Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In Franz’s view, the biggest failure of Louis Philippe, after the outbreak of the Paris revolution, was that he had never really controlled the army in the first place.
At that time, most of the French army sympathized with the revolutionary party, but they had not actually joined it. Since they were not against the Emperor, it was highly possible to buy them over.
As long as there were soldiers on hand, everything was negotiable: whether the plan was to suppress the revolution or to sit down and discuss slowly, there was always enough room to maneuver.
Hadn’t the Guizot government already been notorious? Then let them stink a little more and throw all the blame on them. Anyway, in the minds of the public, they were already a foregone conclusion.
In a word, it was they who had done all the bad things, and it was easy enough to draw a line between them and the Emperor.
…
The snowflakes fluttered down, and the cold wind was still sweeping across Vienna.
The news of the Paris revolution was no longer a secret in the upper classes of Vienna. Within a few days, it would spread throughout Austria.
“Albrecht, begin our most intense training, and let our people start to take control of the troops as soon as possible!” Franz said seriously.
“What’s going on, Franz? What’s the urgency for? If I train them for another month or two, they will become qualified officers; at this time, most of them are not really ready!” Albrecht questioned with a puzzled expression.
Since the news of the Paris revolution had arrived, Franz had kept urging him to speed up, as if something bad was going to happen, and this made Albrecht very confused.
“The Paris Revolution broke out, and the great revolution is about to break out again on the European continent. In the case of Austria, the possibility of a revolution in Vienna is very high!” Franz said with a solemn look.
Albrecht was astonished by Franz’s words, and his mouth opened wide enough to swallow an egg. There would be a revolution in Vienna? Most people, presumably, would treat this idea that a revolution was coming to Vienna as a joke.
Although the Austrian government was decadent, it was not yet to the point of earning the wrath of God and the resentment of men. The Army was still loyal to the royal family, and the capitalists were being ravaged by the nobles on the ground.
The working class, who were originally dissatisfied with the government, had turned their resentment to the capitalists with the promulgation of the Labor Protection Act.
In this context, who would lead the revolution, the capitalists? Or the democracy of their society?
Franz responded with a wry smile, “Don’t feel strange. The working class doesn’t oppose the government, and even the capitalists have no strong desire to rebel. But the reality is not under their control!
Albrecht, you should know the impact of this economic crisis on this country.
The number of unemployed people in Vienna has exceeded fifty thousand. Capitalists have suffered heavy losses, and many people have hoarded large amounts of goods.
When the European revolution breaks out, the economic situation in Austria may deteriorate further. The workers have to live, and the capitalists want to survive, but the Austrian government did nothing.
There is also a group of idiots among the nobility who helped the capitalists to drive up the price of goods some time ago. In order to make up for the loss, they unexpectedly increased the pressure on serfs.
Austria has become a powder keg, and now all it will take is a spark!”
Albrecht nodded with a pale face. As the crown prince of the Empire, Franz could say that out loud; as the commander of the City Defense Army in Vienna, Albrecht could agree with it, but he could not say so directly.
As the greatest noble in Austria, Albrecht was undoubtedly very hostile to the revolution. Regardless of other factors, he could not tolerate anyone breaking the order of things, if only because he owned more than 500 thousand acres of real estate.
And that was just his fief. Albrecht also had a large amount of property in Vienna. Of his properties, Franz knew the Summer Palace (the Wilborg Palace) and the Winter Palace (now the Albertina museum area) in Vienna.
With such a rich family, Albrecht naturally despised capitalists, because no Austrian capitalist was as rich as him.
If Albrecht were not on his own side, even Franz would want to rob him. There was more than one such rich lord in Austria, such as the Kohali family, a branch of the Goda dynasty.
Of course, the most affluent family was the royal family. The Hapsburg family’s hundreds of years of accumulation was still very massive.
In the Eastern world, those who owned thousands of acres of land were big landlords and the super-rich; when it came to the European continent, they would be upstarts at the most. Any big noble family owned more than a million acres.
“Franz, didn’t you warn Prime Minister Metternich of these concerns?” As soon as he spoke, Albrecht regretted it, since this was a very obvious problem. Metternich’s stay in the position of prime minister had been long, but he hadn’t met anyone’s expectations.
People are forgetful. At that time, the public was already ignoring Metternich’s achievements, especially after the outbreak of the Paris revolution and breakdown of the Vienna system.
Prime Minister Metternich’s greatest diplomatic achievements had been in vain, and the opposition who wanted to get rid of him had no scruples.
Franz was not among the opposition to Prime Minister Metternich, but Metternich was a natural enemy of the crown prince.
“As for these problems, I am afraid that our Prime Minister has already heard of them, but it is hard to say if he has paid attention or not! Albrecht, don’t you think I can decide for him now?” Franz jokingly asked.
Albrecht smiled a little. Prime Minister Metternich was very aggressive. Even the other members of the Regent Committee were suppressed ruthlessly by him. How could it be possible for any person to tell him what to do?
“All right, I will prepare for the training! However, about the order for training…you have to collect it yourself because the Regent Committee will not believe me!” Albrecht said.
Albrecht already knew what Franz was going to do. If the Vienna Revolution broke out, Prime Minister Metternich would have to leave.
As a result, the government would have a void of power, and the Regent Committee would have a sharp drop in prestige, so Franz’s early regency would become possible.
As a political ally, Albrecht naturally hoped that this day would come sooner rather than later.
“Leave them alone. At this time, they’re busy fighting with each other, so they don’t have time to care about all this. Besides, I still have the order of the Emperor!” Franz said sneeringly.
Yes, Franz was trying to fool everyone with an order. The Regent Committee was not likely to accuse Ferdinand I. It was only a field practice, and Franz could take full responsibility for it.
When the Vienna revolution broke out, those who had soldiers in their hands would be the real lords. The one who held the City Defense Army of fourteen thousand soldiers would have the top power of Vienna.