The Revolution Within the Revolution
Debrecen Joseph told me it was Slavic nationalism, but that's not the only issue.
I read about the 1848 Revolution straight from books in the study.
Now I get why Joseph had no choice but to compromise with the magnates.
"Your Majesty, Count Andrássy requests an audience."
"Let him in."
Count Andrássy proceeded with cautious steps.
"I could have told you myself."
"You're Hungarian, Count. I just wanted a neutral perspective."
I took up the conversation with a light laugh.
I'd already poked around through the maids before, but nothing beats foreign books for neutrality.
"I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise."
"You did your best, Count."
It's right there in the books, after all.
"The moderate magnates loyal to the Emperor of Vienna..."
I hadn't known that.
Which means the radicals are, in other words, the industrialists and merchants.
Kossuth Lajos and his Seven-Week Nobles (Bocskoros) followers, along with the merchants and industrialists, shouted for Hungarian independence—but their real aim was dismantling the great nobles' privileges.
"From the magnates' perspective, if noble privileges are stripped away, families like the Esterházys would be the first to fall. I've realized I've been seeing Hungary too simplistically all this time."
"What the radicals want isn't independence—it's a reordering of society. The downfall of the magnates. Independence is just a means to that end."
Compromise only works when interests align.
From the start, it was impossible with other classes.
That's why Joseph kept talking to the magnates, like it or not.
One revolution on the surface, hiding another beneath.
Outwardly ethnic independence; inwardly, class upheaval.
I need to scrap the plan to nurture a Hungarian bourgeoisie.
The magnates are the only ones who make any sense. If I try to check them by building up the bourgeoisie instead, Hungary might actually break free.
"Andrássy, I think I get why you and Count Deák have no choice but to go along with the magnates."
Andrássy stood stock-still, head bowed.
"Count Andrássy."
I called him softly, and he looked up.
"The chaos of 1848 that I only know from books—you and the Emperor lived through it firsthand, right?"
"...Yes. We all fought our best."
"But there's one thing I'm curious about."
"Please speak, Your Majesty."
"I believe Your Majesty is not the sort to rule his subjects by borrowing foreign armies."
So why call in the Russians?
That part made no sense at all.
In fact, Italy had been somewhat neutralized, and the Slavs under Jelačić had even captured Buda.
"Rumor from England has it that the Viennese nobles and officers refused, but the Archduchess and Foreign Minister Schwarzenberg strongly urged it."
Joseph values his dignity as a Habsburg emperor above all.
An eighteen-year-old trying to act like an adult.
The rumor Andrássy mentioned is probably true.
Otherwise, would he have stabbed Russia in the back during the Crimean War?
"Count, that's not what I want to hear."
So why bring in foreign troops?
Andrássy opened his mouth as if resigned.
"The Debrecen Declaration gave Russia the perfect pretext to intervene."
"The Debrecen Declaration?"
Isn't Debrecen one of Elisabeth's code names? The city where Sophie died of illness.
"Never mind the details—the most damning part was the declaration of the 'deposition of the House of Habsburg.'"
From that moment, Hungary wasn't rebels anymore. They were an enemy state.
Andrássy tried to hide his disappointment.
"That's also why the other great powers stood by while Russia intervened."
"Thank you for teaching me this history."
I talked more with Andrássy about compromise, but we never strayed from the historical angle.
After he left, I returned to the bedroom.
A politician of Andrássy's caliber showing disappointment that obviously?
Absurd.
Andrássy and Deák know I'm one of the few who can sway Joseph. For him to show that face means it's no different from Joseph disarming.
Am I overreacting?
The Hungarian question is uniquely thorny...
For Bohemia, I resolved the industrialists' hatred of the Habsburgs with the coronation.
Recognize their history, and they'll accept the Habsburgs—that was the deal. So I could convince Joseph.
For Italy, I pulled in the bourgeoisie to weaken the nobles...
Up to now, it wasn't much different from how other countries modernize.
Promote the bourgeoisie for progress.
But Hungary makes that impossible...!
I wish the magnates were like the Junkers.
At least they'd love it if I told them to run factories and churn out cannons.
"Back already?"
As the sun began to set, Joseph returned to the villa after hunting with Rudolf.
"I heard you talked with Andrássy."
"That's why I asked you."
"I'd have answered anything if you'd just asked me."
What husband brags about his own humiliations?
He'd never admit asking the Tsar for help or the Debrecen Declaration.
I changed the subject.
Our unlucky Wilson.
"Was hunting with Rudolf fun?"
"He didn't seem all that interested."
"Probably trauma."
"What trauma does Rudolf have?" Psychiatry terms haven't caught on yet?
"Next time, I'll take him."
Joseph responded with a displeased frown.
"He's still the Crown Prince, after all."
Rudolf is pretty unusual.
Even kings known for being timid didn't hate hunting.
"Rudolf suits a staff officer at a desk, like you."
There are plenty of ways to be a soldier.
Joseph pondered for a moment, then nodded.
"A staff officer still needs to know how to shoot."
"Did he outright refuse to hunt?"
"At first I thought the gunshot startled him, but when the deer appeared, he calmly pulled the trigger."
"That's good enough. What about Ferdinand?"
"He said pointless killing is wrong and was praying instead."
...He's not cut out for court life. Maybe send him to seminary.
"Ferdinand's so devout—make him a cardinal later or something."
I brushed it off lightly.
"How about going to Schönbrunn with Rudolf?"
"You hate Schönbrunn."
It's not that bad, but unlike Hofburg, the bathrooms and toilets are so outdated...
"Rudolf would prefer the zoo over hunting."
"The zoo, huh..."
"I keep thinking of how he flinched at the gunshots. Hunting only when necessary is fine, right? Walking the zoo and wondering why do animals act like that? might teach him to observe people the same way later."
"Observation and analysis... Could help build the judgment Latour mentioned."
"Thanks, Yosha."
"You'll come too, right?"
Even after I said yes, Joseph double-checked, looking uneasy.
"Of course."
"Rudolf only chatters excitedly with you around. With just me, he clams up."
Are Joseph and Rudolf already not talking to each other?
"Cholera's going around lately—how about inspecting Schönbrunn's plumbing?"
The kids hate boiled water because it's hot.
"Plumbing? What's that got to do with cholera? Isn't it airborne?"
"London already proved it's the water. Dirty sewage mixing with drinking water spreads it."
There was something similar in Hungary before...
"Even after replacing all the ventilation for the indoor lights last time, cholera's rampant. Maybe it's the water, like in London, not the air."
Joseph seemed to accept my view.
"I'll contact the ambassador in England separately."
Joseph takes evidence well.
"In Italy, when cholera hits, chamomile tea gets popular."
"Italy... Fine. I'll have Grüne look into the Lombardy cholera outbreak."
Herb tea comes from the belief it clears foul air, but boiling the water is the real disinfectant.
"Is that why you were drinking mint tea?"
"Can you get some for you too?"
"Sure."
I rang the bell and asked a maid.
"If it's the water, I'm worried about the kids."
Joseph tilted his head slightly.
"Because they hate tea? They drink hot chocolate."
"Chocolate's terrible for their teeth."
Hot chocolate, cake, sugar-laden desserts...
Cavities are trending among the upper class already—worrying.
"Where do you even get this info?"
I don't show up at salons, but the maids know all the gossip.
"It's a secret."
...Some came from discreet tips from my mother-in-law.