The Revolutionary Movement of 1848-9 in Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany Part 15

Since, then, the Frankfort Parliament no more embodied the hopes of the Liberals; since Republican risings seemed hopeless; and since it was hardly to be expected from human nature that those who had desired to establish German unity at Frankfort should consent at once to rally round that Prussian Parliament which had helped to defeat their efforts; the eyes of all who would not give up the cause for lost turned instinctively to Vienna. There, ever since July 10, a Parliament had been sitting, which seemed to enjoy securer freedom than could be found in other parts of Germany. This security was partly due to the influence of the same prince who had so much increased the dignity of the Frankfort Parliament; for the Archduke John was the one member of the Royal House who had a genuine respect for liberty. He had consented, not only to open the Viennese a.s.sembly, but, a little later, to get Pillersdorf dismissed from office, on the ground of his having lost the confidence of the people; and, in August, Ferdinand himself was induced to return to Vienna, and thus to give a still further sense of security to the supporters of parliamentary government. Nor was this Parliament without more solid results; for it abolished in Austria that system of feudalism which had already been swept away in Hungary.

But, in spite of this apparent success, the seeds of division and bitterness were too deeply sown to allow of lasting liberty in Vienna.

The workmen's movements, so often leading to riot, had been one cause of weakness; but the most lasting and fatal cause was that terrible race hatred, which, more than anything else, ruined the Austrian movement for freedom in 1848. The opposition of the Bohemians to the May rising in Vienna had intensified against them the indignation which had already been roused by their att.i.tude towards the Frankfort Parliament; and the June insurrection in Prague had been exaggerated by German panic-mongers into an anti-German "St. Bartholomew." When Dr. Rieger, Palacky's son-in-law, pleaded for delay in the election of the President of the a.s.sembly, on the ground that the Bohemian members had not had time to arrive, he was hooted in the streets, and only saved from actual violence by the intervention of Dr. Goldmark; and, when Rieger protested against the illegal arrest and secret trial of one of the Bohemian leaders in Prague, Bach, who had now become the most popular of the Ministers with the German party, evaded the appeal. Indeed the utterances of the German party in Vienna were marked by a combination of a somewhat arrogant a.s.sertion of popular authority, as represented by the a.s.sembly, with contempt for the aspirations of other countries. This combination of feeling was perhaps best ill.u.s.trated by the meeting of July 29, when a majority of the a.s.sembly, in calling upon the Emperor to return to Vienna, indignantly rejected the word "bitten" (entreat) from the address, and subst.i.tuted the word "fordern" (demand). On the day of this important a.s.sertion of popular rights, the news of Radetzky's victories in Italy was received with loud applause in the Chamber, and a solemn Te Deum was shortly afterwards decreed in honour of these victories.[15]

But, offensive as this contrast between the more vulgar side of democratic feeling, and the indifference to the liberties of Italy and Bohemia must seem to the student of this period, there was one direction in which the more generous instincts of the Viennese Democrats were shown; although, even in this matter, the generosity of principle was to be sadly clouded by the savagery of act. The political question which called out this better feeling was the relation of Vienna to Hungary. It will be remembered that the enthusiasm for Hungary, which had been awakened by Kossuth's speech of the 3rd of March, had been considerably damped by the att.i.tude which the Magyar leaders had taken up towards the May rising in Vienna; and the more democratic tone of Jellacic on that occasion had led the Viennese, for a time, to turn for sympathy to Agram rather than to Buda-Pesth. But no concessions to monarchical feeling which Kossuth might be disposed to make, could reconcile the most influential of Ferdinand's advisers to the independent position which the Magyar Ministers had obtained. The courtiers, indeed, who helped to form the Camarilla, might shrink at first from any sympathy with the daring and independent att.i.tude of the Serbs and Croats. But the party in Vienna which was opposed to Hungarian liberty had been swelled, since March, by the accession of men who were not theoretic opponents of rebellion, but who simply desired that the new free Government should be as thoroughly centred in Vienna as the old system of Metternich had been.

