The Vienna Uprising or October Revolution (Ger. Oktoberaufstand) of October 1848 was the last uprising in the Austrian Revolution of 1848.

On 6 October 1848, as the troops of the Austrian Empire

Austrian Empire

The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...

 were preparing to leave Vienna

Vienna

Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...

 to suppress the Hungarian Revolution

Hungarian Revolution of 1848

The Hungarian Revolution of 1848 was one of many of the European Revolutions of 1848 and closely linked to other revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas...

, a crowd sympathetic to the Hungarian cause (of workers, students and mutinous soldiers) tried to prevent them leaving. The incident escalated into violent street battles; blood was spilt in Saint Stephen's Cathedral and Count Baillet von Latour

Theodor Franz, Count Baillet von Latour

Count Theodor Franz Baillet von Latour was an Austrian soldier and statesman. As the Imperial Minister of War, he was killed by a mob at the beginning of the Vienna Uprising.-Biography:...

, the Austrian Minister of War, was lynched

Lynching

Lynching is an extrajudicial execution carried out by a mob, often by hanging, but also by burning at the stake or shooting, in order to punish an alleged transgressor, or to intimidate, control, or otherwise manipulate a population of people. It is related to other means of social control that...

 by the crowd. The commander of the Vienna garrison, Count Auersperg

Prince Adolf of Auersperg

Prince Adolf Wilhelm Daniel von Auersperg was an Austrian statesman.-Biography:He served in the Army from 1841 to 1860 and attained the rank of major of dragoons in the regiment of Prince Eugene...

, was obliged to evacuate the city, but he entrenched himself in a strong position outside it.

On 7 October, Emperor Ferdinand I

Ferdinand I of Austria

Ferdinand I was Emperor of Austria, President of the German Confederation, King of Hungary and Bohemia , as well as associated dominions from the death of his father, Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor, until his abdication after the Revolutions of 1848.He married Maria Anna of Savoy, the sixth child...

 fled with his court to (now Olomouc

Olomouc

Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. The city is located on the Morava river and is the ecclesiastical metropolis and historical capital city of Moravia. Nowadays, it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic...

, Czech Republic) under the protection of Alfred I, Prince of Windisch-Grätz. Two weeks later, the Austrian Parliament was moved to (now Kroměříž

Kromeríž

Kroměříž is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. The town's main landmark is the Baroque Kroměříž Bishop's Palace, where some scenes from Amadeus and Immortal Beloved were filmed...

, Czech Republic).
On 26 October, under the command of General Windisch-Grätz and Count Josip Jelačić

Josip Jelacic

Count Josip Jelačić of Bužim was the Ban of Croatia between 23 March 1848 and 19 May 1859...

, the Austrian and Croatian armies started a bombardment

Bombardment

A bombardment is an attack by artillery fire directed against fortifications, troops or towns and buildings.Prior to World War I the term term was only applied to the bombardment of defenceless or undefended objects, houses, public buildings, it was only loosely employed to describe artillery...

 of Vienna, and they stormed the city centre on the 31st. The defence was led by the Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 General Józef Bem

Józef Bem

Józef Zachariasz Bem was a Polish general, an Ottoman Pasha and a national hero of Poland and Hungary, and a figure intertwined with other European nationalisms...

. Except for he, who managed to escape, all the leaders of the resistance were executed in the days followingincluding Wenzel Messenhauser, the journalist Alfred Julius Becher, Hermann Jellinek and the Radical member of parliament Robert Blum

Robert Blum

thumb|Painting by August Hunger of Robert Blum between 1845 and 1848Robert Blum was a German democratic politician, publicist, poet, publisher, revolutionist and member of the National Assembly of 1848. In his fight for a strong, unified Germany he opposed ethnocentrism and it was his strong...

, even though he had parliamentary immunity

Parliamentary immunity

Parliamentary immunity, also known as legislative immunity, is a system in which members of the parliament or legislature are granted partial immunity from prosecution. Before prosecuting, it is necessary that the immunity be removed, usually by a superior court of justice or by the parliament itself...

.

The gains of the March Revolution

March Revolution

The March Revolution may refer to:* The Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas and Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, which began in March of that year...

were largely lost, and Austria began a phase of reactionary authoritarianism ("neo-absolutism").