Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 80
Chapter 80: Chapter 80: Changing Circumstances
Translator: 549690339
After the victory of the bourgeois revolution, the situation in Europe did not improve, but worsened.
The capitalists, who had just turned the tables to become masters, revealed their greedy nature before they could secure their rule.
The newly established bourgeois government not only failed to fulfill its previous promises but also intensified the exploitation of the lower classes.
Where there was oppression, there was resistance, and labor and peasant movements began to thrive.
Before Marshal Radetzky withdrew from Lombardy, he had levied a large amount of grain. After the Kingdom of Sardinia occupied the area, Milan City faced a shortage of grain. To gather emergency supplies, they borrowed some grain from the local people.
Easy to borrow, easy to return.
Regrettably, the Kingdom of Sardinia seemed to have forgotten about borrowing grain from the people, sparking local discontent.
That might have been the end of it, as the borrowed grain only affected a minority. Next, to raise war funds, the Kingdom of Sardinia began to levy war taxes.
After bureaucrats added layer upon layer, the amount of the war tax far exceeded the lower classes’ ability to pay.
On April 21, 1848, the farmers of Brianza, unable to bear the high taxes, rebelled, and the uprising quickly spread to areas like Salerno and Calabria.
The rebel army occupied the estates of nobility, seized the granaries, distributed the grain to the populace, burned promissory notes and documents, and in some places, even divided up the land.
The actions of the peasant rebel army terrified the capitalists and the nobility. The Lombardy Government immediately sent troops to suppress the uprising by force, quelling the spontaneously organized peasant revolt in less than a week.
The peasant uprising was just the beginning; after the Kingdom of Sardinia occupied Milan City, the price of goods began to skyrocket. Taking bread as an example, from March to early May, the price soared by seventy-four percent.
Capitalists took advantage of this situation to profit from the national disaster, leaving the lower classes cold and starving, unable to continue. This hurt many who had supported the Kingdom of Sardinia.
On April 25, organized by the Workers’ Mutual Aid Society, over five thousand workers in Milan took to the streets, petitioning the temporary government appointed by the Kingdom of Sardinia, demanding the government stabilize prices and protect worker rights.
In this era, there were no comprehensive Labor Protection Laws, the best being those issued by Vienna Government, including the “Labor Protection Law” and its subsidiary legislation.
Literacy was rare among the workers of Milan, let alone political considerations; worker representatives simply copied parts of Austria’s “Labor Protection Law,” added some clauses they thought were reasonable, and submitted the petition.
Seeking to win over local capitalists and the nobility, the temporary government of the Kingdom of Sardinia naturally could not do without the bourgeoisie. They immediately exploited this loophole, arresting worker representatives on charges of being Austrian spies, and sent troops to suppress the marching columns.
On April 28, a strike movement erupted in Milan City, with tens of thousands of workers taking to the streets to fight for their rights. The temporary government ordered the National Homeland Defense Troops to fire at “those disturbing the social order,” killing more than three hundred people on the spot and arresting over five hundred.
White terror pervaded Milan City, plunging the workers’ movement into a trough under the repression of the liberal bourgeois government.
The suppression of worker and peasant movements was not limited to the Kingdom of Sardinia; bourgeois liberal governments in southern Italy also suppressed such movements.
In Naples, National Homeland Defense Troops shot striking printers; in Rome, National Homeland Defense Troops in front of a bakery slaughtered citizens demanding bread; in Palermo, National Homeland Defense Troops turned their blades on their comrades from the January Revolution…
The reactionary policies of the bourgeois governments provided the strongest support for the restoration of feudal forces.
No matter how much they boasted of capitalism’s progress over feudalism, the lower classes found that the capitalist regime was even more despicable than the feudal nobility.
The monarch and nobility also seized this opportunity to launch a counterattack, with the most representative being the Austrian anti-revolutionary group led by Franz, which had already suppressed most of the revolutions within Austria.
In the Italian Area, Pius IX of Rome, fearing that Italian unification would cost him his throne and that war with Austria would lose the support of Catholics.
With the efforts of Austria’s Foreign Ministry, on April 29, 1848, Pius IX issued a “Declaration,” sounding the horn for a counterattack.
On May 15, Ferdinand Il, King of Naples, demanded that the MPs swear an oath of allegiance to the constitution, which was met with opposition from the bourgeoisie MPs.
That night, Ferdinand Il sent troops into the city and raised the slaughter against the bourgeois parliament.
In the Kingdom of Prussia, the Junker aristocracy, unwilling to accept defeat, were plotting a counterattack, and King Frederick-William Ill was still toying with the bourgeois government.
France
As the source of the European revolution, it was naturally the liveliest place.
On April 23, France held constitutional elections, where the Bourgeois Republican Party achieved an overwhelming victory, and the working class was excluded from the core of power.
The rise of the French Right spurred dissatisfaction among the working class.
On April 26, French workers launched a failed armed uprising in cities such as Lyon and Limoges, with the worker leader Blanqui issuing a declaration condemning the government for betraying the revolution and declaring that the revolution would be carried through to the end.
Class conflict had escalated to become the primary contradiction in France, as the working class and the bourgeoisie parted ways.
At the same time, the royalist faction also kept busy, subtly extending their influence into the military.
If not for the royalist faction in France being split into three, holding each other back, the bourgeoisie would have already been out of the picture.
Vienna
Looking at the intelligence gathered in his hands, Franz breathed a sigh of relief; history hadn’t taken a major turn, and his butterfly effect hadn’t completely changed the world.
The outbreak of an uprising in the Lombardy Region meant that the Kingdom of Sardinia’s popularity among the local people had been pulled to the same level as Austria’s, eliminating the worry of being dragged into a people’s war.
Venice
“Marshal, the enemy has come out!” General Victor whispered in Marshal Radetzky’s ear.
“Hm, since the enemy has arrived, there’s no need for stealth. Order the 6th Division to teach the Tuscan Army, poking their heads out, a lesson, and command the 9th Division to knock out the Papal Army attempting to cross the river!” Marshal Radetzky ordered coldly.
Having lured the Sardinian army into Venice was already quite an accomplishment, and Radetzky did not expect to defeat the enemy with stratagems alone.
“Your Excellency, it is said that King Charles Albert wants to be personally at the front. If he takes over command, our opportunity will come!” Edmund suggested.
“No need, we can just lay out our formation and engage the enemy in a decisive battle in the Mantuya Region; they have no choice.
Fighting in the Venice Area, the Kingdom of Sardinia’s transport costs are double ours. You can calculate how much material they need to transport daily to ensure the supply of the front line, ” Marshal Radetzky said calmly..
