The ironclads, the Archduke and the Liberals: the Austrian Parliament and the naval estimates, 1861–1863

After the war of 1859 the Austrian navy engaged in an ambitious building programme: It wanted to use the introduction of ironclads as a ‘window of opportunity’. In terms of domestic politics, however, the navy was caught between committed liberals who opposed extra spending and conservatives who preferred to rely on the army and dismissed the need for a strong navy. Moreover, the financial committee of the Austrian Reichsrat was outraged by the blatant overruns of the navy that made a mockery of parliamentary control, even though the naval commander, Archduke Ferdinand Maximilian (1832–1867) prided himself on being a Liberal. The Archduke did try to build a lobby of his own in parliament but above all he used his position as the Emperor’s younger brother to get his way. But in those early stages of constitutionalism, neither the mainstream Liberals nor the ministry were eager to risk a political crisis. Thus, as part of a compromise, in late 1862 the Archduke accepted a few cuts but in return was given free rein to do whatever he wanted with the rest of the money. As a result, he almost shut the navy down to make it great, focussing on the ironclads to the exclusion of almost everything else.