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Crop failures 1845-1847 and the subsequent economic crisis had disastrous consequences for the economically backward Austrian Empire. Numerous bankruptcies, mass poverty, a sharp rise in food prices prepared an atmosphere in which the news of the revolution in France ignited a general fire.

Ernst Wioland on the situation in Austria

"A few more years before 1848, the situation of the workers worsened, as unemployment increased." And "the number of unemployed grew exponentially every year due to the suspension of many factories, the use of new machines and the impoverishment of artisans who joined the ranks of the workers." "The appalling poverty of these factory slaves, especially in winter, was unbelievable." The unemployed in Vienna: "it is completely incomprehensible how they can endure such a life."

“The place of concentration, the nursery of the proletariat was Bohemia. Need and poverty were especially strong there. "Most of the peasants ... support their existence with potatoes." And "a huge number of job seekers bring down prices so much that it has become impossible to find sufficient income in their own country." “It was especially bad for factory workers throughout the empire, since the massive influx of Czech workers brought down prices and thus lengthened the working day.” “When a crisis came and some factories stopped, or the use of the machine made workers redundant, many died of starvation.” "The workers had no means of fighting their plight." They "were forbidden to act in defense of their interests, so that trade and industry would not suffer from high wages." “Long, uninterrupted and monotonous work caused a severe dullness among the workers. Especially among the weavers, their monotonous occupation led to dementia and mental illness.

On March 3, 1848, the first demands for reforms were made in Vienna, and soon an armed uprising began in the capital. Emperor Ferdinand I was forced to sacrifice his chancellor, and this ended the “Metternich era”. An attempt made in May 1848 to dissolve the rebel committee led to a new aggravation, as a result of which the government fled the capital, and when it tried to dissolve the "Academic Legion", which consisted of revolutionary students, Vienna responded with a new uprising.

In the summer of 1848, the Austrian Reichstag abolished feudal privileges and duties. However, soon the National Guard of Vienna shot down a demonstration of workers, which meant a class split among the rebels. The last outbreak of the Austrian revolution was caused by the decision of the authorities to send troops to suppress the uprising in Hungary.

In October, another uprising broke out in Vienna, during which "fury reached its highest limit." The government managed to win over the ruler of Croatia, whose troops drowned the uprising in blood. In December 1848, Ferdinand I abdicated and Emperor Franz Joseph (1830-1916) took the throne. Soon the Reichstag was dissolved, and a new constitution was granted to Austria, which actually restored the full power of the emperor.

Bohemia was one of the first to rise during the beginning of the revolution of 1848-1849 in the Austrian Empire, the Czech population of which awakened the hope of restoring their ancient rights and privileges. However, already in June the Czech national movement was defeated. Shortly before that, the Slavic Congress took place in Prague, organized in opposition to the German assembly in Frankfurt. The delegates demanded that the Slavs return their "old heritage - freedom" and opposed the entry of Austria into Germany. material from the site

Much more serious events unfolded at that time in Hungary, which always occupied a special position in the Habsburg state. Here, unlike other provinces of the empire, there was a thousand-year-old state tradition and a strong nobility. In the 1830-1840s. the movement for the preservation of Hungarian culture intensified, the Hungarian language was approved as an official language in all provinces of the kingdom, despite the diverse national composition. Fighting for their own identity, the Hungarians denied this right to other peoples. Such a policy most tragically affected the fate of the Hungarian revolution.

On March 3, 1848, the State Assembly of Hungary issued a demand for the introduction of a constitution. Hungary received internal self-government, serfdom was abolished on its territory. However, the Hungarians stubbornly refused to recognize the national rights of other peoples, who one by one overthrew the Hungarian domination and entered into an alliance with the Viennese government.

Hungarian War of Independence

In September, a real war began between Hungary and Austria, which was supported by the Croats, Serbs, Romanians, and Slovaks. Hungary lost its special rights as part of the Habsburg power, the provinces with non-Hungarian population were separated from it.

Crop failures 1845-1847 and the economic crisis that followed them had disastrous consequences for the economically backward Austria: numerous bankruptcies, mass poverty, a sharp increase in food prices. The news of the revolution in France caused a violent reaction in the country. On March 3, 1848, the first demands for reforms were made in Vienna, and ten days later an armed uprising took place in the capital of the empire. A scholar of the Austrian Revolution wrote of the rebels: “Their fury that day was terrible; life seemed to have no value for them.” Its feature was the active participation of students who created the "Academic Legion" to fight the old regime. Emperor Ferdinand I (1835-1848) was forced to sacrifice his chancellor, who for many personified the old order. So ingloriously ended the “era of Metternich”. On May 15, an attempt to dissolve the political committee of the rebels led to a new aggravation of the situation, as a result of which the government fled the capital.

