Chapter 30: Chapter 30 – Indecisive Chancellor

At the Bolton Manor in Vienna, over a dozen well-dressed men were gathered. Although they had tried their best, they were unable to conceal that nouveau-riche temperament that emanated from them. Even though they were wearing expensive silk shirts and woolen coats, their shifty eyes lacked any sense of dignity or grace.

A well-dressed old man in his twilight years hesitantly asked, “Mr. Schröder, can we really rely on those bumpkins? Even if we give them weapons, a mob will remain a mob.”

Hearing the old man’s words, the chatter in the room halted as the expressions of other men also turned gloomy.

The luxuriously-dressed middle-aged man named Gert Schröder who had been sitting near the middle of the large table stood up, smiled, and replied, “Mr. Loewen, of course we can’t rely on them alone, but we are not the only people in Austria who wish for a revolution!

I believe everyone here has already felt how much damage the economic crisis has caused to Austria. It can be said that more than 80% of the businessmen in Austria have suffered great losses, and hundreds of thousands of people have become unemployed.

Despite all this, the government in Vienna has failed to take any meaningful action to improve this situation. We no longer have any other choice besides revolution if we wish to survive.”

At this point, many capitalists in Austria had hoarded a large number of goods. If they failed to sell them soon, their cashflow chain would break and soon bankruptcy would follow. However, the question now was, who would buy their goods?

The commoners certainly could not afford them since they had no money to even buy food, let alone other products. Due to the economic crisis, at this time, there were few people in Austria with a large enough purchasing power to buy all their goods.

The capitalists could no longer borrow money from banks. Most small banks in Austria were also on the verge of bankruptcy due to giving many bad loans. Even though the large banks could still manage to give loans, the interest they charged was criminal. Not to mention, they also wanted collateral.

Unsurprisingly, most capitalists were unwilling to take risky loans, so they could only upturn the current status quo and seize the wealth of the nobles to survive the crisis.

For this end, they planned to take advantage of the large number of unemployed workers who were on the verge of starvation; maybe they did not want to rebel, but they needed food. They were on the verge of becoming delirious due to hunger. As long as they were promised food by the capitalists, a revolution could break out in minutes.

Due to Franz’s interference, the social contradictions in Austria had changed: it was no longer a revolution by the people against a government which had failed to reform oppressive practices, but a revolution the people were forced into in order to survive.

The old man named Werner Loewen shook his head and countered, “Mr. Schröder, assuming we use these bumpkins for the revolution, what if they decide to establish a proletarian government and revolutionize us together with the government?”

“Proletariat” was a word which many capitalists feared. had been published just last month in London by German philosophers and . However, the marxist teaching within the manifesto which called upon the working class to oppose the capitalists that formed the bourgeoisie had spread like wildfire throughout Europe due to the current revolutionary and anarchic climate on the continent.

If the revolution succeeded and the new government was controlled by the proletariat, the bourgeoisie which had oppressed them for decades would only have tough days ahead.

Gert Schröder smiled and answered, “There’s a very simple solution to this problem which was discovered by our French counterparts; we will have nothing to fear so long as we quickly seize power after the success of the revolution.

At present, there are nearly 120,000 workers in Vienna who are under our careful control, but they have been divided into hundreds of large and small labor unions. As long as they remain divided, the new government will certainly be led by us. After all, I doubt there's anyone among the workers who can organize them together.”

Gert Schröder’s plan was quite sound. Even if the workers wanted to unite, in an era of underdeveloped communication, it would be near impossible to contact members of a different labor union. Most of these labor unions were just for convenience and had no ability to dictate the actions of their members. In addition, all of them were infiltrated by many moles sent by the capitalists.

Before the , the influence of labor unions had been very limited with a majority of them being secretly controlled by capitalists. If anyone wanted to organize all the workers, they wouldn’t be able to do it overnight. There was enough time for the capitalists to establish the government and gain control of the country, forestalling the working class.

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This approach had worked following the in Paris: after the revolution, the capitalists swiftly seized control, and instead of focusing on the previous government, they first suppressed the workers who led the revolution to success. Integrity didn’t mean much to capitalists.

 

***

 

Late at night, the residence of Chancellor Metternich - the Chancellery - was brightly lit. Chancellor Metternich was seated in his living room while constantly tapping his finger on his desk while worrying about the revolutionary undercurrent in Vienna.

If things were to go back to normal, someone’s interests had to be sacrificed, but whether that someone was to be the capitalists, or the nobles, or the commoners, they were all difficult choices. Chancellor Metternich had dominated the Austrian political scene for more than 20 years, so he was inevitably bound by the rules. If he weren’t, things would’ve been a lot easier.

From the time of the revolution in Paris, various undercurrents could be felt in Austria. Unfortunately, Chancellor Metternich’s perspective was outdated. He believed that conservative Austria was very different from liberal France.

Although he’d raised the alert in the southwestern Italian region and the northeastern Galicia region, he did not think that there was any danger in Vienna. He felt that even if a revolution did break out, it would break out in a chaotic region like Hungary.

Archduke Louis looked at Chancellor Metternich who was in deep thought and reminded, “Lord Chancellor, I’m afraid the bourgeoisie will not make any concessions. Instead, they will likely plan another, even bigger strike!”

If the protestors had only demanded the resignation of Chancellor Metternich, he would have been the first one to agree. However, they had demanded that the entire Regency Council be disbanded along with the Chancellor and that they be replaced by a parliament created following a constitutional reform.

No matter how unwilling he felt, Archduke Louis had to stand with Chancellor Metternich because their political careers were now bound together.

Chancellor Metternich sighed and slowly replied, “Yes, they will not give up unless we accept all of their demands. I’m afraid they’re uniting as we speak, and planning an even bigger strike for tomorrow, but we can strike first if we arrest the leader of this protest. Then, we can order the City Defense Force garrisoned outside to enter the city, block all exits, and prevent them from escaping.”

Chancellor Metternich had aged and now lacked the courage he possessed during his youth, or he would have already ordered the arrest of the protestors.

Archduke Louis quickly concurred, “Then, let’s arrest the protestors first! If we allow them to leave Vienna and spread throughout the Empire, we won’t be able to control the subsequent chaos!”

Archduke Louis had been quick to agree because the order to arrest the protestors would be given by the Chancellor, who would also bear the responsibility.

Chancellor Metternich frowned and said, “Even if we do this, arresting the protestors is just a temporary solution. If the economy doesn’t improve, such protests will take place again and again. Let us first abolish serfdom. Currently, we urgently need to create a market even if it is only on paper. We must also restore confidence in the market!”

Indeed, the announcement of the abolition of serfdom at this time could restore the confidence of many people. After all, it would add 20 million customers to the market, even if their purchasing power was very weak.

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