The Habsburg dynasty is honestly my favourite historical entity of all time. Such a bizarre aberration of world power; a monarchy of an Empire that didn't exist, a multicultural powerhouse whose strengths were also their own weaknesses, whose dynasty was the closest to a universal european monarchy as well as the closest to discovering brand new chromosomes, who spent centuries waging war with the ottomans only to die side by side with the ottmans, whose state lost again and again against her enemies but somehow resurfaced from the ashes until the fires of WWI put it to rest!

I hope you enjoy this short documentary on Schwarzenberg's diplomacy. I'm experimenting with producing these at a bit of a quicker pace, though I think it has meant the script has suffered to some extent this time. For brevity I’ve also left out some details, such as Schwarzenberg’s plan for an ‘Empire of Seventy Millions’. I know I've somehow managed to forget to add Sardinia to the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia - apologies. Correction: The constituent assembly of 1848-1849 was held in Kremsier, not Kresmier.

I will always admire how Austria managed not to explode even a century after the French revolution, considering their defeat in the Italian wars and the Austro-Prussian war.

The Austrian empire truly is fascinating its somehow managed to keep limping on despite being beaten up by pretty much every other great power and somehow managed to continue appearing strong despite seemingly constantly being on the verge of complete collapse

Very very nice video. It's notable to what degree Austria continued to be bound by the system set up by Metternich in his triumph at Vienna. Having a vital interest in Italian, German, and Balkan affairs simultaneously is all good and well, but total defeat on any of these fronts could spell doom for the Habsburg state, which had always had a greater difficulty marshaling her resources than, say, France or Britain. Austria was thus left in the position of fighting on three diplomatic fronts simultaneously. I think that it does explain why Austria could ill afford to pull out of Italy. Defeat would mean not just the loss of the rich province of Lombardy-Venezia, but also the loss of any Austrian influence in Tuscany, the Two Sicilies, and the small Italian states. Furthermore, it would almost certainly lead to further designs on Austrian territories - South Tyrol, the Austrian Riviera, and possibly the whole of Dalmatia.

I work at a hotel in Cesky Krumlov, where he was born. A Schwarzenberger Grenadier Guard has guarded the castle well into the communism period, being dissolved in 1948. Nowadays it is reinstated as a reenactment group and reenacts in the castle from time to time.

Thanks for shining some light on Schwarzenberg and the 1848 drama. I used to pay little attention to the years between Napoleon and Bismarck but recently I've looked more into things such as this and the Crimean War and Italian Unification and the independence of Greece and Belgium, I think this period from Napoleonic Wars to German Unification deserves more attention on UKposts. Also, the empire building prior to the Scramble for Africa and Congress of Berlin, like the French in Algeria and the Opium Wars and British expansion in India and Dutch expansion in Indonesia are interesting

5:45 that right there is what makes an analysis jump from good to brilliant. To point out that even a decisive victory to retake valuable provinces (all positive indicators) may not lead to a wise conclusion because this could force the central power of a State to live on a precarious or even counterproductive balance is worthy to be named wisdom. In Austria's defence, it must be said that giving away too much ground after winning a war could have been easily interpreted as a sign of weakness therefore an invitation to another conflict soon after. In my opinion they could have settled things for a while by splitting the Italian provinces, handing Lombardy to the Kingdom of Sardinia in exchange for the recognition of the Habsburg rule over Venetia (far easier to control and defend due to its proximity to Austrian lands), effectively "bribing" the Savoyard King in the face of the Italian cause. (but probably Cavour would have never allowed this)

Thumbs up for the video! The interesting thing to me always was how Ferdinand I. is portrait. You for example use the words "invalid" and "disabled". And that's exactely how i learned about him back in history class in school. He was born with a hydrocephalus rickets and epillepsy. And everyhwere he is depicted as unable as a ruler and basically as mentally disabled. On the other hand he managed to speak 5 languages played 2 instruments, was very talented in drawing, proficient in riding, fencing and shooting and very interested in technological inventions and technological progress in general as well as very interested in gardening and agricultur. When he give his rule to his nephew (he actually never abdicated and had the title of "Kaiser" until is death) and went to bohemia, he became pretty sucessfull in managing the properties he had there. That made him quite rich and all that was inherited by Franz Josef and was the base of his wealth.

