Chapter 35: Chapter 35 – Backup Plan

March 9, 1848, the third day of the revolution began as the chaos in Vienna continued to grow. Theft, arson, rape, and murder had become commonplace as anarchy gained hold of the capital of Austria.

Even amongst the revolutionaries there had been many scuffles as two distinct factions had formed: one consisting of members of the working class and the other of those on the payroll of the capitalists. If it hadn’t been for the presence of the government - their common enemy - there would’ve already been a divide within the revolution.

Unlike what many people had believed, the revolution was not a panacea which would cure all their troubles. Most of the poor people had joined the revolution in hopes of getting food to feed themselves and their families, however, they had yet to receive a single grain. Having enjoyed the chaos caused by anarchy, the starving people decided to procure food through similar methods.

Their first targets were grain merchants who had been hoarding food to speculate on rising food prices. Ironically, they used the weapons provided to them by capitalists to take over hundreds of granaries owned by capitalists. Encouraged by their success, the workers, for whom factories had become prisons wardened by greedy capitalists, decided to vent their anger.

Since the revolution had begun, many horrors had taken place under the cover of the revolution, so the workers decided to add a few more. They killed the factory supervisors and foremen who had made them work long hours without a single break, and the thugs hired by the capitalists to break their unions who had killed many of their brethren before they turned on the capitalists themselves.

Once someone took the lead, the rest could no longer hold themselves back. The hands of the capitalists were covered with the blood of thousands of workers, anyways. Even the labor union representatives who tried to stop them were deemed to be counter-revolutionaries and dogs on the payroll of capitalists. Nothing and no one could stop them from taking revenge.

Greed was a sin that bore into the very being of humans. After the workers exacted their revenge on the first capitalist by killing him and dividing up his wealth amongst themselves, it was like they had gotten on a carriage which was being pulled by mad horses that ran over whatever or whoever came in their way.

The situation deteriorated as the conflict between the workers and the capitalists worsened. In order to protect themselves and their interests, the capitalists formed their own private militia which clashed with the faction of the Freedom Army formed by the workers. At the same time, both private militia formed by the capitalists and the faction of the Freedom Army formed by the workers also continued to clash with the City Defense Force controlled by the nobles. The situation in Vienna had surprisingly developed into a three-way Mexican standoff with each of the three major factions opposed to the other two.

 

***

 

A group of people had gathered in a manor in Vienna. These were people who valued money more than their own lives; people who were afraid of death had fled Vienna long ago.

An old man said in a trembling tone, “Mr. Schröder, what are we going to do?! The mobs have begun targeting us! Within just two days, 13 gentlemen have been lynched and murdered by the mobs!

Many more have been robbed in broad daylight of their legal property. If this continues, we could  be next!”

The crowd turned to look at Gert Schröder, the man who had assured them that the revolution would be an opportunity for them to become very wealthy. Blinded by greed, they had supported him unanimously, however, now that the things had spiraled out of control, they had, once again, unanimously decided that he should come up with a solution.

Gert Schröder frowned as he looked at the crowd’s expectant faces. He had not expected that the revolution would turn into such a mess. His purpose behind supporting the revolution had been to use the workers as pawns to establish a capitalist regime. Unfortunately, before the old regime could be overthrown and the new regime could be formed, he had lost control of the revolution.

The revolutionaries on whom he’d spent a lot of money had turned out to be too incompetent to handle such a simple mission as holding the reins of the revolution. The labor union representatives, who were on his payroll, had also failed to keep the workers in line. As a result, the revolution had greatly deviated from the course he had set for it.

“I deeply regret the deaths of those 13 gentlemen. May their souls rest in peace! However, their deaths will not be in vain for we shall surely avenge them.

I would also like to say that losses everyone has suffered is the price we have to pay for the gains we shall have in the future. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that our current situation is very unfavorable.

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We have to be ready to negotiate with the Emperor, and at the same time, we must be prepared to suppress these rebels!”

The crowd silently digested his words. Negotiation was their last resort. They were all smart people who were aware of their disadvantage since the army was still loyal to the Emperor. This time, they’d simply caught the government unprepared. Once the City Defense Force returned, the chaos in Vienna would be contained. It was simply impossible for a common rabble to contend with an army.

Smart people were rational; once they found that the situation was disadvantageous for them, they began looking for a way out. The revolution was only good when it was aimed against their enemy, not them.

Suddenly, a young, bespectacled man stood up and harshly demanded, “Mr. Schröder, do you think it’s that simply? Don’t forget, the reason that we supported this revolution was because we had nowhere to go but forward.

Have you forgotten how many nobles have died over the past two days! The nobles are surely aware of our involvement in fanning the flames of this revolution. Do you think they will let us off even if we take a step back now?

Even if they spare us now so as to calm the situation quickly, how can we be sure that they will not take action against us once the fire in their backyard is extinguished?”

Hearing the young man’s words, many people in the crowd who had become inclined to compromise became hesitant again.

During this short, but violent revolution, the nobles in Vienna had suffered heavy losses, and their enmity against the bourgeoisie had been set in stone. Even now, the bourgeoisie had no real advantage against them.

Once the City Defense Force returned, the initiative would fall in the hands of the nobles. Their militia was no better than the fractured Freedom Army, neither of which could contend with the City Defense Force, being personally led by the Imperial Crown Prince.

This situation was very different from their previous confrontation with Chancellor Metternich. They had only managed to contend with him since neither side could break the unspoken rules by hitting under the belt or resorting to violence. However, they themselves had broken the unspoken rules by inciting the revolution, so how could they expect the nobles to show mercy?

Hearing the young man’s harsh words, Gert Schröder’s face turned red from annoyance. Naturally, he was aware that the real situation was a far cry from what he had described. However, he had already found way to ensure that he could get out of Vienna safely, even if others couldn’t.

“Mr. Holt, I can’t guarantee anything. Everyone present here is aware of the risk we need to take. Also, even though many nobles died, they didn’t die at our hands.

They were killed by those inhuman savages who are rioting outside. We organized the militia only to protect ourselves and suppress the revolution. This uprising has nothing to do with us.

Weren’t there a few nobles who had supported us previously? We can bring them forward to lead this revolution and take the heat off of us.”

Gert Schröder had completely turned white into black without any hesitation. Although this wouldn’t absolve them, it would undoubtedly transfer the hatred felt by the nobility towards the few nobles who had betrayed their own class.

The nobles wanted revenge to vent their grief and anger, and restore their honor. In order to deter anyone from attacking a noble again, the nobility had to adopt heavy-handed methods, but this didn’t mean that all of them were motivated by revenge. Many nobles would gladly use the excuse of punishing traitors to execute the heads of other noble houses. Since many noble houses had no direct successors, they could legally obtain the deceased noble’s title and divide his fiefdom.

Gert Schröder was sure that so long as they could turn the traitorous nobles into their scapegoats and attract the attention of the nobility, and maybe bribe some nobles to look favorably upon them, they might manage to escape the nobility's anger.

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