Archduke Maximilian to head Imperial House?

December 17, 1918

A meeting of monarchists was held today in Vienna, according to a report in the New York Times. A number of Generals were present.
Archduke Maximilian, who is the brother of the former Emperor Karl, has been nominated as the successor to the Crown.
In a dispatch from Vienna, the Socialists "intend to take sharp measures against the monarchists."

The article does not say why a monarchist group would nominate Archduke Maximilian over the former emperor and his young son, Crown Prince Otto.