Revolutions of 1848 in The German States - Austria

Austria

In 1848, Austria was the predominate German state. Austria was seen as the successor to the Holy Roman Empire which had been dissolved by Napoleon in 1806 and was not resurrected by the Congress of Vienna in 1815. German Austrian chancellor Metternich had dominated the German Confederation from 1815 until 1848. On March 13, 1848 a large street demonstration of university broke out in Vienna. Following the important, but relatively minor, demonstrations against Lola Montez in Bavaria on February 9, 1848 (see below), the first major revolt of 1848 in German lands occurred in Vienna on March 13, 1848. The demonstrating students in Vienna had been restive since hearing an encouraging sermon during Mass from a liberal priest--Anton Füster--on Sunday, March 12, 1848 in their university chapel. The student demonstrators demanded a constitution and a constituent assembly elected by universal male suffrage. Emperor Ferdinand and his chief advisor called out the troops to crush the demonstration. When the demonstration moved to the streets near the emperor's palace, the troops fired on the students and killed several students. At this time the new proletariat of Vienna joined the student demonstrations and the street demonstrations turned into a full blown armed insurrection. The Diet of Lower Austria demanded Metternich's resignation. With no forces rallying to Metternich's defense, Ferdinand reluctantly complied and dismissed him. Metternich fled to London and Ferdinand appointed new, nominally liberal, ministers. A constitution was drafted by the Austrian government in late April 1848. However, this constitution proved to be unacceptable to the people because the majority of the people were denied the right to vote under that constitution. As a result, the citizens of Vienna once again came out on the streets on May 26 through 27, 1848 and threw up barricades preparing for another fight with the army. Ferdinand and his family fled to Innsbruck where they spent the next few months surrounded by the loyal peasantry of the Tyrol. Ferdinand issued two manifestos on May 16, 1848 and June 3, 1848 which gave concessions to the people. Among these concessions was the conversion of the Imperial Diet into a Constituent Assembly elected by the people. Other concessions were less substantial and merely contained some generalizations regarding the reorganizing and unification of Germany. Ferdinand returned to Vienna from Innsbruck on August 12, 1848. However shortly after his arrival in Vienna, the working class populace again poured into the streets of Vienna on August 21, 1848 to protest the unemployment situation and the government's decree on the reduction of wages. On August 23, 1848, Austrian troops opened fire on the unarmed demonstrators shot several of them.

In late September 1848, Emperor Ferdinand, who was also King Ferdinand V of Hungary, decided to send Austrian and Croatian troops to Hungary to crush a democratic rebellion there. On September 29, 1848 the Austrian troops sustained a defeat at the hands of the Hungarian revolutionary forces. On October 6 through 7, 1848, the citizens of Vienna poured into the streets to protest this decision on the part of Ferdinand I. As a result of this popular uprising, Emperor Ferdinand I fled Vienna on October 7, 1848 and took up residence in fortress town of Olomouc in Moravia. On December 2, 1848, Ferdinand was forced to abdicate in favour of his nephew Franz Joseph.