Chapter 16: Chapter 16, The Brewing Great Revolution (Seeking Votes)

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Being able to establish the Viennese System and maintain stability on the European Continent for more than thirty years, as well as sitting in the position of the Austrian Prime Minister for over twenty years, suppressing political enemies tightly, how could Prime Minister Metternich possibly be an ordinary man?

Today, Count Korofute was obviously trying to provoke him, for people are more likely to make mistakes when they are provoked. How could Metternich not know that?

This was a clear strategy. Prime Minister Metternich already felt the overwhelming pressure, not brought by Count Korofute alone, but also by the Austrian Conservative Party and the Vienna Court together.

The role Franz played in this, Metternich must have been aware of. No evidence was needed; with his rich experience in political struggles, he could infer it.

Already a year ago, Franz had discussed this issue with him. However, Metternich wanted to maintain the balance of power within the Empire and had not suppressed the bourgeoisie.

Now, Franz was again mingling with the Conservatives, which undoubtedly indicated that the Vienna Court’s tolerance towards the Reformists had reached its limit.

Not to mention the Royal family, even Prime Minister Metternich himself was disappointed with the Reformists. Their idealistic reform proposals had failed to consider the practical situations at all.

The bourgeoisie were vying for power and couldn’t even bother to restrain their ambitions. The demands they put forward were simply impossible for the government to agree to.

Even more so, Metternich was certain that if the bourgeoisie’s conditions were fully accepted, the Austrian Empire would immediately become history.

In their quest for power, the bourgeoisie had already joined forces with separatist groups. Their so-called American-style autonomy completely overlooked the practical contexts.

With so many countries on the European Continent, once Austria disintegrated, it would be ready to split, and the enemies would not miss this opportunity.

A bunch of idealists, under the agitation of the bourgeoisie, became the vanguard of the Reformist movement, proposing plans that were taken for granted and utterly disregarding the consequences—such Reformists were unbearable for anyone.

“Someone, spread the word. Hold a Cabinet meeting tomorrow and invite the Regency Council to participate!”

Clearly, Metternich had made up his mind. Since the Reformists were already out of control, for the sake of politics, they could naturally be sacrificed.

No, rather it was not considered a sacrifice, but rather the bourgeoisie’s misfortune. That bunch of idealistic intellectuals, having diverged, some with less connection to the bourgeoisie, were also in support of the “Labor Protection Law.”

Some even thought they could go further, calculating wages based on factory profits and sharing the profits with workers so that the working class could profit alongside them.

Well, as for such idealists, Metternich was speechless. He would bet that if such an idea were proposed, one might as well forget about leaving the house in the future.

With just a Labor Protection Law, the capitalists were going crazy. If someone dared to deprive the capitalists of most of their profits, the bourgeoisie would tear the Prime Minister apart!

“Yes, Prime Minister!” the attendant hurriedly responded.

…

After the July Revolution’s success, the development of capitalism in France rendered the vast majority of workers, peasants, and petite bourgeoisie even more impoverished.

The Industrial Revolution’s advancement made the capitalists immensely wealthy while, at the same time, thousands of artisans and small business owners went bankrupt due to competition from the large capitalists.

France’s social crisis deepened continually, and the calls for social changes grew louder. Nevertheless, all this failed to catch the July Monarchy’s attention.

(July Monarchy: The Orleans Dynasty was established after France’s July Revolution in 1830. It was a dynasty that represented French financial conglomerates, marking the start of the Usury Empire.)

By 1847, Franz had begun to pay close attention to France’s situation, serving as the weathervane of European revolutions. Essentially, every major revolution began in Paris.

Seeing the news from France, Franz knew that an internal revolution was brewing. The revolution’s prelude, the “Banquet Campaign,” had already begun to thrive vigorously.

(French Banquet Campaign: A political struggle method adopted by the French Reformist and various social forces in opposition to the July Monarchy. They held banquets in name to gather, deliver speeches, and express political views.)

Undoubtedly, this impending revolution would still be led by the bourgeoisie. In Franz’s view, it represented an uneven division of spoils within the French bourgeoisie.

The capitalists who had failed in competition refused to let their interests be usurped and joined various anti-government forces to capitalize on public dissatisfaction and to initiate the February Revolution.

Franz was aware that a new wave of revolutionary climax was approaching. Historically, in 1848, revolutions erupted in all European cities with populations over one hundred thousand.

The trigger for this wave of revolution was the French February Revolution. The French people’s success set an example, and everyone followed suit, with the whole of Europe turning into chaos, except for the agricultural state of Mao Xiong.

Franz said gravely, “Tyren, infiltrate Vienna’s social organizations to keep track of their movements at all times, including the lower-level labor groups!”

“Yes, Grand Duke!” the head of the intelligence organization, Tyren, responded.

Indeed, this intelligence organization was the secretive force of the Royal family. After encountering them, Franz had taken them under his wing.

Of course, the authorization that Franz had cheated from Uncle Ferdinand I played a crucial role.

In return, Franz had to provide an activity fund of eight hundred Rhine Shields per month, causing his wallet to thin progressively.

There was no choice; even if most people were volunteering, running an intelligence organization required funds.

Nevertheless, it was all worthwhile. Now Franz had gleaned a lot about Austria’s domestic situation. To his surprise, the bourgeoisie had not yet planned a revolution.

This meant that the historical Viennese March Revolution was not premeditated, but rather prompted by the outbreak of the French February Revolution—a group of people decided on the spur of the moment and initiated it!

Many of these individuals were not even part of the Revolutionary Party. Among them were bourgeoisie, students, and workers, as could be seen from the conditions proposed by the revolutionary groups after the March Revolution.

Moreover, with the “Labor Protection Law” proposed by the government diverting the public’s attention, most of the underprivileged still held expectations for the Vienna Government.

They were waiting for this law to be enacted to improve their dire living conditions.

This gave Franz a vision of new possibilities. Should the government implement the “Labor Protection Law,” the upcoming March Revolution might be nipped in the bud due to a lack of supporters.

Moreover, given the antithetical interests of the working class and the bourgeoisie, they might even side with the government to suppress the bourgeois rebellion.