AHC: Austrian Empire/ Austria-Hungary collapses before the 20th century

Well, by Spring 1849 the Hungarians had the Austrians on the run. In fact by April virtually all of Hungary was liberated from Imperial forces, and Hungary declared independence. So they were very much in a position of power before the Russians intervened. Considering public order in Austria, I'm not so optimistic. In 1848, IIRC the uprising in Vienna started exactly due to the Hungarians defeating the Imperial forces and approaching Vienna. One wonders what could have happened if they actually take the city and the Habsburgs agree to reforms (at this point Hungarian independence was not a goal). But that's a POD for a different TL. Anyway, if the Hungarians continue their offensive towards Austria, we can assume that revolutionaries would take action again.

The big question is just what actions the revolutionaries would take. I'm personally of the opinion, given they've already gotten their promise of a Constitution/reforms and the generally liberal Federalist leanings of the Viennese movement, that those actions would be to "take to the barricades" side by side with the Habsburg army to defend the city from the Hungarian attacks... a move which could only serve to smooth the relations between the government and dissident factions across the Empire and push the Habsburgs to ultimately adopt a more liberal post-revolt government and at least reduce the likelihood or intensity of later rollbacks.

Now, if they lose that battle, that could lead to a breakdown in Austrian authority as both the centeral government and Federalist factions lose material strength and credibility, thus boosting the relative position of separatists and German pan-Nationalists (Any successes by the later probably only serving to drive more moderates to the former).
 
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