The March Revolution

Chapter 33: The March Revolution

Leave?

That was impossible. Metternich wasn't a fool. At a time like this, his enemies were just waiting for him to come out.

He shouldn't even dream of explaining himself. More likely, the moment he showed his face, someone would rush up and beat him to death, making the deed a fait accompli.

Things like this had happened more than once throughout history. Most were glossed over with the subtle strokes of the Spring and Autumn Annals—or perhaps smeared over again, turning into tales of how the enraged masses had beaten someone to death on the spot.

If explanations worked, political struggles wouldn't be so complicated.

"Your Excellency, order the demonstrators to be dispersed! Otherwise, the situation will soon spiral out of control!"

The speaker was Oppenheimer, director of the Vienna Police Department. After such a major incident, the pressure on him was greatest. Many in the government believed Metternich's days were numbered and were already preparing their escape routes.

Unfortunately, others could flee, but he, as police director, couldn't get away. If Metternich fell, he would be out of a job too—and might even be purged.

Metternich paced a few steps, then finally made up his mind. "Order the City Defense Force to disperse the crowd!"

Before his order could even be passed along, the situation outside had already spiraled out of control. Revolutionaries hidden among the crowd seized their chance and fired at the soldiers blocking their way. Acting on instinct, the soldiers pulled their own triggers.

"The army is killing people!"

After a single shout, the crowd quickly descended into chaos, scattering in every direction.

There was no need to disperse the crowd now. They were already gone.

But the aftermath was extremely serious. Apart from a small portion of the crowd, most people knew the army had opened fire and killed someone.

As for the revolutionaries who had started the fight, the truth was naturally covered up.

The enraged masses were being duped into launching a revolution. The capitalists managed to gather some weapons, and now they sent them over as well.

They selected a group of hot-blooded young men and formed an armed revolutionary force. That very night, the insurgents attacked a police station. The Vienna municipal government, which had already sided with the revolutionaries, helped the rebels.

Once the shots of revolution rang out, the situation in Vienna quickly spiraled out of control. You couldn't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

The City Defense Force left behind certainly lived up to its reputation for incompetence. After a brief exchange of fire, the cowardly aristocratic officers actually backed down, failing to suppress the revolt at the first opportunity.

The Vienna police, too, became directionless after the city government's defection and temporarily adopted a neutral stance.

To some extent, this uprising was also a palace coup. Some aristocrats who had been caught in the financial crisis abandoned their class loyalties and sided with the revolutionaries.

They hoped to use the revolution to reorganize the government and, while they were at it, revolutionize the bankers out of existence and escape their debt crisis.

History had changed. The insurgents seized the banks at the first opportunity and burned the promissory notes. Austria's financial clique got the worst of it.

Faced with the chaos, Prime Minister Metternich panicked. The aristocrats panicked, the Regency Council panicked, and the Vienna Court panicked.

The February Revolution in France had just passed. They had still been laughing at the French, never imagining the crisis would spread to Vienna so quickly.

This was France's second great revolution. The previous one had already dealt the aristocracy a heavy blow. Serfdom had long since been abolished, and the nobles' privileges were gone.

Austria was only just beginning. The aristocracy still enjoyed a great many privileges and held a heap of interests. This revolution was clearly aimed at them.

By the French precedent, they would probably be sent to the guillotine—or perhaps beaten to death by unruly soldiers. Prime Minister Metternich had long since lost his usual composure. Now, he was out of options.

As a consummate scapegoat, Metternich was the most hated man in the eyes of the public. If he fell into the rebels' hands, it would only be a question of how he died.

A man in a tailcoat said anxiously, "Your Grace, the carriage is ready. We must leave now, before it's too late!"

Metternich was locked in a fierce inner struggle. He knew that he had become a target and that staying in Vienna was extremely dangerous.

But as an aristocrat, he had his pride. He was unwilling to flee like a coward. That morning, he had already sent his family away, staying behind alone to face the situation.

"Holder, I..."

Before Metternich could finish, Holder caught on and fulfilled his duty as a good steward. "You there, get His Grace out of here!"

These guards were household retainers of Prime Minister Metternich, loyal to the core. At a time like this, they didn't have the luxury of worrying about anything else.

Ignoring Prime Minister Metternich's struggles, they forcibly bundled him into an old carriage and hurried out of Vienna. At the same time, someone drove his most frequently used carriage toward the royal palace.

Hard times revealed true loyalty. This was the moment for the nobles' retainers to prove themselves. It wasn't only Prime Minister Metternich—many aristocrats chose to flee Vienna.

The only safe place in Vienna now was the imperial palace. Most of the insurgents still felt a sense of awe toward the emperor and refused to attack the palace. The revolutionaries could do nothing about it.

Even within the revolutionary movement, many had never intended to overthrow the Habsburg Family. Most were actually Reform Party members who had joined the revolutionaries only after losing hope in reform.

At this point, there were all sorts of disorganized revolutionary forces. They hadn't even had time to establish a unified leadership, and each group fought on its own.

Most of the insurgents didn't even have guns. Their weapons came in every shape and size, as if time had turned back to the Middle Ages.

Many ordinary people had no interest in revolution. Revolutionary thought had little support in Austria, and after venting their anger, many people simply left.

To swell their ranks and suppress the growing armed movement of the working class, the revolutionaries recruited anyone they could. The fledgling insurgent army soon underwent a transformation, and its ranks became a mixed bag.

For example, under the pretext of freeing political prisoners, they released every inmate in Vienna's prisons. Many vicious criminals promptly reinvented themselves as members of the revolution.

Gangsters and thugs also seized the opportunity to prey on the chaos. Murder, arson, robbery, rape—every kind of crime played out across Vienna.

The first to bear the brunt weren't the aristocrats, but ordinary Viennese citizens, small merchants, and the middle class.

Night cloaked endless crimes. That night, Vienna, this international metropolis, sank into a sea of sin.