"A nation that does not know its past does not understand its present, and cannot create its future!"
Europe needs Hungary... which has never let itself be defeated.
The objectives of the Hungarian reform period
The contradiction is huge! Consider that among the nineteen kings of the five-century Habsburg rule in Hungary, one of the most rigid rulers, who hated Hungarians the most, was Ferenc I, under whose reign one of the brightest periods of Hungarian history, the Reformation, could unfold. (For the sake of accuracy, it should be noted that two kings from 1437-1457, then eleven Habsburg monarchs from 1526-1780, and six Habsburg-Lorraine kings from 1780-1918 ruled the Hungarian throne.)
According to one theory, the "Homeland and Progress" program took place between 1825 and 1848, and according to another historical approach, between 1830 and 1848. In 1825, Ferenc I was forced to convene the parliament in Bratislava, where the most important topic was the issue of the Hungarian language. It so happened that Count István Széchenyi, a member of the upper house, asked to speak at the meeting of the lower house, where he delivered his short but historically significant speech: "I have no say here. I am not a member of the house of ambassadors. But I am a property owner, and if an institute is set up to explain the Hungarian language and to help our natives to learn Hungarian, I will sacrifice one year's income from my property (property) for it." The count's words were followed by stunned silence and then loud cheers. Many followed his example, and the offered 60,000 forints soon swelled to 250,000 silver forints. This amount was already enough for the diet to say: "Let the Hungarian Scholars Society be established from capital assets collected voluntarily and through free donations."
The year 1830 is also associated with Széchenyi's name, when his book, Hitel, which caused the biggest economic change of the era, was published. Proposals to change and abolish centuries-old laws divided the nobility. Some of them saw the destruction of their centuries-old privileges in Széchenyi. However, the broad strata of the nobility realized that changes were urgently needed, as this was the only way to achieve the rise of the nation.
What were the reforms about?
The country faced three decisive tasks to be solved.
– The economy must be modernized, outdated production conditions must be replaced with modern tools.
– To abolish feudal social relations and create a civil state, the essence of which is that people enjoy equal rights, for which, however, everyone must do.
– The flourishing of the Hungarian national language and culture, the solution of the national question. Let Hungarian be the language of the state!
The leading ideas of the 19th century also played a role in Hungarian public thinking: nationalism, conservatism and liberalism. Based on our current knowledge and experience, the question can be raised as to whether the countries that fought their way through the aforementioned labyrinth of ideas took the right path. There was too much war, the blood that was spilled, the faith that was lost, the love that turned into superficiality. Most countries in Europe have chosen this path.
The reform national assemblies, their main discussion points and results
The 1825-1827. diet (Latin word meaning assembly, national assembly. It was already used in this sense at the time of King Mátyás, but it is mostly applied to regular national assemblies before 1848.) We will not go into the description of the operation of the diet, which was already regulated by the law of 1608 in detail. The attached diagram, even if only simplified, makes it understandable.
The Upper Board met in the Primate's Palace in Bratislava. (However, in the centuries before the 19th century, the representatives of the upper board met in many other buildings in Bratislava.) Nobles, high priests, and the country's dignitaries could participate in this subject right. Their number was nearly six hundred (600), but only a fraction of them appeared at the meetings. 2 delegates from each of the 52 counties could participate in the meetings of the Lower Board, who reached Bratislava after often bitter election struggles. The citizens of the 48 free royal cities could send one emissary each, and the chapters could also represent themselves with one emissary each.) The 150-180 delegates of the lower table, in addition to the 700,000 nobles, priests and citizens, mainly represented the millions of peasants, industrialists and merchants against the aristocrats .
