The Frankfurt Connection: The 1848 Revolutions

No idea if people are interested but I had the idea of writing biographies for the various historical personalities represented here, possibly some diary entries and other such "historical" artefacts. Also I will be posting the promised updates for the Austrians, Ottomans and Russians at some point in the next few weeks.

And the Americas, colonial developments, cultural things and other stuff so everything is roughly brought up to date which as it stands is roughly 1866. I have a lot of material stored somewhere on my laptop so I think this timeline is going to develop into a big leviathan.

Essentially if you want to leave, now is your chance.
 
The End of Habsburg Hegemony? Austria and the Long Transition, 1853-1866
The assassination of Franz Joseph in 1853 had seen his young and broadly liberal brother Maximilian ascend to the throne as emperor, providing hope to the radicals of 1848 that the empire would isntrument reform and shift away from the repression enacted under Franz Joseph's rule. Maximilian dismissed the military government which had been in place since 1849 and appointed the noted liberal jurist Anton von Schmerling as Prime Minister, before calling the "Prague Convention" which would seek to establish a new constitutional order for the state. [1] The new government loosened restrictions on freedom of speech and assembly and gradually eased back the vast police state established during his brother's brief reign.

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Emperor Maximilian, around 1864
Schmerling's govenrment began the Prague Convention by inviting delegates from the Crownlands in order to discuss the formation of a new federal structure, which would replace the centralised realm introduced under Franz Joseph, though for the meantime Schmerling's government focused primarily on economic reform shfting away from protectionism to the creation of a more equal customs union, which began the project to expand the empire's railway network, connecting Trieste to Venice (plans to connect Trieste to Milan were dropped indefinitely following the Sardinian annexation of Lombardy.) The new government introduced several economic reforms aimed to modernise the economy, though it was hindered in this by the vested agrarian interests which had dominated the empire since the feudal era. The country's vast debt as a result of the revolutionary wars and the need to maintain a standing army further hinded development. Diplomatically, the nation remained neutral in the Russo-Turkish War of 1853-1854, and maintained this neutrality in general during the decade, though it maintained a broad military presence in Veneto, in fear of further Italian military action. In the mean time Maximilian married his cousin Princess Helene of Bavaria in 1854. [2]

The Convention of Prague, met for the first time in December 1853 and established the "State Committee" to propose very loose reforms, which would have granted limited authority to the imperial territories. [3] The emperor took a strong interest in the navy granting it military independence from the army [4], helping to establish and develop the facilities built in Trieste, and commissioned the Minerva Expedition [5] in 1854, which saw it become the first Austrian vessel to circumnavigate the globe. The return to civilian government, and the loosening of the autocracy marked the first of very small steps towards reform, though plans to introduce more wider ranging reforms were hamstrung by the hostility of the traditional nobility and vested interests of the "Four Pillars." [6] The emperor widened access to the imperial court [7], and threw himself into constructing a new summer residence in Trieste, while attempting to lighten the somewhat oppressive air of the Vienna Court, though the entrenched position of his mother made this difficult.

Finally after a year and a half of negotiations between representatives of the Crown, central government and the Crownlands themselves, a new, loosely federalised structure was created, though the general area of authority was retained in Vienna. The proposals of what became known as the "March Edicts" were the following:

  1. The Emperor's previous autocratic powers were reduced, though he retained the powers to appoint and dismiss the government, dissolve parliament, sign legislation into law and operated a veto which could temporarily annul legislation.
  2. The Imperial Diet was reconsititued as a federal parliament with limited legislative powers, composed of the directly elected Chamber of Deputies and the appointed States Council which was composed of delegates from the various imperial territories. The new parliament was elected by men over the age of twenty-one who paid a certain threshold in tax. Originally there had been a proposal for universal manhood suffrage based on the German model though this was rejected following strong opposition.
  3. The federal parliament was granted limited authority. It had legislative authority over financial matters, transportation and communications, and was granted limited authority over foreign affairs and the military, though neither the military or the government were directly responsible to the parliament. Permanent committees for the army, navy, duties and taxes, commerce and trade, railways and communications, justice, accounts and foreign affairs granting parliament limited oversight in this area, though the veto held by the emperor and the executive ensured that legislative power was limited.
  4. The new convention established limited autonomy for the Crownlands, with each Crownland granted an assembly. The autonomous nature of these assemblies was limited in scope, with the local governments granted responsibilities for agriculture, education, health, language and limited tax powers. Elections to the local parliaments were held under the same franchise system as the Imperial Diet.
  5. The convention agreed to liberalise the reactionary laws on freedom of press and expression and began to dismantle the vast military and police state apparatus established by Maximilian's predecessor. Freedom of religion was also granted with the convention emancipating the Jewish population of the empire, though the Catholic Church was still granted preferential treatment within the new system.
The convention was accepted by the moderate conservatives and liberal elements who supported Maximilian's proposed reforms. Hungary proved the great thorn in the negotiations due in part to the power of the local aristocrats, and the complex ethnic situation. The assassination of the Kaiser by a Hungarian nationalist and the general antipathy towards the Hungarians on the part of the other nationalities played into Maximilian's hands however, and they were eventually coerced into the new federal structure. [8] The government, as part of it's economic reforms, established a central bank which provided small loans to industrialists and manufacturers in order to boost production, though despite pressure from more radical elements it avoided the thorny issue of land reform for fear of disrupting the hard-won and fragile Prage Compromise.

Moderate plans to reform the military were proposed but gradually delayed due to fear of reactionary opposition. While the Compromise was unpopular with the more radical liberals and the reactionary elements of court, Maximilian's support of decentralisation and granting of autonomy to "the loyal subjects of empire" won him popularity with a broad swathe of the population, and his government's cautious reforms ensured that the state didn't collapse into anarchy, despite the opposition of conservatives claiming it would do just that. The new emperor and his government, as well beginning the gradual reform of the Habsburg state maintained a general neutrality in European affairs, though the Austrians maintained a large force in Veneto to deter any potential Italian aggrandisement, and had raised an army in the event that the Sardinian led invasion of the Two Sicilies spilled into Veneto. The emperor remained ambivalent towards the empire's northern neighbour: Germany embodied the liberalism he wished to establish in Austria, and yet he felt it should be under the command of the Habsburgs. These tensions would continue to linger between the two countries, though the two agreed to the development of trade and economic relations.

Austria, under the command of a young, committed monarch seemed to be on the very slow path to reform.

BRIEF NOTES

[1] The convention was open to delegates from the various nationalities of the empire and Maximilian took an active role. Schmerling, adopted a programme of cautious reform in order to appeal to nationalities of the empire, without alienating the vested interests of the power structure.
[2] The emperor's marriage was arranged at the behest of his mother who continued to dominate the court. The couple would go on to have five children.
[3] The Crownlands were granted local parliaments which were allowed to legislate for local affairs. Linguistic autonomy was also granted, though German remained the official language of the federal government.
[4] The navy received an increase in funds and began to commission modernisation plans, though these were limited in scope.
[5] OTL Novara Expedition
[6] The army, the bureaucracy, the church and the informants of the secret police.
[7] This access was extended to the minor gentry, as well as "the nobles in the fields of intellect, (…) of science and the arts, as well as the nobles of the civil life."
[8] The Hungarian realms had been under military occupation since 1849 with their parliament suspended under martial law. In exchange for supporting his proposals, the emperor agreed to return the region to civilian control and re-establish the Hungarian parliament with it's respective privileges.
 
I like this, but when can Germany get back at Denmark?

