Reichstadt's 18 Brumaire
The morning of March 31 opened with insurgents retreating from the last barricade on the Wickenburggasse on Josefstadt, the last stronghold of the bourgeois revolutionaries in the inner city and the Vorstadts. They still had units supporting the proletarian mob outside in the suburbs, which government forces had only begun to engage the previous day. But within the city walls, Reichstadt had broken their positions and their resolve, and had successfully negotiated a truce by afternoon of that day, which disarmed the Burgegarde, pardoned the great majority of its recruits and put its commanders under house arrest. He had placed the city of Vienna firmly under the government’s foothold, sending the student masses back to their gymnasium classrooms and University lecture halls. Although politically, the Viennese revolution of the middle classes had only just begun, militarily it had been decisively crushed by Reichstadt’s boot heels. It could not be said however that order had been restored to Vienna until the rampaging workers were put down, and this would prove to be a much more challenging objective for the Duke’s forces. In containing the middle class militia, Reichstadt had employed a uniform strategy of a massive artillery strike followed by charging cavalry and infantrymen which worked tremendously well in bringing down the barricades. In between his ferocious attacks, he turned to more creative strategies such as seizing bell towers and ordering snipers to take out insurgents below, one by one or on 29 March, when he lured a middle class mob into a square on the Briggetpark, where he had also lured a proletarian mob, and made the two forces attack each other while his cavalry watched with glee from afar as the two mobs, who were supposed to be compatriots, tore each other to shreds. He would need a much more complex strategy however in dealing with the working class mob. In the much denser Industrial district and in the suburban areas where the workers had overtaken all government buildings and police stations, an insurgent regime had been established which brought with it the constant threat of a proletarian invasion of Vienna, and where the genteel student mob of the Burgegarde could be counted on to stop at the very steps of the Hofburg and spare the Emperor’s head, nobody could say for sure if the workers were as humane or civilized in their revolutionary intentions.
"FIGHTING BROKE OUT IN THE PROLETARIAN DISTRICTS"
Government forces confront insurgents just outside the city gates
Reichstadt realized that his assault on the factories and suburbs would have to rely on the infantry far more than it would on the cavalry or artillery, and rode out of the city gates at the head of a 900-strong infantry force, bolstered by fresh reinforcements from the rest of Lower Austria, as well as a few regiments from Italy and Hungary. The insurgents knew that with the end of the fighting in the Vorstadt, came the turn for the attack on their homes and barricades and went on a stringent defensive footing in anticipation of the expected government onslaught. Fighting broke out in the proletarian districts just as soon as the truce with the Burgergarde had been signed and the pacification of Vienna, took on an even more tedious and ferocious tone as a kind of street fighting, unseen in Europe since the days of Napoleon in Spain, ensued and Reichstadt quickly confirmed his prediction that his artillery attacks would prove to be ineffective and wasteful in the tightly-packed and highly condensed slums of the working class district. A cannonade he launched against a ragged assortment of barricades in the cobblers’ district on the Gotenweg, resulted in the destruction of the shabby tenements of its residents, the rubble from which was then converted by the insurgents into a new set of barricades and it took the support of the cavalry and a brave bugle charge for that street to be retaken, at the cost of about a dozen men. On the next day, 1 April government forces had reached Leopoldauer Platz but Reichtsatd made it known to his staff that he was not satisfied with the progress, and ordered the installation of his precious artillery on the hills overlooking Vienna. This was to be his last resort in the case of an insurgent victory.
In order to keep the disgruntled and defeated students busy and to keep at bay the possibility of another middle class uprising, Reichstadt had converted what was left of the Burgegarde into a new National Guard and immediately used them to aid his soldiers in the restoration of order in the suburbs. This new force was also able to draw recruits from segments of the bourgeois population who did not participate in the original phase of the middle class uprising, the conservative sympathizing “silent majority” of the Viennese revolution, something that the original Burgegarde could not do. This came about in the form of six new battalions, fresh from taking their civic oath, marching into the front two days later on 3 April after street fighting reached fever pitch with a particularly violent skirmish that killed thirty two government soldiers and untold numbers of insurgents. Even with this new infusion of manpower Reichstadt felt that his attacks were not as decisive and not as speedy enough as he had hoped, and the prospect of a massive artillery bombardment from the sky approached reality. But a break in the gridlock on the Forsthauspark district gave hope to government forces as they were able to capture an insurgent barracks that housed three hundred of their ranks, a major blow to the insurgent effort. Reichstadt and his staff arrived at the conclusion that what had enabled this victory was cooperation between infantry and fast moving-light cavalry, whose formations cut through insurgent positions like a knife. He soon amassed 400 foot soldiers, 260 light horsemen led by the Tyrolean Chasseurs and supplemented by 300 National Guardsmen, a large assortment of forces for a single attack in what was to be a risky assault on a barricade complex situated in the middle of the Vorgartenstrasse. These units charged against the insurgents on the evening of 3 April and quickly overwhelmed the defence. They were forced to abandon the street and were pushed back to the banks of the Danube where they surrendered and were taken as prisoners. Reichsatdt had soon mastered this type of attack and by 5 April was making inroads into the last working class district under the militia’s control, the Brigttenau. He had a assembled a group of prisoners who were soon identified as “lieutenants” in the insurgent army, among them were, two tailors, three construction workers and a glassware manufacturer, and extracted from them the instruments of a surrender.
