The Revolutionary Movement of 1848-9 in Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany: With Some Examination of the Previous Thirty-three YearsMaurice, C. Edmund (Charles Edmund)
History
The Revolutionary Movement of 1848-9 in Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany: With Some Examination of the Previous Thirty-three Years
Maurice, C. Edmund (Charles Edmund)
Europe -- History -- 1848-1849; Revolutions -- Europe
had been appointed by the Powers, was gradually destroying the
Constitution which had been established by the Treaty of Vienna. The
right to modify laws sent from the Senate was first taken from the
Chamber of Representatives; while, as to the control of the finances,
which had been specially mentioned in the Treaty, the House of
Representatives was informed that the accounts were only to be shown
to the Chamber in order to convince them that the Senate had spent the
money, and that the Treasury was empty; though the Commission
graciously allowed the Chamber to examine and make observations on the
accounts, and assured them that these observations should be sent to
the Senate. The self-government of the University was, in a similar
manner, gradually taken from it; and, under the excuse of a riot in
1820, the great Powers, six years later, sent a Russian colonel to act
as supreme ruler of the University. The insurrection of 1830 in Warsaw
had, of course, given excuse for further interference with the
liberties of Cracow; and, in 1831, Russian soldiers, for a time,
occupied the city. It is hardly necessary to add that the liberty of
the Press, which had been specially guaranteed by the Treaty of
Vienna, had been gradually crushed out; and a new Commission,
appointed by the three Powers in 1833, revised the Constitution of
Cracow, thereby setting aside the claims of England and France to have
their opinions considered in any revision of the Treaty. Torture was
revived for the purpose of extorting revelations of crimes which had
never been committed. The judges had, indeed, retained, for a time,
the independence secured them by the Treaty; but in March, 1837, the
Conference, as it was called, of the three Powers abolished the
offices of Mayors of the Commune and Judges of First Instance, and
transferred their duties to officers of police. In December of the
same year, the protecting Powers decided that the question of the
amount to be expended on the police and militia should not be
submitted to the Chamber. Then the Chamber, at last, attempted an
appeal to the two Powers whose opinions had been wholly ignored by the
other signatories to the Treaty of Vienna; but the appeal was,
apparently, in vain, and there seemed no remedy left but insurrection.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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