Chapter 58: Chapter 58 – Closing the Net

On March 19, 1848, Frederick William IV of Prussia sent diplomatic letters to the various German states of the German Confederation, requesting a convention. On March 23, he announced that Prussia would lead a merger with the smaller German states, excluding Austria, into the and unify Germany. This news spread shock waves throughout Germany and the rest of Europe.

Unsurprisingly, Foreign Minister von Metternich’s hope of establishing a tripartite alliance between Prussia, Austria, and Russia was shattered, and the diplomatic relations between Prussia, and Austria and Russia deteriorated sharply as the two empires isolated Prussia.

In addition, it was not like Prussia could unify Germany whenever it wished. The matter of German unification was widespread and every German agreed that it needed to be done, especially since the revival of France and the continued growth of Britain and Russia; however, the main question was who would be the boss of a unified Germany? Austria or Prussia?

In terms of wealth and military, Austria seemed to have a slight edge over Prussia, but due to its bloated and insatiable empire, it could easily collapse in the face of a serious crisis. In terms of diplomacy, influence and culture, however, Austria, the base of the Habsburgs, was in a different league compared to Prussia, a nation which only had martial might to show for itself.

Historically, , the famous “Iron Chancellor,” had weakened Austrian influence by first defeating Austria in the and using the defeat to diplomatically isolate Austria and form the . Then, he started the to force the South German states, excluding Austria, to be forced to rely on Prussia. Prussia’s victory in the Franco-Prussian War allowed him to finally kick Austria out of Germany and create the German Empire.

When Franz heard this news, he was slightly shocked but more confused since this rash act by Frederick William IV only brought harm to Prussia. Frederick William IV’s behavior clearly exposed Prussia’s ambition to unify Germany, which Austria could not tolerate. It was similarly unacceptable to the Russians. The Tsar did not want to see the reunification of Central Europe since it would shake Russia’s European hegemony.

Against this background, the relationship between Russia and Austria naturally began to heat up. Franz soon received a piece of good news: Tsar Nicholas I had made a public statement that he was willing to help Austria suppress its internal revolutions and thwart the Sardinian invasion. Although his support was only verbal, since Russia would not send troops to help Austria fight Sardinia, it was more than enough for Franz.

After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, the First French Empire was destroyed and the Holy Roman Empire disintegrated. Therefore, there remained only two major powers in Europe: Britain and Russia. At this point, with Russia supporting Austria, Britain  could not support Sardinia without risking full-scale war.

 

***

 

Hofburg Palace, Vienna

Franz smiled and addressed the Cabinet, “Your Excellencies, now we can close the net.”

The old ministers cunningly laughed and Minister-President von Scwarzenberg excitedly replied, “Yes, your Imperial Highness!”

 

***

 

Prague

A young man rushed into a room where a meeting was being held and began yelling as if the sky was falling, “Mr. Kaminsky, something terrible happened!! Something really terrible happened!!”

“Kliment, slow down. What happened?” the man named Mikuláš Kaminsky quickly got up and asked.

“The Viennese government has ordered the execution of Osvald and the others, a total of more than two hundred political prisoners, all of whom will be executed in three days!” Kliment answered with trepidation.

The more than dozen men in the room began gasping in shock. This was definitely the worst-case scenario for them. It was very rare to execute political prisoners on such a large scale in Europe, especially when wealthy capitalists and nobles constituted more than one hundred of them.

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Mikuláš Kaminsky, the leader of the revolutionaries in Bohemia, stroked his chin as he fell into deep thought. The Viennese government had suddenly played tough, which was very bad for him, however, he could not abandon his captured comrades, or the unity of his organization would be destroyed and he would lose the trust and support of his remaining comrades.

The people of Bohemia had never been very keen on the idea of revolution, so he had mobilized his contacts amongst the nobles and capitalists to start the revolution. If he abandoned these people now, it would not be long before they would change sides and then it wouldn’t be long before he would end up on the guillotine.

The revolutionaries in Bohemia were centered around the children of capitalists and the branch descendants of the noble families. Even at the lowest, the middle class constituted the bulk of the revolutionaries. These people had only started the revolution to protect their own rights and interests which they felt had been endangered by the Viennese government’s new legislations.

While thinking, Mikuláš Kaminsky’s eyes fell on a chubby, middle-aged man. He smiled and quickly said, “Ah, Mr. Pavlík, if I recall correctly, you supply food and other necessities to the army, right? Are you, by any chance, aware as to how many soldiers are still stationed in the city?”

The man named Pavlík thought for a moment and replied, “I heard that the situation on the Italian battlefield is pretty serious, so, yesterday, 2,000 soldiers went south as reinforcements. The number of soldiers currently left in Prague will not exceed 1,800.”

“Is this news reliable?” Mikuláš Kaminsky asked skeptically.

“This is what I heard after chatting with some friends in the City Defense Force this morning. It should be reliable since an army transfer can’t be faked,” Pavlík insisted.

“Mr. Kaminsky, this news should be accurate. Yesterday, I saw an army march out of the city, and it has not returned!” Kliment quickly added.

Mikuláš Kaminsky nodded and addressed all the people in the room, “Everyone, begin preparations immediately. We will strike tomorrow night and overthrow this decadent Austrian Empire and establish an independent Bohemian Republic of the Czechs!” He paused and said, impassioned, “No, it will be called the Czech Republic.”

One of the old men asked, “Mr. Kaminsky, from where will we obtain weapons? We can’t overthrow the Viennese government with the few guns in our possession.”

As a conservative amongst the revolutionaries, he strongly opposed an armed revolution. If it were not for the Viennese government’s plans to execute his captured comrades, he would’ve never agreed to launch an armed uprising.

“I can raise around 20 guns from my friends and relatives!” Pavlík replied.

“I can also collect about a dozen guns!” Kliment quickly supported.

Then, everyone stated how many weapons they could contribute. Soon, enough weapons to arm an infantry battalion were settled. Obviously, the recent legislations passed by the Viennese government had left many nobles dissatisfied, or else the revolutionaries would never have been able to obtain weapons so quickly and easily.

 

***

 

And just like that, an armed rebellion was launched. Considering how revolutionaries were taking part in it, it was impossible to keep it a secret. The revolutionaries in Bohemia had never kept a low profile, so anyone from anywhere could join them. The people who attended the meeting were all of high status and considered reliable. However, after the meeting was over, the happenings of the meeting were noted down and sent to Prince von Windisch-Grätz that same night.

If the Viennese government had wanted, they could’ve ordered the City Defense Force of Prague to capture the revolutionaries right away and put down the rebellion immediately.

Obviously, this was not what the Viennese government had planned. Since the rebellion had yet to break out, they would only catch some nobodies if they acted now and they would only be prosecuted on charges of suspicion of rebellion. More importantly, the Viennese government would miss the big boss behind the scenes, leaving hidden threats to the future stability of Bohemia.

To make the revolutionaries even more assured that he was oblivious of their plans, Prince von Windisch-Grätz organized a field training which involved most of the policemen and soldiers in Prague.

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