Firestorm of Vienna - 1913
On an unusually warm day of winter, 1913, in a slum in northern Vienna, a lamp was dropped onto the floor by a strong wind, instantly setting fire to the wooden floor of the men’s dormitory. The window was left opened by a small time Austrian painter, too tired to wake up in time to save himself from the fire. The fire, consuming an abundance of flammable painting materials, quickly spread around the building, and engulfed many of the other residents before they could react, either dying from the flames, or by the smoke. The fire only continued to spread from their, engulfing the poorly built and highly flammable slum areas, until the Vienna fire department arrived. By that point the fire had already grown out of control, and was eating its way towards the city center, expedited by the fast but dry winds of the alps’ winter. A firestorm soon formed in the center of town, catching many by surprise and killing many in the city center. Among the casualties were a myriad of intellectuals, revolutionaries, and future leaders, and Europe, even if it did not know, would be changed forever by the Firestorm of Vienna.
While the fire raged, Emperor Franz, Archduke Ferdinand, and the royal family was evacuated out of the Schonbrunn Palace. Confused by the direction of the fire, the royals were evacuated north until a correction had to be made near the train yard, a kilometer north. By that time already the bridges south were being blown by the firestorm and the trains/roads west were clogged. The royals attempted to make their way west, but then tragedy struck. It is not known how it happened, but it is believed that in the chaos an organized group of anarchists, ethnic separatists, or other rebels seized the opportunity and killed/injured 7 royals and 32 royal guards during the fighting, 3 of them the king (Franz), heir apparent (Ferdinand), and the successor to the heir apparent (Karl). The reason it is not known what happened is that the fire caught up to the groups and the rebels quickly fled or were burned alive, making identification impossible afterwards, while most civilians had already emptied out, so eyewitnesses were hard to come by. The royal guard did not stop to pursue either, as the primary priority was to get the royals to safety and a hospital. Heir apparent Karl, managed to escape from the fighting alive, but not without injury, as he was rapidly bleeding out from bullet wounds. He was evacuated to a hospital in Pressburg, and doctors would attempt to stabilize him there. for two weeks the doctors fought lead, iron, and Karl's body in order to save him, but were ultimately unsuccessful. Although never haven taken the title of Emperor, he was declared so posthumously by Emperor Maximillian, and along with his late father and grandfather, was marched in the royal funeral parade. Emperor Maximillian could have no rest, for two very apparent issues were starring the emperor. The first was the reconstruction of Vienna, which had been burnt to the ground, and the survivors needed shelter from the winter storms. Camps were set up outside Pressburg, the de-facto capitol, and a basic reconstruction plan was implemented, where buildings would be restored to their original function and the designs would be worked out later. The second issue was the Serbian situation, as several generals were clamoring for war with Serbia and told the king that the serbs were behind the attack. A young emperor, at 18 years of age and not expecting to be in power, Maximillian was naive and unexperienced, so he took the generals at their word. The accusations thrown at Serbia would not be substantial enough to justify a war however, and the event would go down as the Serbian-Hasburg crisis of 1913, and by 1914 troops on both sides had moved away from the border, and war had been avoided, for now.
After the fire officials attempted to track down the rebels but could not find a trail in the ash covered ruins. This part of Vienna would stay in disrepair until 1918, when the government gave up searching for the would be assassins. Austrian generals had blamed Serbian separatists for the incident but could not come up with meaningful evidence to prove it. In 1978 a journal was found, and it was believed to have belonged to a separatist working in a Serbian dominated factory neighborhood. The journal confirmed the accusations of several high ranking Austrian generals, but the even this is not concrete proof and the killers identity will likely remain a mystery. The accusations would not amount to anything, but tensions continued to rise between Austria-Hungary and the small Serbian state. Poles, Ukrainians, Romanians, and Serbs by royal decree were barred from settling in Vienna proper, being within 20 miles of an official palace, and required special passes for entering government buildings. Minorities, now having to pay to pay their taxes, being de-facto expelled from Austria due to the number of castles in the area, and overall being discriminated by the empire would only double down on their hate of it. Romanians in particular turned against the empire and began a series of terror attacks and bombings on minor officials in Austro-Hungarian controlled Romania. meanwhile the new king Maximillian, "guided" by his generals, began to brutally crack down on Romanian rebels within the empire, souring relation between it and Romania proper. Although not the biggest of issues, as King Ferdinand the first of Romania was amicable to the central powers, when he was replaced relations between the small nation and the empire would reach a breaking point. The king also failed to inspire change within the dying empire, and sectarian conflict on the peripheries would reach an all time high, only lowering in order to all hate on the king equally. His economic policy was not much better, as Austria began funneling funds from the treasury to the military instead of the civilian sector, leading to workers strike, protests, and riots s in both Hungary and Austria, Even with the additional funding the Austro-Hungarian army was not any more prepared for the coming storm, as much of the funds went to general's pockets or were invested in units with no purpose on a modern battlefield
On an unusually warm day of winter, 1913, in a slum in northern Vienna, a lamp was dropped onto the floor by a strong wind, instantly setting fire to the wooden floor of the men’s dormitory. The window was left opened by a small time Austrian painter, too tired to wake up in time to save himself from the fire. The fire, consuming an abundance of flammable painting materials, quickly spread around the building, and engulfed many of the other residents before they could react, either dying from the flames, or by the smoke. The fire only continued to spread from their, engulfing the poorly built and highly flammable slum areas, until the Vienna fire department arrived. By that point the fire had already grown out of control, and was eating its way towards the city center, expedited by the fast but dry winds of the alps’ winter. A firestorm soon formed in the center of town, catching many by surprise and killing many in the city center. Among the casualties were a myriad of intellectuals, revolutionaries, and future leaders, and Europe, even if it did not know, would be changed forever by the Firestorm of Vienna.
