Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
When the capitalists wanted to withdraw, it was already too late, because Franz had returned to Vienna with his army.
“Albrecht, it’s up to you!”
Franz still knew himself well: if he made a strategy or something, it would be very good; if he commanded the troops to fight, he would not be sure about it.
As he had estimated, based on the experience of leading troops for more than two months, he was afraid that he would not be able to command this army. In order to be on the safe side, Franz decisively chose to let Albrecht do it instead.
Anyhow, in history, Albrecht was also a famous Austrian general, who, in the Olympic war, used his few forces to defeat the many of Italy and, thus, defended the prestige of the Austrian Empire.
Albrecht smiled and said confidently, “Relax, Franz! A disorderly mob is not difficult to defeat!”
Franz nodded. He had done so much preparatory work: the intelligence organization had infiltrated the rebel army in advance to create internal conflicts for the enemy. If they still couldn’t win, the City Defense Army could be disbanded.
The military affairs were handed over to Albrecht, but the political problems could only be faced by Franz himself, for others could not afford this responsibility.
“Take the third regiment as the starter, and launch an attack!”
With Albrecht’s order, the prelude to the suppression of the rebellion was begun.
At that time, the word to describe Vienna would be — chaos!
The various insurgent armies, large and small, did not belong to each other, and when the City Defense Army came, there were still many of them who did not know that the enemy had already come.
This was mostly because they were busy robbing and looting. In the beginning, they’d only attacked nobles and capitalists, but as time went on, ordinary citizens were under attack, too.
Either out of jealousy or out of interest, military discipline disappeared, and even the commander had no way to restrain the troops.
When human beings’ animal nature was stimulated, after being suppressed for too long a time, everything about them would change, and the destructive power that broke out then was often shocking.
Due to the lack of strict organization and binding force between them, after the local ruffians and hooligans joined, the rebels were quickly brought down to their level and started killing, burning, looting, and doing all kinds of evil.
The Viennese citizens who originally sympathized with the revolution regretted it at that time. Not only they but also Vienna University, known as the cradle of revolutionary ideas, were not spared.
In order to avoid the harassment of the rebels, the school had to organize an army of students to protect the campus.
The number of conservative students was much larger than that of the revolutionary party. Seeing the tragedy outside, then, everyone recalled the Paris Revolution in 1789: more than 30 thousand people were guillotined in Paris alone.
Before that, everyone had thought that this was a lie fabricated by the government, but when the Vienna revolution broke out, they finally understood that revolution needed bloodshed.
…
Franz, who was still preparing for the aftermath, had no idea what kind of devil he had released or what kind of harm it had brought to Vienna.
Of course, even if he knew, he would still have made the same choice, for the Austrian Empire had rotted. If it was not broken down and then re-established, it would die little by little.
Without this rebellion, it would take at least ten years to abolish serfdom, facing the counterattack of the nobles all the time; that way lay the incomplete reform of Russian history.
However, it was different here: the Vienna revolution was only the beginning, and the local revolutions would still come fiercely. For the safety of life and property, all they could do was bear it with suffering.
As for Lombardy, Venice, and Hungary, Franz had been waiting for their rebellion. As long as the rebellions occurred, he would solve the problem once and for all by overthrowing the rich and dividing up their fortunes.
As for all the nobles and capitalists involved in the Vienna rebellion, he was not going to let them go, but to confiscate their fortune. Without it, where would Franz get the money to carry out national construction?
Did Austria really have no money? This problem was simply a fallacy.
From the establishment of the Vienna system until 1848, the economic development of Austria in the past 30 years had generally been very good, and the economic aggregate had doubled.
In this context, the wealth created by society was certainly absolute; unfortunately, however, the dividends of economic development had no benefit for common citizens, for wealth was concentrated in the hands of a few people.
As a member of the vested interest class, Franz obviously could not attack them radically, but he could take advantage of the opportunity of revolution, and it was still possible to eliminate some traitors.
…
In the Hofburg Palace, in Vienna.
After they received the conditions from the capitalists for negotiation, the Archdukes were all a little relieved. At that time, it was still most important to keep their lives, before the rebels came in.
They were all used to being pampered, and no one wanted to be put on the guillotine before they enjoyed their lives in full.
Ferdinand I could not make decisions; Prime Minister Metternich knew that he was in big trouble and had run away in advance; the whereabouts of the Count Koloft were unknown. The only remaining members of the Regent Committee were Archduke Louis and Archduke Franz Carr.
There was no doubt that all the burdens then fell on Archduke Louis, and Archduke Franz Carr could be counted on.
Archduke Louis, pale, said, “The capitalists have put forward conditions: as long as we agree to dismiss the cabinet, implement constitutionalism, open up national elections, abolish serfdom, confiscate aristocratic land and distribute it to farmers …
They will help us to suppress the rebellion. The Constitution has even been formulated, and this is a template that everyone can have a look at!”
He did not dare to agree to these conditions: if all of them were agreed to, it would not be the capitalists who rebelled, but the nobles.
In Austria, like in any country in the world, if the land of the noble class was confiscated and distributed to the peasants for no reason, they would absolutely rise up and rebel.
The Austrian army was under the control of the nobles, who had large areas of land. Those who had released the serfs might be allowed to keep some land; however, those who had not released their serfs would have all their land confiscated.
Which would mean to take their lives.
To confiscate their land was to take their lives.
What would they do, become capitalists?
The purpose was clearly to reform the noble class and turn them into capitalists, or maybe worse, into a destitute class.
In addition to economic interests, political reforms were not negotiable: if the constitution would be formulated by the capitalists, the political rights of the nobles would surely not be as good as those of ordinary people.
Without any rights, they could not join the army, come into politics, become a member of parliament…these conditions were complete nonsense to them.
Of course, this was a process of negotiation, and also of strategy: the initial offer was just to test their bottom line. Even so, it let them share a bitter hatred of the enemy.