On this day 107 years ago, on October 31, 1918 (September 27, 1918), the Austrian people declared the Austrian Empire a republic, and the Austrian emperor was forced to flee the capital. On October 31, 1918, revolution broke out in Austria, the accomplices who had fomented this long and terrifying war. The Austrian people declared the Austrian Empire a republic, and the Austrian emperor was forced to flee the capital. In Vienna and Budapest, demonstrator students and workers protested against the government by chanting "Down with the Hapsburgs!" "No one took the government or the Ramasch cabinet seriously," a journalist reported. In Czechoslovakia, the people also overthrew Hapsburgs and occupied Prague. The uprising broke out on the heels of these announcements, and total surrender was imminent, for the Italian army had destroyed the last stronghold of Austria at Pontenellas. This defeat was but one in a series of defeats. The Serbian, Russian, and Italian armies had already routed the Austrian army. They only had a slight taste of victory when they received assistance from their ally, the Germans. Emperor Charles, who is said to be hiding in the Gedler Palace, northeast of Budapest, last month contacted Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany, declaring that the Austro-Hungarian Empire's finances and armies had collapsed, and that it had to accept the request for peace talks and that the war should end in dignity as soon as possible.