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The Red Prince: The Secret Lives of a Habsburg Archduke

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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 parents, siblings, nieces and nephews and other relations. He reveals them to have been interesting and intelligent people with independent views, a far cry from the habitual stereotype of the Habsburgs as insufferably inbred mediocrities. Snyder also gives some fascinating portraits of some of Wilhelm's associates like Trebitsch Lincoln, who deserves a biography of his own, though it would probably be considered too bizarre to be true.

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.

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.

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.

The Red Prince by Timothy D. Snyder is a well-crafted historical narrative in which the author reveals the history of the end of the Hapsburg era and the rise of complex poltical conflicts in central Europe through the events in the life of a previously obscure Hapsburg archduke, from his birth in a palace to his death in a prison cell. This work is good writing and good history.

In the Red Prince, the author very effectively weaves the personal story of Wilhelm von Habsburg into the tumultuous history of the final days of the Hapsburg empire and the efforts of various Habsburgs to not only preserve the empire, but expand it, against significant odds. The role of the Habsburgs in the development of a Ukrainian national identity is overstated, but nonetheless - the book is fascinating. While the author spends a bit too much time on the intrigues of the Hapsburg court during the first 100 pages or so (proving that scandalous Hollywood has NOTHING on the Habsburgs!), the remainder tells the story of a Habsburg price with a tremendous vision that he just couldn't realize. Wonderful book.

As one of the other reviewers wrote, this book is perhaps too long for the material that it covers. Certain ideas and phrases end up being repeated over and over and over again. On the other hand, I wanted to learn more about a minor branch of the Habsburg family, one that had been involved in politics in Poland and the Ukraine for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. This book provided excellent material on that family. Some of the more negative reviews say that the book is too nostalgic for the Habsburg era and idealizes the members of this minor branch of the imperial family. I agree to an extent, but I don't see that a slight bias toward extending the family the benefit of the doubt undermines the historical information and interpretation of the entire book. This is one perspective in the history of this branch of the Habsburg clan. If others disagree with how this perspective sees the family, then they should write their own books with other perspectives. Then we'll have a richer, rounder history. Until then, this is a good look at an interesting family. Americans generally know too little about the Habsburgs, east central Europe, and pre-World War II history. They can learn something from this book.

As far as history or biography goes, I found this to be a rather light read. When all is said and done, the core of this book is largely a retelling of royal scandals and gossip. It would have been far more interesting if the story had tried to be more of a biography: I feel especially that the portions exploring his becoming a Nazi sympathizer and then an agent for the Western resistance and espionage effort in World War II and the Cold War could have been explored more, at the expense of the retelling of various sexual escapades in Paris in the 1930s. But as other commenters have pointed out, perhaps there isn't really much substance here after all. I would have also preferred more focus on Ukraine's history during the Russian Civil War and the 1920's and 1930s, which Wilhelm von Hapsburg seems only tangentally connected to. There is a bit of too much Hapsburg nostalgia here, and no, their dreams are not the same as the European Union or the Orange Revolution (!!!). A biography of Hetman Skoropadsky would have told a similar life story to Wilhelm's, but with much meatier history (and less room for apologias and nostalgia).

Still, Snyder does cover a lot of ground concerning the last century of the Hapsburg dynasty, and perhaps unintentionally goes a long way in proving why most of Central Europe opted for nation states (for better or worse), rather than have these people be their rulers and biggest businessmen. And it's far more informative than a Niall Ferguson history!

I enjoyed this book because in national histories taught at schools in Poland or Ukraine the role of the Habsburgs in national independence movements is usually omitted and ignored. What is also omitted are the struggles for independence in neighboring Slavic countries. In that sense the book was somewhat illuminating. On the other hand I found Wilhelm himself rather unprepared for any serious political leadership. The story of Polish and Ukrainian post WWI emerging independence presented in this book seems short and simplified. Referring to Galicia as a legitimate geographical entity seemed to me some sort of a joke, or at least something that I am not used to. The author didn't do a good job at presenting the issue of Ukraine/Poland border disputes clearly; statistics and demographics are not mentioned, and historical background is also missing. Someone reading that "Poland decided to keep Western Galicia", a statement that suggests Poland occupying Ukrainian lands, would be surprised to know that Poland's old capital Krakow is indeed in Western Galicia. The federalist plan of marshal Pilsudski is not mentioned in the book. Cultural differences between eastern and western Ukraine are barely mentioned.
Generally, my impression was that the book was addressed to a broader audience and therefore is simply lacking depth. I don't mind the author's pro-Habsburg and pro-Ukrainian sympathies or sentiments (which I might even partially share!) but would like much more detailed information.

The writer gives a good background of what growing up "royal" was like in the Hapsburg dynasty, but the main character is too shallow to care about as he becomes entangled in his travails. Actually, others in his family are more memorable individuals. The author is much better as a straightforward historian in "Bloodlands," a seminal work in the history of who killed whom and why in Central and Eastern Europe during the 1930s through to the 1950s.