These conflicting interpretations would lead to a series of wars in the decades that followed.
22 March 1848
This morning (March 13), on going out about half-past 10 o’clock, I found the town in a state of great excitement, great numbers of people in the streets, and an evident impression abroad that something extraordinary was about to happen. All, however, seemed tolerably peaceable; the people were mostly of the better classes, and no one armed. Going into the Burg Platz, a square surrounded by the buildings belonging to the palace, I saw a company of soldiers drawing up, and a number of persons, apparently attracted chiefly by curiosity. In the Ball Platz adjoining, close to the official residence of Prince Metternich, there were at that time no soldiers, and only a few persons passing and repassing. Thence all was quiet as far as the English Embassy, in the Hintere Schenken Strasse. Going thence into the Herrn Gasse, in which the Landhaus is situated, in which the States of Lower Austria (the mockery of a Parliament) hold their sittings, I found it occupied by a very dense crowd, but for the most part orderly, and evidently consisting of rather the better class. It was understood that a deputation of the States was about to proceed to the Emperor; to inform him of the excitement which prevailed and the necessity for doing something to quiet the general agitation. About half past 11 o’clock I returned home; and then took a walk on the ramparts, when I not only saw a number of ladies and children, but even met the Emperor himself, with a single attendant, evidently showing that no very serious disturbance was at that time apprehended. Passing again through the Burg Platz, about 1 o’clock, I found the crowd considerably increased, and soon afterwards the place was completely cleared by the military. In the Herrn Gasse, and the Michaeli Platz adjoining, there was now an immense concourse of people. I was told that they were waiting for the answer to the deputation, which was promised in an hour’s time, but had not yet arrived. About 2 o’clock, going to the Landhaus from the Minoriten Platz, I found the building in complete possession of the populace, who had broken in with cries of “Press Freiheit!” “Keine Polizei!” “Pereat Metternich!” (“Freedom of the Press!” “No Police!” “Down with Metternich!”) It is said, that during the sitting of the States some few persons had been admitted, and the door then locked, on which they shouted to the mob from the windows that they were made prisoners. On making their way in they completely destroyed all the furniture and every article on which they could lay their hands. I made my way into the court, when I was told that a Jew had just been addressing the crowd from a boarding over the pump. I did not hear the purport of his speech, but it seemed to have given great satisfaction. The cries became now almost deafening. At this time there was no military on the spot, but about half-past 2 o’clock, or a little sooner, a company was brought up, and cleared the portion of the street abutting on the Landhaus. Being pretty well tired out I went to a reading-room, at the opposite end of the town, and stayed there half an hour. On my leaving it, I was told that the soldiers had just fired on the people, and that several were killed – report said six or eight (amongst the number two students).
Despite the restoration of the monarchy in France, the radical hopes unleashed by the Revolution, and the liberal ideas developed during the Age of Enlightenment, led to increased tension in much of Europe, still dominated by conservative rulers.
When violent protests broke out in Paris in 1848, Vienna soon followed suit. For 40 years, Austria’s leading statesman, Prince Metternich, had kept intact its empire – which stretched from Milan in Italy to Lviv in the Ukraine – by combining astute diplomacy abroad with repressive measures at home. Students were a particular target, with university fraternities being prohibited.
The scale of the demonstrations in March, stoked further by the force used against them, brought about Metternich’s resignation. For a time, he went into exile in England, living by the Thames at Richmond. Under a new Emperor, the young Franz Joseph, the Habsburgs reasserted control and Metternich was able to return. Yet he never regained his standing and his death a decade later went largely unreported by foreign newspapers.
2 May 1851
The inauguration of the Temple of the Industry of the World, an edifice as unexampled in its magnitude and materials as for the purposes to which it is applied and the collection it displays, will render yesterday for ever memorable as a great epoch in the progress of civilization. Erected at the exclusive cost and by the spontaneous subscription of the British people, it has been dedicated to the celebration of the triumphs of the useful arts throughout the globe. Its portals have been thrown open, without restriction or limit, to all nations, invited to meet there in amicable rivalry and on equal terms – an invitation which has been responded to in a spirit correspondent with that in which it was given. From the east and from the west, from the north and from the south, from the ardour of the tropics and the rigour of the poles, thousands have come to present their offerings at the common shrine – trophies collected in the victories of mind over matter – rich spoils carried away by man in his conquests over nature. The prisoners who follow the triumphal car of the victor are here the elements themselves, brought into subjection to the indomitable sway of the human will. Nothing in nature is so stubborn or intractable as to resist this power. The lightning dares no longer strike. It glides innocuous along a prescribed path, and is made to pass, as though in mockery of its impotence, over the objects which, being uncontrolled, it would have reduced to ruin. The wind and tide no longer obstruct the vessel which advances triumphantly against their force. Space and time are annihilated, and intelligence flies instantaneously between man and man at any distance, however great. Let those who take pleasure in such reflections, and delight to observe the means by which these and numerous other miracles of art are wrought, accompany us to the Crystal Palace, where they will find in every object a fruitful source of wonder and admiration. It will be our part from day to day to point out what is most worthy of attention, to explain and illustrate what may seem obscure, and to supply those links in the chain of useful and elevating information which may not always be suggested by the objects exhibited.
The Great Exhibition was conceived as a showcase primarily for British industry and design in response to similar events staged by the French. Its chief proponents were Prince Albert and Henry Cole, a civil servant with a keen interest in the arts who is said to have been the first person to have sent out Christmas cards.
Designed by Joseph Paxton, and overseen by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the Crystal Palace that housed the exhibition was manufactured and erected in just nine months on the Knightsbridge side of Hyde Park, London. It was 1848 feet (563 metres) long and 454 feet (138 metres) wide and the 100,000 exhibits within it included the Koh-i-Noor diamond, Samuel Colt’s new Navy revolver and the world’s largest penknife, which was 22 inches (55.8 centimetres) thick and had 75 blades.
More than six million people visited the exhibition, some of them spending a penny to use the world’s first pay lavatories. Profits from the show were used to build the South Kensington museums, including the Victoria & Albert and the Albert Hall. The Crystal Palace was later moved to the area of south-east London to which it gave its name, only to be destroyed by fire in 1936.
THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE
14 November 1854
As they passed towards the front, the Russians opened on them from the guns in the redoubt on the right, with volleys of musketry and rifles. They swept proudly past, glittering in the morning sun in all the pride and splendour of war. We could scarcely
