Chapter Summaries

After Sardinian rule and military abuses provoked uprisings across Lombardy, Radetzky's Austrian army advanced to Milan and retook the region. Badoglio died by suicide after the Sardinian defense collapsed, and Charles Albert learned that only seventy thousand troops had withdrawn while the newly mobilized forces lacked training.

• Radetzky rested his army for two days after the Battle of Venice, then advanced into Lombardy as workers and peasants rose against Sardinian rule.
• Milan workers besieged bakeries on June 1, and Sardinian troops killed several hundred people; a peasant uprising also broke out in Pavia on June 3.
• Badoglio rejected Messe's call to retreat and chose to leave ten thousand troops defending Milan while the main Sardinian army withdrew.
• Austrian forces captured Milan on June 10, and Badoglio shot himself in the Governor's Palace; Austria recovered Lombardy on June 12.
• In Turin, Charles Albert asked Ricci whether Sardinia could stop the Austrian advance, and Ricci reported that seventy thousand troops had withdrawn while the newly mobilized men lacked formal training.

Charles-Albert struggled to defend the Kingdom of Sardinia as arms shortages and French hostility left it on the brink, while Britain offered to mediate. A renewed uprising in Paris then forced France to abandon its plan to invade Sardinia.

• Charles-Albert ordered the mobilization of civilians and proposed arming them with donated firearms or cold weapons despite severe shortages.
• Ricci warned Charles-Albert that many soldiers lacked rifles, and Azeglio reported that France had blocked Sardinia’s weapons purchases.
• Charles-Albert angrily condemned France after learning it would not help Sardinia, and Azeglio announced that Palmerston was traveling to Vienna to mediate.
• On June 15, 150,000 Parisian workers occupied the parliament building and demanded French support for Polish independence.
• The June Revolution erupted in Paris on June 23, forcing the French government to cancel its plan to send troops into the Kingdom of Sardinia.

As Austrian forces reclaimed Hungary, the House of Koháry chose to support Vienna in exchange for pursuing the land redemption payments owed to them, and August agreed to organize petitions for Habsburg rule. Budapest remained isolated as economic collapse and hunger weakened the Hungarian Republican Government and its National Guard.

• Hungarian cities fell to Austria, leaving Budapest as the republic’s last stronghold while popular resistance to the revolution collapsed.
• August questioned his father about supporting Vienna, but the old man argued that Hungary’s breakup was inevitable and that the family should seek its unpaid land redemption payments.
• The old man warned that openly resisting Austria would risk losing the Koháry family’s compensation and alienating the people who had received their land.
• August agreed to organize petitions asking to become territories directly administered by the Habsburg Family.
• Budapest remained cut off from supplies, and soaring prices, unemployment, and soldiers’ need to feed their families contributed to the National Guard’s collapse in discipline.

Food shortages and the expulsion of refugees in Budapest gave Franz’s government evidence to discredit the Hungarian revolutionaries and promise public trials for the rebels. As opposition to Kossuth grew, a National Guard company massacred Count Istvan’s household in Kossuth’s name, and Kossuth denied ordering it.

• The Hungarian Republican Government rationed food in Budapest while officials profited from shortages and the ruling class continued feasting.
• Lieutenant General Julius received refugees expelled from Budapest, while Franz brought reporters and scholars to document their suffering and condemn the revolutionaries.
• Tens of thousands of civilians petitioned Franz, who promised public trials with victimized civilians serving as jurors.
• As Austrian forces paused outside Budapest, Kossuth suspected royalist collaborators, while factional divisions and doubts about his leadership deepened.
• On June 8, a National Revolutionary Army company raided Count Istvan’s residence, executed the Count and dozens of others, and looted the household.
• At the June 9 government meeting, Szemere challenged Kossuth over the massacre, and Kossuth denied ordering it.

Kossuth resigned after Görgei used Count Istvan’s murder and the National Guard’s obstruction of justice to force him from power. Szemere’s government then failed in its breakout, surrendered Budapest, and the Austrian victors began purging the defeated Hungarians while shaping the public account of the rebellion.

• Howell and Szemere blamed Kossuth for the National Guard’s lawlessness, while Petőfi urged the government to wait until the missing company commander was caught.
• Görgei proposed suspending Kossuth, Bem, and other National Guard leaders, and Kossuth resigned after his supporters fell silent.
• After taking power, Szemere’s government organized a breakout from Budapest, and Lieutenant General Julius received the Austrian intelligence report detailing their plan.
• On June 12, the Austrian Army routed the Hungarian National Guard’s breakout; Szemere surrendered, while Bem’s remaining forces were wiped out after two days of resistance.
• Julius ordered executions for revolutionary leaders and other perceived threats, with the remaining prisoners sentenced to hard labor.
• Julius held a funeral for Count Istvan and declared that Kossuth had murdered him for opposing the revolutionaries.

