Chapter 31: Chapter 31 – Countermeasures

Chancellor Metternich’s proposal was ignored by everyone, except his supporters. Currently, it was very risky to abolish serfdom since it was very likely that the nobles would also rise up in revolt against the government.

Furthermore, in order to restore confidence in the market, the government had to do more than simply abolishing serfdom. For example, it was also necessary to abolish the prerogatives enjoyed by the nobility, and maybe even redistribute their land to the freed serfs; otherwise, where would the penniless serfs gain the purchasing power necessary to become customers?

Only by abolishing the restrictions unfavorable to economic development, further reducing the cost of commodity circulation, and creating a much larger market could Austria survive the economic crisis. Even if some nobles agreed, it was impossible for the entire nobility to agree to making such a huge concession.

The abolition of serfdom could be discussed, but redistributing their land was only possible if the government could provide more than sufficient compensation, which was something the poor government was unable to do. The nobility could be persuaded to give up their prerogatives, but it had to be done step by step, and would take time. If the government wanted to solve this problem in one swift stroke, it would only result in failure. As long as the army was still under the control of the nobles, it was impossible to adopt coercive means.

In fact, Chancellor Metternich did not dare use such radical methods; he only wanted to abolish serfdom, so that the freedmen would increase the country's productivity.

“Lord Chancellor, if we announce the abolition of serfdom now, maybe you will receive news of Hungarian independence tomorrow!” Archduke Louis warned.

The abolitionist movement spearheaded by Chancellor Metternich had been decently successful; by 1848, many Austrian nobles had released their serfs. However, this was limited to the core area of Austria. The central government was relatively strict with the local nobles. Many nobles, including the Habsburgs, had to release serfs to keep their honor. This was also the reason why Chancellor Metternich was unpopular with the upper class.

The nobles in other regions, especially the Hungarians, were different. They liked to rule themselves and often considered the documents sent by the central government to be garbage. In some cases, Chancellor Metternich had even used the abolition of serfdom to intimidate the unruly Hungarian nobles and force them to make political concessions.

The abolition of serfdom might satisfy the capitalists and cause the end of the revolution, but it would cause the Hungarians to rebel, which might also inspire rebellions in other regions. It was impossible for the government to compensate the nobles for the loss they suffered due to losing their serfs. The central government’s finances could barely balance the expenses, which were increasing day-by-day as more and more businesses were going bankrupt and people were becoming unemployed.

“My Lords, we can discuss this issue later. We need to solve this problem urgently, lest we be too late!” Count Kolowrat interrupted the dispute between Chancellor Metternich and Archduke Louis.

Emperor Ferdinand I's Regency Council was composed of four people: Chancellor Prince Metternich, Archduke Louis, Count Kolowrat, and Archduke Franz Karl, but Archduke Franz Karl had no political ambitions, mainly due to his congenital defects that made him unable to participate in politics.

Count Kolowrat and Chancellor Metternich were political adversaries, but the two had previously cooperated many times when cooperation served both of their interests. In fact, most of the time, their political views were similar. Even if they opposed each other just for the sake of opposing, the struggle between them had not reached the point of life-or-death.

For example, previously, Count Kolowrat and Chancellor Metternich’s political propositions had been similar. However, as his political adversary, it was not possible for Count Kolowrat to aid Chancellor Metternich, it was a blessing that he wasn't ganging up against him alongside Archduke Louis.

Seeing that even Archduke Louis was not convinced by his proposal, Chancellor Metternich sighed helplessly and said, “Lord, Archduke, if even you don’t agree, the local nobles surely won’t.”

If a rebellion occurred due to the abolition of serfdom, a whole new can of worms would be opened. Chancellor Metternich was unable to bear the huge repercussions alone; if the Regency Council supported him, however, it would be possible for him to get through the difficulties.

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“Alright, then we will arrest the organizers of the demonstrations first!”

Being forced to make such a decision, Chancellor Metternich felt very depressed because he was aware that the capitalists had no way out so they would now oppose him with all their might. If the economic crisis could not be resolved soon, they would go bankrupt. In order to avoid bankruptcy, they would have to upheave the social order.

Their counterparts in France had set an example, escaping the crisis with a revolution and unlocking the shackles that restricted the economic development of capitalism. For instance, taking advantage of the revolution, most bankers were completely wiped out, so their debts naturally disappeared.

Without debt, no one was afraid to hoard goods, or at least, to sell them slowly and profit from the inflated prices as much as possible. Without outstanding loans due, no one would go bankrupt. Furthermore, they could let the government pay for them by selling their goods to them, and pass the crisis on to the government.

Their American counterparts had done something similar. Of course, they went even further: the American government had not paid for the purchase of goods from capitalists, but to save the market. After the capitalists' broken cash flow chain had been reconnected and the economic crisis had been delayed, they quickly retreated, and the common men became the scapegoats.

Capitalism in Austria had not yet evolved to that level. Before serfdom was abolished, the capitalists would not even be able to find any scapegoats. They had exploited the working class too much. Without any spare money, they were not even qualified to be scapegoats.

The stock market in Vienna was currently limited to the rich; the poor did not even have the qualifications to open an account. Transactions in the stock market all took place manually, so the labor cost was also very high. A few Austrian Kreuzers would not even be enough for the labor cost of the reception, so naturally, the poor were not able to open an account in the stock market.

 

***

 

After the order came down from the central government, the secret police was dispatched overnight, and they began to arrest the organizers of the demonstrations. Obviously, this was not an effective plan. The organizers who showed up in the public were just nobodies. The true leaders would not possibly jeopardize themselves.

The organizers of the student demonstrations were the easiest to find. After all, there were few universities in Vienna and they were known to most, however, no one wanted to go to the trouble of arresting the students. It was not easy for the police to cross the gate of the University of Vienna. As a hotbed of anti-government forces, most of the naive students opposed the government while the rest belonged to the few reformists amongst the nobles.

Chief Inspector Christof Scholz was having a headache: the suspects were in the university in front of him, but he could not even pass through the gate. There was no doubt that the university was resisting government enforcement. However, the influence of the university was too great, and the result of using force against them would be too serious. All the teachers and students came from privileged families, even at the lowest, they came from families of small businessmen, lawyers, and doctors.

Currently, the working class was so poor that they could not afford the tuition, and of course, neither could the peasants, most of whom were serfs.

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