The failure of the strike had shaken the prestige of Ernst Vilmos, the leader of the capitalists in Vienna, which led to many becoming skeptical about his ability to lead them and force the government to compromise.

As a result, the reformists among the capitalists took matters into their own hands. A group of radical capitalists began to secretly collude with the radical reformists and revolutionaries in an attempt to overthrow Chancellor Metternich’s government and establish a regime controlled by the capitalists.

Despite their plan to rebel, however, it was impossible for the capitalists to personally march against the government. Even if there had to be a revolution, it would have to be led by someone other than themselves i.e. someone more expendable.

They believed that their life was more precious than others because of their immense wealth. Who would spend their wealth if they ended up dying in the revolution. Moreover, they all understood that they could quite possibly turn into “martyrs” if they rebelled before the rot and decay of the Austrian Empire and its government had been exposed.

Still, most moderate capitalists had little confidence in the reformists. They still placed their hopes on fighting through nonviolent means to force the government to compromise.

***

A “banquet” was being held in a manor near the outskirts of Vienna where the host, Ernst Vilmos, was giving a passionate speech.

This “banquet” was a replica of the Campagne des banquets movement which had originated in France, but here in Austria, which was Europe’s hub of conservatism, the attendants included only a few intellectuals who had been fooled by liberalism, save for the capitalists, themselves.

“Gentlemen, we have to unite. We failed during the previous strike due to a lack of unity. It was because we did not present a united front that our enemy was able to divide and conquer us!

As long as we stand together, the nobles will surely be defeated and we shall be the ones to reap the benefits of replacing them as the ruling class.

There is no need for a violent revolution which leads to bloodshed. So long as we don’t easily back down, it’s not hard for us to defeat the nobles through the use of our wealth!”

Ernst Vilmos’s words obviously did not satisfy everyone, especially the revolutionaries who had come to the banquet were very dissatisfied with his non-violent approach.

“Mr. Vilmos, you call for a bloodless fight, but do you really think that nobles will give in so easily? Wake up and smell the roses! The rotten Vienna government will no longer listen to the voice of the public. True freedom can only be achieved through a revol…!”

“Whoever brought this bastard here better throw him out or he will cause all of our deaths!” yelled Ernst Vilmos, fiercely, not allowing the revolutionary to even finish his words.

‘Damn! Why is this idiot talking about revolution out loud?!! Does he really think the secret police run by the government is a joke?!’

Many other capitalists who came to the banquet were also angry like Ernst Vilmos. Even if they wanted a revolution, this was a matter which required discretion; the capitalists could support the revolution in secret, but why on Earth would they do so publicly?

If they dared to support the revolution publicly, everyone present would be in jail before they drew another breath. With so many people at the banquet, who knew how many traitors or secret police were in their midst?

When it came to their own security, the capitalists were all very cautious. One after another, they denounced the Revolutionary Party as if they had all become a model of loyalty and patriotism.

After all, Vienna was not Paris. The public’s enthusiasm for revolution was not very high. Not to mention, the government in Vienna was not unpopular like the July dynasty, so not many people wanted to overthrow the regime.

After being interrupted by the revolutionary, Ernst Vilmos’s public speech ended hastily. Instead, he took the top brass of the capitalists in Austria to his private chambers for a secret meeting.

***

“Mr. Vilmos, can we really force the government to make concessions just by raising prices of goods in the market? The nobles are not weak, either; if they fight back against us, we may go out for wool and come home shorn!” questioned Moritz Winkler, one of the more influential capitalists.

He was a direct competitor of Ernst Vilmos, so even though he was sitting together with the latter to safeguard their common interests, there was no way to mend the conflict between them.

“It is exactly because of the nobility that we will win,” replied Ernst Vilmos. He smugly smiled and explained, “Did you forget that our Chancellor is in favor of abolishing serfdom? I’m sure the nobles are starting to worry that if they don’t replace him soon, one day they will wake up and find that he has already passed legislation to abolish serfdom?”

Karl Fuchs, one of the moderate capitalists, nodded as he said, “Mr. Vilmos is right; that old bastard Metternich has offended a lot of people over the years, plenty of whom want him to step down.

Once that cunning old bastard is gone, the new Chancellor will surely not have such prestige. As a result, to stabilize the situation, he will have to compromise with us!”

Karl Fuchs and Ernst Vilmos had similar ideologies; both of them were opposed to violent revolutions and advocated fighting for their interests without causing bloodshed.

In fact, their ideologies were determined by their interests. As two of the top capitalists in Austria, they owned a large number of businesses.

Once a revolution broke out, there would certainly be a reshuffling of power; if they lost during the subsequent power struggle, they would stand to lose all their current wealth.

Ernst Vilmos appealed, “Mr. Winkler, the nobles are not pure or holy saints. Once we push the prices up, we can let them in on it with us. Once they realize that we can make money together, for their own benefit, they will not oppose us in the market.

There doesn’t even need to be many nobles; as long as 20% of the nobles stand with us, Metternich will be too powerless to do anything!

This time, our aim will be to force Metternich to step down. As for the repeal of the Labour Protection Act, the creation of a Constitution and popular elections, we can wait until the next government is formed to deal with it.”

After experiencing failure once, Ernst Vilmos became much more cautious than before.

The Labour Protection Act was used by conservative nobles to fight the capitalists, so obviously they would not make concessions readily.

To say nothing of implementing constitutionalism and popular elections, anyone who even mentioned either of them would be attacked by the nobility. Instead, Chancellor Metternich was an easy target because there were also many nobles who opposed him.

After considering Ernst Vilmos’s words for a little while, Moritz Winkler replied, “I’ll trust you this once, but what do you think we should do about the revolutionaries at the banquet?”

Karl Fuchs hastily answered before Ernst Vilmos could reply, “Do we even need to consider this? Of course, we have to draw a line between them and ourselves. Don’t tell me you wish to experience something similar to the French Revolution firsthand?!”

Moritz Winkler frowned as he said, “Mr. Fuchs, don’t be overdramatic, alright? I know most of us here have contacted them privately, so …do you think we should increase our support for them?

I know that we don’t expect them to succeed, but as long as they can attract some of the government’s attention, we would be able to reap the benefits of our investment in them.”

Ernst Vilmos bitterly smiled as he replied, “Mr. Winkler, please don’t make such jokes here. I’ve never personally known or been in contact with any revolutionary!”

Unlike the bold, middle-aged Moritz Winkler, Ernst Vilmos was already old. With his thriving businesses and huge sums of wealth, he was no longer willing to take big risks. Secretly providing funds to the Revolutionary Party was where he drew the line.