One thing worth remembering though is after the Crimean War in 1853 where Austria was "neutral" but clearly sympathetic to Britain's and France's desire not to see the Ottoman empire collapse changed Austria's position dramatically. It actively sought to prevent Russian encroachment on the Ottoman Empire. Russia after this then saw Austria as a rival and it was very unlikely Austria would ever get Russian aid again to say crush Hungary, one of the reasons why they granted autonomy later. Part of the problem for the Habsburgs in Venetia I'd suggest is that they didn't have the roots there that they did in other parts of the Empire that had been under Habsburg rule for centuries as they did in say Bohemia, Galicia, Hungary etc. The population there resented how Napoleon's conquest of Venice was not reversed in the same way they there were for say, Switzerland or the Netherlands in the Congress of Vienna. It was always going to be difficult to secure the long term allegiance of the population, especially in a circumstance where a major rival power in started growing in the form of Piedmont. In reterospect the Austrian Empire probably would have been better focusing its efforts on retaining hegemony over German states where they had a far deeper base of support and which would be far more important economically and politically in the long run. Some kind of unification of Catholic southern German states like Bavaria, Baden and Württemberg into a Catholic German empire under Austrian auspicies for example would have made what Bismarck later did far more difficult to pull off. It would have had deep support in those states both culturally and given the interconnectedness of their elites with Austria. An independent Venetian monarchy or aristocratic republic allied to Austria set up as a buffer state in the same way as the Netherlands in 1815 would have had far more incentive to resist being gobbled up by Italy rather than actively seek it, but of course this would have required the clairvoyance to see how Piedmont would suddenly grow powerful - although by granting Piedmont Genoese territory at Vienna they were already creating the conditions for this to happen. Also I would debate whether by this point it is useful to talk of the Holy Alliance. That seems to me more of a post-Vienna Concert arrangement that was supposed to be of a far more grand scale than the alliance between Prussia, Austria and Russia here. It was supposed to also involve Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands and the Two Sicilies. It pretty much vanished immediately after, Britain became increasingly alienated from the illiberal reactionaries, France had revolutions that reversed the restoration, the great powers let the Netherlands break apart and the formation of Belgium, they disagreed bitterly over what to do with Greece and they couldn't even agree to help Spain to retain its Latin American territories (which Britain didn't really want it to anyway). Its only real tangible achievement was crushing the liberal government in Spain in 1823 with French troops, but this was a pyhrric victory indeed given how rapidly British-backed liberal governments under Isabella II ended up taking power just 10 years later. Western Europe quickly became out of reach of the alliance or the Concert given British ambivalence and resurgent French power and so its efforts were focused in a more hardened core of reactionaries more intensely focused on stability in Central and Eastern Europe. One that took on a more realpolitik aim of anti-nationalism within their mutual borders rather than trying to stamp out revolution wherever it occured. I would frame the agreement between the three powers here more in line of what was known at the time as the "Alliance of the Three Kings" or what was very much an informal precusor of Bismarck's "Dreikaiserbund" or "League of the Three Emperors".

Brilliant video, as I Hungarian I learned a lot of this in school and studied it a lot in my own time. You explained it all wonderfully. One little thing: Haynau gets a horrible reputation. Yes he executed a lot of people (including all the leaders of the revolution) but the orders were not his. They all came from the young emperor personally. Something which a lot of Hungarians would never forgive. During the Austrian Hungarian empire, there were parties that demanded that the emperor should officially beg for forgiveness for his commands

Undoubtedly, the best history channel on UKposts right now. Thank you for your amazing work!

Your videos are exceptional. Glad you are getting the praise, viewership and popularity you deserve. Looking forward to your next video.

As another idea for a series, considering it was touched on here, snapshots of the various nations' responses to the crises of 1848 could also be rather interesting, given how that year managed both to change quite a lot and yet remarkably little.

