 In the war that followed , Charles was promoted to General in the Austrian army , taking command of the 20th Corps for an offensive in Tyrol . The war was personally difficult for Zita , as several of her brothers fought on opposing sides in the conflict ( Prince Felix and Prince René had joined the Austrian army , while Prince Sixtus and Prince Xavier lived in France before the war and enlisted in the Belgian army . Also her country of birth , Italy , joined the war against Austria in 1915 , and so rumours of the ' Italian ' Zita began to be muttered . Even as late as 1917 , The German ambassador in Vienna , Count Otto Wedel would write to Berlin saying " The Empress is descended from an Italian princely house ... People do not entirely trust the Italian and her brood of relatives . " 