The 1825-1827. The main result of the diet was Széchenyi's donation and the establishment of the Academy of Sciences. Proposals that will become law in the following years, or not even then, have already been voiced. The diet, which began in 1830, took place after the publication of the Credit. The foundations of the later liberal and conservative parties were created at this meeting. The most heated debates were caused by the right to use the Hungarian language. The assembly had to be closed prematurely, because the Polish war of independence, the cholera epidemic and the serf uprising in the highlands ordered the representatives home. The 1832-1836. year's diet was strongly influenced by the case of the Poles and the untenable situation of the Hungarian serfs. The latter determined most of the items on the parliament's agenda, which were aimed at liberating serfdom and abolishing serfdom. Lajos Kossuth, who gained national fame by writing and distributing the National Assembly Reports, participated in this diet for the first time. Most of the orders agreed to the voluntary inheritance. However, this was only a partial solution, since the serf could only redeem the land with money, provided that he could come to an agreement with the landlord. However, the draft remained only a draft because Ferenc I died in 1835, so there was no one to sanction the bill. The throne was inherited by Ferdinand V, who was unable to rule. It is also due to this that the management of affairs fell into the hands of Metternich, who, however, advocated the policy of maintaining feudal relations.
The Viennese criminal machinery began with the trial against László Lovassy. The leader of the parliamentary youth was arrested in 1836 and held in Pest. The piquancy of the matter was that László Lovassy asked Lajos Kossuth as his defense, and he was arrested in 1837.
The next parliament 1839-1840 . The Hungarian nobility only negotiated and accepted the Court's demand for taxation and the issue of recruits on the condition that it yielded to Hungarian reform demands. This is how voluntary inheritance and the possibility of founding factories were put into law.
The 1843-1844. Diet entered Hungarian history by making the Hungarian language the state language (1844/II. tc.). The reform efforts were manifested in a number of proposals, which were later accepted, in the ordinary parliament. For example, the strict rules for holding office and the previous difficulties in accessing land were lifted.
The 1847-1848. Lajos Kossuth was already the leading politician of the last regular parliament. Among other things, this contributed to the fact that a sharp contrast developed between Széchenyi and Kossuth, which also divided the political camps. Among the burning proposals that needed to be resolved, the eternal inheritance was listed first, as well as the abolition of ancestral property and the house tax, the reform of the customs system and the functioning of cities.
The establishment of the Batthyány government and the laws of 1848
The often never-ending and fruitless debates were resolved in one fell swoop by the March 15 revolution. On March 17, 1848, Lajos Batthyány was appointed the first responsible Hungarian Prime Minister of Hungary. Feverish work began, as a result of which 31 laws were passed in two weeks, which were approved by King Ferdinand V on April 11, 1848. The significance of the "April laws" can perhaps be expressed by the fact that since the foundation of the state, there has not been a social and historical change that brought such a big turn.
From the 31 articles of the law, we highlight the most significant ones, which refer to the mentioned great turn. Hungary became a constitutional kingdom with independent leadership. He set the number of ministers at nine. The law stipulates that the National Assembly must be held every year, the location of which must be Pest. 377 representatives must be delegated to the legislative body. The delegates must be selected exclusively on the basis of popular representation, and they must be men over the age of 24. The law provided for the unification of Hungary and Transylvania, the joint burden-bearing, and the abolition of the serf system. (The latter, however, did not mean unconditional equality, because the freed peasants brought with them the difference in wealth resulting from their status as serfs. This, however, led to new tensions.) There were separate laws on the abolition of primogeniture that had existed for five centuries, on religious equality, on the establishment of a credit institution, on the about a free press, the establishment of a national guard, the use of the tricolor flag and the national coat of arms.
Count Lajos Batthyány and his government gained eternal merit from April 11, 1848, and they had 170 days to do so. The head of government and all members resigned from their positions on September 11, 1848, the day of the Croatian attack.
Between 1848 and 2023, Hungary had about 70 prime ministers, and there are those who held office for shorter or longer periods under a wide variety of political systems. Among them, only historians could list the names of many prime ministers, and not even the heads of ministries. The only exception is the government led by Lajos Batthyány, all members of which are known to Hungarians with average historical knowledge. Not only because this government was the first, but also because its members are almost without exception among the outstanding personalities of Hungarian history.
It is true that only 9% of the country's population still had the right to vote, but it was ahead of, for example, England, where this ratio was 5%. Regarding the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, the Hungarian constitutional legal system was outstanding. One of the most pressing problems was caused by the question of nationality. Hungarians made up the overwhelming majority of the country's population. But with the number of people and political and cultural demands of the six most populous ethnic communities, it came into serious conflict with the government's will and laws. The Austrian political circles strongly supported the nationalists, trying to break the independent state of the Hungarians.