The most important representative of this phase of opinion was the War Minister Latour. Ever since he had taken office, in the latter part of April, he had been trying to make use of the discontented races in Hungary to weaken the power of the Magyars and to strengthen the authority in Vienna. Although he could not at once bring round his colleagues in the Ministry to these intrigues, nor persuade the courtiers to sympathize with the national leaders at Agram and Carlowitz, yet there were points in the position of affairs of which Latour was able to make skilful use for the accomplishment of his ends. Of these circ.u.mstances one of the most striking was the character of the Emperor. Ferdinand had shown himself, ever since his accession, most desirous of doing justice between the rival races of his Empire. The great difficulty of balancing the claims of German and Bohemian, Magyar, Croat, and Serb, might well have perplexed a stronger brain and weakened a steadier will than that of Ferdinand the Good-natured (der Gutige); and when the painful disease, with which he was always afflicted, is taken into account, it will seem more wonderful that he ever maintained a steady political purpose for however short a period, than that he was constantly hesitating and changing his course, as new aspects of the question pressed themselves on his attention.

This confusion and its natural results are well ill.u.s.trated by a story which, though obviously incapable of proof, yet, none the less, may be supposed to embody the popular feeling about this weak but well-meaning monarch. The story is, that during one of his conferences with a Serb deputation, Ferdinand had listened with tears to the descriptions of the cruelties inflicted by the Magyars; but that, just when he seemed about to give them a favourable answer, he happened to glance at a note from Metternich which was lying beside him on the table, and, taking it up, he read these words: "Die Serben sind und bleiben Rebellen" (the Serbs are and remain rebels). This sentence checked Ferdinand's sympathy, and he at once dismissed the deputation with vague words.

Upon this desire to do justice to both sides, and this weakness under the pressure of a stronger will, Latour found it easy to act. A Conference at Vienna between representatives of the rival races was obviously an expedient, which it was easy to recommend to Ferdinand, while it gave admirable opportunities for secret intrigues. Moreover, whatever objections might be entertained by the courtiers to other leaders of the Slavonic races, there was one, at least, who stood on a somewhat different footing. Jellacic was a personal favourite of the Archd.u.c.h.ess Sophia, the wife of Archduke Francis Charles, the next heir to the throne. He had been a colonel in the Austrian army, and his appointment had been looked on at Buda-Pesth as quite as much an a.s.sertion of Imperial authority, as of Croatian independence. On the other hand, the fact that he had been entrusted by the Croatian a.s.sembly, on June 29, with almost dictatorial powers, only ten days after he had been declared a traitor by the Emperor, made him a trustworthy representative of the independent nationalists of Croatia; and while, therefore, Latour saw in him a fit tool for his purpose, Ferdinand naturally hoped that a meeting between Jellacic and Batthyanyi in Vienna might lead to a satisfactory settlement of the quarrels between Hungary and Croatia.

In this hope the Emperor was encouraged by Archduke John, who offered himself as a mediator between the contending parties. But, unfortunately, the double responsibility which Archduke John had taken upon himself interfered with the execution of his good intentions; for while he was urging compromises on Magyars and Croats, the burden of his duties as Administrator of the German Empire compelled him to hasten away to Frankfort. And thus Batthyanyi and Jellacic were left face to face in a city where there were few who desired to reconcile them, and where the most influential people desired to aggravate their divisions. It must be said, however, in justice to Jellacic, that some of the points on which he insisted in the controversy have been somewhat misunderstood in respect of their spirit and intention. It has been urged, for instance, that in demanding the centralization at Vienna of financial and military administration, he was contending solely for the interests of the Court, and not at all for Croatian independence. This, however, is scarcely just; for Jellacic had good reason to believe that Slavonic liberty needed protection from the Magyar Ministers of Finance and War, since, in July, Kossuth, as Minister of Finance, had refused supplies for the Croatian army; and even the Serbs, who were still in partially hostile relations with the Court, had discussed the question of placing themselves under the Ministry at Vienna, as a protection against the Magyars. There were, however, other proposals made by Jellacic, which could scarcely be covered by this explanation, such as the demand that Hungary should take over a share of the Viennese debt, and that more troops should be sent to Italy; and it was natural, therefore, that Batthyanyi should construe the proposal about the War and Finance Ministry, rather as a blow at the liberties of the Magyars, than as an a.s.sertion of Croatian independence. It was obvious that for purposes of conciliation the Conference was a hopeless failure; and Batthyanyi, after in vain urging Jellacic to abandon these proposals, rose in indignation exclaiming, "Then we meet on the Drave."[16] "No," said Jellacic, "on the Danube." And so they parted with the consciousness that war was no longer avoidable.

