Saturday, February 1, 2014

How successful was Metternich in dealing with the principal problem of the Austrian empire in the period 1815-1848?

Any success Metternich had was short lived at
best.Metternich was particularly determined to preserve the old Order. Working through
the German Confederation, Metternich had the Carlsbad Decrees
issued in 1819. The decrees required the German member states to suppress subversive
ideas in universities and newspapers. A committee was established which employed spies
and informers to investigate and punish liberal or radical
organizations.



Born into a noble family,
Metternich believed in his heart that the most stable and proper arrangement of society
was a judicious combination of monarchy, aristocracy, and respectful commoners. He also
believed that liberalism, as typified in the American and French Revolutions were
responsible for the period of warfare, bloodshed and suffering that had just ended.
Those who stirred up liberal ideas such as representative government, he believed, were
engaged in a conspiracy to destroy the existing order, and were inclined to stir up the
lower classes who in their hearts really wanted to be left alone. Liberalism, which
Metternich opposed, was closely aligned with Nationalism. Liberals believed that each
national group had a right to establish its own independent government and seek to
fulfill its own destiny. Metternich bitterly opposed this idea, as it not only
threatened the existence of the aristocracy, but also threatened to destroy the Austrian
Empire and revolutionize central Europe.



It is
important to understand the complexities of the Austrian Empire to appreciate
Metternich’s position. The empire was a polyglot of several nationalities. It was
dominated by German speaking people, but they were only one fourth the population.
Magyars dominated Hungary, but were also a distinct minority. In Bohemia and Moravia,
Czechs were the major group. In addition, there were Italians, Poles, Croats, Romanians
Serbs, Ruthenians, and Slovenes The latter groups together formed a majority of
Austria’s population, but each group alone was only a small percentage. Linguistic
differences were present in different provinces; with different languages often extant
within the same village. This made Austria strong in a sense, because of its large
population and vast territory; but at the same time made it weak because of its many
nationalities, who all could potentially become dissatisfied with their status within
the empire. To give rise to liberal sentiments, in which each of these groups might
express nationalist sentiment or demand some other form of recognition was potentially
disastrous to the Austrian Empire. Metternich had no choice but to oppose
it.


Rebellion in the Austrian Empire ultimately begin in
Hungary, where nationalist Hungarians demanded national autonomy, full civil liberties,
and universal suffrage. When the monarchy hesitated, students and workers took to the
streets, and peasant revolts broke out in various parts of the Empire. Faced with
widespread rebellion, the Emperor, Ferdinand I, promised reforms and to grant a liberal
constitution. Metternich, the unrepentant conservative, saw the handwriting on the wall
and fled to London in disguise.

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