[Scenario Seed] The Mayerling Affair
Apr 2, 2014 22:59:30 GMT
Marnal and barefoottourguide like this
Post by Catsmate on Apr 2, 2014 22:59:30 GMT
While most people are at least vaguely familiar with the death Archduke and Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand, especially given the centenary of World War 1, twenty five years earlier another Austro-Hungarian Crown Prince died suddenly and violently.
At about 7AM on the morning of Wednesday the 30th of January 1889 Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his lover Baroness Mary Vetsera were found dead in an Imperial hunting lodge at Mayerling in the Vienna Woods, about 25km southwest of Vienna. Officially the deaths were a suicide pact or murder-suicide, with the 30 year old prince killing his (seventeen year old) lover and killing himself. However there have always been questions about the events of that night.
Rudolf was the only son of Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria and heir to the throne of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire; his death had momentous consequences for the course of history, threatening the dynastic succession for the already shaky empire, ending the reconciliation between the Austrian and the Hungarian factions.
Background.
Rudolf's affair was moderately well known, though of course not publicly; most of the Imperial court knew, certainly his parents and wife Stephanie did. Rudolf's marriage was not a happy one and had not yet produced a male heir, just a daughter Elisabeth. His father the Emperor had pressured him to end his relationship with his teenage lover and a few days earlier the two men had quarreled over the matter.
Politically Rudolf was a liberal, at least by the standards of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He favoured extending voting rights and improving the status of the various nationalities that composed the Empire. He also opposed the alliance with Germany, favouring a rapprochement with France.
Events.
On 29 January 1889 Rudolf had travelled to Mayerling, having arranged for a day's shooting on the morning of the thirtieth. When his valet Loschek attempted to rouse him there was no, so the Prince's aide-de-camp Count Joseph Hoyos was called. The two men smashed in the bedroom door with an axe and found the room dark with Rudolf lying by the side of the bed bleeding from his mouth. Mary Vetsera's body lay on the bed, cold and rigid. Initially the Count assumed the Prince has consumed poison, perhaps that the Baroness had murdered him.
Hoyos left quickly to inform the Emperor, who was in Vienna. Unfortunately the elaborate court protocol delayed this; first the Adjutant General, Count Paar, was summoned, then the Controller of the Empress' Household (Baron Nopcsa), then a lady-in-waiting (Countess von Ferenczy) who broke the news of her son's death to the Empress. The Emperor summoned the Minister for the Police and a cover-up was organised.
A quick burial was arranged for Mary Vetsera (her mother wasn't even allowed to attend) and a story that Rudolf had died from an aneurism circulated. At this stage the authorities still believed that the Baroness had murdered Rudolf and committed suicide.
The cover-up didn't hold for long, journalists descended on Mayerling and ferreted out details, especially about the Baroness's presence. The Austrian authorities then changed their story; the Prince had shot the baroness in a suicide pact and sat by her body for several hours before shooting himself, with the events happening "while the balance of the Archduke's mind was disturbed".
Consequences.
The Catholic Emperor obtained a dispensation from Pope Leo XII to allow his son to be buried in consecrated ground. Karl Ludwig became heir apparent and soon renounced the throne in favor of Franz Ferdinand, doomed to die by the bullets of Gavrilo Princip in 1914.
The police investigation was soon terminated and it's records destroyed or misplaced. Officials involved in the case and members of the Imperial household were sworn to secrecy.
What happened?
So, assuming the deaths were not, in fact, a suicide pact, who killed Rudolf and Mary?
1. French agents attempting to cover-up their own plot, an attempt to persuade Rudolf to depose his father and take the throne.
2. German agents of Bismark, removing an obstacle to the alliance between Austria and Germany. This was the tale told by alleged German spy Dr. Armgaard Karl Graves.
3. Nationalist elements, similar to those who'd later kill Franz Ferdinand.
4. A quarrel caused Rudolf to murder his lover, sit by her body and then take his own life. This is probably the most likely story.
5. A botched abortion killed Mary and Rudolf killed himself. Gerd Holler proposed this theory after an examination of the Baroness's body showed no sign of a bullet wound.
Of course in the Whoniverse it could have been time travellers, perhaps from a world where World War 1 as we know it never happened, changing history. Perhaps the assassination is already part of our history.
Involving your players.
There are basically three reasons for time travellers to be there.
1. Tampering with events, either to ensure Rudolf and Mary live or die, or perhaps to create a greater scandal
2. Stopping people tampering with events.
3. Finding out exactly what happened. This is the sort of thing time travel might be used to study. "Hah, I was right" has always been an important factor in academic politics
Of course there's no reason for only one group from the future to be wandering the Vienna Woods that night. Perhaps there are:
1. A group of academics studying the deaths in the context of Austrian politics. They may not blend in well to the society and times.
2. A group wanting to prevent the carnage of the First World War by acting far in advance to alter events.
3. A group wanting to stop the second group. As a bonus they could be from futureward of the first group, aware of them (even using their research) and the need to keep away from them.
4. Your players. Probably there by accident.
And don't forget purely local plotters. The possibilities are endless.
Notes.
1. Rudolf was unhappy on the night of the 29th, he's received word that the parliament in Budapest had voted to make the German language mandatory in the army, a measure he opposed.
2. Rudolf had dismissed her servant Loschek at about 11PM with strict instructions not to disturb him. Two other servants, Otto and Max, were also present in the lodge. Both were trusted men of long service.
3. Two strangers had been seen near the lodge that night, it's likely they were just hunters but.....
4. There were (and are) rumours that Rudolf planned to divorce his wife and marry Mary. This is extraordinarily unlikely but, if true, could well have inspired someone to kill him.