Franz and Prime Minister Felix addressed Austria’s 2.37 billion guilders in land redemption compensation by extending payments over decades and tying faster repayment to noble cooperation. Metternich warned that dispossessed nobles could become a danger, and the cabinet considered ways to provide them with new livelihoods.

• Prime Minister Felix told Franz that land redemption compensation would total 2.37 billion guilders, far more than Austria could pay at once.
• Franz ordered installment payments, setting different repayment terms for voluntary land relinquishers, Hungary’s great noble houses, and other nobles.
• Metternich warned Franz that nobles who had lost their lands and income might become a social danger if they could not find new livelihoods.
• Count Leo proposed hiring nobles as language teachers, but Felix argued that most nobles would refuse such work.
• Archduke Louis suggested opening overseas colonies and sending dispossessed nobles there to colonize.

Franz postponed Austria’s colonial ambitions and turned to the question of how to deal with the Kingdom of Sardinia as British Foreign Secretary Palmerston approached Vienna. Austria’s ministers weighed annexation against the risk of later intervention, and Metternich argued that Britain would support a settlement demanding compensation or territory.

• Franz postponed discussing colonies and asked his ministers what Austria should do about the Kingdom of Sardinia.
• Metternich reported that the June 23 workers' uprising in Paris could force France to abandon plans to divide Sardinia with Austria.
• Archduke Louis urged Austria to annex Sardinia while France was distracted and Russia and Prussia were occupied elsewhere.
• Metternich and Felix warned that other powers could intervene later if Austria annexed Sardinia alone, while Karl proposed demanding reparations or territory instead.
• Metternich said the settlement depended on Britain and insisted Sardinia must pay for Austria's losses, arguing that Austria was currently Britain's most suitable European ally.

Austria captured Turin after the Sardinian army collapsed, forcing Charles Albert to flee and leaving Britain to reconsider its support for the Kingdom of Sardinia. Meanwhile, Prussia’s liberals pushed toward policies that risked war with Russia as a counterrevolutionary coup gathered strength, and Anglo-Austrian negotiations began.

• Franz said Austria would consider letting France manage Italian territory if Britain continued supporting Italian unification, and suggested Sardinia could not be allowed to survive.
• Charles Albert initially refused to leave Turin, but Prime Minister Azeglio and Army Minister Ricci persuaded him to flee as the Austrian vanguard approached.
• Palmerston arrived in Vienna after Austria had captured Turin and worried that Britain’s position and investments in Sardinia had been undermined.
• In Berlin, Frederick William IV supported the Junker nobles’ Property Defense League as they tightened military control and prepared to purge republican elements.
• Palmerston asked Metternich to handle Austria’s conflict with Sardinia cautiously, and Metternich replied that the Italian region would soon stabilize.

Palmerston tried to mediate an end to the Austro-Sardinian War, but Metternich said Austrian forces had occupied Sardinia and presented terms that would place the kingdom under Austrian control. The chapter ended with Metternich offering Sardinia the alternative of paying Austria for all its claimed losses in full.

• Palmerston urged Metternich to end the war and restore the prewar status quo, while hoping to preserve British relations with Austria.
• Metternich insisted Sardinia had to pay for invading Austria and said Austrian forces had occupied the kingdom.
• Palmerston offered British mediation and asked Austria to halt its military operations.
• Metternich said Austria would halt further operations if Britain restrained Sardinian guerrillas, then handed Palmerston a ceasefire treaty.
• Palmerston objected to terms that subordinated Sardinia’s government, military, finances, and diplomacy to Austria.
• Metternich said Sardinia could reject the terms only if it paid Austria’s claimed losses in full.

Metternich and Palmerston negotiated an armistice ending the Austro-Sardinian War, forcing the Kingdom of Sardinia to accept a massive reparations debt financed by British lenders. Palmerston also sought Austria’s help against Prussia in the Prusso-Danish War, but Metternich offered only diplomatic support, and Palmerston left for Berlin.

• Metternich demanded 1.66 billion shield from the Kingdom of Sardinia, while Palmerston challenged the calculations and bargained down the claim.
• After half a month of negotiations, Palmerston and Metternich agreed that Sardinia would pay Austria 338 million shield in reparations and 62 million shield to ransom prisoners of war.
• On July 7, 1848, the Austrian ambassador in London and the Sardinian government-in-exile signed an armistice, with British banks lending Sardinia 200 million shield for an immediate payment and the remainder due over twenty years at five percent interest.
• Franz chose financial compensation over taking Sardinian territory, while Austria secured British support for its Balkan expansion and colonial ambitions.
• Palmerston asked Metternich to join pressure against Prussia, but Metternich said Austria would support Prussia only diplomatically and would take no concrete action.
• Palmerston left for Berlin after failing to secure Austria’s participation in joint pressure against Prussia.