But though the Conference had failed, so far as regarded its apparent purpose, it had served to complete the change in the policy of the Court, and in the position of Jellacic. From this time forward he ceased to be the complete champion of Croatian liberty, and became the soldier of the Emperor; and from this time forward, therefore, the German Democrats of Vienna resumed their old faith in Kossuth, and considered his enemies as their enemies. The policy of Latour had been accepted at Court, and Ferdinand was whirled away in the vortex of aristocratic opinion, and official intrigue. On August 4 Ferdinand officially declared his confidence in Jellacic; about September 1, the Viennese Ministry announced to the Hungarians that the March laws which had secured a responsible Ministry to Hungary were null and void, as having been pa.s.sed without the sanction of Ministers at Vienna; and Ferdinand endorsed this opinion.

In the meantime, even the Serb movement which the Viennese courtiers had looked upon with special suspicion, was pa.s.sing into hands more favourable to the authority of the Emperor. In the latter part of July, Stratimirovic had gained great successes in the Banat; and his alliance with Knicsanin, the Servian General, had led him to hope that he might be able to throw off the authority both of Vienna and of Buda-Pesth. But the Patriarch Rajacic, who had entered with such hesitation into the insurrection, saw his only possibility of safety in placing the movement under the authority of the Emperor. He therefore set himself against the influence of Stratimirovic; and on his return from Agram to Carlowitz, he was able to use his authority as Patriarch, backed by the influence of Jellacic, to recover the reins of government, and to limit the authority of Stratimirovic to military affairs. At the time of the return of Rajacic, the war had begun to languish; but in the middle of August the Magyars renewed their attacks, and besieged the Serb town of Szent-Tomas.

Stratimirovic marched to the defence, and gained such successes that some of the Magyars raised the cry of treason against their Generals.

General Kiss was therefore sent down to take the place of those who had forfeited the public confidence. At first the result of the war was doubtful; for victories were alternately gained by the Serbs and the Magyars; but at last Kiss, by a dexterous movement, succeeded in preventing Stratimirovic from joining his forces with those of Knicsanin, and thus turned the whole tide of the war against the Serbs. This change of affairs naturally favoured the designs of Rajacic; Stratimirovic, finding that much of the popular feeling was turning against him, resigned his authority, and Colonel Mayerhoffer, an Austrian officer, was sent down to take his place. Some of the soldiers of Stratimirovic were, indeed, indignant at this change; and Rajacic was obliged to make some advances to reconciliation; but Suplikac, the Voyvode, backed Rajacic in his general plans; and by the help of their joint influence, Latour was able to turn the Serb cause into a new prop for the rule of the Emperor.

It is pathetic to see how, in spite of irresistible evidence, Ferdinand still clung to the hope that he might succeed in reconciling the leaders of the different races in his Empire, and yet more strange to see how he still believed that Latour would co-operate with him for this object. He now chose as his mediator, a Hungarian named Lamberg, to whom he gave a commission to settle matters between the contending parties, and to restore order in Hungary. Lamberg was known to Batthyanyi, and seems, to some extent, to have enjoyed his confidence; for Batthyanyi declared that he would himself have counter-signed Lamberg's commission, if Latour would only have submitted it to him in time. But Latour, whose object was very different from that of his good-natured master, despatched Lamberg to Buda-Pesth without that sanction which could alone secure him legal authority in the eyes of the Hungarian Ministers.

