THE AUSTRIAN PARTITION 109Polish noblemen in patriotic enterprises. But for the peasants, it was a liberating
experience of the first importance. Having once shaken off their feudal dues,
they could not easily resubmit. For Galicia as a whole, the jacquerie of 1846
exposed the shortcomings of the existing authoritarian regime, and prepared the
ground for eventual autonomy.^3
Two years later, Galicia felt the shock-waves of the revolutionary distur-
bances in other parts of the Empire. In March, when news arrived from Vienna
that Metternich had fled and that the Emperor Ferdinand had promised consti-
tutional reforms, a National Committee was formed in Cracow and a National
Council in Lemberg. In the 'Lemberg Address' of 19 March 1848, a group of
prominent Galicians petitioned the Emperor for the emancipation of the peas-
ants and for provincial Autonomy. In the heat of the moment, their loyalist sen-
timents were amended by the messengers entrusted with the petition's delivery;
and, contrary to all common sense, a document was delivered in Vienna
demanding Polish independence. A Galician Delegation, which attended the
meetings of the Assembly in Vienna from July to October, contained a score of
colourful and vocal peasants. They took an active part in the abolition of feudal
services. They were led, during voting, by the Govenor of Galicia, Franz von
Stadion (1806-553). Franciszek Smolka (1810-99), acted as President of the
Lower Chamber. But the imperial army kept its nerve. In April, Cracow was
bombarded by the Austrian garrison on Wawel Hill, and was the first of the
Empire's rebellious cities to be reduced to obedience. Lemberg submitted in
November, after similar treatment. By that time, General Windischgratz had
already re-entered Vienna. In December, the discredited Emperor abdicated in
favour of his nephew, Francis-Joseph, and Austria returned toitsformer abso-
lutist ways. Assisted by the state of emergency required by the unfinished war
against Hungary, Alexander Bach, the Minister of the Interior, was able to
repress all political opposition. Plans for Galician autonomy had to be shelved
once again. (See Chapter 15.)
Autonomy was not forgotten, however, and came to fruition by stages as a
by-product of the Empire's military defeats and the continuing constitutional
struggle between Austria and Hungary. The movement for autonomy was first
revived by a group of conservative aristocrats headed by Count Agenor
Goiuchowski (1812—75), who could press Vienna for concessions as their price
for unwavering loyalty to the Crown, thereby ensuring that the Galician Poles
could be used as a counterweight to the Magyar secessionists and the German
radicals. Goiuchowski, who was Governor in Galicia in 1849, Viceroy in
1850-9, 1866-8, and 1871-5, and President of the Imperial Council of Ministers
in 1859-60, acted as the link between the Habsburg Court and his fellow Polish
grandees, the so-called 'Podolians'. In unison with the converted ex-radical,
Florian Ziemialkowski (1817-1900), he viewed autonomy from an essentially
Whiggish position, seeing timely constitutional concessions as the best means of
preserving the dominance of the landowning interest. At the same time, he
hoped to parry the more militant Federalists, headed by Smolka, who aimed to