Chapter 60: Chapter 60 – National policy

Survival was an instinct that had been instilled in man’s DNA since time immemorial. A person would be willing to do anything to survive. This was doubly true for nobles who valued their survival and the continuation of their ancient bloodlines above all. Unsurprisingly, the seven senior nobles of Prague yielded before the Viennese government and accepted the conditions put forward by them.

The next day, on April 13, 1848, Prince Windisch-Grätz immediately led his soldiers back to the city. Thanks to the help of the local nobles, he managed to retake the city and capture all the revolutionaries in less than three days. Then, he ordered the execution of all the revolutionary leaders who took part in the rebellion to serve as a deterrent to future generations.

Soon, more than 2,000 guillotined heads hung throughout the streets of Prague, instilling terror in the hearts of the nobles who had provided any assistance to the revolutionaries. The source of their terror lay in the fact that the entire top brass of the revolutionaries had been wiped out, regardless of their social status. 

Common people who had been fooled into rebelling could still be used as labor until they served their term, but the rebel nobles and capitalists weren’t capable of performing intense manual labor, so they were simply executed. In fact, the higher one’s social status, the sooner they were executed.

During the executions, the provisional government formed by officials from Vienna chose a few notorious and infamous rebels and conducted a public trial to expose the many crimes they’d committed in the past. Looking at the cheering citizens of Prague, these people had truly been hated. Thanks to these executions, Franz gained the loyalty of his Czech subjects.

In addition, now that the troublemakers were gone, the series of laws promulgated by the Viennese government to protect the public’s interests would be smoothly implemented in Bohemia, especially the Act on Prohibition of Usury which had been strongly opposed by the capitalists.

 

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Czechs were Slavic which meant that their ethnicity was similar to the Poles, but their culture, national traditions, ways of thinking, and even eating habits were very similar to Germans, so much so that they were even known as “Slavic-speaking Germans.”

Due to the shared culture and tradition, and since Bohemia had been part of the Holy Roman Empire for centuries, Czechs were not resistant to the Austrian Empire. In Franz’s view, the Viennese government could fully assimilate the Czechs into the Austrian Empire within a few decades through peaceful and fair governance.

“Colonel Waldstein, I have nominated you for the position of Education Minister of Bohemia. Any objections?” Prince Windisch-Grätz asked.

Education Minister? He, a colonel in the Austrian army, becoming a civil officer? Under normal circumstances, going from a military officer to a civil officer required a transition period. It was rare to take such a big leap. However, in terms of power and authority, this was a huge promotion. Gustav Waldstein knew that Prince Windisch-Grätz didn’t like to be refused.

He quickly shook his head and replied, “No, Your Highness! I humbly accept.”

Prince Windisch-Grätz nodded and said, “That’s good. Now, the Viennese government plans to unify the language and culture within the Empire, which was why we spared some of the nobles who took part in the rebellion. Your task is to urge them to fulfill the promise they made. If anyone dares to renege, you should report it right away.

Of course, we won’t simply rely on them. Thanks to the rebellion, a number of private enterprises in Bohemia have become state-owned. As the Education Minister, you will be responsible for hiring teachers to teach German to the workers in these factories.

In addition, revise the books and emphasize the existence of the Czechs as a part of Austria since the time of the Holy Roman Empire. In short, you have to popularize German and domestic unity as much as possible.”

The benefits of popularizing a single language were self-evident, but it was not that easy. For now, the Viennese government could only silently promote German. Considering the backlash from the people, Franz dared not even publish any articles which even mentioned the abolition of other languages and their replacement with German. Still, not being able to say it didn’t mean that he couldn’t do it.

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Franz was pragmatic, so he didn’t mind taking a step back and subtly promoting German since that could also achieve his goal. Before long, many people would see the advantage of being able to speak German. For example, being able to speak German could get them higher wages in factories and allow them to land other higher-paying jobs.

This was just another factor. The local nobles were also recruited to promote German. After all, most nobles in Austria had German ancestry and German was their mother tongue, even the British Queen Victoria was more German than English.

With the cooperation of these local powers, any “intellectual” who dared to hinder the promotion of German in Bohemia would be dealt with. The common people only cared about providing for their families. They wouldn’t slack on learning German if it meant that they could earn more money.

“Do not worry, Your Highness, I won’t disappoint you!” Gustav Waldstein promised.

He had realized that the Viennese government attached great importance to popularizing German. Even though they had not yet provided specific incentives, well-informed people would be aware that the Crown Prince Regent put great importance on this matter.

Currently, the government’s focus was on the war with Sardinia and the internal unrest within the Empire; once the rebellions were suppressed, language unification would probably become Austria’s national policy.

Many politicians had already begun befriending famous linguists within the Empire. Therefore, Gustav Waldstein’s promotion to the post of Education Minister of Bohemia wouldn’t be possible simply through his own contributions which meant that Prince Windisch-Grätz had his own calculations.

 

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The rebellions were not limited to Bohemia. On April 15, 1848, a rebellion broke out in Galicia. The rebels occupied the capital city of Lwów and established a provisional Polish government; however, the rebellion left just as quickly as it arrived.

On April 16, 1848, the Austrian army, which had been on standby, advanced into the city and began to suppress the rebellion. With the support of the common people, the rebellion was suppressed in less than a week. Then, the Viennese government showed its fangs by condemning all the nobles and capitalists, and even members of the middle class, who’d been involved in the rebellion to death.

Afterwards, it was time for the common people to divide the land held by the executed nobles. Any man or woman who had helped the Austrian army suppress the rebellion would be awarded a large piece of land gratuitously while those who’d stayed neutral would have to wait in line for a few years before they received their land.

Only preferential treatment could show the superiority of being loyal to the Habsburgs. If everyone were treated the same, no one would be inspired to fight or die for them.

In the short time of just over two weeks, more than 20,000 rebels in Austrian Poland were beheaded on the guillotine, making it one of the strictest suppression of a rebellion in the history of Europe. Consequently, the newborn Polish nationalism quickly died off in Austria.

The people who remained in Austrian Poland were either the common people who worshiped the Habsburgs for freeing them from serfdom and granting them land so that they may change their fate or ministers loyal to the Habsburgs as all the rebels had already been sent off to visit God.