Chapter 16: Chapter 16 – The Brewing Revolution

As the man who established the , kept the European continent stable for over 30 years, held the position of the Austrian Chancellor for more than 20 years and firmly pinned down his political adversaries, could it be possible that Chancellor Metternich could be a fool?

Count Kolowrat had obviously tried to goad him. People were most prone to making mistakes while under stress.

Naturally, Chancellor Metternich was aware of Count Kolowrat’s conspiracy. But, despite being aware of it, Chancellor Metternich felt the pressure nonetheless. It was coming from all directions; exerted on him not only by Count Kolowrat, but also by Austrian conservatives, as well as the Vienna Court.

Chancellor Metternich was also aware that Franz had played an important role in this conspiracy based solely on his rich experience with political struggles; he didn’t need any evidence of it to be sure.

As early as a year prior, Franz had discussed this issue with him, but Chancellor Metternich had wanted to maintain the balance of powers inside Austria so he had dismissed Franz, choosing not to suppress the capitalists.

The fact that Franz had now teamed up with the conservatives showed that the Vienna Court’s tolerance for the reformists had reached its limit.

Even the royal family, and even Chancellor Metternich himself, was quite disappointed with the reformists. The reform proposals they put forward were too idealistic, ignoring the issue of their actual implementation.

The bourgeoisie wanted to seize power so badly that they didn’t even bother to cover up their ambitions anymore. Their reforms were simply impossible for the government to accept.

Chancellor Metternich was sure that if the bourgeoisie’s conditions, many of which called for giving autonomy to most provinces, were accepted, the Austrian Empire would come to an immediate end.

In order to be strong enough to seize power, the bourgeoisie had united with the provinces which desired autonomy, yet their so-called American-style autonomy had not taken into account the difference between Austria and America.

Once decentralization appeared in Austria, social disruption would follow rapidly due to their many enemies. The other nations of Europe could not possibly let go of the opportunity to forever weaken Austria.

Such idealists, encouraged by the bourgeoisie, had become the forerunners of the reform in Austria. They put forward any proposal they desired without ever considering the consequences. Who, in their right mind, could stand such a group of reformists?

Chancellor Metternich ordered his attendant, “Inform the relevant people regarding tomorrow’s cabinet meeting. Especially the Regency Council, make sure they appear in the meeting tomorrow!”

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Obviously, Chancellor Metternich had made up his mind. Since the reformists were out of his control, they could certainly be sacrificed for political necessity.

In fact, it was not even a “sacrifice” per se; rather, it was bad luck for the bourgeoisie. Since talks of the Labor Protection Act in Vienna, there had been a split amongst the idealistic intellectuals, and some of those who were less involved with the capitalists were even openly in support of the Labor Protection Act.

In fact, some people even advocated that the terms of the Act should go further. The workers’ wages should be paid according to the profit of their factories, allowing everyone to obtain a share of the profit, including the working class.

When it came to such idealists, Chancellor Metternich was at a loss for words. He was sure that whoever came up with that idea wouldn’t have the balls to publicly say it.

The Labor Protection Act was already driving the capitalists crazy. If anyone dared to even mention depriving the capitalists of their profits, they would surely tear him apart.

“Yes, Lord Chancellor!” his attendant replied hurriedly.

***

After the triumph of the , the unfettered development of capitalism in France had left most of the workers, farmers, and grassroots capitalists impoverished.

Meanwhile, the spread of the industrial revolution had made the capitalists very wealthy. Thanks to their growing wealth, they were able to cause thousands of craftsmen and small farmers to go bankrupt from vicious and unfair competition.

The social crisis in France was deepening while the cries for the transformation of society were growing louder and louder; however, the changes in society failed to attract the attention of the .