Chapter 28: Chapter 28 – Preparations

In Franz’s view, King Louis Philippe’s biggest failure was that even after the outbreak of the revolution in Paris, he never managed to obtain control of the army. Even if many people in the French army sympathized with the revolutionaries, they had not actually joined them. Since they had not revolted against the king, it would not be difficult to buy them over.

Once Louis Philippe had control of the soldiers, everything was negotiable: whether he wanted to suppress the revolution or to sit down and talk with them, he would have enough room to maneuver. In addition, since Guizot’s government was already been notorious, he could just throw all the blame on them. After all, in the eyes of the people, their removal was an absolute necessity.

In fact, there was also nothing wrong with this approach. Following the demise of , the monarch of France had become a figurehead, similar to the monarch of Britain. The government was the one in control of the legislature, so all policies and laws, good or bad, were made by them. To survive this revolution, it was enough for Louis Philippe to draw a line between himself and them.

 

***

 

The snowflakes fluttered down from the sky as cold wind continued sweeping across Vienna.

The revolution in Paris was no longer just a secret amongst the upper classes of Vienna. Most commoners in Vienna had become privy to it and, within a few days, it would spread throughout Austria.

“Albrecht, intensify the training, and have the most qualified officers take control of a platoon each as soon as possible!” Franz ordered with a solemn look on his face.

Lt. General Albrecht questioned, “What’s wrong, Franz? Why the urgency? If I train them for another month or two, most of them will become qualified officers, and some might even be able to command a company; right now, however, most of them are not ready!”

Since he had received the news of revolution in Paris, Franz had continued urging him to speed up the training as if something bad was going to happen, which left Albrecht very confused.

Franz answered with a frown on his brows, “Revolution had broken out in Paris, and the chain reaction is likely to cause revolutions across the entire European continent. Even in Vienna, the likelihood of a revolution is very high!”

Lt. General Albrecht’s mouth popped open as if he had swallowed an egg. A revolution in Vienna? Most people would burst out laughing if they heard Franz make such a claim.

Although the government in Vienna was corrupt, it had not yet reached the point of “earning the wrath of God and the resentment of men.” The army was still loyal to the Habsburgs while the capitalists, who could fuel a revolution, were being suppressed by the nobles. The working class, which had originally been dissatisfied with the government, had now channeled their resentment towards the capitalists following the promulgation of the Labor Protection Act. In this context, who would lead the revolution? Would the capitalists personally run out into the streets and risk their lives for a revolution?

Franz gave a wry smile and answered, “It’s not that tough. The working class doesn’t oppose the government, and even the capitalists have no strong desire to rebel. But the reality is very different! Albrecht, you should be aware of the impact this economic crisis has had on our nation. There are more than 50,000 unemployed people in Vienna, alone! The capitalists have also suffered heavy losses, so they have begun speculating on food prices by hoarding food.

When a revolution breaks out through the entire European continent, the economic situation in Austria will deteriorate further. The workers are struggling to survive, but the government has taken no effective measures to help them. There are also a bunch of idiot nobles who helped the capitalists drive up the price of goods. After they suffered losses due to cheap British products flooding the market, they increased the pressure on their serfs in order to make up for their losses. At this point, Austria has turned into a powder keg; all it will take is a single spark for it to blow up!”

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Albrecht slowly nodded as a grimace formed on his face. As an Archduke and one of the wealthiest nobles in Austria, Albrecht was undoubtedly very hostile to revolutions. Regardless of other factors, he could not tolerate anyone destroying the status quo because he owned more than 500,000 acres of land, and that was just his fief. He also owned a large number of luxurious properties in Vienna.

Unsurprisingly, Archduke Albrecht, as the Duke of , was one of the wealthiest nobles and largest private landowners in Austria. If he hadn’t been an ally, even Franz would’ve wanted to rob him. There was also the Hungarian , a branch of the , whose descendants sat on the thrones of Great Britain, Portugal, and Belgium. Of course, the most affluent family was the imperial which had accumulated a massive amount of wealth during its almost millenia-long existence.

In the East, those who owned a few thousand acres of land were considered large landlords; however, on the European continent, they would be upstarts at most. Any large noble house collectively owned more than a million acres.

“Franz, have you informed Chancellor Metternich about th--” Archduke Albrecht wanted to ask, but he instinctively stopped.

Chancellor Metternich had been Austria’s Chancellor for almost 30 years and had achieved many things, but he had also made a lot of enemies, especially amongst the nobility. Furthermore, people tended to magnify one’s failings in times of unrest.

The public had already begun to ignore Metternich’s achievements, especially after the outbreak of the Paris revolution. Since Chancellor Metternich’s greatest diplomatic achievement, the Vienna system, had broken down, the opposition could now get rid of him without any scruples.

Franz personally did not oppose Metternich, but, as the Chancellor, Metternich was the natural enemy of the Imperial Crown Prince.

Franz understood what Albrecht wanted to say and replied with a wry smile, “I’m sure our Chancellor is quite aware of the situation, but it is hard to say if he understands its severity. Albrecht, you don’t think I can decide for him, do you?”

Archduke Albrecht also smiled bitterly. Chancellor Metternich was very controlling. He never even listened to the other members of the Regency Council. It was impossible for anyone to tell him what to do.

“All right, I will intensify the training, but you have to get permission from the Regency Council for the field training exercise since they won’t believe me.”

Archduke Albrecht already understood Franz’s plan. Once a revolution broke out in Vienna, Chancellor Metternich would have to escape which would leave a void in the government, making it unable to function. This would lead to a sharp drop in the Regency Council’s prestige, allowing Franz to replace them and begin his regency earlier. As his political ally, Archduke Albrecht naturally hoped that this day would come sooner rather than later.

Franz replied with a sneer, “Forget them, they’re currently too busy fighting each other and have no time to care about us. Besides, I still have the imperial edict from my uncle, granting me complete control over the City Defense Force.”

Franz was trying to pull the rug from under the Regency Council. They couldn’t question Franz who had Emperor Ferdinand I’s edict and was deploying the City Defense Force on a simple field training exercise. Even if they were aware of the deteriorating situation in Austria, they would never think that a revolution would break out in Vienna so suddenly.

Once the revolution in Vienna broke out, however, those with soldiers in their hands would become the real masters of the Empire. Franz would quickly jump to being one the most powerful men in the Empire with the City Defense Army which was over 20,000 soldiers strong.

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