Chapter 38: Chapter 38 – Imperial Crown Prince Regent

A few days passed as the City Defense Force continued to clean up the rebels from the city of Vienna. By March 11, the rebels in Vienna had mostly been eliminated, and the defeated remnants were handed over to the police. The rebellion began quickly and ended just as quickly, but it would have far-reaching consequences.

Already, many regions in Austria had become unstable, but Franz had no time or energy to pay attention to them. He was busy trying to figure out what to do with the nearly 40,000 revolutionaries who had surrendered and were in the custody of the City Defense Force.

It was obviously impossible to kill all of them since Franz was not a maniacal murderer nor did these people have any blood feud with him. It was also not possible to just release them; even if they had become accomplices under duress, they did participate in a rebellion. If they were not punished, wouldn’t that simply give free leeway to others to start a rebellion?

But what kind of punishment could he impose on them? Force them to pay a fine? If these people had any money, they wouldn’t have joined the rebellion in the first place. The rebellion had only lasted for two days, so most of these people hadn’t yet been brainwashed by revolutionary propaganda. The true die hard revolutionaries had already died or escaped.

While Franz was lightly massaging his forehead, Lt. General Albrecht arrived. His eyes were bloodshot; obviously, he hadn’t slept well over the past few days.

“Albrecht, how are the casualties?” Franz asked, concerned.

“Fortunately, there were not many battles. There are only about 300 casualties and just a few deaths!” Lt. General Albrecht quickly replied.

“That’s good. The rest can be dealt with by your subordinates. Albrecht, go and have a rest!”

After sending Lt. General Albrecht off to rest, Franz breathed a sigh of relief.

300 casualties were acceptable. However, the casualties of the rebel forces were much greater: more than 3,000 people had died in battle, and more than 5,000 people in custody were wounded. All of those 5,000 people were only slightly wounded since those with serious wounds had already died due to poor medical care.

During the entire course of the rebellion which lasted less than a week, over 20,000 people had died in Vienna, most of them having been killed by soldiers of the so-called Freedom Army. The district where the nobility resided had turned into a ghost town as hundreds of nobles had been killed. Once this news spread, shock waves would be felt throughout Europe.

After dealing with almost all the issues on his list, Franz began getting ready to report to Hofburg Palace where he would take a step further in increasing his control over Austria. After such a huge mess, not only would Chancellor Metternich be dismissed, but even the Regency Council had no justification to continue to exist.

In addition, all the remaining obstacles that blocked the path to Franz’s regency had been cleared. Both the nobles and the capitalists had been hit hard this time, so the imperial power had returned to the Habsburgs.

“Franz, my son, you finally returned. You’ve made me very proud, son!”

Archduke Franz Karl, Franz’s father, rushed to greet and congratulate him. Franz, however, felt shocked that his father had spoken words of praise for him, but seeing his mother, Princess Sophie, standing nearby, he realized that she must’ve instructed his father to praise him.

“Father, are you all right? After I received word of the rebellion in Vienna, I rushed back with the army overnight. Thank God, I came back in time!” Franz replied with feigned concern.

It wasn't that Franz didn’t care about his family’s well being; he just wasn’t the type to display his affection publicly. 

Watching the reunion between father and son, Archduke Louis wanted to interject many times, but he realized that it was already too late for him to say anything.

During the course of the rebellion, the Regency Council had failed to perform its duty of defending the people, something which had already left the nobles of the Court of Vienna dissatisfied. They questioned the ability of the Regency Council while all of them spoke highly of Franz, who brought the army back in time to suppress the rebellion.

Lt. General Albrecht, who had actually commanded the City Defense Force, had been ignored in favor of Franz, the Imperial Crown Prince. If the Habsburgs wanted to retain their power, it was in their favor to support Franz to become the regent. Some were even thinking about making Emperor Ferdinand I abdicate from the throne.

Following this rebellion, the Habsburgs were afraid that the decline of the Emperor’s prestige would lead to another revolution. To them, this rebellion had been a manifestation of the decline of imperial power. If the authority of the monarch had been strong, a rebellion would not have occurred so easily.

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If Franz agreed, Emperor Ferdinand I would be made to abdicate soon; however, he was not a cruel man who would force his uncle to abdicate.

Besides, the internal unrest within Austria had not yet been curbed; the rebellion in Vienna was only the appetizer, it would soon be followed by invasion of Lombardy-Venetia by Sardinia, the Hungarian rebellion, and many small rebellions throughout other regions. Each rebellion would be a blow to Emperor Ferdinand I, and soon the conservatives would be unable to idly stand by.

Historically, the Emperor had abdicated against this background: the successive rebellions had frightened Empress Maria Anna and the Habsburgs, who were worried about losing their dominance within Austria, so they finally decided to have the Emperor abdicate. To be exact, they had decided to persuade the Emperor to abdicate. However, the “persuasion” was no different from making a decision for him.

After greeting all the nobles, Franz began the discussion of how to deal with the aftermath.

“After such a huge incident, the Chancellor and his cabinet are the first to blame, so I suggest we dismiss Chancellor Metternich and his cabinet!” Archduke Louis proposed.

“Aye!”

“Aye!”

The proposition was passed unanimously, and just like that Chancellor Metternich was dismissed from his post as State Chancellor.

“During the rebellion, the Regency Council also failed to perform its duties, so I think it is also time for the Regency Council to be dissolved,” Archduke Franz Karl proposed.

He had never wanted to take on this responsibility. In fact, since the establishment of the Regency Council until now, he had never once taken charge of its affairs. Naturally, he seized this opportunity to safely step back, and escape his responsibility without fear of contempt.

“Aye!”

“Aye!”

Archduke Louis felt an urge to curse the nobles and the other Archdukes who had supported Archduke Franz Karl’s proposition. Normally, their support wouldn’t matter since, besides Emperor Ferdinand I, only the Regency Council itself had the right to dissolve the Regency Council.

Unfortunately, at this point, there were only two members left in the Regency Council, and one of them proposed to dissolve it. If he opposed the proposition, he would be isolated by the nobility. He might even be replaced by one of the many Archdukes in Austria.

After a moment of hesitation, Archduke Louis helplessly answered, “Aye!”

He knew that nothing would change even if he opposed it. He needed at least another member of the Regency Council in his favor to fight against the nobles that constituted the Vienna Imperial Court. That was obviously impossible: Archduke Franz Karl had no interest in politics, so naturally he wouldn’t isolate himself from the other nobles for power which he didn’t want.

“I propose that following the dissolution of the Regency Council, the Imperial Crown Prince Franz Joseph be made Emperor Ferdinand I’s regent!”

Realizing that standing against the nobles wouldn’t do him any good, Archduke Louis decided to swim with the current and took the initiative to propose that Franz become the regent, in order to show his loyalty.

“Aye!”

“Aye!”

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