>>46963
I think the Court spun plans for all the possibilities and invested enough into all the participating parties to move over to the side that seemed the winning one. The Habsburgs' long term plan was always survival and were prepared to ride all the changes that might occur, but I think the strongest clique was the conservative absolutist one, whose main goal wasn't just restoring the previous order, but centralizing more. The young Franz Josef was the one whom they created the new absolutist monarch from. But they needed time so they had to give concessions and didn't mind if poor fool Ferdinand blundered about some. For example they were willing to give in to the revolution in Vienna, resign Metternich and give them a new "civilian" office, the minister-president, and Kolowrat in the role (who was the arch-enemy of Metternich whom the Viennese hated, but was Czech nationalist well, what can classify as nationalist in his circles and not a friend of the Hungarians or their cause, it wasn't a coincidence he suggested Jelacic).