Holy Roman Empire - Chapter 31: Measures

Metternich’s proposal was meaningless, except to his supporters, while others seemed to have not heard.

At that time, it was risky to abolish serfdom. Even if it was a small, mistaken operation, it was highly possible that the local nobles would rise in revolt.

Throughout history, it’s always been easy to take others’ interests, while it’s difficult to give up one’s own.

Moreover, in order to restore confidence in the market, there was much more to do than just to abolish serfdom. For example, it was also necessary to abolish a series of privileges of the noble class, and maybe even redistribute their land; otherwise, where would the purchasing power come from for the serfs?

Only by abolishing this series of restrictions unfavorable to economic development, further reducing the cost of commodity circulation, and releasing a much larger market, could this country get rid of the economic crisis.

Such a big concession, even if some agreed to make it, might not make any difference: the noble class was impossible to unify.

The abolition of serfdom could be discussed, but dividing their land was just not negotiable for them. Still, maybe enough money could gather them around the table.

It was still possible to cancel the privileges of the nobles, but it would take time, step by step, and anyone who wanted to solve it in one swift stroke could only fail.

The other option was that the land’s productivity could be further developed, and the government could pay to redeem their land. As long as the army was still under the control of the nobles, it was impossible to adopt coercive means.

These radical means, Metternich surely did not dare use; at most, he would only abolish serfdom and free the productive forces of the people.

“Prime Minister, if we announce the abolition of serfdom now, maybe you will receive news of Hungarian independence tomorrow!” Archduke Louis said disrespectfully.

The abolition that Metternich insisted on was still fruitful: by 1848, many Austrian nobles had released serfs.

……

However, this situation was limited to the core area of Austria. The government of Vienna was relatively strict with the local governments. After the abolition order was issued, the government did a lot of work for the nobles.

This was also the reason Metternich was not popular: many Austrian nobles, including the Royal Family, had to release serfs to keep their honor.

The local nobles were different. They, like local emperors, often took the documents from the central government as toilet paper, so the Vienna government did not have the determination to stick to their resolve.

In some cases, Prime Minister Metternich even used the abolition of serfdom to intimidate the Hungarian nobles and force them to make political concessions.

The abolition of serfdom at that time could really satisfy the capitalists; however, the issue was that the Hungarians were going to rebel, and rebellions might also occur in other regions.

That the government should pay to compensate the nobles’ loss was out of the question. At that time, the Austrian central government’s finances could barely be balanced, and if there was a surplus, it went in the pockets of the capitalists.

“Sirs, we can discuss this issue later. Now we should solve the urgent problem first; otherwise, it will be too late!” Franz Anton Von Kololat Libstinsky interrupted the dispute between the two.

The Austrian Regent committee was composed of four people: Metternich, Archduke Louis, Archduke Franz Carr, and Kololat, but Archduke Franz Carr had absolutely no political ambition. (This was mainly due to congenital defects and inability to participate in politics.)

In politics, Kololat and Metternich were competitors, but the competitors were not unable to cooperate, and most of the time, their political views were the same.

Even if they opposed each other for the sake of opposing, the struggle between them had not reached the point of life-or-death. For example, at this moment Kololat and Prime Minister Metternich’s political propositions were very similar.

However, as a political opponent, it was not possible for him to help Metternich. Maybe it was the biggest gift just not to add to his troubles.

Seeing that even Archduke Louis could not be convinced, Metternich sighed helplessly.

“If even you don’t agree, the local nobles surely won’t.”

Once the local rebellion was raised by the abolition of serfdom, it was like a whole new a can of worms had been opened.

Metternich was unable to bear such a big political disaster alone; the Regent committee at least needed to fight together. It was possible for them to smooth over the difficulties.

“Well, then arrest them first!”

After making this reluctant decision, Metternich felt very depressed. He knew that the capitalists themselves had no way out.

If the economic crisis could not be resolved, then they would go bankrupt. In order to avoid bankruptcy, they would have to break the social order.

Their counterparts in France had set an example, smashing the crisis with a revolution and unlocking the shackles that restricted the economic development of capitalism.

For instance, taking advantage of the opportunity of revolution, the bankers were completely wiped out, and the debt naturally disappeared.

Without debt, no one was afraid to hoard goods, or at least, to sell them slowly. Without loans from the banks, no one could possibly go bankrupt.

Even further, they could let the government pay for them, pay for buying their goods, and pass the crisis on to the government.

Their American counterparts had done that. Of course, they went even further: it was not for the purchase of their goods that the government paid, but for saving the market.

The broken capital chain was reconnected, and the economic crisis was delayed, so everyone had time to retreat, and, at last, the scapegoats suffered.

Austria had not yet evolved to that level. Before serfdom was abolished, the capitalists could not even find any scapegoats. The working class was exploited by them too much, and they were not even qualified to be scapegoats.

The stock market in Vienna was, then, just a game for the rich; the poor did not even have the qualifications to open an account.

The stock market transactions in that era were all manually operated, so the labor cost was also very high. A few Austrian Schillings would not even be enough for the labor cost of the reception, and naturally, the poor were not able to open an account.

…

After the order came down from the Vienna government, the secret police were dispatched overnight, and they began to arrest the organizers of the demonstrations.

Obviously, it was not a smart decision. The organizers who showed up in the public were just nobodies, and the leaders could not possibly charge forward.

The student representatives were the easiest to find. There were just a few universities in Vienna, and their addresses were very obvious. However, no one wanted to do this work.

The gate of the University of Vienna was not easy to go through. As a hotbed of anti-government forces, most of the ignorant teenagers were opposed to the government, and the rest were the reformists of the nobles.

Sheriff Winston had a headache: the suspects were in the school in front of him, but he could not even pass through the gate. There was no doubt that the university was resisting government enforcement.

However, the influence of the university was too great, and the impact of violence rushing in was too serious. There were no ordinary people among the teachers and students, whose family backgrounds, at the lowest, were small businessmen, lawyers, and doctors.

The working classes were so poor that they could not afford the tuition, and of course, neither could the peasants, most of whom were serfs.