got lucky. The Red Prince, in actuality, is several books in one: a biography of the eccentric Archduke Wilhelm von Hapsburg and members of his family, a brief history of the evolution of the country we know today as Ukraine, a eulogy for the Hapsburg Empire, and a survey of the changes wrought in Europe during the 19th and 20th Centuries as nations became states and continental war gave way to European union. Professor Snyder has a fascinating story to tell and he tells it well. His prose is engaging, his analysis insightful, and his arguments persuasive. At times, his metaphors are a bit over wrought and strained. For example, his reference on p. 272 to the impact that global warming and rising water levels in the Adriatic Sea will have on old Hapsburg sea charts seems pointless, other than perhaps satisfying the author's desire to display his awareness of the environmental fad du jour. But this is a minor quibble. If you want to fill a gap in your education and learn a little something about Central Europe, buy this book.

Habsburg nostalgia with a twist

Many of us are nostalgic about the Hababurgs, especially when we have considered the awful consequences of the decline of a multinational empire which kept squabbling nationalities and would-be-nationalities from murdering one another for many decades. Of course the Habsburgs also bear resp0nsibility for a policy of divide and conquer which made nationalistic rivalries even worse. But still better a Habsburg ruler than a Fascist or a Communist. Prof. Snyder, an expert on the nationalities question in the lands of central Europe and the Old Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, is the perfect man to write a book on a wayward Habsburg archduke, Wilhelm, and his involvement for several decades in pro-Ukrainian national projects, all of which came to nothing until long after his death with the demise of the Soviet Union in 1989-91. Snyder writes with a literary verve which makes it hard to put this book down, even for people who wouldn't know the difference between a Slovak and a Slovene if their lives depended on it.

A Biography Of A Man, A Country, And A Continent

The Red Prince is subtitled The Secret Lives of a Habsburg Archduke, but this is a biography of far more than one individual. This able work by Timothy Snyder does much to illuminate the history of Ukraine and Central and Eastern Europe during the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. When Wilhelm von Habsburg was born in 1895 he was a minor member of a minor branch of the Habsburg Dynasty, which had been a dominating force in European politics for 500 years. Wilhelm's immediate family were not in the main line of succession and thus lived out of the public eye as much as was possible for people known as Imperial and Royal Archdukes and Archduchesses. Wilhelm's father seems to have originated a family streak of rebelliousness, when he apparently began to make plans to establish himself as King of Poland before that country had even regained its independence. Wilhelm, as his father's youngest son, had to go further afield to rebel, and he chose the province of Ukraine, a region divided between Russia and Austria-Hungary. Before and during World War I Wilhelm was an advocate for Ukrainian independence and for some surprisingly left wing politics, and during the tumultuous period after World War I at one point seemed poised to become the country's King. Conflict between Poland and the Soviet Union put an end to hopes for Ukrainian independence, and Wilhelm was relegated to the life of a playboy in Paris, enjoying love affairs with both sexes until a financial scandal forced him to return to Austria. Then during the 1930s and 1940s Wilhelm dabbled in right wing politics, switched to anti-Nazi activities during World War II, and then in the early years of the Cold War apparently worked with Western countries spying on the Soviet Union. This led to his arrest and imprisonment by the Soviets, and he died in prison in 1948. However colorful his life, Wilhelm von Hapsburg would not have merited a biography solely on his own account. He apparently left few letters or other written records, and there seem to be very few photographs as well. What makes The Red Prince so important is the good coverage Snyder provides of the complicated history of Ukraine. The region slipped back and forth between Austria-Hungary, Poland, and the Soviet Union until finally gaining independence in 1991. Snyder draws many excellent parallels between the nationalist politics pre- and post- World Wars I and II, the political turmoil that has plagued the former Soviet Union and its satellites since the end of the Cold War, and the kind of universal supra-nationalistic politics practiced by the Habsburgs and now by the European Union. The coverage of the Orange Revolution of 2004, when Ukraine took a decisive turn away from dictatorship towards democracy, is especially interesting. Although Wilhelm himself seems to have left few written records, so that readers will not feel they know much about him personally, Snyder was able to recreate the lives of his paren