Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 36. (1983)

COONS, Ronald E.: Reflections of a Josephinist. Two Addenda to count Franz Hartig's „Genesis der Revolution in Österreich im Jahre 1848”

Reflections of a Josephinist

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cooperation was unnecessary. All he had to do was to wait patiently for events to take their course.

Much the same can be said for Archduke Franz Karl, the subject of the concluding section of Hartig’s second addendum to the Genesis. Once again Hartig contends that a high official of the monarchy knew in advance that demonstrations were planned for March 13 and wished them success in the hope of improving his own political position. At one level Hartig’s accusations are as irrelevant as those levelled against Kolowrat; they assume that if but a few individuals had acted differently, revolution in the Habsburg Monarchy might have been avoided. At another level, however, his observations are of considerable value. They serve as a corrective to those historians who have overlooked Franz Karl almost entirely to concentrate attention upon his wife, the strong-willed Archduchess Sophie, and who have suggested that she not only favored the cause of liberal reform in 1848 but also wished to see Metternich removed from office to gain revenge for his part in placing her husband’s incompetent brother on the throne in 1835 * 46). Hartig’s analysis of the unenviable situation in which Franz Karl found himself suggests an alternative interpretation. In 1848 the archduke was himself ambitious, and the person he wished to remove from power was not Metternich but Archduke Ludwig, the indecisive presiding officer of the Staatskonferenz.

This interpretation gains credibility after even a cursory reading of the recently published diary of Franz Karl’s confessor, Joseph Columbus46). In the course of many frank conversations with Columbus between 1843 and 1848, the archduke repeatedly expressed his desire to exercise power in his own right, while he openly complained of the subordinate position he occupied within the imperial family 47 48). It is, of course, true that one of the major obstacles to Franz Karl’s ambitions was Metternich, who lacked confidence in the malleable archduke’s ability to act independently and feared that he might all too easily fall under the influence of Kolowrat *8). Significantly, however, Franz Karl rarely mentioned Metternich in speaking with Columbus, to whom he complained primarily about his

<5) gee, e. g., Fritz R e i n ö h 1 Aus dem Tagebuch der Erzherzogin Sophie in Historische Blätter 4 (1931) 111; David Angyal Die Jugendjahre Franz Josephs (1830—1848) in ibid. 6 (1934) 77—83; Srbik Metternich 2 262—265; and Viktor Bibi Die niederösterreichischen Stände im Vormärz. Ein Beitrag zur Vorgeschichte der Revolution des Jahres 1848 (Wien 1911) 15—16.

46) Geheime Notizen des Joseph Columbus 1843—1848, ed. Elisabeth Kovács (Wiener Beiträge zur Theologie 39, Wien 1971).

47) Expressions of Franz Karl’s dissatisfaction with his lack of influence and also with his uncle can be found in Geheime Notizen 56—57, 67—68, 84, 86, 92—94, and 111—115.

48) R a d v a n y Metternich’s Projects for Reform 126; Wertheimer Metternich und die Staatskonferenz 120; Srbik Metternich 2 182; and Walter Zentralverwaltung 2/1/2/2 201—202.