Loving these videos on 19th Century politics! Keep up the good work! 😁👍

I haven't read Kahn's book, but Macartney's "The Habsburg Empire 1790-1918" is a strong contender for the best book on the history of the late Habsburg Empire from roughly the end of Maria Theresa's reign to WWI. Definitively give it a read. One book recently translated to english is the monumental biography of Empress Maria Theresa by Barbara Stollberg-Rillinger, without a doubt the best book on the subject. There are two other books useful to those interested in austrian diplomacy in the XIX century: "Metternich: Strategist and visionary" by Wolfram Siemann and "The Grand Strategy of the Habsburg Empire" by Aaron Wess Mitchell. Regarding Austria-Hungary in WWI, there are a few: "The First World War and the End of the Habsburg Monarchy 1914-1918" by Manfried Rauchensteiner, "The Passing of the Hapsburg Monarchy 1914-1918" by Arthur J. May and Ring of Steel: Germany and Austria-Hungary in World War I" by Alexander Watson. Also, another book that's worth reading is Perry Anderson's "Lineages of the Absolutist State". It has a chapter dedicated to the austrian monarchy and how it worked, comparing and contrasting its customs and institutions to those of other absolute monarchies, analyzing the complexities of the Habsburg dominions and attempting to explain why it fell the way it did.

Another excellent video, Mr. Old Britannia. I appreciate the frequent releases!

The audio is a bit low. That being said, great video! I like specially that it has the references because this allow us to go deeper if we want to! Thanks a lot!

Best UKposts channel out right now. Only UKpostsr I still consistently watch

"the well meaning but disabled Ferdinand I" The poor Habsbergs just couldnt stop marrying each other. Ferdinand I was a sweet lad that liked to be photographed and liked wearing his stylish hats. He had up to 30 seizures a day. He could never even consumate his marriage.

Some of the best videos on history on UKposts

amazing content. would love to hear more about the austrian empire.

Very well made documentary on the Habsburg empire post-Napoleonic wars. Thank you Old Britannia for the in depth coverage on this topic.

Always awesome videos, keep it up!!!

Your videos are awesome, keep making more of this quality content!

Damn, your video Quality has Increased a lot

I'm French and love the historical relations between France and Austria, specialy during the XVIII and XIX. I think that if Austria would unify Germany, France and Austria could be very short allied states because of many cultural and historical links. Prussia was definitely the worst choice and it led with the lost of a lot of german territories after WW2...

Ur Chanel is very underrated, i never heard of this

People do not give the Austrian Empire nearly enough credit. They’re often made into a laughing stock because of their poor performance in WWI, the confusion nature of the preceding HRE, and the revolts and hardships they faced. But really, the Austrians were quick learners and had shrewd policies, carefully keeping up with changing trends and crafting plans to adapt in turn. When Napoleon smashed them at Austerlitz with his ingenious tactics and modern army organization, it was the Austrians before anybody else who adopted Napoleon’s corps structure. They lasted a lot longer than they realistically should have, considering everything they’ve faced over the centuries.

Love the videos that show the play by play. Would be interesting to see the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867 and all the players and actions behind that. Or maybe the Second Schleswig War?

This content is amazing keep up the good work!

Great video! May I ask what editing software you use in making these artpieces? :)

Quite a stellar documentary, very enlightening, thank you!

Great content man!

Was it really a restoration? As defeats of 1860s would show - not so much. Instead of adopting reforms and especially a proper constitution, that guy just stretched whats left of Empire once more. And followed Dual compromise limited Viennas power over Empire. Liberal democratic reforms, this what Austria actually needed, but aristoracy did not want to share it s power with anyone....

Amazing work,would love a video on William Pitt The Younger

Nice seeing you make videos on the habsburgs, please keep it up!

Wow! I only heard of Bismarck as the premier statesman of the 19th century. This man was equally as excellent. Definitely going to be fun playing as Austria Hungary in Victoria 3

Your videos are extremely well made!

another fascinating installment. if only you were around during my history a level

I really love your coverage of excellent statesmen. More if you may please

I love coming back to this channel. Your visual maps and narrative style keep me engaged and to add, as an American, European history is just so much more interesting than American ngl lol

These couple of videos on the Austrian Empire are so enlightening.

