He was the last of the monarchs belonging to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine to rule over Austria-Hungary. In , he married Princess Zita of Bourbon-Parma. Charles succeeded to the thrones in November following the death of his great-uncle, Franz Joseph.
He began secret negotiations with the Allies, hoping to peacefully end the First World War , but was unsuccessful. Despite Charles's efforts to preserve the empire by returning it to federalism and by championing Austro-Slavism , Austria-Hungary hurtled into disintegration: Czechoslovakia and the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs were proclaimed, and Hungary broke monarchic ties to Austria by the end of October Following the Armistice of 11 November , Charles "renounced any participation" in government affairs, but did not abdicate.
However, the Republic of German-Austria was proclaimed the following day, and in April the National Assembly formally dethroned the Habsburgs and banished Charles from German-Austria for life. Charles spent the early part of his exile in Switzerland.
He spent the remaining years of his life attempting to restore the monarchy. Charles was exiled for a second time to the Portuguese island of Madeira , where he soon fell ill and died of respiratory failure in A deeply religious man, Charles was beatified by the Catholic Church in , with October 21 as his feast day.
However, his death in from typhoid made his eldest son, Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the new heir presumptive. Archduke Charles was raised a devout Catholic. He spent his early years wherever his father's regiment happened to be stationed; later on, he lived in Vienna and Reichenau an der Rax.
