OVERVIEW  OF   THE MAP’S  ERA  HISTORIC  EVENTS.

THE AUSTRIAN MONARCHY AND ITS RAILROADS.

The early years of railroading.

The railroading era in the Austrian Monarchy started with the opening of a horse drawn carriage (on rails) line between the Edelbrucker Schlucht (Upper Austria) and Budweis on Nov. 2, 1827. Several others had followed by the mid 1830's connecting Linz (Upper Austria) to Budweis and Gmunden.

The start of the steam railroad era began with the founding of the Kaiser-Ferdinand-Nordbahn or just Nordbahn as it was called, in 1836. All railroads starting shortly thereafter were of private initiative. This however also created some very unfortunate situations. Speculators, using the goodwill of other investors and the public, created an atmosphere of mistrust and uncertainty.

The Monarchy therefore found it necessary to create a new charter and invoked this charter on Dec. 19, 1841, making the construction of all new rail lines and the existing strategic and economically important rail lines, state property. The first of such new state railways was the Lombardisch-Venetianische Staatsbahn.

The Revolution of 1848.

During 1848 a series of revolutions broke out in quick succession across Europe. The main causes were the economic depression of the time coupled with crop failures over the preceding few years and a general political frustration felt by the liberal minded middle class and nationalistic groups.

The first outbreak occurred on Feb. 22 in Paris, driving Louis Philippe from his throne. In Vienna the news from Paris inspired demonstrations that drove the conservative minister Klemens von Metternich from office. Other nationalities within the Austrian Empire wished to control their own affairs. On March 5, Hungary gained autonomy and proceeded to draft a constitution, in turn the Croats organized in Zagreb to seek freedom from Hungary. In Italy where the expulsion of Austria had long been the goal of the Italian Unity movement called the Risorgimento, a Venetian republic was proclaimed and a revolution in Milan (March 18-22) was supported by a new liberal regime in Sardinia-Piedmont.

In June, Czech leader Frantisek Palacky organized a Pan-Slav Congress in Prague to demand equality with the Germans. On June 17, Austrian forces crushed this rebellion and a month later gained control of Milan. A constituent assembly convened in Vienna to draft a constitution for the empire. It succeeded in abolishing serfdom, but in October it was driven from Vienna by a working-class rebellion; its work was later repudiated by a new prime minister, Felix Schwarzenberg. In December the young Francis Joseph succeeded Ferdinand I as emperor of Austria and imposed a severely centralized administration.

On April 13, 1849, the Hungarians, under Lajos Kossuth, declared their independence. Schwarzenberg called in a Russian army, and in August the Hungarians surrendered. That summer a Roman republic created by Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi collapsed and the Austrian forces recaptured Venice.

Despite a few lasting gains, the Revolutions of 1848 resulted in severe defeats for liberal nationalists seeking democratic reform.

Post Revolution Era.

The resulting uncertainty and poor financial situation of the state created hardships for the Monarchy. Even though the economic climate improved significantly in the years following the revolution, the state run railroads continued their decline. This necessitated the sale of all the railroads operated by the state. Between 1854 and 1858, this transaction consisted of 1766km track, 530 Locomotives, 4696 Freight cars, and 745 Passenger cars.

With the lure of many concessions and other incentives an effort was made again, to raise private capital. Many multinational banks responded, with the result being the founding of the Staatseisenbahngesellschaft (StEG) in 1855.