The Habsburg Family arranged for Ferdinand I to abdicate early, setting Franz’s coronation for September 1, 1848. After the Anglo-Austrian negotiations, Franz accepted that Austria could not expand into the German lands and proposed using education and assimilation to strengthen a shared Austrian identity.

• Princess Sophie told Franz that Ferdinand I would abdicate early, and the Habsburg Family set Franz’s coronation for September 1, 1848.
• Franz reviewed the negotiations, noting Britain’s support for Austrian interests in the Balkans and overseas expansion but its opposition to German unification.
• Felix proposed dividing the German lands with Prussia, but Metternich warned that annexing Austria’s South German allies would damage its reputation.
• Franz ordered the Ministry of Education to create textbooks linking Austria’s peoples to Germanic origins and to promote Austrian identity and language over local dialects.

Franz and the Austrian cabinet planned a German-based Austrian language and a low-cost compulsory education system to promote national unity and train literate workers. The government aimed to launch six years of free compulsory schooling in 1849, while seeking public input on how to keep costs down.

• Franz explained that Austria's new language would use German as its foundation while incorporating minority languages and scripts in obscure terms.
• Franz and Count Leo von Tus Hohm agreed that the Ministry of Education would recruit and train loyal teachers, even if standards had to be lowered.
• Felix outlined a plan for three thousand public elementary schools, six years of compulsory education, and aid for talented students from poor families.
• Count Leo questioned whether Austria could afford the enormous education budget, and Felix said the government would settle funding in a later cabinet meeting.
• Franz proposed an austere school model using simple buildings and supplies, with the government covering students' meals and other costs.
• Franz ordered officials to announce the planned compulsory education system and solicit public opinions on the cheapest suitable model.

Frederick William IV halted Prussia’s war with Denmark to avoid provoking Russia, and the Malmö Armistice followed. In Vienna, Franz suspected Prussia planned to expand its influence among the German states and ordered Austria to counter it.

• Joseph von Radowitz told Frederick William IV that Prussia faced European opposition and that the bourgeois government still wanted to resist Russian pressure.
• Frederick William IV ordered his allies to cool public opinion and told Arnim to stop challenging Russia.
• Prussia yielded to Russian pressure in August 1848 and signed the Malmö Armistice with Denmark.
• Franz argued that Prussia had accepted unfavorable terms so it could turn its attention to the German states, and Metternich agreed it might seek allies by offering to stabilize them.
• Franz ordered Austria’s Foreign Ministry to disrupt Prussia’s plans, strengthen ties with the South German states, and prepare to join or reorganize the Zollverein.

Franz was crowned Emperor of Austria and began his reign by responding to a leak in the government’s covert investigation of Church assets. He ordered the government to use Pope Pius IX to compel Austrian churches to sell their land, and the cabinet planned to summon the bishops to announce the decision.

• Franz was crowned Emperor of Austria at Hofburg Palace on September 1 and spent the evening exhausted after the ceremonies and receptions.
• Franz found a clay figure made by his sister, Princess Ludwig Victor, and went to sleep after reading her note.
• Prime Minister Felix told Franz that a cabinet document about the covert investigation of Church assets had been stolen.
• Franz ordered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to have Pope Pius IX demand that Austrian churches sell their land to the government to fund the Papal States.
• Prime Minister Felix proposed summoning the bishops to Vienna and using the Pope’s authority to strip the positions of those who opposed the sale.
• Franz approved the plan to use the Pope to pressure the bishops into surrendering Church property.

Franz met Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich to discuss closer Austrian-Russian cooperation and the declining Ottoman Empire. Franz agreed that Austria would not oppose Russian ambitions toward the Black Sea Straits, while leaving the details of their Balkan and Near Eastern arrangements to the Foreign Ministries.

• After breakfast, Franz prepared to meet Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich, Nicholas I’s heir and a highly educated military-trained statesman.
• Franz proposed that Austria and Russia coordinate over the Ottoman Empire and divide their spheres of influence in the Balkans.
• Alexander readily agreed to cooperate against the Ottomans, and Franz suggested that the countries support each other’s core interests and compensate one another where they disagreed.
• Alexander asked whether Austria would support Russia in obtaining the Black Sea Straits, and Franz said Austria had no interest in obstructing Russia there.
• Alexander questioned Austria’s changed policy and asked what it wanted in return, but Franz said their Foreign Ministries should negotiate the details.

Austria prepared to withdraw from the Kingdom of Sardinia after its army looted and sold off supplies from the occupied territory. In Vienna, Pope Pius IX forced the bishops to accept a deal transferring Church property to the Austrian government, leaving the Holy See and Austria with a signed agreement.

