The Edelweiss Blooms 3.0: A TLIAW

All right, third time's the charm. This time, I actually have a plan set out, so I do have a reasonable chance of completing it this time, especially since I have a week. Once again, credit is given to all other TL writers out there (and Zoidberg12 in particular) if I have intentionally or unintentionally borrowed your ideas. :eek:
 
Part I: Assassination and Liberation

The late 1840s and early 1850s were an extremely tumultuous period in Austrian history. Tensions between the repressive government of Prince Metternich and the liberal, nationalist intelligentsia that grew in the wake of the Napoleonic Wars finally boiled over in 1848 during the Springtime of Nations. All over the old Habsburg Empire, uprisings were held as the people sought to overthrow their ancient Habsburg oppressors. Emperor Ferdinand I and Metternich himself were forced to flee Vienna, and in Bohemia and Hungary, new nation-states were set up.

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Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian statesman and leader of the rebels in Hungary

However, it was not to last. Lack of organisation and infighting made it virtually impossible for the new states and regimes to remain stable, and Imperial troops were eventually able to pick off the rebels one by one.

The new Emperor of Austria was Franz Joseph I. A neo-absolutist and student of Prince Metternich, the young Emperor was determined to crush all resistance to his rule. Together with his new Chancellor, Felix zu Schwarzenberg, a police state was set up, which rooted out any remaining resistor to Imperial rule and the Diet established during the Revolution was suspended. The promise of a constitution was abolished, and in its stead, the entire regime was centralized by a civil service under the Baron von Bach, removing any rights the provinces of the Empire had. When Schwarzenberg died in 1852, Franz Joseph was even more free to run the government as he saw fit.

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Franz Joseph, the Young Emperor, in 1850

Such harsh measures could not go on unabated. Discontent once more shimmered beneath the surface, and one nationalist, János Libényi, took matters into his own hand. In 18 February 1853, when Franz Joseph and his friend Maximilian O’Donnell were walking on the battlements of Vienna, Libényi ambushed the Emperor, stabbing him several times in the back. He was immediately struck down by O’Donnell and a bystander named Joseph Ettenreich. However, it was too late. The wounds were too deep for Franz Joseph to survive, and he died later that day.

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Libényi delivers the fatal blow

The new Emperor upon the death of Franz Joseph was his brother, Archduke Maximilian. Unlike Franz Joseph, who was an arch-conservative, Maximilian was a very charismatic liberal, who was extremely interested in science and the outside world. Believing very strongly in the common people, he was very enthusiastic to deliver much-needed reforms and finally realise the dream of the revolutionaries of 1848.

However, doing so would prove to be extremely difficult, especially after the literal stab in the back of the previous Emperor. The devolution of power to the provinces would prove extremely difficult, if not impossible. In order to gain support for the liberal reforms, he would need to build support around himself, and the perfect opportunity to do so indeed came several months after his coronation.

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Maximilian I of Austria
 
Part II: The Danube War

Shortly after the coronation of Maximilian, a major dispute arose between Russia and the Ottoman Empire over control and influence in the Balkans and the Middle East that would . Russia had already occupied the Danube Principalities of Wallachia and Moldavia in 1829, which had an Orthodox majority and reduced the de jure Ottoman control of the region into a mere formality. Eastwards, Russia seized the Caucasian and Circassian land and committed genocide against the Muslim majority. However, the dispute that would finally lead the great powers of Western Europe to declare war on Russia came when Russia demanded the right for Orthodox priests to guard the Christian shrines in Jerusalem, then part of the Ottoman Empire. Although Orthodox priests traditionally had this right, for many years this was done by Catholics. France stood up against Russia, supported by Britain and the Ottomans themselves. Maximilian immediately threw his support for the French and British, surprising many international observers who believed he would support Russia for the suppression of the 1848 Revolutions. Over 300 000 soldiers were mobilized on the Russian border, and in the October of 1853, war broke out between Russia and the Austro-Ottoman coalition.

