Archduke Leo Karl of Austria

Leo Karl Maria Cyril-Methodius Habsburg-Lorraine, Archduke of Austria (5 July 1893, Pula, Austria-Hungary – 28 April 1939, Bestwina, Poland) was an Austrian military officer, a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. He was the fifth child and the second son of Archduke Charles Stephen of Austria and Archduchess Maria Theresia, Princess of Tuscany. Archduke Leo Karl was his father’s answer to the Eastern European question, and became the would-be Regent of the Habsburgs' zone of influence in the Balkan region. Early life In 1913, Leo and his younger brother, Wilhelm, enrolled at the Imperial Military Academy in Wiener-Neustadt. Upon reaching twenty years of age, which was the age of majority in the Habsburg family, he was inducted into the Order of the Golden Fleece, a chivalric order. At this age, he was also inducted into the Upper House of Parliament. He served in the Austrian army until the fall of the Habsburg Empire, after which he served with great distinction in the Polish army.