Chapter 7: Laying Out Public Opinion

  Chapter 7 Laying Out Public Opinion

Point blank, Franz didn’t continue to delve into the topic.

The capitalists were not to be messed with, and even if they hadn’t yet taken a dominant position in the government, the power they possessed was still not to be underestimated.

In Franz’s position, it was fine to raise questions, but it was better to ask him to fight for the interests of the working class, to fight against the bourgeoisie!

Franz had already decided to hand over this great and difficult task to the aristocratic conservatives, and Prime Minister Metternich was one of the candidates.

Perhaps one day the capitalists will demand the opening up of the franchise, the implementation of constitutionalism and the emancipation of the serfs, while the aristocrats will demand the enactment of labor protection laws to safeguard the rights of the working class.

However, the Austrian people will probably be dumbfounded when these two groups of people get through with their slogans.

This is also the actual situation in Austria, the aristocrats are still in the feudal class, and the capitalists are natural conflict of interest, the two sides have not yet had time to merge.

If you wait until the beginning of the 20th century, the aristocrats and capitalists have formed an interest group, then there is really no way to rely on political means to solve the problem, in addition to push down and rebuild.

In addition to stirring up the fire in front of Metternich, Franz also has other preparations, he does not think that his words will be able to impress Metternich this old fox.

Don’t look at their relationship is very good, but in politics, we never look at friendship.

While chatting, Franz also got the qualification to start a newspaper, before the revolution in March 1848, the Austrian empire was practicing the censorship of books and newspapers.

By the time of the Vienna Revolution in March 1848, there were 79 newspapers in Austria. This is a newspaper, not a press!

Considering that a single press could publish several newspapers at once, the number of presses would only have been smaller.

Just look at this set of figures to see how hard it was to get a newspaper in this day and age.

But this was not a problem for Franz, the control of books and newspapers was to curb the spread of revolutionary ideas, anyone could support the revolutionaries, only he, the heir to the throne, could not support the revolutionaries to revolutionize his own life.

Franz is still very moral, anxious about the people’s concerns, worried about the people’s worries, so the name of his newspaper is called “We Want Bread, We Want Cheese”.

The definition of this newspaper, which was also exactly the same as the name, was that he decided that he wanted to put the newspaper in front of the police station for the safety of the newspaper.

It was also very cumbersome to open a newspaper office in this day and age, and even if Franz could skip the most tedious formalities, labor and space always needed to be found on one’s own.

The most important thing is still the newspaper editors and reporters, these people must be hot-blooded and dare to face this cruel society head on, and likewise not so hot-blooded that they even forget whose food they are eating.

The country is unfortunate poets fortunate, endowed to the vicissitudes of the sentence will work.

This saying is still very true, the middle of the 19th century in Austria also emerged a large number of literati, some of these people insisted on creating, some diverted midway to play politics.

In any case, the penman’s power of propaganda was not comparable to that of the aristocracy.

For example, the lawyer born Hungarian politician Kossuth, is a propaganda strong man, in 1847 opened the prelude to Hungary’s independence, but also once became the head of the Hungarian Republic.

Of course, he was also an idealist with the usual problems of a man of letters, and his plans were often detached from the actual situation, and the revolt was naturally suppressed.

Franz had no interest in Kossuth, even if the propaganda was strong, but he was an ultra-nationalist.

The two sides were naturally opposed to each other, of course, if you want to buy, it may not be impossible to succeed, but Franz did not have the interest.

In his concept of employment, the importance of loyalty is far more important than the ability, the minimum bottom line, must ensure that it is not an enemy.

After contemplating for a few moments, Franz wrote a few names on a piece of paper, and then instructed, “Raul, send someone to check these people above the list, if there is no problem, then send them an invitation letter in the name of the newspaper!”

“Yes, Grand Duke!” Attendant Raul said hurriedly

It’s not easy to recruit people in this era, the university is still an ivory tower, there are no ordinary people in it, and the lowest status parents are small capitalists.

The so-called inspirational stories were all used to deceive people, and the high tuition fees were simply not something that could be scraped together with hard work and thrift.

The literati in society are not as downtrodden as everyone thinks, with the exception of course of those whose families have fallen from grace.

If you want to recruit people, you can either put up a billboard in a high-traffic place or place an advertisement in the newspaper, and more often than not, you are introduced through acquaintances.

Acquaintances, this is certainly not suitable for Franz, he contacted people who are not so poor, the dragon does not live with the snake, naturally will not know those ordinary workers.

But this is not in a hurry, recruiting ordinary workers is still very easy, compared to other industries, working in the newspaper is still a very decent job, not afraid of no one to apply for a job.

On the contrary, the recruitment of journalists and editors need time, Franz invited people are now well-known social literati.

It didn’t matter if they came or not, it was just telling them that there was now another newspaper in Austria, and they also had another place to publish their articles and earn money.

Throughout, he hadn’t thrown his weight around, although many people would have known he was the man behind the newspaper.

If he hadn’t been thinking about finances, Franz wouldn’t have minded opening dozens of newspapers at once and fighting for the dominance of public opinion in the open.

Considering the return on investment, Franz decisively wimped out, mastering a newspaper usually pointing the finger, when needed can lead the rhythm on it.

Austria’s reforms have been going on for many years, and the current prime minister, Clemens Metternich, was once a representative of the reformers.

But now he is no longer a man of the world, the bourgeoisie in the country dislikes his reforms are not strong enough to satisfy all their interests.

The aristocratic conservatives, too, rejected the prime minister, who, as a representative of the aristocratic interest group, advocated the emancipation of the serfs to the detriment of the aristocracy.

Even the court of Vienna did not like him as a reformist prime minister, for the simple reason that he had been chanting slogans for too long, but the reforms did not bear fruit.

Franz was probably the most understanding person of his time, in a figurative phrase: the Austrian Empire was like a house infested with worms, if a part of it was moved, no one knew how much it would collapse.

Out of prudence and responsibility, Metternich carried out his reforms with great care, lest one bad move would lead to a collapse.

This kind of shrinking reform, naturally, can not be successful, no bloodshed reform, how can it be successful?

(End of chapter)