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| 2. The Habsburg Monarchy |
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(See 1813)| Monarchs. Francis I (r. 1806–35) ruled as Holy Roman Emperor Francis II until Aug. 6, 1806. After 1805, Francis acted as his own minister but gave Metternich wide powers in foreign affairs. He was succeeded by his less capable son, Ferdinand I (1835–48). Ferdinand left Metternich in control of foreign affairs but, under the influence of the court circles, created the state conference (Staatskonferenz) composed of Archdukes Ludwig and Francis Charles, Count Franz Anton Kolowrat, and Metternich. | 1 |
| Territories. The Habsburg monarchy controlled (1) the hereditary lands (principally Austria proper and the territories inhabited by the Slovenes to the south); (2) the lands of the Bohemian Crown; (3) the province of Galicia, acquired in the partitions of Poland; (4) the kingdom of Italy—Venetia and Lombardy; and (5) the lands of the crown of St. Stephen—Hungary, Transylvania, and Croatia. The diversity of these lands created several problems for the Habsburg monarchy. | 2 |
| Nationalism. (1) The Illyrian renaissance began among the Croats as a literary movement but eventually strengthened the resistance to the Magyars, the dominant ethnic group within the lands of the crown of St. Stephen. (2) The Czech renaissance also began as a literary movement but turned, during the 1840s, to demands for the restitution of constitutional rights for Bohemia. (3) The Magyars also demanded nationalist reforms, but their demands were linked to economic theories and political control. | 3 |
| Economics. The Habsburg monarchy countered the Zollverein with its own tariff system. It relied on the dualistic nature of its territories to fuel the economies. The west was industrializing and thus could produce materials that could be sold to the agrarian east in exchange for foodstuffs grown in the east. Hungarians, burdened with such food production, often linked liberalism and industrialization to their nationalist demands. | 4 |
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| a. Austria |
| 1815 |
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| Count Sedlnitzky became chief of police in Austria and thus also controlled censorship. Sedlnitzky adopted more extensive policies of censorship and received support from Metternich, who controlled a second police force and showed a great willingness to use espionage against liberal activities. | 5 |
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| 1817 |
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| The Wartburg Festival resulted in growing concern about the number of student organizations that had developed in Vienna and Prague. Sedlnitzky and Metternich instigated an inquisition against the teaching professions. They utilized espionage networks to track the books checked out of the library by teachers and to listen to lectures, and established a rule that foreigners could not be employed either as teachers or as tutors (even by private families). | 6 |
| Economic development proceeded unevenly. Railroads, and other capital-intensive industry, received little financial support from government. | 7 |
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| 1829 |
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| Austrian Danube Steamship Company was founded. It represented a major effort at providing better communication throughout Austria. It was followed by the creation of the Austrian Lloyd Steamship Company (1836), which navigated on the high seas. Both companies received government support. | 8 |
| The 1830s and 1840s saw the mechanization of cotton and wool spinning in Austria and especially in Moravia. The latter produced textiles for a fashion market and therefore had less interest in manufacturing large amounts of cheap, rough cloths. As a result, mechanization took place in smaller workshops. | 9 |
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| 1839 |
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| Austria reduced the workday for children under age 12 to 12 hours per day. | 10 |
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| 1842–44 |
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| The development of industry led to sporadic waves of machine breaking in protest to mechanization and the factory system. | 11 |
| Growing industrialization and urbanization, especially in southern Austria and around Vienna, had created increased demands for liberal reforms. The estates in Vienna, although they had lost their political significance, pressed for legislative and tax reforms. The middle classes and the proletariat, both relatively new classes in the city, also began to demand reforms. Liberalism continued to exist; pamphlets and newspapers were brought in from abroad. These developments, combined with growing nationalist sentiments, helped to set the stage for the revolution of 1848. (See Austria and Bohemia) | 12 |
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