Alpha Book

Joseph, on
the other hand, carried the sacred crown of St. Stephen--treasured by
all Hungarians--to Vienna; abolished the privileges of the Hungarian
Diet, or congress; and with a stroke of the pen established a new
system of government. He divided his lands into thirteen provinces,
each under a military commander. Each province was divided into
districts or counties, and these again into townships. There would be
no more local privileges but all was to be managed from Vienna. The
army was henceforth to be on the Prussian model, and the peasants were
to be forced to serve their terms in it. German was to be the official
language throughout the Habsburg realm. This was all very fine on
paper, but in practice it was a gigantic failure. The Austrian
Netherlands rose in revolt rather than lose their local autonomy; the
Tyrol did likewise; and angry protests came from Hungary. Local
liberties and traditions could not be abolished by an imperial decree.
Finally, in his attempts to reconstruct society, Joseph came to grief.


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