Kossuth and his colleagues gave the answer to the contradiction between the short time available to the government and the enormous system-changing work. The demand for reforms existed since 1790, when II. Lipót took the throne. It is true that Francis I already blocked the spread of reforms from 1792, but he could no longer block the will of the progressive Hungarians. The legislation and bills of the reform national assemblies provided a sufficient basis for the implementation of the April laws.
Prominent figures of the reform era
Ferenc Kölcsey (1790-1838)
Ferenc Kölcsey (born on August 8, 1790 in Sződemeter. He died at the age of 48 on August 24, 1838 in Szatmárcsek.) His father, Péter Kölcsey of noble origin, was a farmer in Álmosdon, who died when the child was six years old. His mother, Ágnes Bölöni, decided to send her son to Debrecen to complete his studies there. Little Kölcsey lost the sight of his right eye as a result of black pox, which left its mark on his entire private life. His mother died when little Ferenc was eleven years old. After that, the orphaned children - as Ferenc also had three younger brothers - were taken care of by the old faithful servant of the house, Aunt Panna. The economic and property affairs of the family were handled by the Skoly landowner Antal Gulácsy. In addition to Antal Gulácsy, Imre Péchy, the head guardian of the Debrecen college, played the role of guardian.
Kölcsey continued his studies in Debrecen at the Reformed College for fourteen years. During this almost decade and a half, he studied almost every subject that was available in the college. He took learning seriously, he wanted to know everything he could. Here, in the college, he acquired his broad education. Starting with the ancient Greek language, architecture, and history, through the study of the Middle Ages up to the 19th century, he was in possession of many areas of basic education that could be acquired at that time. He learned French, German, and Greek, and also read the original works of Latin philosophers. He noted that among the subjects taught at the College, he did not master theological studies or the science of the Holy Scriptures.
Kölcsey tried poetry when he was sixteen, but he did not think his first poems were good, so he destroyed them. He studied the writings and translations of Mihály Vitéz Csokonai, Dániel Berzsenyi, Ferenc Kazinczy, and János Kis, and considered his own poems weak compared to them. It is true that in 1803 he also enrolled in the poetry class, where he became acquainted with famous works of poetry.
In 1805, at his funeral in Csokonai, Ferenc Kölcsey personally met Ferenc Kazinczy, who had a great influence on him in terms of language innovation, thorough knowledge of ancient languages, and broadening of his philological horizons. Kölcsey and the language reformer formed a close friendship, which was evident, for example, when Kazinczy's old supporters also attacked him, but Kölcsey (Arkadia trial) stood by him throughout. He learned history from Mihály Magyar, among other things, he studied the life of Werbőczy. During these years, books in Hungarian could not be published, especially not for the youth. This is how he collected the works in Hungarian.
He finished his studies in Debrecen in 1809. He moved to Pest, where he was supposed to pass the bar exam, but this did not happen, because he now dedicated his life exclusively to literature. He formed close friendships with, among others, Mihály Vitkovics, Pál Szemere, and István Horvát. He would have gotten a job in Debrecen, where the teaching department was waiting for him, but he did not accept it. It was already revealed that he liked solitude, he only felt good when he was among his books, when he could continue his studies independently. It was then that he decided to move to Álmosd, to his estate, and there he engaged in farming. He had a younger brother with him, whom he took care of. Later, he moved to Ferenc Kölcsey's Cseke (today Szatmárcseke), where he almost shut himself up in his yard, exclusively dealing with poetry, farming, and extensive correspondence to his friends and acquaintances.
One of the biggest literary debates of the era was caused by the 52-page mockery entitled Mondolat, written with vitriolic insults, which primarily attacked Ferenc Kazinczy. The discussion paper was triggered by a work published in Széphalm entitled Tövisek és Virágok. The answer to Mondola was the Answer published in 1815, which was developed by Kölcsey and Pál Szemere. With this, Kölcsey stood up for the cause of language reform, making many enemies. At the same time, he made a personal friendship with Károlly Kisfaludy and the Aurora circle, and with its members such as József Bajza, Mihály Vörösmarty, and Ferenc Toldy.
The most important and significant work of his life is the poem Hymnus, from the Stormy Centuries of the Hungarian People, which was published by Kölcsey on January 22, 1823, when it received its final version. The poem was then set to music by Ferenc Erkel in 1844 and became the national anthem of our country.