Some days before the arrival of Lamberg in Pesth, a striking proof had been given of the growing sympathy between the German Democrats of Vienna and the Magyars, and also of that fierce race-hatred between Germans and Bohemians which had been stirred up by the circ.u.mstances of the June rising in Prague. The Magyars had despatched a deputation to the Viennese Parliament, in the hopes of reviving the old alliance between Buda-Pesth and Vienna. The more generous side of the Democratic spirit had been reawakened in the Germans of Vienna by many of the recent events. Even those who had sympathized with the reconquest of Lombardy had been alarmed at the kind of government which the Austrian generals were trying to introduce into that province; and one of the members of the a.s.sembly asked what should they think if the army which was now in Italy were to stand before the gates of Vienna? This feeling of alarm at the growth of a military power independent of Parliament had naturally been increased by the suspicions of Latour's intrigues with the Serbs and the Croats. When, then, on September 19, the Magyar deputation, among whom were Eotvos and Wesselenyi, asked for an audience from the a.s.sembly, that they might explain their position, the leading German Democrats urged their admission, but the Bohemian leaders protested against it, denouncing the Magyars both for separating from Austria and for oppressing the Slavs. Schuselka attempted to mediate between the two parties, maintaining that though the Magyars had done many indefensible things, yet, as a matter of justice, the Parliament ought to hear their pet.i.tion; but the Ministerialists, combined with the Bohemians, were too strong for opposition; and, by a majority of eighty, it was decided not to admit the deputation.

This refusal of the Viennese Parliament brought to an end the last hope of a peaceable settlement of the Hungarian difficulties. On September 27, Lamberg entered Buda-Pesth, to which the Hungarian Diet had now been transferred. It must be remembered that the Magyars had just been irritated at Ferdinand's denunciations of the March laws of Hungary, and alarmed at his expression of confidence in Jellacic, who had just crossed the Drave and invaded Hungary. When, then, Lamberg arrived in Pesth, with a commission unsigned by any Hungarian Minister, his arrival was naturally looked upon as a further indication of an attempt of the Austrian Ministry to crush out the liberties of Hungary. A slight thing was sufficient to cause these suspicions to swell into a panic; and the news that Lamberg had at once crossed the Danube, to visit the fortress of Buda, seemed, to the excited Magyars, a sufficient proof of his dangerous intentions. The cry was raised that the fortress was going to be seized and military law established. The fiery students of Pesth hastened out into the streets; and as Lamberg returned across the suspension bridge into Pesth, he was attacked and murdered. Batthyanyi, terrified at this act, resigned his premiership and fled to Vienna; and the Diet of Hungary pa.s.sed a resolution condemning the murder. Ferdinand was now more easily urged to violent action. On October 3 he declared the Hungarian Diet dissolved, proclaimed Jellacic Dictator of Hungary, and appointed Recsey Prime Minister in place of Batthyanyi. Jellacic, however, did not find it easy to a.s.sert the authority which was now given him. He had hoped that, in the confusion which followed the death of Lamberg, he would be able to carry Pesth by storm; but he was driven back, and before the end of October the Croats had been expelled from Hungary.

In the meantime the suspicions of the Viennese had been increasing, and on the 29th of September Dr. Lohner, one of the original leaders of the March movement, publicly denounced Latour for his intrigues with Jellacic. These intrigues had now been placed beyond a doubt by certain letters which had fallen into the hands of the Hungarian Ministry.

Pulszky, who was at this time in Vienna, took the opportunity to publish these letters in the form of a placard, while he complained to Latour of the permission given to Jellacic to raise recruits in Vienna, and threatened, if these proceedings continued, to excite a revolution in which the Viennese Ministers would be hung from lamp-posts. There were, indeed, revolutionary elements enough in Vienna at this time. The friendship between the workmen and the students had led to the formation of a special workman's Sub-Committee under the Committee of Safety. This body actually undertook to find employment for all who were out of work, and even to pay them wages while they were out of work. This offer naturally caused a rush of workmen to Vienna, from all parts of the Empire. The attempt to sift and regulate the claims for employment led to new bitterness; and demands for impossibly high wages provoked rebuffs, which were answered by threats of violence. The Ministry tried to induce the workmen to leave the city, by urging them to join the army in Italy; but the students defeated this attempt by reminding the workmen that the war in Italy was a war against liberty.

