Holy Roman Empire

Chapter 27: February Revolution

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Not only Austria has this problem, but also European countries such as Prussia, France, Britain, and Russia are dominated by aristocratic officers.

This situation continued until the end of the world war. After the baptism of the world war, the noble officers suffered heavy losses, did not have enough reserves to replenish, and finally lost their dominance in the army.

In contrast, Austria was lucky. The German aristocracy dominated. Because of traditional relationships, most of them had good military literacy.

These aristocratic officers are rare high-level intellectuals in this era. If someone forces them to work hard with a whip behind them, there is no problem in serving as a low-level officer.

For the future of Austria, for the happiness of the European people, and for the development of all mankind, Franz felt a clear destiny, not the will of God.

Anyway, he has decided to take over the task of transforming the next generation of Austrian nobles, and it is just the beginning.

The wheels of history are rolling in. After the outbreak of the January Revolution in Sicily, it quickly spread to northern Italy. In order to protect the safety of Lombardy and Venice, the Vienna government also sent reinforcements to the local area, and the situation was temporarily stabilized.

Before the outbreak of the Great Revolution, the European working class was in dire straits. Take France as an example:

The wages of workers are very low. The daily wages of male workers are about 2 francs, and the daily wages of female workers are about 1 franc. Children aged 13 to 16 are paid only 75 centimes, and children aged 8 to 12 are only paid 45 centimes.

The cheapest brown bread at the time also cost more than 30 centimes per kilogram, and the income of the working class was barely subsistence.

(Data for 1840)

On the surface, it seems that the treatment of male workers is not bad, while the treatment of female workers and child workers is very low.

In fact, capitalists are not fools. They will maximize profits. These money are exchanged for life, and male workers need to undertake more heavy manual labor.

Almost every day they work fifteen to sixteen hours. The more they work, the faster their physical strength will be consumed. Of course, the energy that needs to be replenished is also indispensable.

This can be seen from the life expectancy. The heavy labor force makes the average life expectancy of workers less than 40 years old, and even many heavy manual labor industries are less than 35 years old.

In 1846, due to heat and drought, the wheat and bean harvests failed, and France's staple food was seriously threatened, causing food prices to skyrocket.

In 1845, the price of 100 liters of wheat was 17.15 francs, but by 1847 it had risen to 43 francs, and in the Upper Rhine province, it had skyrocketed to 49.5 francs, and in some areas it exceeded 50 francs.

Especially in northern and northeastern France, the price of cereals has generally increased by 100% to 150%, and the price of bread has increased by 2 times.

If everything goes up, even if wages don't go up, the life of the working class will naturally be difficult.

The house leak happened overnight rain, and the British economic crisis in 1847 spread to France again.

The rise in the price of grain has nothing to do with the farmers' dime. It is only because of the reduction in grain production that their income has fallen sharply, and France's internal purchasing power has declined.

Against this background, cheap British industrial products rushed in, and French industry and commerce were immediately dealt a blow.

In 1847 the industrial output of Paris was 1.463 billion francs, by the beginning of 1848 it had dropped to 6.77 francs.

After the cut in half, there was a 10% discount. Just looking at this number, you can see that the French industry and commerce have been mourning. In just one year, thousands of companies in France have closed down.

Behind the frenzied closure of enterprises, an army of unemployed is naturally born, and the social contradictions in France are becoming increasingly acute.

Against this background, not only did the July Dynasty fail to take any effective measures, but instead, corruption prevailed and scandals emerged one after another.

After the "Labor Protection Law" formulated by the Austrian government was passed to Paris, it quickly caused a sensation among the working class.

The Paris government, who realized it later, wanted to block the news is too late, of course, they themselves do not have such executive power.

A large-scale workers' strike movement broke out in Paris and quickly spread to France and other parts of Europe.

At the same time as the workers' strike, the peasant class also broke out the anti-starvation movement. From July 1847, the peasants who went bankrupt due to grain failure and debt crisis set off a wave of grain grabbing.

They destroyed the landlord's manor, seized grain stores, and killed grain speculators. The movement also spread to the cities, and unemployed workers who couldn't bear it because of their hunger joined in, in what is known in history as the "bread riot."

The continuous collapse of the social order also aroused the dissatisfaction of the bourgeoisie with the government.

Originally, in the economic crisis, everyone suffered heavy losses, and they were just about to make a fortune on food to make up for their wounded hearts.

It turned out that the French peasants were too ferocious, and the fighting power of the working class was quite strong. If people couldn't afford it, they would rob them directly. This also prevented the capitalists from living

At this time, the French bourgeoisie also split. Except for some vested interests, most of them were opponents of the July Dynasty.

Including the dynasty opposition and the republican faction, of which the republican faction is divided into: the national newspaper faction and the reformist faction. Although the political views of each faction are different, they have temporarily stood together in order to oppose the July Dynasty.

The incompetence of the Guizot government can be seen. The opposition organized 70 large and small banquets across the country, and many places publicly shouted revolutionary slogans, but they were not suppressed.

The incompetence of the government made the revolutionaries see their reality and began to prepare for an armed uprising.

Demonstrations are commonplace to the people of Paris. On February 22, 1848, people in Paris took to the streets to protest against the government's ban on banquets.

What exactly happened, Franz doesn't know. In short, history seems to have changed slightly, and that night the people of Paris revolted, and the February Revolution broke out.

After the uprising broke out, the opposition of the revolution expanded sharply, and students, workers, citizens, and capitalists all participated. Of course, few capitalists took up arms, and they all supported behind the scenes.

The Guizot government, awakened by the revolution, quickly dispatched the army to suppress the revolution. It is a pity that they underestimated the situation of the French military and civilians.

Even in the army, there were many supporters of the revolution. Most of the National Guard refused to carry out the government's revolution, and some troops directly defected.

For the latter matter, Franz can only rely on his brain to make up for it. More detailed information is not so easy to obtain.

In short, on the afternoon of February 23, 1848, in order to ease the situation, King Louis-Philippe of France dismissed the Guizot government and appointed the liberal Molet to form a cabinet, in an attempt to quell the anger of the bourgeoisie.