December 25, 1908- While on parade in the newly acquired city of Sarajevo, Emperor Franz Josef I is assassinated by Bosnian nationals. The resulting police crackdown kill at least a dozen people, including five members of the assassination group
December 26, 1908- Franz Ferdinand is crowned as Emperor. Plans are drawn up for punitive actions against the Bosnian populace, but are shelved when Serbia catches wind of them, and vows to protect their "Fellow Slavs". Russia, its pride hurt by naval defeats in the Russo-Japanese War, gives Serbia a "blank cheque"
January 1, 1909- Realizing the damage a war with the Slavic world would do to the tottering Empire, and lack of support from Emperor Wilhelm III of Germany, Austria swallows her pride and backs down
March 17, 1909- While inspecting the garrison of Prague, Emperor Franz Ferdinand narrowly avoids death at the hands of a lone Czech gunman. This event sparks a profound change in the Emperor's mind.
March 20, 1909- While recovering from a thirty-two caliber wound, Franz Ferdinand realizes that an era has passed; That Austrian dominance of the empire could not continue, lest it be torn apart by separatist strife.
September 8, 1909- Still assured that absolutism is unworkable, the Emperor holds a conference in the Hungarian town of Szeged, with representatives from all ethnic groups in the empire, Slovaks excluded
January 11, 1910- The Szeged Conference, as it is being called, bears fruit after walk-outs by most of the ethnic groups shuts down the conference for two weeks in late November. Despite cries for full-independence from Vienna, the ideas conceived by Aurel Popovic of a confederation of the groups of the Austro-Hungarian gains traction
February 1, 1910 - The delegates agree almost unanimously (the Hungarians and the Ruthenians are major dissenters) and the 43-year-old Dual Monarchy is set to end in five years; giving time for the parliamentary procedures to be thought of. Celebrations erupt in the streets of the soon-to-be United States of the Danube
June 21, 1913 - Summer Revolt: the Hungarians, upset over their loss of power, specifically the loss of Croatia, with the Szeged Conference declare independence. The Ruthenians follow suit and the uprising is not put down until Budapest is bombarded with Phosgene gas shells, in direct violation of the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, in September. The USD is harshly criticized by the other European signers, despite their stockpiling chemical weapons themselves.
May 1, 1915 - The United States of the Danube is officially formed. The power of the monarchy is severely curtailed and replaced by a central council of of elected representatives. Franz Ferdinand title changes from Emperor of Austria-Hungary to King of Danubia and he, as well as future monarchs, are automatically given a seat on the Austrian part of the council and expected to participate in the politics of the new state. Still, the new arrangement is much less work than being an Emperor and Franz Ferdinand begins more and more to drift to religion; citing divine intervention as the sole reason for his survival in 1909. His piety during reign (and especially the church-building programme he started after his abdication in 1931 and the fact he gave up trophy hunting) lead to his beautification by Pope Pius XIII in 1992.