Another excellent video

This is another fascinating video. I had never fully realized just how radical the alterations to the Imperial succession and how impressive Schwarzenbergs achievements were. Nevertheless, the fact that all these threats were defeated but not crushed is a very valid one. I wonder whether Austria really could have gotten away with crushing Prussia, had it come to war. I guess they could have retaken Silesia, restored Saxony to 1815 borders and carved the Rhineland into small duchies for mediatized princes? Russia and France could have been bought off with territorial concessions, but in the latter case the German nationalists would definitely have been even more infuriated. It certainly would have weakened Prussia, though.

I knew the mildest amount of background on this but I am very impressed that Austria managed to go from collapse to a large European power once again...and all this only a few decades before their empire finally collapsed forever.

Very great video! What’s the name of the music playing at 9:55?

Enjoyed your video! Just the map is slightly off, the Croatian lands were a part of the Kingdom of Hungary.

great video, I never knew about this

Another great and interesting video

Schwarzenbergs had Palace in bohemian crown they are still here and one of schwarzenberg Karel was Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic

Nicholas didn’t forgive Austria’s failure to support him during the Russo Franco British war in Crimea. After that the Balkans became a source of competition between Vienna and St Petersburg as Ottomans steadily retreated from Europe, leading to 1914. If Schwarzenberg had survived until 1856 I wonder how he’d have handled Crimea? An enduring Austro-Russian alliance might have had very different outcomes for Europe.

Great video . I imagine you'll be receiving some new viewers soon with the release of victoria 3 coming up.

Great video

Great content

Enjoyed the video but could I make one small and I hope supportive correction. The Constituent Assembly of 1848-9 was held in Kremsier, not Kresmier.

wish you had more videos

Where was this channel my whole life??

B.A.S.E.D.!!! I love this period of the Austrian Empire being a Habsburg fanatic although marred by a Germanisation policy. I was genuinely fascinated by this guy but doubly so now. Thank You so much for this exposition, if only he lived another couple decades.

PLEAAAAAASE do an episode on the oriental crisis and the diplomacy behind it

I came looking for coal and I found diamonds. Awesome video and great channel

Good video

I love this quality content

I can't be the only one that read the title as "Schwarzenegger's Triumph" =D

I don't want to nitpick, and it's a bit too late anyway, but the name of the town where the constitution was drafted is Kremsier (Czech: Kroměříž). :) Great video, though. Felix of Schwarzenberg doesn't get the recognition he deserves. Certainly not here in Czechia, where he was born and is buried. So thank you for that.

made Austria great again just goes to show that even when everything seems lost things could actually be brought back under control very quickly with the right plan well executed same could be said for America today things that could potentially be fixed in 5 years if the right leadership is in charge: 1) global peace 2) fix economy 3) increase birthrate 4) restore the prestige of america

6:25 cool video, but there was no Budapest in 1848

I read it as Schwartzenager and was relatively confused

Very impressive.

0:45 I don't necessarily see WW1 happen the way it did if this would have come to pass as Germany wouldn't have interfered in the Balkan mess the way Austria did. Thus not angering the Russians to much and perhaps, with Bismarck on the Helm, signing some sort of Alliance with them and perhaps the newly established Italy.

Thank you for exploring the history of the much left-out Austrian Empire! As a German American, most of my knowledge has focused on the northern Germans rather than their southern equals.

Schwarzenberg be like: alright let's save Austria 1848 disaster save

He was skillful in building houses made of cards, but not in preventing strong winds.

0:07 Hungary didn't secede, it never was part of Austria in the first place. Still, it is true that the new Hungarian government assumed control over competences previously reserved to the King himself and removed itself from its inofficial but effective joint governance with Austria. Also, Hungary did include Croatia at the time, albeit the Croatian Diet's refusal to implement the April Laws put Croatia in a state of "rebellion" against the Hungarian government.

I didnt know Arnold was interestred in saving the Austrian empire.

What about Joseph Jelačić

Opulence is always the beginning of the end for Great empires.

The biggest mistake of Russian diplomacy is saving Austrian empire.

