They continue to follow the codes of honor and duty, though such behavioral guides become pointless, even burdensome, in a world shorn of simple faith in an emperor. As World War I approaches and the monarchy's limitations become apparent, Trotta's son and grandson become even further removed from this paradise. But when Trotta happens upon a schoolbook account of the event that exaggerates his heroism, he is shaken: He had been driven from the paradise of simple faith in Emperor and Virtue, Truth, and Justice, and, now fettered in silence and endurance, he may have realized that the stability of the world, the power of laws, and the glory of majesties were all based on deviousness. As long as Franz Joseph is the Kaiser, their status is secure. Almost overnight, Joseph Trotta is "severed" from his ancestors, and his family is transformed from unremarkable soldiers and peasants living in the outer reaches of the empire to barons and high-ranking officials living near the imperial palace. When an infantry lieutenant steps in front of a bullet intended for the young Franz Joseph, the Austro-Hungarian emperor rewards him with wealth, promotion, and a knighthood. Joseph Roth's 1932 novel, The Radetzky March, starts with an accident that creates a dynasty.
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