Galicia was reduced to a bloodbath. Although the Ottomans were rapidly able to take Wallachia, Austria bore the brunt of the Russian advance. The Russians were 700 000 strong, and known for their siege warfare. The first major Russian advance into Galicia saw fighting in the border-town of Husiatyn, in which a brigade of Austrian troops were outflanked and destroyed by advancing Cossacks and Russian line infantry. The first major defeat began when the western wing of the Russian army engaged the Austrian army at the town of Mechau to the north of Krakow. Using light cavalry to screen their positions, the Russians were able to launch assaults on what were assumed to be the weak points of the Austrian Army. In many cases, the advancing troops were killed by Austrian rifles before they could reach a point where they could use their muskets effectively, but the relentless assault of weak points combined with the poor training of most Austrian troops meant that there was little resistance once the assaults had begun. The defeat at Lyschansk was similar, and in addition was bolstered by a lack of initiative which resulted in a flank attack. The Austrians were forced into the Carpathian mountains, where new difficulties were encounterd. The winter of 1853 claimed the lives of 30 000 Austrian soldiers, as frostbite and hypothermia set in. Roads were virtually nonexistent, and so

In addition, many Poles and Ukrainians were present on both sides. Although the Austrian Slavs were split up into a number of different regiments and were not present in large numbers, those who were deployed in the Galician front were often forced to fight family and fellow Slavs, leading to low morale[1]. The cities of Krakow and Lemberg were besieged. The Austrians were forced to retreat into the Carpathians, where thousands of soldiers died of frostbite in the mountains.

Meanwhile, a smaller force (of some 80 000) were detached to take Moldavia. This force was met with hardship as well: the northern Corps was set back at the Battle of Leorda, where the Russians heavily fortified the town prior to attack. The Austrians were unprepared to attack, and while they were eventually successful in taking the town, it took two days and half their initial force was killed in the process. To the south, the central Corps was halted entirely at the Battle of Targu Ocna in November 26, as the Grenzers (Romanian border infantry who were renowned for their skirmishing and close combat) failed to take advantage of high ground and instead were deployed as line infantry, leading to their defeat and snowing in for the winter. The southern Corps and the surviving northern Corps managed to meet with Ottoman troops to besiege Jassy, the capital of Moldavia, which was itself a logistical and organizational disaster. Although over 120 000 troops were involved in the siege (40 000 Austrian and 80 000 Ottoman), like their counterparts in the northern Carpathians, nearly a third of these died due to frostbite, disease and lack of supplies.

Despite numerous setbacks in the previous year, the spring of 1854 proved to be decisive. The spring thaw meant that reinforcements could arrive at major battlefields, facilitating the Austrian troops there. Although the lack of men in the Galician front meant that little gains could be made, the arrival of fresh troops at Jassy meant that meaningful assaults on the enemy lines were possible. In April 19 the Austrians finally assaulted the fortifications of Jassy, and after a four day battle of hand-to-hand combat the city finally fell. In May, the British and French finally declared war on Russia, and fresh troops on the Wallachian coast were secured. Sweeping advances into northern Moldavia began, which forced Russian troops to withdraw from Galicia. By August, most of Moldavia was taken, and the Russians were forced to sue for peace. At the Treaty of Paris, it was agreed to set up the Danube Principalities as a separate Kingdom of Rumania. Prince Frederick of Württemberg, a neutral ruler, was eventually chosen to become the King of Rumania. The dispute that began the war was resolved by affirming the current Catholic priests to guard the shrines. In addition, reparations had to be paid by Russia to Austria to pay for the damages inflicted by Russian troops in Galicia.

After the Danube War ended, Maximilian began an official government commission to determine the cause of the numerous military failures during the war. The commission reached its conclusions in 1855, and stated that the nepotism of military officers, who were chosen for social rank rather than competence, the lack of proper training for the Army (what training that was there were parade-ground drills rather than combat), and poor logistics were cited. Maximilian ordered military reforms at once. Over the years, generals who were deemed to exhibit poor conduct during the war were fired regardless of rank, and new generals who were to study military strategy and tactics were replaced. The Augustin rifles were replaced with repeating, breechloading rifles manufactured by Friedrich von Martini similar to what were used by Austrian light infantry during the Napoleonic Wars. Most of all, in the event that another war between Russia would break out, a system of roads, depots and fortifications were built in the Carpathians in Galicia to prevent another calamity from occurring. Such preparations were not unwarranted.

