Elsewhere, on March 5, 1848, a conference was held in Heidelberg on the initiative of the liberals in Baden and Württemberg which was attended by many opposition politicians and state deputies from various German states. A total of 51 people attended this conference, most of whom were delegates from the smaller German states with a mere four Prussians and just a single Austrian present.
These 51 people attendees elected seven amongst them to a "Committee of Seven" (or Siebenerausschuss) which would invite 500 politicians and reformers to Frankfurt to form a German pre-parliament (or Vorparlament).
Undoubtedly, this conference was held without the permission of Austria. After all, Franz would never accept the legitimacy of such a conference. He had been busy dealing with internal chaos in Austria, so he didn’t have the time to consider anything else. However, once the internal chaos was resolved, he would certainly intervene in the affairs of the entire German region.
Thanks to Franz’s prudent actions, Austria’s situation was much better than it had been in history: the rebellious bourgeoisie in Austria had been hit hard, while the remaining few were hiding, afraid of being next. The parliament in Frankfurt would soon begin, but no legitimate politicians from Austria planned to attend it. Instead, numerous wanted rebels planned to attend.
Franz couldn’t understand what the bourgeoisie was thinking. From the beginning, this parliament was doomed to fail. Without recognition from the neighboring governments, where would their legitimacy come from?
***
Hofburg Palace, Vienna.
“Lord Minister-President, what do you think of this parliament in Frankfurt I’ve been hearing about lately?”
Minister-President von Schwarzenberg answered with a hint of contempt, “Your Imperial Highness, I don’t think we have to spare any thought on them. This ‘parliament’ has no legitimacy, so we can just deny whatever resolutions they pass!”
Austria had been the boss of the German states for over three centuries before the disintegration of the Holy Roman Empire. Even now, Austria had the highest national strength and richest culture among the many German states, so it wasn’t surprising that Minister-President von Schwarzenberg believed that reacting to some grassroots meeting was beneath Austria.
Franz frowned upon hearing this reply. Obviously, he was not satisfied with such a nonchalant answer. Franz suspected that the Frankfurt Parliament had been secretly initiated by Prussia; otherwise, Austria wouldn’t have been excluded from the start even if the Austrian statesmen were indifferent to it.
Historically, the Vienna government had similarly not taken it seriously, and the consequences had been quite serious. The Frankfurt Parliament had passed the Prussia-led “Little German solution” (or Kleindeutsche Lösung) as opposed to the Austria-led “Greater German solution” (or Großdeutsche Lösung) to the German Question of reunification without considering Austria’s opinion.
Foreign Minister von Metternich frowned and questioned, “Lord Minister-President, do you really think so? If we don’t intervene, I’m afraid this parliament will propose the establishment of a ‘Little Germany’ (or Kleindeutschland) without any consideration for Austria.
Regardless of whether such a proposition is legal or not, the Frankfurt Parliament’s influence on the German people is beyond doubt, though perhaps it may not be very obvious in Austria.
Once the German people accept the ‘Little German solution,’ it will lay a foundation for Prussia to more easily annex the northern German states in the future.”
Prince Klemens von Metternich was not called “Europe’s Statesman” for nothing. Although he didn’t believe that the German region could be truly unified, he, who pursued a policy of balance, opposed anyone who tried to unify Germany. Prussia was already very strong. If Austria continued to create opportunities for them, they would have no problem annexing the northern German states.
This was a very big threat to Austria. Historically, he had been ousted from the political circle after the revolution in Vienna which led to him being unable to prevent the unification of Germany by Prussia. Naturally, since he was still Austria’s foreign minister, he had to prevent it, so disrupting the Frankfurt Conference was a must.
This was Franz’s exact purpose for keeping him in the Cabinet. Even though the “Vienna System” he’d created had collapsed after over three decades, there was still hardly anyone in the world who could compare to him in terms of long-term vision and diplomacy.
“Lord Foreign Minister, please don’t be an alarmist. I think we’re all clear that these so-called reformers are all greedy capitalists. Do you think that they can represent the people and influence public opinion?
No German state will give legitimacy. This so-called Frankfurt Parliament has no influence beyond the borders of the city of Frankfurt!” Minister-President von Schwarzenberg countered angrily.
“Are you truly unaware of the influence of the bourgeoisie on the public! They can easily influence public opinion through the newspapers they own. Furthermore, I’ve heard from my contacts that the Prussian government has had many secret contacts with them.
Once both sides reach an agreement, the bourgeoisie will support the Prussians in unifying the German region, and we will surely have to fight a war against those damn militant Prussians!” yelled Foreign Minister von Metternich, almost growling.
Looking at the red faces of the two men, who were practically ready to throw hands, Franz quickly yelled, “Quiet, you two! I am here today to hear a discussion and find a solution, not to listen to your quarrel!”
On the surface, Franz seemed very angry, but in fact he felt very happy on the inside. No ruler wanted his ministers to have the same thoughts and always agree on everything, not to mention that Franz was not even the ruler yet. As the regent, once the Cabinet was united, Franz would have nothing to do and become disposable.
To maintain a balance of power within the government, he had chosen cabinet ministers with differing political ideologies. One was the former State Chancellor who had been in charge of Austria for almost three decades while the other was the outspoken present Minister-President of Austria. When two strong-minded people with differing political ideologies argued, they would inevitably have conflicts.
Franz mediated and said, “Although Lord Minister-President is not wrong, to be on the safe side, whether it is a Prussian plot or not, we must destroy this parliament, or at least minimize its influence! If any of you have any ideas, please share them.”
In fact, he believed that the influence and significance of the Frankfurt Parliament had been artificially magnified by the Prussians after they created the German Empire, but only those who had experienced it personally would know how great its influence was. Franz didn’t want to get involved, so he decided to simply destroy it.
Because of the tariffs imposed on foreign goods, Austria had a limited influence on the bourgeoisie in the German region, far less than Prussia where industrialization had barely begun. Naturally, he couldn’t offer more favorable terms than them.
Finance Minister von Bruck suggested, “Perhaps, we can propose the formation of a North German Empire and a South German Empire. If we promise the south German states that we won’t interfere in their internal affairs, it’s very likely that they will accept our proposal!”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible. We may be able to persuade the governments of the south German states, but we’d never gain the approval of the delegates in the Frankfurt Parliament! And even if he somehow managed to convince them, we’d have to pay too high of a price for it, so in the end, it would only be a nominal union,” Foreign Minister von Metternich dejectedly answered.
Franz was slightly tempted by Finance Minister von Bruck’s suggestion. If a South German Empire could be established, he wouldn’t have to deal with the Prussians. In addition, due to the religious divide between the Protestant north German states and Catholic south German states, a South German Empire would be more stable under the rule of the Catholic Habsburgs.
Even if it was only a nominal union in the beginning, he had many economic means to slowly infiltrate and influence the politics and governments of the other south German states. Unfortunately, it was not yet the right time. At the very least, Franz had to wait until the internal conflicts within Austria had been resolved.
Thank you for this chapnya!
Thank you for the chapter.