Sons of Franz Ferdinand pray for peace

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July 7, 1916


A dispatch from Vienna to London via Berlin states that  Duke Maximilian of Hohenberg, the eldest son of the late Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his morganatic wife, Sophie, the Duchess of Hohenberg, has founded the "Youths' Association for a Speedy and Favorable Peace."

The association already has 14,000 members, according to the New York Times.

Maximilian succeeded to his mother's ducal title after the assassination of his parents at Sarajevo, Bosnia, on June 28, 1914.  The death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the Austro-Hungarian empire, was largely the catalyst that led to the European war just six weeks later. The Duke of Hohenberg is 13 years old. He has an older sister, Princess Sophie, and a younger brother, Prince Ernst. They live with maternal family members.