When the authorities tried to disband the "Academic Legion", Vienna responded with a new uprising. In July, the Austrian Reichstag, elected on the basis of a new electoral law, began its work. First of all, he abolished the feudal privileges and duties that were still preserved in the countryside. However, in August, when the National Guard shot down a demonstration of workers, a class split occurred among the rebels. The last outbreak of the Austrian revolution was associated with an attempt to send troops against the Hungarian revolutionaries, which caused great indignation. In October, a new uprising broke out in Vienna, during which "fury reached its highest limit." The authorities managed to win over the ruler of Croatia, whose troops captured the city and drowned the uprising in blood. In December 1848, Ferdinand I abdicated the throne and the 18-year-old emperor took the throne Franz Joseph(1848-1916). Soon the Reichstag was dissolved, and the country was "granted" a new constitution, which actually restored the sovereignty of the emperor.

Revolution of 1848-1849 in the Austrian Empire called " spring peoples". Among the first national outskirts, Bohemia rose, the Czech population of which awakened the hope of restoring their ancient rights and privileges. However, already in June, the Czech national movement was defeated.

Much more serious events unfolded at that time in Hungary, which always occupied a special position in the Habsburg state. Here, unlike other areas of the empire, there was a thousand-year-old state tradition and a strong "noble nation". In the 1830-1840s. the movement for the preservation of Hungarian culture intensified, the Hungarian language was approved as the official language in all provinces of the kingdom, regardless of the national composition. Fighting for their own identity, the Hungarians denied this right to other peoples. Such a policy most tragically affected the fate of the Hungarian revolution.

Unknown author. Opening of the National Assembly of Hungary on June 5, 1848

Initially, the movement developed under the slogan “Long live the king! Constitutional monarchy, freedom, equality, peace and order! March, 3rd 1848 d. at the suggestion of the leader of the national movement L. Kossuth The Hungarian State Assembly sent a petition to the emperor for the introduction of a constitution and self-government. Soon Hungary received the right to internal self-government, and serfdom was abolished on its territory. However, the Hungarians stubbornly refused to recognize the national rights of other peoples, who, one by one, overthrew the Hungarian domination and entered into an alliance with the Viennese government. Serbian Vojvodina and Croatia separated from Hungary, a Romanian uprising broke out in Transylvania. material from the site

L. Kossuth

In September, a real war began between Hungary and Austria, which was supported by the Croats, Serbs, Romanians, and Slovaks. Hungary was deprived of special rights as part of the Habsburg power, non-Hungarian provinces were separated from it. The answer was the proclamation in April 1849 d. complete independence of Hungary. With the help of Polish emigrants, the Hungarian rebels created a strong army and achieved serious success in the fight against the emperor's troops. Franz Joseph turned to Russia for help, in June the Russian troops launched a successful offensive, after which the fate of Hungary was decided. Kossuth fled abroad; and the Hungarian army capitulated on August 13, 1849. The Austrians hanged 13 Hungarian generals, hundreds of officers were shot.

Revolution of 1848-1849 in the Austrian Empire contributed to the emancipation of economic life, and some revival of the economy. In 1850, the customs border between Austria and Hungary was liquidated, then restrictions on foreign trade were lifted. At the same time, the constitution adopted during the revolution was also cancelled.

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Revolution in the Austrian Empire (1848 - 1849)

Causes of the revolution

The Austrian Empire - the Habsburg monarchy - was a multinational, "patchwork" state. Of the more than 34 million people of its population, more than half were Slavs (Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Croats, Serbs, Ukrainians). There were about 5 million Hungarians (Magyars) and about the same number of Italians and Vlachs.

Throughout the empire, many feudal orders were preserved, but in Austria and the Czech Republic capitalist industry had already developed, there were many workers and artisans. In industrial terms, the Czech Republic was the most advanced part of the empire. But the Czech middle and petty bourgeoisie were dependent on the big Austrian capitalists.

The dominant force in the state was the Austrian nobility headed by the Habsburg dynasty, which occupied all the highest military and bureaucratic positions. The oppression of absolutism, the arbitrariness of officials and the police, the dominance of the Catholic Church, which had vast land holdings, were everywhere combined with national oppression.