The goat has returned

Love it

That would be a good question if Schwaryenberg had survived, he would had involve Austria in the Crimean war, to thank Russia for helping them against Hungary. The Russians never forgave Austria for letting her fight alone with England, France, and the Ottoman Empire in the Crimean war. If Schwarzenberg had lived in 1853, would he have involved Austria in that war on Russia's side? And this would have later helped Austria against Prussia and Sardinia?

Croatia and Hungary were in a personal union between 1088 and 1920.....Croatia was not part of Austria.....

0:49 imagine how the last 175 years would have been different if this Germany had occurred. Prussia wouldn't have had as dominant a position as it did in the German Empire formed in 1871 (both because it wouldn't have annexed the territory it took in the 1860s and it would have been more counter balanced with Austria and Bohemia being included), so this Germany might not have been as militant, and Napoleon III may not have tried to pick a fight with an already united Germany, so maybe no Franco-Prussian war either. Alsace-Lorraine probably would have stayed French, and while there'd be a rivalry between France and Germany, there wouldn't have been the feeling of a looming grudge match. Italy would likely have united earlier, as Piedmont-Sardinia would have annexed Lombardy-Venetia from a collapsing Austrian empire (and kept Savoy and Nice), and Cavour may have even tried his luck with annexing parts of the Dalmatian coast that had previously belonged to the Republic of Venice. Who knows how a newly independent Hungary (which may also include the parts of northern Croatia that it had historically been in personal union with) would have functioned in European politics, and the Galicia region would have become a political football between Germany, Hungary and Russia, and could have become a base of Polish nationalism.

7:39 hey y'all, what is this word and what does it mean in this context? :P

On one hand we could say that Schwarzenberg only patched up a system which was severely strained and had little hope of remaining stable in the long run… on the other, one must not forget that an opportunity is always needed. If Franz Joseph had had a great prime minister such as Bismarck or Cavour, Austria wouldn’t have been played in such a way as actually happened… Cavour in particular made a terrifying gamble that absolutely had to succeed: if Austria didn’t fall to Turin’s provocation in 1859, the Piedmontese economy would’ve been crushed by the weight of its army’s mobilisation… we would’ve never won our independence, not in the way that actually happened, which was honestly great beyond measure. I’m quite sure the empire would’ve fallen anyway… as to the opportunity, who knows? The Republic of Venice is a good example of this: internal problems and diplomatic weakness maybe doomed the Serenissima from the start, but it took an opportunity called Napoleon Bonaparte to actually sign the death certificate.

Funny how Russia saved Austria in 1848 only to be left alone during the crimean war. By the way it would be cool to see something about Bismarck politics or 1890s alliances (how Russia shifted from a pro-german to a pro-french state)

Pity Austria did not remake themselves as a federation. They might have been able to hold out and maybe reformed their army a bit.

This maps are beautiful

Can we get a video on how France rebuilt itself after the Franco-Prussian war up to WW1?

I always saw the Austro-Hungarian Empire as a weird experiment the Europeans did, mix everything inside a multiethnic, multicultural empire with a made up royal dynasty and with a population that shared very little or nothing with each other except for the color of their skin and hope for the best!

Interesting

How was 1790 and especially 1850 a better time for austria than 1815?

Loving this channel A far too often over simplified or untold period Much enjoying the general international coverage Too much is about Britain at this time in most other historical synopses Would love one on the opening of Japan or the effects of the Industrial revolution in the future

Áustria faz parte da união europeia adolfo hiteler era da Áustria ou não para todos.

Kinda tangential, but I've recently been wondering what would have happened if Austria helped with Russia in the Crimean War.

Ayo he was born at my home town. I live 5 minutes away from the Castle

How did Croatia go from Austrian in 1848 to Hungarian in 1866?

Glory to Italy and Italians 🇮🇹

I read Schwarzenegger at first glance

Felix Ludwig Johann Friedrich, Prince of Schwarzenberg (1800-1852). Restauration? That was mostly military. Nicolas I tsar helped to destroy the Hungarian revolution, and this new state based on military supress. As soon as Austria let down Russia this was a weak state what defeated by French in Italy 1850's, and Prussian in Königgratz. It survived 19 years....Train network expanded by private companies that was the best deed of this regime.