ABSTRACT
Ignaz F. Castelli had accused the Austrian nobles of making themselves scarce and of failing to support the revolution. Schwarzenberg, writing under the pseudonym of ‘a nobleman’, claimed that this was untrue. Prince Windischgraetz assumed, therefore, that when Franz Joseph ascended the throne, the ceremony would include a denunciation of the revolution and its entire works. Windischgraetz had, after all, been responsible for his appointment as prime minister, and was reckoned by many at this time to be the saviour of the Monarchy. Responsibility in a monarchy should be the prerogative of the monarch only; ministerial responsibility should therefore be abolished. A new generation of American economic historians, however, has cast doubts on this verdict, arguing that the reforms in question were of minor significance and altered economic trends within the Monarchy only marginally. Foremost among these historians are Thomas Huertas, John Komlos, Richard Rudolph and David F. Good.
