Chapter 27: Chapter 27 – February Revolution

This dominance of nobles in the army was not just an issue in Austria, but also in France, Britain, Russia, and especially in Prussia. Their dominance had continued until the first world war where tens of thousands of nobles died. In fact, many noble houses went extinct as almost every single male descendant died during the war. As a result, the armies of the European nations began promoting commoner soldiers to the rank of officers.

In comparison to the mostly-illiterate commoner officers, the nobles in Austria who were mainly of German-descent were like scholars. Due to the strict and militaristic tradition among the German people, most of the nobles had a good foundation to grow as military officers. They just needed to be whipped back into shape.

For the future of Austria and for the happiness and safety of its people, Franz felt that it was his destiny, no, the will of God to train the next generation of Austrian nobles, at least that’s what the people needed to believe and how history books would remember him.

 

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The wheel of history continued to spin. Following the outbreak of the January Revolution in Sicily, in no time, revolution had spread to the northern Italian states, including Austrian Lombardy-Venetia. In order to keep their domain safe, the government in Vienna sent reinforcements, stabilizing the Austrian rule for the time being.

The revolutionary ideals had also taken hold in many other parts of Europe. This was because, prior to the outbreak of revolution, the working class in Europe had grown sick of being oppressed and overworked.

Take France, for example. In France, the wages of the workers were extremely low. The daily wage of male workers was about 2 francs while that of female workers was about 1 franc; child workers aged 13 – 16 only earned 75 centimes while 8 – 12 year old child workers were paid a measly 45 centimes. Meanwhile, the price of even the cheapest black bread was over 30 centimes per kilogram, which meant the working class could only barely earn enough to feed themselves, forget clothes or any luxuries.