The suspicions of the Ministers were now excited, not only against the workmen, but against the students; and, after a riot in the latter part of August, the Committee of Safety had been dissolved, and the lecture-rooms of the University closed. But this repression, far from weakening the bitterness in Vienna, only drew closer the links between the poorer students and the workmen; for, while the richer students left the city, the poorer ones, finding it difficult to support themselves after the closing of the lecture-rooms, were subscribed for by the workmen. Thus then the suspicions roused by the intrigues of Latour were strengthened considerably by the general condition of Vienna at this period.

Latour, however, was resolved not to yield. The defeats which Jellacic was experiencing in Hungary only made it the more necessary that those who sympathized with him should send him help; and on the 5th of October the news spread through Vienna that an Austrian regiment was about to march to Hungary to the a.s.sistance of Jellacic. The students went to the head-quarters of one of the grenadier regiments, and urged them not to join in the march. An officer, who arrested one of the students, was attacked and wounded; and when one of the grenadiers, who had been wounded in a quarrel, was sent to his barrack, his comrades seemed to consider it as a kind of arrest, and demanded his surrender. The National Guard joined in this demand; and thus a state of confusion arose which made it easy for the students and the workmen to hinder the march of the regiments which were starting for Hungary.

An Italian battalion refused to proceed further, and the march was hindered for that day. But General Auersperg, who commanded the forces in Vienna, was resolved to continue the attempt; and so, on the following day, the soldiers were despatched to the station which lies beyond the Tabor bridge. But, when they arrived on the bridge, they found that the students and the National Guard were before them, and that the barriers had been closed against them. Auersperg was alarmed at this resistance, and recalled the troops; but collisions had by this time taken place between the soldiers and the people in other parts of the town; and a fierce fight was raging in the Stephansplatz, and even in the church itself.

Then suddenly there rose the cry "Latour is sending us the murderers of the 13th of March;" and a rush was made towards the office of the Ministry of War. Fears had already been entertained by several members of the a.s.sembly, that a personal attack would be made on Latour; and Borrosch, one of the German Bohemian members, Smolka, the Vice-President of the a.s.sembly, Dr. Goldmark, and others, hastened to protect Latour from the vengeance of the crowd. Borrosch, with the same humane ingenuity which Lafayette had shown on a similar occasion, promised that Latour should have a formal trial, if the crowd would spare him. The crowd cheered Borrosch and his friends; and many of them promised that they would protect Latour's life. Borrosch rode off, supposing Latour to be safe; but Dr. Fischhof, feeling that matters were not yet secure, persuaded several members of the National Guard to act as special protectors to Latour; and as the best means of effecting this object, some thirty or forty of them undertook to arrest him. But the excitement of the crowd had been roused anew, and they burst into the War Office. Smolka then entreated Latour to resign. The Minister consented; but the pa.s.sions of the crowd would not be appeased. The unfortunate man attempted to hide from their pursuit: but they dragged him from his hiding-place, and thrust aside his defenders. Fischhof warded off the first blow that was aimed at him. A student, named Rauch, attempted also to protect him; but all was in vain; and he was dragged down the staircase and into the square in front of the War Office. With his white hair floating about him, he was lifted on to the lamp-post which then stood in the square. He struggled against his enemies, and compelled them to drop him once; but again he was lifted on to the post, and this time the hanging was completed, the crowd tearing his clothes from his body and dipping their handkerchiefs in his blood. This outburst of savagery, instead of satisfying the fury of the people, had quickened their thirst for blood; and their desire for vengeance was now turned against the Bohemian Deputies. Strobach, who had been chosen President of the a.s.sembly, had objected to hold a sitting at all on that day, declaring that executive rather than legislative functions were needed just then. For this refusal some of the members wished to prosecute him; and armed men appeared in the gallery of the a.s.sembly threatening violence to the Bohemian deputies. Those deputies, finding that they could no longer deliberate freely, soon after fled from the city, and issued from Prague a protest against the Reign of Terror, which they declared to be dominating Vienna. In the meantime Ferdinand, having consented, on the day of Latour's death, to the formation of a Democratic Ministry, fled, on the next day, from Vienna to Schonbrunn, and shortly afterwards to Innspruck; and he soon notified his feelings to the Viennese by a proclamation in which he too denounced the reign of violence in Vienna.

