The Second War of Hapsburg Dissolution
For numerous centuries prior to the 19th, the Hapsburg dominions had been one of the mightiest powers to grace the face of Europe. A royal family, who at one time, controlled most of Europe, the actions of the Hapsburg family defined European history for centuries. It was members of that household that oversaw Europe’s disastrous religious wars while at the same time serving as a shield, protecting it’s “subjects” from the onslaught of the Ottoman Empire. However, as grand as its glory days may have been, by the late 19th century, the Hapsburg Domains now known as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, had entered a period of decline.
Having been reduced to a second rate power during the Napoleonic Wars, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was ill-equipped to deal with the rising tide of nationalism emerging throughout Europe. An attempt to forge a diplomatic alliance between the major powers of Europe in the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars known as the Congress of Vienna would fail miserably as a Russo-Prussian alliance forced an end to the Congress and began to create a new order from amidst the chaos that was Europe. Indeed, many historians point to the failing of the Congress of Vienna as the beginning of the end for the plight of the Hapsburg family. Many have argued that had they succeeded in establishing a “Congress of Europe” Austria-Hungary may have very well survived the trying ordeals of the 19th century.
However the Congress of Vienna failed, and unbeknownst to them, any hope the Hapsburgs had of consolidating their empire vanished in the flames of the Polish/Saxon War or the First War of Hapsburg Dissolution as some have called it. With her humiliating defeat at the hands of the Russo-Prussian Alliance following the War’s conclusion, Austria-Hungary’s second rate power status was cemented. Her place as head of the “German Confederation” was taken by the usurper Kingdom of Prussia, while Russia carved off a tantalizing morsel in Austrian Poland. Furthermore, following the peace, she found herself shackled with a monarchy that refused to adapt to the changing situation it found itself in. The stage was set for the end of one of the most powerful empires in the history of the world.
As the dust settled from the Polish/Saxon War, the Austro-Hungarian Empire remained trapped in the past. Though reforms were initially pursued, they fell far short of what was needed to keep the patchwork empire together, thus inadvertently leading to its eventual demise. Furthermore, Austria would remain neutral throughout the tensions of the 1820’s and 30’s regarding the dreaded “Eastern Question”. Though an attempt was made to see the Ottoman Empire partitioned, no fruit came of it as the powers of Europe saw fit that the Ottoman Empire be left intact, at least for the time being. Without foreign support, and with her own power fading fast, the Hapsburgs were forced to watch from the sidelines while the world they had in a sense, created, changed before their very eyes.
Some within the Hapsburg domains were optimistic, hoping that the Empire’s neutrality would allow it to reform in order to withstand the coming onslaught. However, any reforms embarked upon would be far too little, far too late. Tensions were rising across the empire as the conservative government refused to cave to the demands of the Liberals. Furthermore nationalist sentiment was rising both in the east with the creation of the Russian satellite state of Romania, and in the west with Italian rebels chomping at the bit to unify the Italian Peninsula. By 1838 the stage was set for the dissolution of one of the mightiest empires the world has ever known.
Out of the pair of Nationalist Rebellions that brought about an end to the Hapsburg Empire, it would be the risings in the east that would prove to be the most decisive. Indeed the “Eastern Risings” would see many of the Empire’s prominent ethnic groups take up arms at the behest of agitating foreign empires and carve their own nations out of the flagging carcass that was the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The “Eastern Risings” as they were known would have their roots in the formation of Romania following the conclusion of the Russo-Turkish War in 1824. Eager to join their emancipated brethren in what was formerly Wallachia and Moldavia, Romanian nationalist groups sprang up all over Austrian Transylvania. These nationalist agitators would cause significant problems as they began to clash with the Hungarian and German residents of the region. Things would be further complicated when in 1825 the Hungarian Diet was reconvened to deal with financial matters, needless to say, it quickly found itself dealing with slightly more than “financial matters”.
The eventual actions of the Hungarian Diet would lead to rising nationalist sentiment throughout the Eastern Portion of the Hapsburg Empire. This nationalist sentiment, though ignored by and large by the Francis I and his successor Ferdinand, convinced the Kingdoms of Prussia and Russia that the Austro-Hungarian Empire was nearing its end. There was no use in prolonging its life; all that was left was to ensure that the partition was as favourable as possible. Soon both Empires began illicitly funding and aiding these nationalist groups in the hopes that the states they would eventually create
would fall under their respective spheres of influence.
By 1838 things had finally begun to reach a head, as Prussian supplied Carbonari groups in Italy began to rise up all along the Italian Peninsula, Eastern nationalist groups took this as their chance to free themselves from Hapsburg oppression. Romanian, Croatian, Czech, Slavs, and Slovak risings were matched by the Hungarian Diet declaring independence. Within a matter of weeks the Hapsburg Empire as it once was, was no more.
Romania’s entry into the war in June of 1838 would add another aspect to the conflict as it would bring in both Prussia and Imperial Russia, on the sides of their respective revolutionaries. Though no conflict would occur in 1838, the stage was set for an eventual clash of the titans later on. In the meantime Prussian supplied and trained Hungarians, Czechs, and Italians would attempt to enforce their sovereignty over much of the Hapsburg lands while Russian supplied and aided Croatians, Slovaks, Slavs, and Romanians would attempt to assert their independence. This involvement of foreign powers would effectively end all realistic hopes of the Hapsburg domain emerging from the conflict intact.
The advent of foreign intervention would also lead to a number of Liberal Revolutions across the Hapsburg core lands of Austria as Germans, dissatisfied with the inept lack of action and their bumbling Emperor rallied behind the infamous Klemens von Metternich to bring an end to the death throes of Empire. Faced with liberal revolts at home, and nationalist ones abroad, Ferdinand I the final ruling Hapsburg would abdicate in late 1838. He would be replaced by his nephew, the eight year old Franz-Joseph who would rule as a figurehead with the real power laying in a council of Liberal ministers. It would be they, under the guidance of the infamous Metternich who would oversee the end of Austria Hungary and the beginnings of a new order for Europe.
However the transition would be far from painless...