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Austrian Empire and its capital
DateThe Austrian Empire, ruled by the Hapsburgs, was the second most heavily populated state in Europe in 1848. The empire was ruled in Vienna, the capital of the empire and consisted of three sections: Austria, Bohemia, and Hungary. The divisions between the empire led to diversity throughout—the majority of the population being German. -
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The Significance of the March Days and Early Revolution in Austria
Although for such a short while, the revolution in Austria in 1848, better known as the March Days, had a great impact on Europe. The Austrian Empire was falling apart and al that was left of it was its main components. Prussia had stopped for revolutionaries, while Italy continued on with war and Germany prepared to become a unified state. There was an effort to establish freedom and a free government, as shown by the abolition of serfdom and freedom of peasants from their landlords. -
Workers and Students Riot in Vienna
In March of 1848, the news of the February revolution in Paris came to the Austrian Empire. Following this, riots broke out in the empire. On March 13th, workers and students joined together and rioted in Vienna. They broke barricades set by the government and invaded the imperial palace, causing Metternich to flee. -
Riots in Berlin and the Promise for a Constitution
On March 15th, riots began in Berlin and the king of Prussia promised a constitution to the people. The smaller German governments collapsed in sequence and an all-German national assembly was called. The diet that happened on March 15th, enacted the March laws, which said Hungary was considered to be separate from the empire, but still recognized the Hapsburgs. -
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The Barriers to Unification
Although the main goal of the Frankfurt Assembly was to unify German states, they faced many obstacles. The German states all resisted and refused to surrender to make a unified German state. Also, the German world was a miniature political world itself. It consisted of both large and small powers, and had their own “German dualism”. The two large powers in Germany were Austria and Prussia—which had also been a part of “German dualism”. -
Not Interested in Joining a Unified State
In May of 1848, the all-German national assembly met at Frankfurt. Representatives from Bohemia were invited to come to the assembly, since many Germans lived in Bohemia. The Frankfurt Assembly attracted the Czechs, but they were not willing to be a part of a national German state. In opposition to this, they decided not to go to the all-German assembly and called a Pan-Slav assembly of their own. -
The Need for the Austrian Empire
Delegates from the Austrian empire, Balkans, and non-Austrian Poland all attended the first Pan-Slav assembly. The assembly was not really anti-Austrian or anti-Hapsburg, but since those at the assembly were mostly Austroslavs from the Austrian Empire, they needed the Austrian empire as the basis for them to develop their own, national life. It demanded that Slavs should be treated as equals within the empire. -
The Revolution Cannot be Sustained
Even after the March Days, the old governments still existed and were waiting for the perfect opportunity to take back promises. The revolutionary leaders were not strong enough, the economy was not as developed as it was in western Europe, and workers in the empire were not as aware of politics as they were in Great Britain or Paris. At this point, peasants lost interest in the revolution and different nationalities began to disagree with one another. -
Italy Defeated
One of the first victories for the counterrevolution was in northern Italy. The only place that declared itself independent from the rest of the empire was Lombardy-Venetia. The kingdom of Sardinia offered help and declared war on Austria, causing many Italians from all over the peninsula to come up and fight. The Austrian commander in Italy had defeated the king of Sardinia on July 25th, and the king fled to his own country. Lombardy-Venetia was forced to rejoin the Austrian Empire. -
Areas to Include
The Frankfurt assembly began to create a mental map of what the unified Germany would consist of. They did not want the German state to be small, but did not want to include Austria in the unified state. They had decided that the new, unified German state should consist of Prussia and the smaller German states, making the king of Prussia the emperor. -
Dependence on the Army
The Frankfurt Assembly wanted to retain non-Germans in the new unified German state when most of the people in Europe were feeling national ambitions. This desire caused the Frankfurt Assembly to be dependent on the Austrian and Prussian armies. When the Frankfurt Assembly went against the revolution and lost support, they grew weak and turned to the Prussian forces for their own protection. -
Ferdinand Abdicated
The Austrian military leader, Windischgratz brought his forces into Bohemia and besieged Vienna for five days, forcing its surrender on October 31st. As a result, counterrevolutionary leaders saw it as a good idea to get rid of the emperor, Ferdinand, since promises made by him may be repudiated by his successor, Francis Joseph. -
Emergence of the Bach System
Under the Bach system, the government was centralized. He got rid of constitutionalism and nationalism, saying that it would draw Austrian Germans away from the Hapsburgs. The main purpose of his policy was to oppose all forms of popular self-expression with a higher focus on the military. -
A Centralized Government
The Bach system took Hungary and gave it a centralized government, with a strong and unified political system. Before, however, Hungary lost all of the separate rights it had before 1848. However, Bach insisted that the peasants remain free and subjects of the state, in opposition to subjects of the landlord. They were given a free trade zone and the main goal was to make people forget their personal liberties. -
The Offer for Power
The position of leadership in Germany was offered to Frederick William IV, the king of Prussia. Although he was tempted to accept the offer, he denied it because he did not want to deal with the lesser countries that would be apart of the unified Germany, and worried that it would cause more problems with Austria. Additionally, he thought it was not right to take a crown that has limitations set upupon it. Saying he could not “pick up a crown from the gutter”, he rejected the offer. -
Fall of the Frankfurt Assembly
After Frederick William IV rejected the offer, the Frankfurt Assembly soon began its downfall. It had realized that all of its attempts failed and everything they did was for nothing. Many members of the assembly accepted this and went home, but a few extremists stayed at the assembly, and tried to enact the constitution alone, urge revolution, and called for elections. All this led to was more riotting, and eventually, the Prussian army brought them down in Saxony. The assembly ended soon after
