Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Chapter 27: The February Revolution

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

It wasn’t just Austria that had this problem, including Prussia, France, the United Kingdom, Russia, and other European countries, where Nobility Officers dominated.

This situation continued until after the World War, having been through the ordeal of the World War, Nobility Officers suffered heavy losses, with no sufficient reserves to replenish, they eventually lost their dominant position in the military.

By comparison, Austria was somewhat fortunate, with the German Nobility dominating, and due to traditional relationships, they mostly possessed decent military cultivation.

These Nobility Officers, in this era, were all rare intellectuals, and if someone was whipping them from behind to push them, serving as junior officers was still not a problem.

For the future of Austria, for the happiness of the European people, for the development of all mankind, Franz felt the clear mandate of Heaven, or rather, this should be the will of God.

After all, he had already decided to take on the great task of transforming the next generation of Austrian Nobility, and it was just the beginning now.

The wheels of history rolled forth, and after the January Revolution in Sicily broke out, it quickly spread to Northern Italy. To defend the safety of Lombardy and Venice, the Vienna Government also sent additional forces to the region, temporarily stabilizing the situation.

Before the great revolution erupted, the European working class was in deep distress, taking France as an example:

The workers’ wage level was very low, with male workers earning about 2 francs per day, female workers about 1 franc, 13-16-year-old child laborers only 75 centimes, and 8-12-year-old child laborers merely 45 centimes.

The cheapest bread at the time, black bread, cost more than 30 centimes per kilogram, so the working class’s income could barely maintain their subsistence.

(Data from 1840)

At first glance, it seems that male workers’ treatment was passable, while female and child laborers’ treatment was very low.

In reality, capitalists were not fools; they would maximize profit extraction, and the money was earned at the cost of their lives; male workers had to undertake more strenuous physical labor.

Almost every day they worked for up to fifteen or sixteen hours, and the more they worked, the faster their physical strength was depleted, and naturally, the energy they needed replenished was indispensable.

This can be seen from life expectancy, with heavy labor reducing workers’ average life span to less than 40 years, and even below 35 years in many heavy physical labor industries.

In 1846, due to heat and drought causing poor harvests of wheat and legumes, France’s main staples were severely threatened, leading to a steep rise in grain prices.

In 1845, the price of 100 liters of wheat was 17.15 francs, but by 1847 it had risen to 43 francs, skyrocketing to 49-5 francs in the Upper Rhine province, with some areas even exceeding 50 francs.

Especially in Northern France and the Northeast, the prices of grain generally increased by 100% to 150%, and bread prices doubled.

Everything went up, except for wages, so naturally, the working class had a hard time.

As if misfortunes never come singly, the 1847 British economic crisis also impacted France.

The price increase of grain had nothing to do with the farmers, who simply saw a significant drop in income due to reduced crop yields, leading to a decrease in France’s internal purchasing power.

Against this backdrop, cheap British industrial products poured in, and France’s industry and commerce immediately suffered a severe blow.

In 1847, Paris’s industrial output was 1.463 billion francs, which had dropped to 677 million francs by early 1848.

After being halved and then reduced by a further ten percent, just looking at this figure shows how French industry was wailing in pain. In the span of just one year, thousands of businesses in France closed down.

Behind the crazy wave of business closures, the birth of a large unemployed population was inevitable, and social conflicts in France became increasingly acute.

Against this backdrop, rather than implementing any effective measures, the

July Monarchy was rife with corruption, scandals emerging one after another.

After the Austrian Government’s “Labor Protection Law” made its way to Paris, it quickly caused a sensation among the working class.

The Paris Government, slow to respond, was too late to suppress the news, and in any case, they lacked the capacity to do so.

A massive wave of labor strikes began in Paris and rapidly spread across France, even impacting other regions in Europe.

Concurrent with the great labor strike, the peasant class also erupted into anti-hunger movements, starting in July of 1847. Due to poor harvests and the debt crisis, bankrupt peasants sparked a wave of grain looting.

They destroyed the landlords’ estates, seized grain stores, and killed grain speculators. This movement spread to the cities, where starving unemployed workers, unable to bear the hunger, joined in as well, historically known as the “Bread Riots”.

The continual breakdown of social order also led to the bourgeoisie’s discontent with the government.

Initially, everyone had suffered heavy losses in the economic crisis and had just been preparing to make a profit from grain to soothe their wounded spirits.

However, they found that French peasants were too fierce, and the combativeness of the working class was also very formidable—if they couldn’t afford to buy, they simply resorted to looting. How were the capitalists supposed to live?

At this time, the French bourgeoisie also became divided, with most people opposing the July Monarchy apart from a minority of vested interests.

This included the Monarchy’s opposition and Republicans, with the latter divided into the People’s Party and the Reformists. Despite their differing political views, they temporarily united against the July Monarchy.

The ineptness of the Guizot government was obvious. The opposition launched 70 banquets of varying sizes nationwide, and many places openly chanted revolutionary slogans without facing suppression.

The government’s incompetence allowed the Revolutionaries to gauge their weaknesses and start preparing for an armed uprising.

For Parisians, marching in protests was like a routine matter. On February 22, 1848, dissatisfied with the government’s ban on these banquets, Parisians took to the streets to protest.

Franz wasn’t clear about what specifically happened. In any case, it seemed that history had slightly changed—by that evening, Parisians had revolted, and the February Revolution had broken out.

After the uprising erupted, the ranks of the revolution swelled rapidly, with students, workers, citizens, and capitalists all joining in. Of course, very few capitalists took up arms themselves; most offered their support from behind the scenes.

Startled by the revolution, the Guizot government hastily called in the troops to suppress it, unfortunately underestimating the camaraderie between the French military and its citizens.

Even within the military, there were no shortage of revolution supporters; the majority of the National Homeland Defense Troops refused to carry out the government’s orders, and a portion of the military defected outright.

For the rest, Franz could only make guesses. More detailed intelligence was not so easily obtained anymore.

In any event, on the afternoon of February 23, 1848, in an attempt to ease the situation, King Louis-Philippe dismissed the Guizot government and appointed the liberal Molé to form a new government, hoping to quell the bourgeoisie’s anger..