Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 61

Chapter 61: Chapter 61: Hungary (Vote Request)

The Vienna Government successively suppressed the Prague and Galicia rebellions. When word reached Hungary, the opposition led by Kossuth couldn’t sit still.

From the current situation, it’s clear that the Vienna Government had no intention of compromising with the Revolutionaries; it was repression after repression, especially the bloody suppression in Galicia, which had many people shivering in fear.

Ludwig von Benedek, who was responsible for suppressing the Galician rebellion, directly allowed the locals to retaliate against the Nobility and capitalists, and most of the over 20,000 people who died were killed by the public.

The Vienna Government couldn’t possibly execute over 20,000 people at once; Franz wanted to save face. For the long-term stability of Austro-Poland, using others to eliminate these reactionary elements became the only choice.

Militias were gathered from the locality, and, capitalising on their conflict with the exploitation groups, cleansed these overbearing reactionaries.

Nationwide, except for the ongoing war in the Italian Area, nearly all the rebellions had been suppressed by force. Hungary was about to fight alone.

If we were to turn back the clock by a month, the Hungarian Cabinet Government had not yet been established, and there was still potential for compromise. Even before the April 14th Declaration of Independence was issued, there was still an opportunity for them to turn back.

Now the Vienna Government had yet to recognize the legitimacy of the Hungarian Cabinet, and repeatedly ordered them to dissolve the illegal government.

Kossuth had always advocated for secession from Austria to establish an independent Hungarian Republic, but unfortunately, such a concept had a limited market in Hungary.

The majority of the Nobility were concerned about security issues after independence; after all, Hungary’s incorporation into Austria, aside from the Habsburg Family’s intermarriages, also revolved around their need for Austrian protection.

Compared to Mao Xiong and the Ottomans, they still preferred to stick with Austria. However, in recent years, the Central Government in Vienna had weakened and gradually lost its authority. Through a series of probes, they found that crying children get the most milk.

To rid themselves of Austrian restrictions and gain greater benefits, capitalists had embraced nationalism transmitted from France, and the opposition in Austria, led by Kossuth, began to grow.

However, this didn’t mean Hungary was now powerful enough to break away from Austria and be independent. Many people were still skeptical towards the armed revolution.

A young man rushed in, saying, “Mr. Kossuth, something terrible has happened. The Vienna Government has sent legal envoys into Hungary, I fear they are coming for us!”

Upon hearing this news, Kossuth’s face changed dramatically. What was Austria’s purpose in sending legal envoys? Could it really be just to promote Austrian law to the Hungarians?

If Franz were here, he would say—yes, the purpose of sending the legal envoys was indeed just to promote law.

Of course, declaring the Hungarian cabinet’s establishment illegal was also unavoidable, but that was just incidental; the main purpose was to divide the Kingdom of Hungary.

Different class interests also had different demands. Essentially, the series of laws introduced by the Vienna Government aimed to bribe the general public.

There was no other way. It wasn’t that Franz didn’t want to bribe the elite class, but bribing a minority was always easier than bribing a majority. The problem was that their asking price was too high; they were beyond his means to buy.

In March, the Hungarian delegation, represented by Kossuth, presented demands to the Vienna Government for the establishment of an independent Hungarian government and the abolition of the feudal system.

After a round of tough negotiations, Franz was still quite enlightened and didn’t reject the idea of reform; in fact, he advocated even more thorough reforms.

However, when faced with a group of idealists and spokespersons for the bourgeoisie’s interests, it was clear that the two sides couldn’t agree.

If the Vienna Government dared accept their conditions, it would be the Austrians’ turn to start a revolution.

Equality does not equate to privilege, and while Franz could grant equal status to all nationalities, he absolutely could not allow the Hungarian nationality to rise above all the others.

This touched upon the national conditions of the Kingdom of Hungary, with a total population of more than thirteen million, including over five hundred thousand nobility, which could be described as nobility filling the skies.

Hungarian capitalists also had a dual identity—nobility, thus the relationship between Hungarian capitalists and the nobility was very complex. This less than two percent of the population held over ninety-five percent of the society’s wealth.

The Hungarian nationality during this period essentially referred to these five hundred thousand nobles and capitalists who had many privileges and were the true exploitative class of the country.

To some extent, Austria was not a truly autocratic empire but rather an alliance of great nobles, with the Central Government’s control over the localities dependent on the will of the nobility.

The current Hungarian nationalism movement was in essence led by the middle and small nobility and capitalists, who combined the concept of the nation with their own interests, donning a halo of nationalism when vying for benefits.

This was also the reason why the Hungarian Government, led by Kossuth, was shouting for reform on one hand, yet on the other hand, refusing to implement the reform laws of the Vienna Government.

Even the consensus on the abolition of serfdom, once it reached Hungary, was not executed. The nobility concealed the emancipation laws of the Vienna Government.

Well, this responsibility couldn’t be blamed on Kossuth, after all, he was a leader produced from compromise, not one who had risen to power through strength.

This could be seen from the elections held in Hungary on April 12, 1848. Despite the proclaimed intention to open up universal suffrage, in reality, the presidential election in Hungary was still confined to Budapest.

In Budapest, only 16,200 people had voting rights. According to the understanding of “Hungarian nationality” at that time, it was almost like achieving universal suffrage for the entire city.

The final result was a total of 5,176 votes received, with Kossuth elected by a high vote count of 1,639. Of course, the results announced to the public were certainly not this number.

From these figures, it can be seen that Franz’s butterfly effect had taken effect, with more people choosing to be dispassionate observers than in history.

“Nagy, send someone to expel them immediately, we Hungarians do not welcome them!” Kossuth said with a grim face.

As a president formed out of compromise, too many people in the Kingdom of

Hungary didn’t defer to his authority—in many people’s eyes, the Hungarian Republic was a joke, which was evident from the indifference towards the election.

Kossuth’s anger was not unfounded; the Hungarian Republic had been established, but Ferdinand I still concurrently held the title of King of Hungary.

Without a king there were no nobles, and for their own interests, the

Hungarian nobility insisted on opposing the abolition of the monarchy. Forced by circumstances, Kossuth had to make compromises, and now, above him as president, there was still a king exerting pressure, greatly diminishing his authority..