In the Czech Republic, the aristocracy and the big bourgeoisie were Austrians or Germanized. The Hungarian landowners oppressed millions of Serbian and other Slavic peasants, while at the same time the Hungarians themselves were dependent on the Austrian authorities. Austrian officials brutally oppressed the population of the Italian provinces. A distinctive feature of the Austrian Empire was the combination of feudal and capitalist oppression with national oppression.

For more than 30 years, the Viennese government was headed by the ardent reactionary Metternich, who stood for the preservation of the feudal system and national oppression over the Slavs and Hungarians. In schools, courts, in all institutions, only German was allowed.

Peasants made up the bulk of the population. They were considered personally free, but everywhere they depended on the landowners, served their duties in their favor, paid dues.

The feudal system, absolutism, the arbitrariness of the landlords and officials, and national oppression aroused the discontent of the bourgeoisie and pushed the masses to the revolution. This was the main reason for the revolution of 1848-1849. in the Austrian Empire. The most important issues of this revolution were the overthrow of the Habsburg monarchy, the abolition of feudal and national oppression, the conquest of independence by the oppressed peoples. But the liberal bourgeoisie, as in the German states, was afraid of the workers and peasants and was ready to confine itself to an agreement with the emperor and the landowners.

Cultural upsurge of the oppressed peoples in the Austrian Empire

Despite the Austrian oppression, the Hungarians and Slavic peoples preserved and developed their rich culture. Among them, the movement for self-government and the development of literature and schools in national languages ​​was expanding.

A strong movement for the development of national culture arose in the Czech Republic. Writers and scientists created outstanding works on the history of the Czech people, on the development of their language and literature, fought for a national school. The works of Pushkin and other great Russian writers were widely distributed in the Czech Republic. Czech revolutionary democrats strove not only for the development of national culture, but also for social and national liberation. However, moderate Czech leaders were heading for an agreement with the Habsburgs.

A national revival also began among Serbs and Croats. Among the Slavic peoples of the Austrian Empire, the desire for rapprochement among themselves and with the Russian people intensified.

Vienna uprising in March 1848

By 1848, as a result of the economic crisis of 1847 and the high cost of food, after two years of crop failures, a revolutionary situation had also developed in the Austrian Empire. The situation of the workers has especially worsened. The impetus for the revolution in the Austrian Empire was the news of the overthrow of the July Monarchy in France.

On March 13, a revolution broke out in Vienna. Barricades were erected in the streets. The rebellious workers, artisans, students demanded a change of government. Clashes began with the troops. The people even entered the courtyard of the emperor's carefully guarded palace. The frightened government made concessions.

Metternich was dismissed and, fearing for his life, fled disguised in a woman's dress. Some ministers have been replaced. The students received permission to create their own armed detachment - the "academic legion", and the bourgeoisie - to organize the national guard. The emperor promised a constitution, but with a high property qualification for voters. It was specifically stipulated that the workers would not receive voting rights. An attempt to disband the national guard and the "academic legion" met with an armed rebuff. The emperor and the government secretly fled from the capital to Tyrol.

The revolutionary ferment also seized the peasants. In many places they stopped serving their duties and stopped paying dues, they cut down the forest without permission. However, the performances of the peasants were scattered and spontaneous.

The nature and results of the revolution in the Austrian Empire

As in the German states, the revolution in the Austrian Empire was an unfinished bourgeois-democratic revolution.

Its main fighting force was the workers, artisans, part of the peasants, and the revolutionary intelligentsia. But the victory was not won. The revolution did not overthrow the monarchy and did not lead to the abolition of national oppression. Its defeat was caused by the immaturity of the working class, the betrayal of the liberal bourgeoisie, national strife, and the counter-revolutionary intervention of the tsarist troops.

But still the revolution of 1848-1849. in the Austrian Empire had important consequences, forced the government to some reforms. The Austrian government had to introduce a limited constitution, albeit with a bicameral system and a high property requirement for voters. A law was issued on the redemption of feudal duties, the judicial and police power of the landowners was abolished. The revolution contributed to the gradual elimination of the feudal dependence of the peasants, accelerated the growth of the labor movement and the national liberation struggle in the Austrian Empire.

