Academic Legion (Vienna)
The Academic Legion (
History
The Legion, formed in 1849, was composed of about 6,000 university students. Although students were well represented in the revolutionary vanguard of most cities affected by the revolution during this time, nowhere had the university students played so important and prominent a part in the revolutionary movement as in Vienna. The students exercised a preponderant influence in the “central committee,” the administrative body of the revolutionaries, which consisted of an equal number of students and members of the citizens' militia. Deputations of citizens and peasants came from all parts of Austria to present their grievances and petitions to the "Aula", the headquarters of the students, which had suddenly risen as an authority omnipotent in the opinion of the multitude.[2]
When the
In his Reminiscences, Carl Schurz describes the uniforms of the Academic Legion worn by the Viennese representatives at the Eisenach Student Conference of 25 September - 4 October 1848:
... black felt hats with ostrich plumes, blue coats with black shining buttons, tricolored, black-red-gold sashes, bright steel-handled swords, light-gray trousers, and silver-gray cloaks lined with scarlet. They looked like a troop of knights of old.[2]
News of events which would develop into the end of the Legion's domination of Austrian politics came during the course of this conference. In the face of the reports they received, the Viennese representatives returned home. The imperial government had dispatched troops to
List of members
- Joseph Matthäus Aigner
- Hans Balatka
- Adolf Fischhof
- Robert Hamerling
- Friedrich Hassaurek
- Eduard Lasker
It is debated whether Oswald Ottendorfer was involved or not.[4]
See also
- Vienna Uprising
- Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas
Notes
- ^ Phillips 1911, p. 306.
- ^ a b c d e Schurz 1907, Chapter VI.
- ^ "The minister of war, Count Latour, was hanged to a lamp-post by an infuriated crowd" (Schurz 1907, Chapter VI).
- ^ "Issues and Events". 1917.
References
- Phillips, Walter Alison (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 301–307.
- This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain: Schurz, Carl (1907), "Chapter VI Resisting the Reaction", , vol. 1 (3 vols. ed.), New York: The McClure Company
External links
- New International Encyclopedia. 1905.
.
- Encyclopedia Americana. 1920. .