Friedrich Engels 
The Sick Man of Austria 

New-York Daily Tribune. 
Nr. 6039,1. September 1860 

The Sick Man of Austria. 

The Emperor Francis Joseph of Austria seems permitted to live only that 
he may prove the truth of the old Latin maxim, that he whom the gods mean 
to destroy they first make mad. From the beginning of the year 1859 he has 
done nothing but deliberately trample under foot every chance that was 
offered to him to save himself and the Austrian Empire. The sudden attack 
on Piedmont with a portion only of his forces—the superseding of Marshal 
Hess in the command of the army by the Emperor and his clique—the ir- 
resolution which led to the battle of Solferino—the sudden conclusion of 
peace at the very moment when the French had arrived before his strongest 
positions—the obstinate refusal of all concessions in the internal organization 
of the Empire until it was too late, form an unequaled series of foolish 
blunders to be committed by one individual in so short a time. 

But, as luck would have it, Francis Joseph had still another chance. The 
barefaced double-dealing of Louis Napoleon rendered necessary that 
alliance between Prussia and Austria which the preceding humiliations of 
Austria, her daily increasing difficulties at home and abroad, had first 
rendered possible. The interviews of Baden and Teplitz sealed that alliance. 
Prussia, for the first time acting as the representative of the rest of Germany, 
promised her assistance in case Austria was attacked, not only by Italy, but 
by France also; while Austria promised to make concessions to public 
opinion, and change her internal policy. Here was indeed a hope for Francis 
Joseph. A fight with Italy single-handed he might not fear, even in case of 
troubles in Hungary, for his new policy was to be the best guaranty of 
security in that quarter. With a separate Constitution based upon the one 
abolished in 1849, Hungary would have been satisfied; a liberal Constitution 
for the whole of the Empire would have fulfilled the present wishes of the 
German nucleus of the monarchy, and counteracted in a great measure the 

The Sick Man of Austria 

separate tendencies of the Slavonic provinces. The finances once under 
popular control, public credit would have recovered itself, and the same 
Austria, now weak, poor, prostrate, exhausted, and a prey to internal divi- 
sions, would have soon regained strength under the protection of the 
700,000 bayonets which Germany held ready to defend her. To insure all this, 
but two things were required of Austria: to follow up a genuine liberal policy 
at home, sincerely and without reserve, and to remain on the defensive in 
Venice, abandoning the remainder of Italy to its fate. 

But neither the one nor the other, it appears, can or will Francis Joseph 

10 do. He can neither throw overboard his power as an absolute monarch, which 

is every day being dissolved more and more into vapor, nor can he forget 
that position of protector of the petty Italian tyrants, which he has already 
lost. Insincere, weak, and obstinate at the same time, he seems to fly from 
his internal difficulties to an aggressive war abroad, and rather than cement 
his Empire by the sacrifice of apower which is slipping from his hands, he 
appears to have thrown himself once more into the arms of his personal 
cronies, and to be preparing a descent into Italy which may end in the 
breaking up of the Austrian monarchy. 
There may or there may not be a note or other communication sent from 
Vienna to Turin, on the subject of Garibaldi's landing in Calabria; but it is 
quite probable that Francis Joseph has made up his mind to consider this 
landing a case for his intervention in favor of the King of Naples. Whether 
this be true, we shall soon see. But what can be the cause of this sudden 
revulsion of Austrian policy? Has the recent fraternization with Prussia and 
Bavaria turned the head of Francis Joseph? It is not likely; for, after all, that 
fraternization of Teplitz was a humiliation for him, and a triumph for Prussia 
only. Does Francis Joseph intend to collect under his standard the armies 
of the Pope and of the King of Naples before Garibaldi has shattered them 
to atoms and incorporated their Italian elements with his own followers? That 
would be a very insufficient motive. In any campaign whatever, these troops 
will want for nothing, while, in the position in which Austria will place herself 
by such a foolish aggression, she will want for everything. There can be no 
other cause for it than the state of internal Austrian politics. And here we 
have not to seek long. The Council of the Empire, reénforced by some of 
the most conservative and aristocratic elements of the different Provinces, 
and intrusted, in time ofpeace, with the control of the finances of the country, 
is about to discuss the question of popular representation and constitutions 
for the Empire and the single provinces composing it. The motions made to 
this effect by the Hungarian members have an overwhelming majority in the 

40 Committee, and will be passed in the same triumphant manner in the Council, 

in the face of the Government. In one word, the second Austrian Revolution 

Friedrich Engels 

seems to have set in. The Council of the Empire—a weak counterfeit of the 
French Notables—exactly as they did, declares itself incompetent, and calls 
for the States General. The Government, in the same financial difficulties 
as that of Louis XVI., and weaker still by the diverging tendencies of the 
various nationalities composing the Empire, is not in a position to resist. 
Concessions wrested from the Government are sure to be followed by fees 
and demands. The States General soon formed themselves into the National 
Assembly. Francis Joseph feels the ground tremble under his feet, and to 
escape from the impending earthquake will perhaps fly into a war. 

If Francis Joseph acts up to his menace, commencing a crusade for le- 
gitimacy in Naples and the Papal States, what will be the end of it? There 
is not a Power or State in Europe which has the slightest interest in the 
maintenance of the Bourbons, andif Francis Joseph interferes in their behalf, 
he will have to bear the consequences. Louis Napoleon is sure to cross the 
Alps in defense of non-intervention; and Austria, withthe public opinion of 
all Europe dead against her, with ruined finances, insurrection in Hungary, 
and a brave but far outnumbered army, will be fearfully beaten. Perhaps she 
will receive her death-blow. As to Germany coming to her aid, itis perfectly 
out of the question. The Germans will most decidedly decline to fight either 
for the King of Naples or for the Pope. They will take care to have the 
territory of the Confederation respected (which both French and Italians will 
be but too glad to submit to), and if Hungary rises, they will look on quite 
as coolly. Nay, the German provinces of the Empire will, very likely, support 
the demands of the Hungarians, as they did in 1848, and demand a Con- 
stitution for themselves. The Austrian press, restricted as it is by the 
Government, still shows unmistakable signs of the existence, even in Austria, 
of a wide-spread sympathy with Garibaldi. The current of opinion has 
changed from the channel it followed last year; Venice is now considered 
a very bad kind of property, and the struggle of the Italians for independence, 
since it is carried on without French assistance, is looked on in a favorable 
light by the Viennese public. Francis Joseph will find it exceedingly difficult 
to make even his own German subjects take up the cause of the Bourbon 
of Naples, of the Pope, of the petty Dukes of Emiha. A people which is just 
entering on a revolution against absolutism, is not likely to stick up for the 
dynastic interests of its ruler. The Viennese have proved this before, and 
it is possible enough that the passage of the Po by the Austrian troops may 
become the signal for the use of more violent means by the movement party 
in Vienna as well as in Hungary.