“Gentlemen, saddle up your horses, there is a revolution in Paris,” exclaimed the Russian Tsar Nicholas I, addressing his generals, having learned at the end of February 1848 that the rebellious French had overthrown King Louis Philippe. The conservative tsar, who had a reputation as the "gendarme of Europe", could not have reacted otherwise. But in many other countries, the events in Paris were received with enthusiasm. Very soon, fermentation began in the states of the then fragmented Germany, and in March it spread to the Austrian Empire, which then included the Czech Republic. The speeches of citizens and students on the streets of Vienna led to the resignation of Chancellor Metternich, hated by the liberal public, a clever and intelligent, but extremely conservative statesman who determined the policy of the Austrian government for almost 40 years. The so-called "spring of nations" began - a series of revolutionary uprisings that changed the face of Europe.

In Prague, a group of public figures invited citizens to gather to discuss pressing problems and draw up a petition addressed to Emperor Ferdinand I. It was, of course, mainly about the educated public - nobles, wealthy citizens, intelligentsia ... On March 11, the audience elected an organizational a committee headed by a local aristocrat, Count Vojtech Deim. Here is how the contemporary Czech historian Jiri Pernes describes the subsequent events: “The petition was drafted on March 14th. Its authors urged the emperor that, in addition to introducing basic democratic rights - free elections, freedom of speech, press, religion and "guards against unauthorized arrests" - the equality of the Czech and German languages ​​in all Czech lands should be ensured, as well as the unification of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia into an administrative unit with a common parliament".

In Vienna, the Prague delegates who brought the petition were received favorably, but they did not promise anything other than what the government had already done by that time - it confirmed freedom of the press, allowed the creation of a national guard, and promised to introduce a constitutional system into the empire. The citizens of Prague were disappointed and in early April they sent a second delegation to Vienna, which also included a young lawyer, Frantisek Ladislav Rieger, who was destined to become one of the leaders of the Czech national movement for many years to come. This time, the government satisfied many of the demands of the Czech envoys - in particular, on the equality of the Czech and German languages ​​in administrative bodies. In addition, on April 6, the emperor's nephew, Archduke Franz Joseph, was appointed viceroy in the Czech kingdom, who was soon to replace his uncle on the throne. The young man himself (the archduke was not even 18 years old), however, did not come to Prague, the appointment was more of a symbolic gesture.

Meanwhile, the matter in the Austrian Empire was not limited to reforms "from above". The radical part of society demanded more drastic changes. At the end of May, unrest began again in Vienna. National problems were added to the social ones. A liberal-minded all-German parliament gathered in Frankfurt, looking for ways to unite the German states. It was not clear to many deputies what to do with Austria: on the one hand, a significant part of its population were Germans, on the other hand, the Habsburg Empire was multinational, and its non-German subjects - Czechs, Hungarians, Poles, Slovenes - were not eager to become citizens of a united Germany .

This was also manifested in the correspondence between representatives of the Frankfurt Parliament and the prominent Czech historian and public figure Frantisek Palacki, who received an invitation to take part in parliamentary sessions. In a response letter on April 11, 1848, Palacki stated: “I am a Czech, from a Slavic tribe, and I brought all the little that I have and can do completely and forever to the service of my people. This people is small, but from time immemorial independent. Its sovereigns for many centuries participated in the union of the German monarchs, but the people themselves never ranked themselves among the German people ... ". Thus, if in March the public figures of the Czech lands, both Czechs and Germans, still acted as a united front and put forward mainly liberal demands, now national demands came to the fore, and they divided the Czechs and Czech Germans.

On April 11, the "Prague German Union" was founded in Prague, bringing together the leaders of the local German community. On the other hand, Czech activists became the initiators of the Slavic Congress. Its delegates represented the Slavic peoples of the Austrian Empire, and there were guests from other countries, including Russia. The congress opened on June 2, 1848 in Prague's Zofin, the venue for many public events. The delegates took part in a solemn service and then marched through the city in procession.

Frantisek Palacky was elected the chairman of the congress. The program included three items:

1. Draw up a manifesto to the European peoples - expressing the position of the participants in the congress on current events.

