erless to
n in the
stronger,
lities off
xd. The
poration
46), had
antry in
. govern-
but the
risis, by
088 wWay.
n rule in
y uncon-
Austria
t of the
ready in
Philippe
wdations.
ollowed,
enna, to
a feeble
ed, the
ess were
nvoke a
empire.
ary had
ministry
emperor
e 22d of
lan, and
bo retire
me, and
s in the
state of
hands of
ion (the
support
national
pted to
also a
vert the
ese pro-
nsbruck
govern-
sulted in
0 whose
A Slavie
r, which
Prince
s linger-
ower of
suing an
e power
e main-
against
red war
and the
, Rome, |
- was in |
rtiations
f Great
nee on
ky took
Vicenza,
against
Justozza
1e fruits
Chaxles
elivered
nna was
emained
opened,
AUSTRIA.
July 22, by the Archduke John, as his representa-
tive. But a new crisis was ripening in Hungary.
The Croats, under their Ban, Jellachich (q.v.),
opposed the predominance of the Magyars, and
refused obedience to the Hungarian government,
which, under the Batthyanyi-Kossuth ministry, was
pursuing a policy almost independent of Austria.
Jellachich’s resistance was officially condemned by
the emperor, and he was threatened with deposition;
but, as subsequently appeared, his conduct was
secretly -approved by the court. The Archduke
Palatine, Stephen, now left Hungary, after a last
attempt at conciliation ; and the emperor, who had
returned to Vienna after repeated invitations, named
Count Lamberg commissioner, with the supreme
command in Hungary. Lamberg, however, was
murdered on the bridge of Pesth (September 28).
The Hungarian parliament was now dissolved, and
the command given to Jellachich. But the parlia-
ment continued its sittings, and appointed Kossuth
president of the committee of defence. When the
imperial troops now began to march against Hungary,
a frightful insurrection broke out in Vienna (October
6), which was attributed to Hungarian instigation.
The arsenal was stormed, and the war-minister,
Latour, murdered; the court fled to Olmiitz, a
committee of safety was appointed, the armed
populace organised, and the Polish general, Bem,
put at the head of military affairs; while the diet
wavered between loyalty and revolution. In the
meantime, the military forces had withdrawn, and
joined Jellachich, in order to prevent the Hungarians
coming to the aid of the Viennese. Windischgritz
now approached with an army, and declared Vienna
in a state of siege. The attack began on the 23d
of October, and after a resistance of § days, Vienna
surrendered.
Severe measures were then taken ; and a number
of leaders, among others, Robert Blum (q.v.), were
condemned and shot. . The diet now met at Kremsir,
and a new ministry was formed, into which Prince
Schwarzenberg, Count Stadion, Bach, Bruck, and
others entered. But the vigorous policy thought to
be necessary for the restoration, and advocated by
the Archduchess Sophia, was not responded to by
the easy nature of Ferdinand I. Accordingly, the
emperor abdicated, December 2, as did also the
Archduke Franz Karl, and the latter’s son, Franz
Joseph (q.v.), was declared emperor.
In winter, Windischgritz entered Hungary, and
began the Hungarian war. After the encounters
at Raab and Babolna, Ofen was besieged (January
1849), and the Hungarians retired beyond the Theiss,
and had time to organise themselves under such able
leaders as Gorgei and Klapka, and to prepare for
the struggle of the following summer.
In the meantime, important events took place
elsewhere. In March (21—23), Radetzky made his
rapid and decisive campaign, which, by the victory
of Novara, led to the abdication of Charles Albert,
and an indemnification for war expenses from
Sardinia of 15 million lire. With the surrender of
Venice, which took place in August, the subjugation
of Ttaly was complete.
At Kremsir, the diet proving intractable, was
dissolved, March 4, 1849 ; and a constitution was
granted (octroyirt), with two elective chambers,
responsible ministers, and other constitutional pro-
visions. In the National Assembly at Frankfurt,
A. opposed the project of a confederated state under
the leadership of Prussia, and managed to thwart
the conferring of the empire of Germany on the
Prussian king (March 1849).
In Hungary, the Magyars, though the Germans
and Slaves within the country itself were hostile to
them, began the campaign with decided success.
Bem conquered Transylvania in spite of Russian aid;
and the rest of the Hungarian army advancing
westward in spring, were successful against the
imperial forces at Szolnok and Waitzen. Windisch-
gritz was replaced in the command by Welden, but
the imperial cause was not improved. Kossuth’s
hopes rising, he proclaimed the deposition of the
House of Hapsburg, and virtually made Hungary a
republic. By May, Pesth and Ofen were again in
the hands of the Magyars; and although General
Welden was recalled, and the command given to
Haynau, there was little prospect of success against
the Magyars, if a treaty with the czar had not
brought the aid of a Russian army under Paske-
witsch. The Austrians still suffered several reverses,
and the Hungarians performed splendid feats of
arms, such as Gorgel's victory at Waitzen, and
Klapka’s sally from Komorn; but from June, the
war on the whole began to be more favourable to
A., whose forces were well managed by Haynau and
Jellachich ; and the intervention of the Russians
brought an irresistible weight of numbers against
the Magyars. After the affairs of Szegedin and
Debreczin, Haynau’s engagements on the Theiss,
and the raising of the siege of Temeswar, it was in
vain that Kossuth transferred the dictatorship to
Gorgel. Gorgei, whether from treachery, as the
other Magyar leaders maintain, or from necessity, as
he himself avers, laid down his arms to the Russians
at Vilagos (August 13). The surrender of Komorn,
in September, completed the subjugation of Hungary,
which was treated as a conquered country, and the
officers taken in Arad were dealt with by Haynau
with a blood-thirsty rigour.
A. was now free to attend to politics, internal
and external, and the spirit of the restoration
soon shewed itself. One important fruit of the
revolution has been retained—the liberation of the
soil from the burdens and trammels of feudalism.
All other liberal concessions very soon disappeared.
For a time, the forms of the constitution of March
1849 were retained; but the rigorous military
government and the surveillance exercised over the
press, shewed the tendency of things. The funda-
mental principles of the constitution turned out to
the profit only of the Catholic Church, which
got rid of the placetum regium. In the beginning
of 1851, Schmerling and Bruck, the liberal element
of the ministry, retired; and i August appeared
a number of imperial decrees rendering the minis-
ters accountable to the emperor alone. At last,
January 1, 1852, it was announced that the con-
stitution and the fundamental rights were abolished,
trial by jury set aside, the old press law revived,
&c. This was followed by still greater concessions
of influence to the clergy. The emperor did not
conceal his predilection for absolute military govern-
ment. All this was not effected without manifesta-
tions of discontent. The fires of revolution were
still smouldering in Hungary and Italy; and in
Lombardy, though still under strict military law, a
tumult broke out, February 1853, in which a number
of officers and soldiers were stabbed. The finances,
t00, notwithstanding vigorous measures for improv-
ing the material resources of the country, continued
in a bad state, so that incessant loans were required
to cover the current deficit.
On the confused arena of German politics, the
struggle for ascendency was kept up between A.
and Prussia. In October 1850, the two powers were
armed and ready to come to blows; but the bold
and determined policy of Schwartzenberg prevailed,
and Prussia gave way. The points in dispute it
might be difficult for any but a German to under-
stand, even if it were worth trying. See GERMANY,
HessE-CAssgL. The result was that Prussia's
875
