Gergely András: Reform and Revolution 1830 - 1849 - East European Monographs 736. Atlantic Studies on Society Change 130. (New York, 2009)
11. The Revolution and the Defensive War - The Objectives and Instruments of the Counterrevolution
335 The Revolution and the Defensive War of the Empire, the field marshals, who actually governed the territories of the Empire, wanted to establish order through a military dictatorship. The landed aristocracy, who held the more significant positions, wanted to emerge in Vienna as the leaders of the traditional territories, which were being newly reorganized. Windisch-Gratz himself could be considered as their leader. The wealthy bourgeoisie of Austria, however, wanted considerable centralization. One part of the wealthy bourgeoisie wanted it to be done constitutionally, while the other part wanted the centralization with or without constitutionality. The new Emperor supported Prime Minister Schwarzenberg and his political ideas, and Schwarzenberg outlined a centralized, absolutist, German-dominated, Empire based on the middle class. He wanted it to be based on the middle class and not on a feudal or military foundation. Not only was Schwarzenberg١s model for the state aimed at saving the Habsburg Empire, but he himself also harbored other far-reaching plans. Once authority had been reunited, he wanted the entire Empire, including the Italian, Polish, Hungarian and other territories, to become a decisive force in the creation of a unified Germany. His plans called for the creation of an enormous Empire stretching from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, from France to Russia, and able to expand in the direction of the Balkans. It would enjoy a population of some 70 million, and although made up of many nationalities, it would be under German hegemony. Naturally, it would not be able to be governed constitutionally but only in an absolutist fashion, even more so than hitherto. The center would be Vienna and the Habsburgs. In the light of the existing internal conditions, the establishment of such an Empire of 70 million can be considered to be unrealistic, since for the time being neither the conquest of Hungary nor the pacification of Italy had proven feasible. Furthermore, overcoming Prussian resistance could also not proceed peacefully. Even if it had come together, it would have been destroyed by a general European war based on the unified opposition of the other Great Powers. The birth of such a superpower was not in the interests of any other