A hard won peace and some semblance of order fell over the suburbs, as Reichstadt retired to his quarters at the Stephansplatz, with his final order for the night being one for the dismantling of the highland artillery positions he had ordered a few days ago. Earlier in the evening he had stood at a solemn service for those in his ranks who had fallen and read out a proclamation in the Emperor’s behalf, praising their valour and calling on all to support the regime’s attempts to maintain law and order. He received a letter from Metternich and his ministers commending him for his efforts at keeping peace and order, but soon he, along with the rest of Vienna heard of Lajos Kossuth’s brilliant oration in Budapest, calling for rights, equality and a constitution for the Hungarians. Not long after that, Veinnese newspapers were reporting the stunning successes of Italian insurgents in Milan, with their demands calling for everything from; reform and autonomy to secession, unification and republicanism. Reichstadt wrote to Princess Sophie, safe in Ambras Castle in Innsbruck; “These tumultuous events have only just come into shape. Tomorrow, I shall awake to find the people of Vienna, the students and the middle classes, the workers and the paupers, gathered together again in large and unrestrained mobs. Although deprived of their rifles and barricades, they shall make the streets tremble with the songs of liberty and fraternity. It shall be all up to me again. I should get some sleep now.”
"THE MASSES AND THE MOBS OF CITIZENRY SURROUNDING A BURNING IMPERIAL RESIDENCE"
Demonstrators in front of the Hofburg, as it caught fire on 7 April, 1848
The crowds that assembled at the Hofburg on 7 April, a day later than Reichstadt had thought, were made up of a strange assortment of intellectuals, students, shopkeepers as one segment, and factory workers, journeymen, day labourers and servants as another, and members of the National Guard who had joined in, rather than reinforce the palace’s defence. These people who only several days before had been shooting each other behind barricades were now mingling as part of a second round of demonstrations that shouted renewed cries of liberty, suffrage and constitution, and a much refreshed and newly inspired call for brotherhood that came in light of the revolution spreading to the other subject peoples of the Habsburg empire. Even more resounding than all this though, were the cries calling for the Chancellor’s head. “Down with Metternich!” rang louder and more prevalent than any other slogan. What made this possible was the exclusion of any clause in the truce that forbade rights to assembly. So, while disarmed and ostensibly peaceful, the population of Vienna could still take advantage of the rights the government had left intact, and take advantage they did. In anticipation of an emergency convention of the Lower Austrian Estates scheduled for 9 April, the power to impose a new security regimen had been bestowed upon Reichstadt by the the Imperial government which enabled the Duke to send the Emperor and the Imperial family to Schloss Klessheim in Salzburg. Soon after, he issued an order assigning heavy military presence to guard the sites of; the Chancellery, the various ministries and the palaces of Schonbrunn and the Hofburg, where a mysterious fire had broken out at midday. Thought to be caused by revolutionary saboteurs from within, the fire had apparently been the result of an accident involving the large piles of military supplies that had been stockpiled within the palace walls, which included tonnes of gunpowder and ammunition. As the fires raged, the crowds chanted louder and louder their demands for reform as if competing with the sound of the flames, which were soon put out by loyal units of the National Guard. Accidental as this incident may have been, the image this created of the masses and the mobs of citizenry surrounding a burning Imperial residence, became indelible in the minds of many across the Empire as a sign of just how close to collapse the regime had come.
In the early evening of 8 April, Metternich descended the steps of his residence at the Chancellery in order to attend a preliminary meeting of ministers at the heavily guarded Landtag building, in order to make last minute arrangements for the parliament’s opening the following day. However something totally unexpected happened to the Prince as the guards present suddenly blocked his way and informed him of their orders that he should not be allowed to set foot outside of the Chancellery’s gates. His angry objections were answered with statements to the effect of “Our orders are for your safety and wellbeing, sire”. If this were taking place in England or in France, Metternich could simply exclaim with all righteousness on his side that what was happening was “Unconstitutional!” but he could not and instead, he reportedly, simply yelled that “This is an outrage!”. Against the backdrop of loud chants of “Freedom!” and “Down with absolutism!” from the ever-present mob of demonstrators just on the other end of the building, the Chancellor, and his ministers still inside the Chancellery, and a number of deputies at the Landtag, had become Reichstadt’s prisoners.
"DOWN WITH METTERNICH!"