2. Compose a petition to the emperor with the wishes of the Slavic peoples of Austria.

3. Create an alliance of Slavic peoples to protect their common interests.

The meetings of the congress, however, did not last long. The authorities were concerned about its implementation. The commander of government forces in Prague, General Alfred Windischgrätz, flooded the city with troops. On June 7, he held a military parade that looked like a warning to the delegates of the Slavic Congress and even a kind of provocation. On June 10, Prague students held a protest in response. On the 12th, after a solemn service at the Horse Market (now Wenceslas Square) in the city center, about two thousand people went to Windischgrätz's headquarters. He seemed to be waiting for this and sent troops against the peaceful demonstrators. Scuffles ensued, which escalated into an open uprising. Students erected barricades on the streets of Prague and even briefly captured Count Thun, who replaced the imperial governor Franz Joseph in Prague.

Windischgrätz acted against the rebels without any sentiment. Negotiations between the leaders of the liberal circles and the commander did not bring success. Rieger, who was part of the delegation that came to Windischgrätz, told the general that "the emperor promised a constitution, not shooting." The commander exploded: “You will not teach me constitutions! I am in command here, and you must follow my orders. Whoever doesn't listen, I'll deal with those!" On June 15, he began shelling those quarters of Prague where the rebellious students and the part of the townspeople who supported them were located. Perhaps the general was guided both by personal grief and a desire for revenge: on one of the days of the uprising, his wife died from a crazy path, who went to the window to see what was happening on the street. Be that as it may, the actions of the commander were successful: by June 17, he again took control of Prague and declared a state of emergency in the city. The delegates of the Slavic Congress fled even earlier - it was impossible to hold meetings in the conditions of street fighting. Later, the authorities calculated the losses: during the June uprising in Prague, 43 people died and more than 60 were injured.

The situation in Prague quickly returned to normal: already on July 20, 1848, the state of emergency was lifted, and Windischgrätz left the city. But the revolution in the rest of the provinces of the Austrian Empire was far from over. In autumn, an uprising broke out in Vienna, suppressed by the imperial troops. The revolutionary events lasted the longest in Hungary, which in 1849 even announced the overthrow of the Habsburg dynasty and declared independence. But in the end, the Hungarian national revolution was crushed by the joint efforts of the Austrian and Russian troops who came to their aid. Nicholas I saddled his horse, although he did not ride it, as promised, to Paris. Against this background, the Czech lands after the June events seemed an oasis of peace and silence. No wonder the imperial government decided to move here in the second half of the stormy year of 1848. On August 28, General Windischgrätz, already familiar to us, wrote to his relative, Adjutant General Prince Lobkowitz: “If you see that they are trying to get new concessions from the sovereign or his safety is under threat, take as many troops as possible and, under guard, deliver the imperial family to Olomouc. Then I will come, His Majesty will abdicate in favor of his nephew Franz Joseph, and we will go to Budapest. This plan has been implemented. It was in Moravian Olomouc that on December 2, 1848, the abdication ceremony of the physically weak and mentally unhealthy Emperor Ferdinand took place, who transferred power to his young nephew. Tom was destined to rule the Habsburg Empire for a very long time - 68 years.

Another Moravian city, Kroměříž (better known then under the German name Kremsir) also entered the history of the 1848 revolution. The meetings of the empire's parliament were transferred there from Vienna, which was in the grip of an uprising. It was the first experience of full-fledged parliamentarism for the Central European peoples, including the Czechs. The activity of the parliament, in which the majority was liberal, was finally interrupted by the government, which preferred to grant the empire a constitution "from above", with a stroke of the monarch's pen, and not wait for the deputies to propose their project, which seemed excessively revolutionary to the authorities. Later, in 1851, the constitutional experiment was completely put on the brakes: the young emperor, supported by Prime Minister Felix Schwarzenberg, announced that he was regaining full power. Many politicians of 1848 were forced to go into the shadows, like Palacki, or leave the country, some were even arrested. But the so-called "neo-absolutism" turned out to be not eternal: already in the 60s of the XIX century, Emperor Franz Joseph was forced to continue liberal reforms. In 1867, the Austrian Empire was transformed into a dual Austro-Hungarian monarchy, which received a constitution that was quite democratic for those times.

The revolution of 1848 was defeated, but it did not go unnoticed. The Czech historian Milan Hlavachka assesses her legacy as follows: “The winners of the revolution in the Habsburg monarchy were the peasant and the bureaucrat - more precisely, the reformed state represented by the latter. The peasant received land, the official (instead of a nobleman) - power over the population. Liberal society, however, for the time being put up with political pressure from the state, which they saw as a guarantee of political and social stability and national balance. New revolutionary storms were waiting for the Habsburg monarchy for a long time, in another year with the "fatal" eight - 1918.