Page - 39 - in Universities in Imperial Austria, 1848–1918 - A Social History of a Multilingual Space

Chapter 1 ♦  39 he strove to conclude the rebellion through political mediation, against the will of the nationalistic organizations.84 In other regions, groups of scholars and intellectuals fueled political liberalism, demanding the liberalization of public and cultural life, but without engaging in open antigovernment action. In university cities, students formed so-called Studentenlegionen (Student Legions), whose aim was to aid the revolutionaries through ac- tive participation. At the beginning of the movement, national issues were decidedly in second place behind political calls for coups d’état against Metternich’s oppressive regime, in favor of liberalism. In Prague, Bohemian students who identified as Czech or German fought together, forgetting their cultural conflicts and differences and turning against the government. Paradoxically, this meant turning their rage against Leo Thun-Hohenstein, who shortly before had been named governor of Bohemia. The young count was held captive in the Carolinum and was released only through the medi- ation of the language scholar and historian Pavel Josef Šafárik (also written Šafařik), who later had a massive influence on Thun-Hohenstein’s appoint- ment policy in Bohemia.85 Alliances across linguistic and cultural-political figure 1 University Square in Vienna during the night of 13–14 March 1848 and the establishment of the Academic Legion. (Archive of the University of Vienna, 106.I.584. Artist: R. Swoboda.)