[1]However, note that the low morale faced by the Slavs in the Austrian side were often exaggerated by right wing German historians who tried to discredit the Slavs, and Polish and Ukrainian nationalists who were eager to emphasise the idea of Habsburg and Romanov Emperors forcing brothers to fight, especially as the majority of the fighting in the Galician front were done by Hungarians and Germans.
 
Part III: Interbellum: 1854-1862
The years between the end of the Danube War in 1854 and the beginning of the Second Great War in 1862 were known for the extensive restructuring of the Austrian government. By the late 1850s, it was clear that the large army and the extensive bureaucracy set up by Franz Joseph were putting a huge strain on Austria’s budget, even with the reparations paid by Russia. The first set of Maximilian’s reforms, while ostensibly done to reduce the strain these caused were in fact done to reduce the power of the crown and bring it to the people.

The May Proclamation of 1855 was the first major step towards the decentralisation of the Austrian government. The Police State, which was cited in the Proclamation as being an unnecessary strain on the budget was abolished, and the army was scaled down to 100 000 men in peacetime that were professionally trained as a fighting force (as noted previously). Most importantly, power was nominally delegated to Imperial Councils (Reichsräte) in the provinces that were appointed by Maximilian.

The May Proclamation was followed by the Constitution of 1860, which established a constitutional monarchy in Habsburg lands for the first time. Although large amounts of legislative and executive power remained in the hands of Maximilian himself, universal suffrage based off a weighted voting system was implemented similar to the Prussian voting system. Each province of the Austrian Empire was allowed to have a Landtag which governed over local affairs, which was in turn subordinate to the Reichstag in Vienna, both of which were to serve as an “advisory council” to the Emperor. All religions were considered to be equal in rights, and “customary languages” were to be used in each Landtag.

The restructuring of the Austrian government was paralleled by a number of social reforms intended to alleviate the underclass. Seeing himself as a protector of peasants against noble tyranny, he cancelled all debts for peasants above 10 florins, limited the rent of peasants and supported the construction of poor-houses across the major cities of the Empire. Subsidies for new investors were given out, and factories were built up all over Austria.

On the foreign front, Maximilian did his best to encourage relations with his newfound allies of France and Britain. In 1857, he made visits to the court of Napoleon III in France as Haussmann's reconstruction of Paris. Impressed by the grandeur of his renovations, Maximilian would later on request his aid in rebuilding Vienna, though his work on Paris would delay him until the late 1860s. He also made visits to London during this time, where he met Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

Maximilian also promoted Austrian influence in Germany as well as a mutual cooperation between the members of the German confederation in general. In 1855, he married his first cousin, Duchess Helene in Bavaria, and his son, Archduke Franz Karl, was born a year later. In 1857, the Vereinsthaler was introduced as a common currency in the German Confederacy. Austria would also join the Zollverein; the burgeoning industries of Germany would also help Austrian economic growth, especially as the free trade between the Zollverein states facilitated the movement of raw materials into the Empire.

However, relations with Prussia remained chilly. The second-most powerful state in the Confederation, Prussia saw itself as being the leader of the German states. With the rise of German nationalism and the increasing right-wing character thereof, the conservative Prussian aristocracy saw Austria as a threat to Prussian, and therefore German interests. Likewise, Russia was still bitter at the loss of the Danube War and seeked to gain revenge on Austria and to re-assert their influence in the Balkans. Otto von Bismarck negotiated a Russo-Prussian alliance in 1857, and for this he was declared Ambassador to Russia. However, Bismarck himself was strongly opposed to one of the basic tenants of the agreement, the addition of Rumania to the Russian sphere of influence; believing that this would only bring in Britain and France into the war, he unsuccessfully lobbied for the Russian annexation of Galicia. It appeared that Europe was headed into two camps, and that war was inevitable between these two sides.
 
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It was established by Prussia, but by the 1850s it extended to most of the German states. If the Wiki is to be trusted, the only reason Austria didn't join was because it had a pretty interventionist and protectionist economic policy IOTL.
 
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