5. The rifle supposedly used to kill the couple had fired five or six shots, which doesn't seem to match the official account of events. It didn't belong to Rudolf and was a long barrelled hunting rifle, an awkward weapon with which to shoot oneself.
At about 7AM on the morning of Wednesday the 30th of January 1889 Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his lover Baroness Mary Vetsera were found dead in an Imperial hunting lodge at Mayerling in the Vienna Woods, about 25km southwest of Vienna. Officially the deaths were a suicide pact or murder-suicide, with the 30 year old prince killing his (seventeen year old) lover and killing himself. However there have always been questions about the events of that night.
Rudolf was the only son of Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria and heir to the throne of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire; his death had momentous consequences for the course of history, threatening the dynastic succession for the already shaky empire, ending the reconciliation between the Austrian and the Hungarian factions.
Background.
Rudolf's affair was moderately well known, though of course not publicly; most of the Imperial court knew, certainly his parents and wife Stephanie did. Rudolf's marriage was not a happy one and had not yet produced a male heir, just a daughter Elisabeth. His father the Emperor had pressured him to end his relationship with his teenage lover and a few days earlier the two men had quarreled over the matter.
Politically Rudolf was a liberal, at least by the standards of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He favoured extending voting rights and improving the status of the various nationalities that composed the Empire. He also opposed the alliance with Germany, favouring a rapprochement with France.
Events.
On 29 January 1889 Rudolf had travelled to Mayerling, having arranged for a day's shooting on the morning of the thirtieth. When his valet Loschek attempted to rouse him there was no, so the Prince's aide-de-camp Count Joseph Hoyos was called. The two men smashed in the bedroom door with an axe and found the room dark with Rudolf lying by the side of the bed bleeding from his mouth. Mary Vetsera's body lay on the bed, cold and rigid. Initially the Count assumed the Prince has consumed poison, perhaps that the Baroness had murdered him.
Hoyos left quickly to inform the Emperor, who was in Vienna. Unfortunately the elaborate court protocol delayed this; first the Adjutant General, Count Paar, was summoned, then the Controller of the Empress' Household (Baron Nopcsa), then a lady-in-waiting (Countess von Ferenczy) who broke the news of her son's death to the Empress. The Emperor summoned the Minister for the Police and a cover-up was organised.
A quick burial was arranged for Mary Vetsera (her mother wasn't even allowed to attend) and a story that Rudolf had died from an aneurism circulated. At this stage the authorities still believed that the Baroness had murdered Rudolf and committed suicide.
The cover-up didn't hold for long, journalists descended on Mayerling and ferreted out details, especially about the Baroness's presence. The Austrian authorities then changed their story; the Prince had shot the baroness in a suicide pact and sat by her body for several hours before shooting himself, with the events happening "while the balance of the Archduke's mind was disturbed".
Consequences.
The Catholic Emperor obtained a dispensation from Pope Leo XII to allow his son to be buried in consecrated ground. Karl Ludwig became heir apparent and soon renounced the throne in favor of Franz Ferdinand, doomed to die by the bullets of Gavrilo Princip in 1914.
The police investigation was soon terminated and it's records destroyed or misplaced. Officials involved in the case and members of the Imperial household were sworn to secrecy.
What happened?
So, assuming the deaths were not, in fact, a suicide pact, who killed Rudolf and Mary?
1. French agents attempting to cover-up their own plot, an attempt to persuade Rudolf to depose his father and take the throne.
2. German agents of Bismark, removing an obstacle to the alliance between Austria and Germany. This was the tale told by alleged German spy Dr. Armgaard Karl Graves.
3. Nationalist elements, similar to those who'd later kill Franz Ferdinand.
4. A quarrel caused Rudolf to murder his lover, sit by her body and then take his own life. This is probably the most likely story.
5. A botched abortion killed Mary and Rudolf killed himself. Gerd Holler proposed this theory after an examination of the Baroness's body showed no sign of a bullet wound.
Of course in the Whoniverse it could have been time travellers, perhaps from a world where World War 1 as we know it never happened, changing history. Perhaps the assassination is already part of our history.
Involving your players.
There are basically three reasons for time travellers to be there.
1. Tampering with events, either to ensure Rudolf and Mary live or die, or perhaps to create a greater scandal
2. Stopping people tampering with events.
3. Finding out exactly what happened. This is the sort of thing time travel might be used to study. "Hah, I was right" has always been an important factor in academic politics
Of course there's no reason for only one group from the future to be wandering the Vienna Woods that night. Perhaps there are:
1. A group of academics studying the deaths in the context of Austrian politics. They may not blend in well to the society and times.
2. A group wanting to prevent the carnage of the First World War by acting far in advance to alter events.
3. A group wanting to stop the second group. As a bonus they could be from futureward of the first group, aware of them (even using their research) and the need to keep away from them.
4. Your players. Probably there by accident.
And don't forget purely local plotters. The possibilities are endless.
Notes.
1. Rudolf was unhappy on the night of the 29th, he's received word that the parliament in Budapest had voted to make the German language mandatory in the army, a measure he opposed.
2. Rudolf had dismissed her servant Loschek at about 11PM with strict instructions not to disturb him. Two other servants, Otto and Max, were also present in the lodge. Both were trusted men of long service.
3. Two strangers had been seen near the lodge that night, it's likely they were just hunters but.....
4. There were (and are) rumours that Rudolf planned to divorce his wife and marry Mary. This is extraordinarily unlikely but, if true, could well have inspired someone to kill him.
5. The rifle supposedly used to kill the couple had fired five or six shots, which doesn't seem to match the official account of events. It didn't belong to Rudolf and was a long barrelled hunting rifle, an awkward weapon with which to shoot oneself.