• Marshal Radetzky organized the Austrian army's looting of valuable property in the Kingdom of Sardinia and ordered soldiers to handle machinery and cultural objects carefully.
• An Austrian major ordered a warehouse of grain sealed after deciding it was not worth transporting back to Austria.
• Lieutenant General Edmond Leopold Friedri suggested selling seized basic supplies cheaply to merchants, and Marshal Radetzky agreed.
• Pope Pius IX threatened to remove any bishop who opposed selling Church property to fund the recovery of the Papal States.
• Bishop Montreux challenged the plan, but Pius IX silenced him and Montreux submitted and confessed.
• Pius IX and Prime Minister Felix signed an agreement transferring Church property to the Austrian government.

Franz’s government secured the Church’s cooperation, arranged Austrian intervention in the Papal States, and debated demobilizing troops after the war. Despite military concerns about a future Balkan campaign, Austria chose to prioritize recovery and avoid entering a war for at least ten years.

• Pius IX helped the Austrian government secure the bishops’ cooperation, and Franz pleaded for dismissed clergy to prove their devotion in a future campaign to retake the Papal States.
• Franz ordered Marshal Radetzky’s exhausted troops to rest and directed new recruits, including Vienna’s City Defense Force, to replace them for practical training.
• Prime Minister Felix proposed cutting 100,000 troops that year and another 130,000 the next, leaving Austria with about 350,000 troops.
• Prince Windisch-Grätz warned that demobilization could hinder Austria’s plans to expand into the Balkans and risk a stalemate with the Ottoman Empire.
• Felix said Austria would not enter a European war for at least ten years and would support Russia with supplies if it acted first, leaving Windisch-Grätz’s military ambitions on hold.

Franz’s government arranged to keep Austria’s tithe under Church collection while using the revenue to fund compulsory education, then intervened in the Papal States to suppress Italian nationalists. Pope Pius IX prepared to replace unreliable local troops with Swiss mercenaries as the Austrian army planned to withdraw.

• Karl reported that Church assets generated about 80 million gulden annually and that Austria’s tithe brought in roughly 80 to 100 million gulden.
• Karl warned that turning the tithe into an education surcharge would burden workers and unfairly tax only landowners, so Franz agreed to let the Church collect it under government supervision.
• At Pius IX’s invitation, Austria sent 80,000 troops to the Papal States, where they attacked the reactionary regime and killed more than 8,000 people while capturing over 30,000.
• Pius IX returned to Rome and suppressed the remaining nationalists, while the Kingdom of Sardinia’s government avoided provoking Austria.
• Pius IX followed Franz’s advice to hire Swiss mercenaries, and a cardinal reported that three companies with more than 2,000 men were ready to serve.
• Pius IX ordered the contracts signed and called for more Swiss companies as Lieutenant General Edmond urged the Papal States to form a loyal army before the Austrian troops withdrew.

Franz pushed for tighter government control of Austria’s schools after many young revolutionaries were found to have attended private schools. The Ministry of Education was tasked with supervising admissions and exams, while private schools would lose public funding and face stricter oversight.

• Franz questioned Count Leo von Tuss Hohen about plans to strengthen ideological education and school management.
• Count Leo von Tuss Hohen proposed ideological education teachers, government approval for school leaders, enrollment reporting, and performance-based funding.
• Franz rejected dedicated ideological education teachers and instead ordered ideological content integrated into history, politics, and language, with principals and homeroom teachers held accountable.
• Prime Minister Felix urged Franz to restrict private education after investigations showed most young participants in the Vienna uprising had attended private schools.
• Count Leo von Tuss Hohen presented options to bring private schools under government administration or end their funding and tighten oversight.
• Franz ordered the government to stop funding private schools, impose investor liability, and send private-school owners and principals to prison if their schools spread illegal ideas on a large scale.

Franz and the Austrian government responded to the growing number of homeless children by expanding state care and compulsory education while enforcing labor protections. In Vienna, factory owner Daniel struggled to reduce costs under the Minimum Wage Act and considered increasingly exploitative ways to charge workers.

• Prime Minister Felix reported that Austria had taken in 38,600 homeless children as capitalists abandoned child labor.
• Franz ordered Count Hoheng and the Ministry of Education to recruit teachers, educate the children, and establish orphanages in major cities.
• The government continued enforcing labor protections, while Franz acknowledged that banning child labor entirely was impractical for poor families.
• Vienna mill owner Daniel asked his manager Vissen how to lower labor costs, but Daniel rejected a piecework scheme because it would violate government standards and risk severe fines.
• Daniel stayed in Vienna despite his dissatisfaction with the government and sought savings by cutting overtime pay and deducting workers’ time for breaks and machine stoppages.