Metternich announces his resignation as Chancellor to his ministers
These developments had been kept secret and so had no effect on the crowd in front of the Landtag, who were clenching in their hands with arms raised, recently distributed revolutionary pamphlets bearing their same, incessant demands for constitutional government and a list of rights and reforms to be granted to them by this new session of the Estates. At four o’clock in the afternoon, units of cavalry from the Tyrolean Chasseurs, the 44th Austrian Dragoons, the Hungarian Horse Guard regiments rode into the square with their sabres sheathed signifying that they were not out to attack the demonstrators. In movements measured not to excite or aggravate the crowds, the horsemen lined up in the middle of the square, gently pushing people to the sides until they had carved a spacious pathway that ran through the center of the Platz up to the steps of the palace. Not soon after, the Duke of Reichstadt himself appeared and rode through the squarem to the rowdy cheers of his cavalry, up the steps and to the entrance of the Hofburg. The reaction from the protestors was mixed. As this was happening, some had joined the guards in cheering the Duke due to popular perceptions that he was a champion of the liberal and revolutionary cause. A much larger portion of the crowd derided him with cries of “Tyrant!” and “Scourge!” with their wounds still sore, in many cases literally, over his defeat of the insurgent barricades. But all had been awed by the sight of this latter day Napoleon and since nobody knew what he was about to say, the mob fell into silence as Reichstadt opened his mouth. “There shall be Liberty and a Constitution for all!”, and the crowds cheered. The Duke turned his back on them and entered the chamber of the Estates, accompanied by several dozen guards and horsemen. The deputies who were assembled with began to yell at the sight of Reichstadt and his men; “Outlaw him!” and “Release us!” Reichstadt attempted to speak but was drowned by the angry jeering of the deputies who were still his captives. Fumbling at his attempt to impose his authority over them, he left the Landtag through the back entrance and rode towards Metternich’s Chancellery under heavy guard. News of the Duke’s actions began to spread among the crowds and soon his name could be heard being cheered and shouted by the demonstrating masses.
In his ensuing meeting with an exhausted and broken Metternich, whose outrage had dissipated over the long night, Reichstadt successfully persuaded the Chancellor to resign, showing him a document signed by the Emperor just before he left for Salzburg, calling on him to do just that if the mob so demanded. The Chancellor met with his ministers at a final meeting of his Staatskonferenz and made it known to all of them that he was stepping down and heading for exile, the itinerary and arrangements for which were arranged by Reichstadt himself. The Prince’s resignation was immediately dispatched to the Emperor and in his place, on Reichstadt’s advice, would be appointed Count Franz Anton Kolowrat, a man with mild liberal sympathies. The ministers were dismissed and Reichstadt and Metternich sat over a now legendary dinner by the balcony from which could be heard “Down with Metternich” and “Hurrah for our Napoleon!” They talked of many things; of current developments throughout the Empire and Europe, of the incoming liberal ministry and of the future of the Habsburg dynasty, which both men had expressed much confidence in, and among these things, the two had talked of history. Reichstadt asked of his father, and Metternich recounted the time they met at Dresden in 1813. He recounted that he thought of the French Emperor as a magnificent man who was ultimately destroyed by his flaws, his pride. Reichstadt toasted to Metternich’s health and the two parted ways, the ex-Chancellor with his wife Melanie would begin their journey to London, while the Duke rode back to the Estates and informed the deputies of Metternich’s resignation. He had managed to force them to vote to approve a declaration, drafted by Reichstadt himself earlier in the day, guaranteeing to the people under the jurisdiction of the Landtag, among many things; the abolition of censorship and feudal obligations for peasants, universal male suffrage, a much expanded National Guard, and setting plans for a constituents’ convention that would write a Constitution for the people of Austria. All it needed was the signatures of the Emperor and his incoming Chancellor, Kolowrat. Finally, the deputies were allowed to go home and the Emperor and his family made their way back to the capital. Reichstadt stepped out of the Landtag and announced to the crowds the historic developments of the day. The cheers and cries of “Liberty” and “Long live the Emperor” became thunderous, as Reichstadt announced; “There shall be Liberty and a Constitution under the Crown!”
When the Emperor and the his court returned to a much pacified and orderly Vienna on the early hours of 11 April, members of the previous ministry, among them Princes Windishcgratz and Schwarzenberg railed around him to request that Reichstadt be stripped of his command post, complaining that he had overstepped his bounds as a simple military officer in triggering a change in government. However, other members of the Imperial Court, among them Archudke John argued that Reichstadt’s military talents were much needed in other parts of the Empire, such as in Italy where Piedmontese armies have crossed the frontier to intervene in Milan, and in Hungary where it looked like Kossuth was assembling a Hungarian National Army, and in Prague too, unrest had broken out as the workers of that city had taken up arms. The Duke of Reichstadt’s political future would depend on how he would handle these revolutionary disturbances, as he soon found himself posted second in command of the Austrian army in Italy, under Marshal Josef Radetzky. Here he would further prove his worth as a general and an invaluable military asset.
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