I haven't written a full update describing the war, but the London Protocol of 1864 overseen by the British saw the Duchies partitioned with the Danes retaining Northern Schleswig (the land north of Flensburg) and the Germans securing the south, Holstein and Lauenberg. (Check the update which covers the British during the period, it is briefly mentioned there)
 
The Sick Man Shows Signs of Recovery: The Ottoman Empire in the Aftermath of the Congress of London 1854-1866
The stirring military performance of the Ottomans against the Russians in the brief and bloody struggle for the Black Sea had caught many observers off guard, with numerous predictions that the Russians would hammer the Turks into submission until the British and French could respond by molibilising troops. [1] The Ottoman armies fighting the Russians to a stalemate had shown that the old empire was still functional as a fighting machine, though the great modernisation reforms continued afoot. In 1855, following the signing of the peace, the Edict of Imperial Reform (Islâhat Hatt-ı Hümâyûnu) was proclaimed which guaranteed the freedom of religion and equality under the law previously established under the 1839 Edict of Gülhane. The new reform extended the previsions of the previous edict by applying them to all citizens of the empire regardless of creed. [2] The reform also established reform committees for each community, composed of it's leading members. [3] The Civil Service which had greatly expanded as part of the reforms, was now open to all minorities while conscription was also extended to them as well. [4] The reforms established a national police force, the Gendarmerie which was extensively modelled on the French organisation. Like the civil service and the military this organisation was open to all Ottoman subjects, while all legal disputes were now held under "mixed tribunals" while all judicial proceedings were now public, while the penitentiary was reformed which included the abolition of corporal punishment. A further reform was the introduction of linguistic autonomy in judicial affairs and education, with minority languages granted equal status in regards to education (which saw the public school system extended by degree to cover the majority of imperial territory) and in judicial judgements, though both were subject to the newly established Ministry of Education and Ministry of Justice. [5] A programme of public works was instituted, with the construction of schools, hospitals, granaries, modernisation of the road network and the canal system within the empire in order to improve internal communications. The government also introduced plans to begin construction of a railway network and the establishment of a central bank, and borrowed money from British and French banks in order to part finance the war with the Russians. The strong military performance of the Ottomans encouraged further reform proposals, with plans to gradually industrialise and modernise the economy, through foreign capital. [6]

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Abdülmecid, the reformist Ottoman Sultan

The autonomies granted to the Danubian Principalities, had encouraged the Romanian unionist movement which sought to unify Moldavia and Wallachia into a political union. Nominally under the suzerainty of the Ottomans, the principalities, under their respective rulers Grigore Alexandru Ghica and Barbu Dimitrie Ştirbei had begun modernisation programmes, with the establishment of a gendarmerie in both principalities, the abolition of Roma slavery [7] and a conservative land reform which termed peasants as tenants and allowed them more freedom in moving between boyar properties. In Moldavia, censorship was abolished in 1856, which saw a flourishing in both literature and the press in the period. Following the Treaty of London, which granted further autonomy to Moldavia and Wallachia, plans to unify the principalities came afoot, though it faced fierce resistance from conservative factions and was greeted with distrust by both the Austrians and Ottomans. Following petitions to the French, the Moldavian cause for unification eventually had backing from a major power: the elections in 1858, saw the conservative anti-unionist candidacy of Gheorge Bibescu [8] defeated by the Moldavian liberal Alexandru Ioan Cuza who secured victory in both principalities and exploiting an ambiguity in the text of the Treaty of London declared himself Prince of the United Principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia, which following extensive negotiations between himself and the Sultan saw recognised in 1861, with the establishment of a unified parliament and cabinet reponsible to Cuza. The recognition and diplomacy, which had long consumed Cuza's state building efforts now took a back seat to the "immediate reforms" he had promised in 1859. In 1862, the new constitution declared the country the Principality of Romania with it's capital at Bucharest, though it's nominal suzerainty to the Ottomans remained intact.

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Prince Alexandru Ioan Cuza, sometimes referred to as Prince Alexander I

