My work focuses on the symbolic role of the monarch in the Bohemian Crownlands of the Habsburg Monarchy in the decades before its dissolution. The growing conflict between Czech and German nationalists was all in the shadow of a large bureaucratic state that tried to quell tensions by fostering loyalty to Franz Joseph, the penultimate monarch. At times, this monarchism worked in tandem with nationalist feelings, but the ideas were also frequently at odds. My research examines the relationship between nationalism and monarchism and the state’s efforts to garner popular support through loyalty to the emperor.