Chapter 18: Chapter 18 – The Fallout

After reading through the newly enacted Labor Protection Act, Franz smiled with satisfaction. The conflict between the nobility and the bourgeoisie could no longer be alleviated.

The enactment of this act was enough to show that the nobles were so enraged by the bourgeoisie that they had taken such drastic measures to deal with them.

In addition, since the passing of this act, the working class in Austria had parted ways with the bourgeoisie. The government had given them what they wanted by enacting a labor law and the only ones who stood in their way were the capitalists.

Would the capitalists now dare use the workers’ movement to seize power for themselves?

Obviously, this was impossible now since the enemy of the workers’ movement was no longer the government, but the capitalists, themselves.

For a long time to come, capitalists would have to fight against the working class until one side was forced to make a concession.

Franz commanded the head of the Agency, Bernd Schneider, “Bernd, spread the news of our Labor Protection Act, and do not forget to send a copy to all the labor unions in Paris!”

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; in 1847, there was only one country in the world that was industrialized: Great Britain.

The rest of the major European powers were in the process of catching up, but the industrial revolution in France would not be finished until the late 1860s. Meanwhile, the industrial revolution in the German region, which included Prussia and Austria, had just begun.

The competitiveness of products by countries other than Great Britain declined because of the increasing labor costs. But that was not the biggest challenge.

The biggest challenge in Austria was the lack of a consumer market. Who would buy products in the market when everyone, workers and farmers alike, was living in poverty?

No one would be able to buy products before the consumer market had been cultivated, even if the country had the ability to produce in excess.

Exports?

Franz wasn’t looking down on the Austrian industry, but he could be sure that the best industrial products of the age came from Great Britain. The most competitive products Austria could offer were simple grains.

Therefore, it was more practical to cultivate the market first, then develop the industry step by step.

However, sharing “happiness” with others was much better than enjoying it all alone.

As a selfless person, Franz would certainly take into account people all over the world who were living a hard life and were anxious to improve it. He believed that the revolutionary stand of the French people was firm and that they would certainly do their job well. Only by improving the living conditions of the working class could the world become a better place.

What Franz did not know was that, in the history that was to come, the eight-hour working day implemented by the Austrian government would become the spark of revolutions across Europe.

The March Revolution in Vienna, which was highly regarded by historians as an uprising by the weak and poor against government oppression, would become a conspiratorial rebellion launched by the bourgeoisie, who were dissatisfied with the Labor Protection Act.

Regardless of the future, at the moment, Vienna was already boiling over. Many newspapers published the Labor Protection Act in its original form right away.

The workers in Vienna could not believe it at first. They were left utterly shocked. After confirming the veracity of the news, they began to celebrate as though they were saying goodbye to their tough days of suffering.

All the literati in the Empire quickly went on work by giving their opinion about this act, whether it was praise or criticism. Either way, everyone had very strong opinions.

The reformists had split into two factions. People in one faction had become complacent about the fact that the reforms had finally made some progress due to their persistence. Many were even optimistic that the government would continue to develop the reforms further.

The other faction was the capitalists’ interest group. In no uncertain terms, they criticized the government for rashly meddling in the market; they believed that in a world of freedom, all problems should be left to the market to solve by itself, a principle they called laissez-faire.

On this issue, the two factions were in complete disagreement. The capitalists, who would never accept harm to their interests, had begun their plot and an undercurrent had spread from Vienna to the entirety of Austria.

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Paris

Paris was famous for being the cradle of the European revolutionary movement as the Pairisians had always had a revolutionary nerve in their minds. Naturally, the Austrian government’s Labor Protection Act caused a sensation among them.

Even the Austrian government, known for its conservatism, had passed legislation to protect the interests of the working class, but the July Monarchy had taken no such action. The Parisians came to believe that such an evil government had to be overthrown.

Of course, a revolution could never be accomplished overnight, so the Paris labor union organizations, who were experienced in such struggles, met at once for a lively discussion.

After the Austrian government’s move to pass legislation for the protection of workers and their introduction of an eight-hour working day, many people in Paris expected the same from their government.

Their requirements were not unreasonable; they just wanted the government to copy the Austrian Labor Protection Act.

By the end of 1847, the historically significant strike broke out in Paris. Hundreds of thousands of Parisian workers took to the streets to protest for the protection of their rights.

Soon, the strikes and the campaign spread from Paris to the whole of France before spreading throughout the European continent like a virus. Ultimately, strikes broke out in almost every European city.

The “eight-hour workday” had suddenly become a motto for the workers movement. The public image of the Austrian government had improved markedly thanks to the fact that it had passed the first labor protection law in the world.

This was the very first time such a system had been legislated since 1817 when the Welsh reformer proposed the “eight-hour workday.”

The impact of the Labor Protection Act was far beyond anything the Austrian government could have imagined.

Chancellor Metternich, who had long been criticized for being too conservative, once again became known as the leader of the reformists as the Austrian public praised him highly.

However, Chancellor Metternich knew that this public praise came at far too heavy of a cost. On the surface, he became the winner of the government struggle. Not only had he thwarted the plot by his political adversaries, he had also taken the reform even further, gaining significant public support and approval.

Under the surface, however, Chancellor Metternich was in unspeakable trouble. He had gotten himself into a blood feud with the capitalists due to passing the Labor Protection Act under pressure from the nobles.

Could any good come from setting himself against the capitalists?

The answer was quite obvious.

Even so, their revenge came much faster than anyone had expected.

On November 24, 1847, the third day after the enactment of the Labor Protection Act, the capitalists organized a strike.

Over 90% of Vienna’s factories and shops remained closed on that day. The capitalists also submitted a petition to the Emperor for the repeal of the Labor Protection Act and the dismissal of Chancellor Metternich and his cabinet.

The Austrian government was in serious trouble. The capitalists were much stronger than anyone had thought. To make matters worse, some nobles with no firm position of their own had been fooled by capitalists into participating in the strike.

Chancellor Metternich had been pushed into a do-or-die situation. If he failed to solve this problem quickly, Vienna would collapse.

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