Hardly had the Viennese recovered from the surprise caused by the flight of their Emperor, than they heard that Jellacic, having abandoned his hope of conquering Hungary, was marching against Vienna.

General Auersperg, who had withdrawn his troops to the Belvedere after the collision between the soldiers and the people, was still a.s.sumed by the Viennese to be in some degree favourable to their cause; and they entreated him to repel the attack of Jellacic, and to call for help from the Hungarians. Auersperg, however, rejected this proposal, withdrew his troops secretly from the city, and, on October 11, openly joined Jellacic.

The a.s.sembly were now anxious to appeal to the Frankfort Parliament for help, and entreated them to send representatives to Vienna. Robert Blum, who had grown weary of the state of affairs in Frankfort, and who believed that the only remaining hope for Germany was in Vienna, consented, in company with four others, to accept this emba.s.sy. The Parliament in Vienna still imagined that they could keep within legal forms; but this desire irritated those fiery politicians who felt that the struggle was now on a revolutionary footing; and they therefore desired to overthrow the a.s.sembly, and to establish a more determined body in its place. But Blum, who had been accustomed to hold in check the violent members of his own party in Frankfort, supposed that, in Vienna also, he was bound to resist revolutionary methods; and, though he was ready to encourage the Viennese in the defence of their city, he objected to the proposal for the violent dissolution of the a.s.sembly, on the ground that such a proceeding would give an excuse to the tyrants for a dissolution of the Frankfort Parliament.

A man of much more importance in such a siege than Robert Blum could be, arrived about the same time in Vienna. This was Joseph Bem, a Galician of about fifty-three years of age, who had served in Napoleon's expedition to Russia, and had greatly distinguished himself as colonel of the Polish artillery at the battle of Ostrolenka. He had also commanded the Polish artillery in the insurrection of 1830, and had attempted to organize a Polish legion, for the help of the Portuguese, during their struggle against the Absolutist party. He had been wounded in one of these wars, was obliged to use a staff in walking, and was small and delicate in his appearance. He had gained both friends and enemies in Poland, and was known for his strong democratic sympathies. Although he was not appointed to the official headship of the National Guard, he soon became the centre and life of the defence. But he found that the men with whom he had to act did not understand the position in which they were placed; for, when he attempted to urge the National Guard to march out against the army of Jellacic, they twice refused to follow him, on the ground that they were only intended for the defence of the city.

And, if the rulers of Vienna were feeble in their att.i.tude towards their enemies, they were not less feeble in their treatment of the one people, from whom they might have expected help in this emergency.

The advance of Jellacic against Vienna had naturally increased the sympathy of the Magyars for the Viennese, and Pulszky urged the latter to summon the Hungarian army to their rescue. This formal invitation was the more necessary because the Hungarian officers were in many cases confused in their minds as to their strict legal duty in this war. Archduke Stephen, the Count Palatine of Hungary, after professedly a.s.suming the command of the army, had suddenly fled from the country, and thus weakened the legal position, both of his subordinate officers, and of the Hungarian Diet, of which he was the nominal head. Ferdinand had repeated his former dissolution of the Diet in a proclamation of the 20th October; Prince Windischgratz, professing to act in the name of the Emperor, issued a declaration from Prague forbidding the Hungarian officers to fight against Jellacic; and soon after, followed up this proclamation by marching against Vienna. General Moga, the Commander-in-Chief of the Hungarian forces, hesitated to resist the Imperial orders; but, whilst the generals were debating among themselves, Kossuth arrived in the Hungarian camp to urge them to advance. After some delay his influence prevailed; and on October 28 began the march of the Hungarian army for the relief of Vienna.