Cuza introduced a programme of reforms aimed at modernising the country. The first was the secularisation of monastic lands, which seized the lands held by the Eastern Orthodox Church and transferred their ownership to the state. Compensation offered by the Romanian government at around 82,000,000 leu was accepted by the Church after a series of prolonged negotitions. [9] The issue land reform, with the abolition of the corvée system and the transferral of land ownerhsip to the peasants would prove to be a far thornier issue, with the conservative landowning classes viewing any reform that would reduce their economic power as a threat. The reform, was problematic since around two-thirds of land remained in the hands of the landowners, while a new levy introduced to defray the cost of the abolition of duties perfomed under the corvée system created a heavy burden on the majority of peasant landowners and ruined the poorest. The consolidation of land also bouyed the Boyars, who retained the birt third through consolidation, selling off their more undesireable plots to the newly emancipated peasant landowners. The poorly implemented land division devised under the scheme further complicated matters. A bill devised to grant the peasants title to the land they worked was defeated, as was a counter-proposal to abolish peasant dues and responsiblities while retaining boyar control of the land in question. In the end a compromise system of sorts, pushed through by the Conservative government of Barbu Cartagiu maintained a limited form of the corvée system in some lands, though the old privileges of the boyar class had been eroded. [10] More successful reforms, such as the introduction of a criminal code modelled on that of France and a publicly funded system of public primary schools, and began military reforms to establish a modernised Romanian army. The issue of land reform would continue to dog his government and in 1865, he was deposed in a coup. [11]

The new government looked abroad for a monarch, eventually settling on the figure of Prince Philippe, Count of Flanders the second son of Leopold I of Belgium and the younger brother of Leopold II. Philippe, after several months of negotiations accepted the crown becoming Prince Phillip I of Romania (Filip I) in January 1866 with the promulgation of a new constitution that year extensively modelled on that of Belgium, with extensive freedoms guaranteed. Whether the new order would be able to secure the land issue, or whether it would default back to semi-serfdom was however anyone's guess.

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Prince Phillip I of Romania

BRIEF NOTES

[1] The British and French did mobilise troops, though the quick proclamation of a peace rendered the process moot. Neither the Austrians or Germans mobilised their armies despite the diplomatic pressure to do so.
[2] The new extension of religious freedoms was part of a programme of encouraging loyalty on the party of minority subjects to the Ottoman state.
[3] The bodies were designed to discuss reforms necessary for both the Ottoman state and for the respective communities, and were composed of the leading members of each community.
[4] The conscription issue was controversial, but was seen as necessary in government circles as a payoff for the increased rights and responsibilities granted to minorities under the reforms.
[5] Respectively titled the Council of Instruction and the Tribunal Council, but referred to in the west by the aforementioned titles.
[6] The extensive loans leveraged by the government would see the gradual development of an modernised transport network, with European engineers imported as advisors. The loans would also partially fund further military reform, and the extension of the shipping capacity of the empire.
[7] The Roma had been subjected to slavery throughout the centuries, but following the increased radical tendencies within Romanian society the issue became more important politically, and by the 1850s abolition was a real possibility. In the aftermath of abolition however, the Romanian government adopted a widespread policy of social integration which consisted of four policies: the placing of Roma within villages (and not the fringes), the encouragement of inter-ethnic taxes, the banning of the Romany language in preference to Romanian, and the assimilation of Roma children into the newly established system of compulsory education. The policies were continued by both the Cuza government and the governments of Prince Phillip.
[8] A previous prince of Wallachia during the 1840s.
[9] The church had initially rejected the compensation offer, but faced with the prospect of losing their land and receiving nothing in exchange they eventually accepted.
[10] They still remained the most influential group, and formed the bulk of supporters for the Liberal and Conservative parties. Their influence would continue to dominate Romanian society long after the reforms had been introduced.
[11] A coalition of Liberals and Conservatives angered by the reform attempts overthrew him and sent him into exile in France, where he eventually died.
 
I'm going to take a little break from this timeline for a while partly to focus on my Savoyard Spain project, but also for work reasons. However when I return I'm aiming to write a few updates to start to bring this leviathan up to the 1870s, so in the spirit of Frankfurt democracy, what would people be most interested in seeing?

Russia and the gradual reforms of Alexander II?
The Second Schleswig-Holstein War?
Colonial developments and developments in the non-European/American sphere?
Post civil war US?
Broader European things?
Cultural stuff?

I'll aim to have something by the end of the month, if I don't get distracted by yet another timeline project.
 
Colonial development! With an earlier unification and without Bismarck, Germany would try sooner to get a piece of the cake.
 
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