Archduke Wilhelm of Austria

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This article is about an 19th century archduke. For the 18th century, see Archduke Wilhelm Franz of Austria.

Archduke Wilhelm

Wilhelm Franz von Habsburg-Lothringen ( February 10, 1895 — August 18, 1948) — (Vasyl Vyshyvanyi) (Ukrainian: Василь Вишиваний) — Austrian archduke, colonel of Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, poet.

Monarchical styles of Archduke Wilhelm of Austria

Reference style	His Imperial and Royal Highness
Spoken style	Your Imperial and Royal Highness
Alternative style	Sir

Archduke Wilhelm was the youngest son of Archduke Karl Stephan and Archduchess Maria Theresia. He was born in Pula (present day Croatia).

His father indented him to rule Habsburgh aligned Poland, but youthful rebellion and changing geopolitical situation resulted in Wilhelm becoming infatuated with Ukrainian culture. Eventually approved by his father, his as well as his father ambition became for Wilhelm to become a king of Ukraine. As a member of the Habsburg imperial house he worked closely with Ukrainian deputies to the parliament of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in an effort to gain more rights to the Ukrainian minority in the empire. During the First World War he commanded a detachment of Ukrainians from Halychyna and during German and Austrian occupation of Ukraine in 1918 commanded the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen regiment stationed in Southern Ukraine. Several attempts were made to made him a sovereign of Ukraine transforming the country into monarchy — he, however, refused every time.^{[citation needed]}

In 1918 he was made a colonel of the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic and worked for the Ministry of Defence of the country. In protest to Petlura's peace treaty with Poland in [920 he resigned and lived in exile in Vienna and Paris. In 1921 he published a book of poetry in Ukrainian «Mynayut Dni» (Минають дні).

An opponent of the Nazis, his last year were as a spy for the French against the Soviet Union. After the Second World War he was arrested by Soviet intelligence in Vienna and brought to Lukyanivska Prison in Kiev, where he died in August of 1948.