In the meantime, all those in Vienna, who really cared to save it, were trying to rouse their fellow-townsmen to action. Robert Blum made an address to the students in favour of making "no half-revolution, but a complete change of the system;" and on the 25th October, three days before the Hungarians had begun their march, Bem had succeeded in persuading the National Guard to make their sortie. But confusion followed this attempt; some of the Guard fled; others were mistaken in the darkness for enemies, and fired on by their comrades. Bem's horse was killed under him, and he was compelled to retreat. Windischgratz, who had now been appointed to the complete command of the besieging force, demanded the surrender of "the Polish emissary Bem, who in a quite uncalled-for manner, had mixed himself up in the affairs of Vienna." This recognition of the independence of the Polish provinces of the Austrian Empire was not accepted by the Viennese; nor did they consent to surrender any of the other people who were demanded by Windischgratz. Bem roused the soldiers again to the defence, and drove them to their work with abuse. The Students' Legion distinguished itself by its courage; and some of the workmen seconded them bravely.

But Messenhauser, the official leader of the National Guard, declared that the struggle was hopeless, and urged the people to yield.

Many were now disposed to abandon the defence; when suddenly, on October 30, there arose a cry that the Hungarians were approaching.

Messengers went up the high tower of St. Stephen's Church, and looked out towards the plain of Schwechat, where the Hungarians and Austrians had at last joined battle. The Viennese had been advised by their Hungarian friends to tear up the railway lines; but they neglected this precaution; and thus Windischgratz had been able to send more troops to Schwechat. But the great weakness of the Hungarians was due to the hesitation of General Moga, and to the want of confidence felt in him by his subordinate officers. Troops were ordered to advance, and then suddenly to halt, without any apparent reason; several of the new recruits ran away; and at last a general panic seized the army, and they fled before the Austrians, continuing to retreat, even after the enemy had ceased to pursue them.

The rumours of Hungarian help had encouraged some of the Viennese to oppose the surrender of their city; and this opposition was continued even after the defeat of the Hungarians had been officially announced.

This division of opinion between the leaders and a great part of the people, led to riots in various parts of the town. Under these circ.u.mstances, Windischgratz refused to accept the peaceable surrender offered by the leaders, and, instead, bombarded the town, and then entered it, while it was still on fire. Bem managed to escape; and so did three of the representatives of the Frankfort Parliament; but Blum and Frobel were arrested. The latter was discovered to have written a pamphlet, which implied a desire to maintain the unity of the Austrian Empire; and, on this ground, he was set free. But Blum was proved to have acted as a captain of one of the corps of the National Guard, during the defence; his speech to the students, about the complete change of system, was supposed to imply a desire for a Republican movement; and so on the 8th November he was condemned to death, and on the 9th he was shot.

Great indignation was excited in Germany by this execution; and the unpopularity which the Frankfort Parliament had incurred by their a.s.sent to the truce of Malmo, was increased by their having refused to interfere to protect Blum from arrest. Yet it seems as if the remarks, made above in the case of Confalonieri, may be applied again to Blum. That Blum should die, and Windischgratz triumph, was no doubt sad; but Blum's execution was rather the result of a system of Government, than a specially illegal or tyrannical act. Blum had staked his life on the issue of the struggle, by coming to Vienna during the siege. If there were any alternative to his death, it was the one proposed by Socrates to his judges; and in the case of Blum, as in that of Socrates, the actual result was the best for his honour.

But, as for the capture of Vienna itself, it is difficult to over-estimate its importance in the history of the Revolution. As the fall of Milan had broken the connection of the Italian struggle with the European Revolution, so the fall of Vienna destroyed the link which bound all the other parts of the Revolution together. Race hatred, and a narrow perception of their own interests, might hinder the Viennese from understanding their true position; but the March rising in Vienna had given to the various Revolutions a European importance, which they would scarcely have attained without it; and the attention of each of the struggling races in turn had been riveted on the city which Metternich had made the centre of the European system. In a still more evident manner was the link broken between Germany and the rest of Europe, and apparently between the most vigorous champions of liberty in the different parts of Germany.

This last aspect of the fall of Vienna has been embodied, by a poet named Schauffer, in verses, which appeared a year after the event, and which contain also a worthy tribute to those fiery youths whose determination and enthusiasm were to so large an extent the cause of all that was best in the Vienna insurrections; though their national prejudices, and their want of self-control, contributed largely to the ruin of the movement which they had inaugurated.[17]

THE VIENNA LEGION.

