He was a member of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine, the eldest son of Archduke Joseph Karl of Austria (1833–1905) and his wife Princess Clotilde of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (1846–1927).

His wife's mother, Archduchess Gisela, was the eldest surviving daughter of Francis Joseph and Empress Elisabeth ("Sisi").

They had six children: Joseph August began his military career in 1890 when he was commissioned into the 1st Infantry Regiment as a Leutnant.

In November 1916, Joseph August was put in command of the Heeresfront fighting against Russian and Romanian forces, and in 1917, he was awarded the Military Order of Maria Theresa and the Pour le Mérite.

Finally, on 26 October 1918, he was sent to the Balkans theatre to take command of the Heeresgruppe Kövess, which had lost Serbia, Albania and Montenegro.

He was the last person to be appointed a Feldmarschall (Field Marshal) of the Austro-Hungarian Army on 24 October 1918 as an attempt by his cousin, Emperor Charles I to placate Hungarian nationalists.

[4] In 1920 the Archduke became the first knight of the Hungarian Order of Vitéz, in 1927 he became a member of the newly re-established House of Magnates.

August's granddaughter Archduchess Ilona of Austria (1927–2011) married George Alexander, Duke of Mecklenburg.