While the fire raged, Emperor Franz, Archduke Ferdinand, and the royal family was evacuated out of the Schonbrunn Palace. Confused by the direction of the fire, the royals were evacuated north until a correction had to be made near the train yard, a kilometer north. By that time already the bridges south were being blown by the firestorm and the trains/roads west were clogged. The royals attempted to make their way west, but then tragedy struck. It is not known how it happened, but it is believed that in the chaos an organized group of anarchists, ethnic separatists, or other rebels seized the opportunity and killed/injured 7 royals and 32 royal guards during the fighting, 3 of them the king (Franz), heir apparent (Ferdinand), and the successor to the heir apparent (Karl). The reason it is not known what happened is that the fire caught up to the groups and the rebels quickly fled or were burned alive, making identification impossible afterwards, while most civilians had already emptied out, so eyewitnesses were hard to come by. The royal guard did not stop to pursue either, as the primary priority was to get the royals to safety and a hospital. Heir apparent Karl, managed to escape from the fighting alive, but not without injury, as he was rapidly bleeding out from bullet wounds. He was evacuated to a hospital in Pressburg, and doctors would attempt to stabilize him there. for two weeks the doctors fought lead, iron, and Karl's body in order to save him, but were ultimately unsuccessful. Although never haven taken the title of Emperor, he was declared so posthumously by Emperor Maximillian, and along with his late father and grandfather, was marched in the royal funeral parade. Emperor Maximillian could have no rest, for two very apparent issues were starring the emperor. The first was the reconstruction of Vienna, which had been burnt to the ground, and the survivors needed shelter from the winter storms. Camps were set up outside Pressburg, the de-facto capitol, and a basic reconstruction plan was implemented, where buildings would be restored to their original function and the designs would be worked out later. The second issue was the Serbian situation, as several generals were clamoring for war with Serbia and told the king that the serbs were behind the attack. A young emperor, at 18 years of age and not expecting to be in power, Maximillian was naive and unexperienced, so he took the generals at their word. The accusations thrown at Serbia would not be substantial enough to justify a war however, and the event would go down as the Serbian-Hasburg crisis of 1913, and by 1914 troops on both sides had moved away from the border, and war had been avoided, for now.
After the fire officials attempted to track down the rebels but could not find a trail in the ash covered ruins. This part of Vienna would stay in disrepair until 1918, when the government gave up searching for the would be assassins. Austrian generals had blamed Serbian separatists for the incident but could not come up with meaningful evidence to prove it. In 1978 a journal was found, and it was believed to have belonged to a separatist working in a Serbian dominated factory neighborhood. The journal confirmed the accusations of several high ranking Austrian generals, but the even this is not concrete proof and the killers identity will likely remain a mystery. The accusations would not amount to anything, but tensions continued to rise between Austria-Hungary and the small Serbian state. Poles, Ukrainians, Romanians, and Serbs by royal decree were barred from settling in Vienna proper, being within 20 miles of an official palace, and required special passes for entering government buildings. Minorities, now having to pay to pay their taxes, being de-facto expelled from Austria due to the number of castles in the area, and overall being discriminated by the empire would only double down on their hate of it. Romanians in particular turned against the empire and began a series of terror attacks and bombings on minor officials in Austro-Hungarian controlled Romania. meanwhile the new king Maximillian, "guided" by his generals, began to brutally crack down on Romanian rebels within the empire, souring relation between it and Romania proper. Although not the biggest of issues, as King Ferdinand the first of Romania was amicable to the central powers, when he was replaced relations between the small nation and the empire would reach a breaking point. The king also failed to inspire change within the dying empire, and sectarian conflict on the peripheries would reach an all time high, only lowering in order to all hate on the king equally. His economic policy was not much better, as Austria began funneling funds from the treasury to the military instead of the civilian sector, leading to workers strike, protests, and riots s in both Hungary and Austria, Even with the additional funding the Austro-Hungarian army was not any more prepared for the coming storm, as much of the funds went to general's pockets or were invested in units with no purpose on a modern battlefield