Their hearts beat high and hopeful, In the bright October days; Not March's glorious breezes Could bolder daring raise.

No more with idle drum beats, But with cannons' thundering tone, Marched forth to guard the ramparts, Vienna's Legion.

Once more they come to guard it,-- The freedom won by fight; Once more 'tis force must conquer, When blood is shed for right.

A steely forest threatens, Ere yet the day be won; But the Fatherland, they'll save it, Vienna's Legion.

And, as the Spartans hurled them On the Persian's mighty horde, They burst on the barbarian, To smite with German sword.

Their lives into the balance In careless scorn they've thrown; And victory crowns their daring, Vienna's Legion.

Thus did they struggle boldly, For many a day and night; Thus were they crushed, o'er wearied By the tyrant's conquering might; Grey warriors wept in anguish O'er many a gallant son; E'en in defeat 'twas victor, Vienna's Legion.

Their deeds will well be honoured In the victor's glorious lay; Our youth lay dead in battle, But they would not yield the day.

Let others crouch and tremble!

No pardon will they own; They dare not live in bondage,-- Vienna's Legion.

In the days of bright October They shouted in their pride; Their blows fell thick and boldly, They struck their strokes--and died.

The gallant lads have fallen; In blood the Legion lie; But in the grave that hides them Is buried--Germany.

FOOTNOTES:

[14] To avoid needless controversy, I may add that I am perfectly aware of the tyranny exercised by Milan over Lodi and other small towns; but the fact remains that the real force of the Lombard League, in its struggle against Barbarossa, lay in the _equal_ union of the greater towns of Lombardy.

[15] It must be admitted that a protest was made by some of the members against Radetzky's restoration of the Duke of Modena; but then the Duke of Modena was not subject to the Viennese Parliament, and Radetzky, in restoring him, had acted without their authority.

[16] The boundary river between Croatia and Hungary.

[17] It is also worth noting that the first production of the freed Press of Vienna in March, 1848, was a poem by L. A. von Frankl, in praise of the services of the students to the cause of liberty; but, though this poem gained some celebrity at the time, it does not as easily lend itself to translation as the one translated above.

CHAPTER X.

THE LAST EFFORTS OF CONSt.i.tUTIONALISM. JUNE, 1848-MARCH, 1849.

Difference of the Prussian movement from the other March movements.--The Silesian question.--The Rhine Province.--The Berlin workmen.--The grievances of the other Prussian Liberals.--Hansemann and his concessions.--The proposal of a Workmen's Parliament.--The "German" movement in Prussia.--The fall of Hansemann.--The reaction in Berlin.--The deputation to Potsdam.--"Das Ungluck der Konige."--"Brandenburg in the Chamber, or the Chamber in Brandenburg."--The struggle between the Parliament and the King.--The refusal to pay taxes.--The final dissolution.--Value of the resistance of the Prussian Liberals.--The offer of the Crown of Germany to Frederick William.--Consequences of his refusal.--Abdication of Ferdinand of Austria.--The Parliament at Kremsier.--Its character.--Its dissolution.--Difficulties of Pius IX. and of his Ministers.--Rossi as Prime Minister.--The contradictions in his position.--His opposition to Italian ideas.--His murder.--The rising in Rome.--The democratic Ministry.--The flight to Gaeta.--Mamiani's theories.--The Forli pet.i.tion.--The summons to the Roman a.s.sembly.--Leopold of Tuscany and Guerrazzi.--Flight of the Grand Duke.--Guerrazzi and Mazzini.--Difficulties of Gioberti.--His schemes for restoring the Pope and the Grand Duke.--Their failure.--Radetzky's breaches of faith in Lombardy.--The appeal of the Lombards.--The declaration of war by Charles Albert.--Att.i.tude of the Roman a.s.sembly.--Mazzini's appeal and its effect.--The blunders of Charles Albert and his officers.--t.i.to Speri at Brescia.--"Defeat more glorious than victory."--The "Tiger of Brescia."--Novara.--Abdication of Charles Albert.--End of the "Const.i.tutional" efforts for freedom.