In the initial period of the reign of Maria Theresa in the Austrian Empire (1740–1780), especially during the times of Emperor Joseph II in 1780–1790 and his successors until the late 19th century, nominations to the group of purples, i.e. cardinals, were rare. Franz Joseph I significantly improved this situation by introducing six representatives from the entire Austrian Empire to the College of Cardinals. This number also included four bishops from Galicia, namely two Greek Catholic metropolitans, Mikołaj Lewicki (1856) and Sylwester Sembratowicz (1893), and two bishops from Krakow, Albin Dunajewski (1890) and Jan prince Koźmian Puzyna (1901). In a year when the threat of World War I was increasing around the world, the Austrian government in Vienna, paying attention to the political instability in the Kingdom of Poland, with the Austrian scepter in their hands, decided to nominate two candidates from the Lviv Metropolitan Cathedral: Andrzej Szeptycki for the Uniates and Józef Bilczewski for the Latins, in the hope of their successful introduction to the college of cardinals. However, Pope Pius Andrzej Szeptycki, having abandoned this dignity, preferred to give it to the Archbishop of Krakow, Adam Stefan Sapieha, respected by all of Poland. During the times of Pope Benedict XV, Archbishop Sapieżyński was also appointed Bishop of Rzeszów, which enabled him to continue ruling the imperial cabinet. When Pius XII assumed the papal throne in 1946, after a long period of numerous requests and efforts, he accepted Cardinal Sapieha as a cardinal.