The Holy Roman Emperor, Francis of Austria

The hapsburgs spent a great deal of time, energy and resources trying to administer this thing that was by design, almost impossible to administer. So you could make the argument they would have been better off if they were no longer bound to this unwieldy, dying institution. And so weighing these unattractive options, the hapsbergs decided it was better to destroy their own empire than risk its falling into the hands of the french. For the rest of our story, the man we have known as the holy roman emperor francis the second will be simply emperor francis of austria.