ABSTRACT
The History of the 1848 revolutions within the Monarchy can only be understood if their overall pattern is understood. Revolutions broke out in Milan and Venice; Marshal Radetzky’s forces were driven out of both cities – retreating from Milan, surrendering in Venice — while Charles Albert of Sardinia accepted the invitation of the Lombard nobility to come to the aid of his fellow Italians. The decisive clash between Wessenberg and Schwarzenberg was to take place in Vienna. One state that they triumphed on account of their disobedience – a viewpoint attributed to Prince Schwarzenberg. Radetzky’s outlook, therefore, was clearly very different from that of Windischgraetz. It was ironical, therefore, that the latter should select as Prime Minister in October 1848 his brother-in-law, Prince Schwarzenberg. No doubt he felt that Schwarzenberg, who was thirteen years his junior and who had once served as a cadet in his regiment, would follow his lead politically.