No matter how much Kölcsey loved solitude, he was depressed by the distance from the literary life of Pest. Pál Szemere's call made it easier to leave Cseke. His younger brother got married in 1823, and thus he was left even more alone. He also gave up on raising his niece, his beloved Lenka.
During his next stay in Pest, in 1826, together with his old and reliable friend, Pál Szemere, he started the magazine Élet és Literatura, which presented the process of the development of Hungarian literary life. He continued to work for the Aurora literary circle, as his famous friends, the greats of the literary life of the time - Vörösmarty, Bajza, Toldy, Kisfaludy - accepted him as their friend. Élet és Literatura, edited by Pál Szemere and active between 1826-1833, was considered a prestigious forum of the time.
Kölcsey did effective work in the Szatmár county, as a result of which baron Miklós Vay made him the sub-registrar of the county in 1829. In 1830, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Bratislava appointed him a regular rural member of the language department. In 1832, as a result of his libertarian proposals, which were also accepted by other counties, Kölcsey was elected as a member of the Diet, and even became one of the four district clerks. Kölcsey's talent, knowledge, and oratory made him one of the leaders of the diet. He gained national fame with his broad and meaningful speeches. But not only his speeches, but also some of the written texts of the inscription proposals come from Kölcsey's pen. His speeches elevated politics to the level of literature and art, and Lajos Kossuth, Ferenc Deák, Bertalan Szemere, and József Eötvös learned the "craft" from him.
The 1832-1836. At the Parliament in Bratislava in 2008, he stood up for the cause of the Hungarian language, for the development of a modern constitution, for the return of Transylvania and Parthium to Hungary, and for the liberation of serfdom. However, when his opponents came to power in Szatmár in 1834, he should have carried out the instructions of the Maradias. He was not willing to do this, so Kölcsey abandoned the diet. His farewell speech on February 9, 1835 moved the order so much that the meeting was suspended for that day. Kossuth published the Parliamentary Reports that day in mourning. They had reason to do so, as they lost a leader to whom they could adapt. After his return home, he did a lot to ensure that the libertarian views of the county were once again in the majority. He worked a lot, one of his significant works was the defense of Miklós Wesselényi and the foundation of the Kisfaludy Society. Kölcsey was a role model of honesty, moral integrity, and non-compromise. It is no coincidence that Wesselényi wrote about him at the time of his death: "He was not one of us." referring to the great poet's human dignity and his above-average greatness. His death was unexpected, as a cold took him within a week. Although he was not physically strong, he was not killed by a slowly grinding disease. On one of his trips, he was traveling in a cart and was hit by a windy, stormy shower. He caught a cold, and within a week his death was probably caused by a rapidly progressing pneumonia. According to another version, he was consumed by the amount of work, he was hurt that the reforms were taking place slowly, and he was disappointed in many people. In the end, the cause of his death was an intestinal infection.
Count István Széchenyi (1791-1860)
Széchenyi was a defining personality of the first phase of the reform era. Not only in his pioneering role in the era, but also in terms of his actions, the multitude and importance of the plans he accomplished, he created a huge, irreplaceable legacy.
Széchenyi, a bohemian aristocrat in his youth, left behind the hedonistic, aimless way of life, and from the 1820s he invested his whole life in the work of modernizing Hungary. A good example of this was provided by his father, Ferenc Széchényi, who paved the way for his son István with his study trips, the establishment of a museum and library, and his commitment to Hungarianness and the Hungarian language.
In the engraving, Széchenyi's figure is surrounded by only a few of his known works. The Chain Bridge, steamboats, horse racing, the port and shipyard in Óbuda, the allegory of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the regulation of large rivers (Danube, Tisza), the Iron Gate, the development of agriculture. However, we can continue the series with the establishment of the Casino, the development of railway lines, the foundation of the Pest roller mill, silkworm breeding, urban beautification programs, the domestication of water sports, spa culture and tourism. In addition to his practical activities, with his books (Hitel, Világ, Stádium), Kelet Népe, Lovakrul, A magyar gyjsznrül, Pesti por és sár, Felelet, Önismeret, Ein Blick, his ministerial activities, and his writing of the Napló, he brought such spiritual value to the table of Hungarians that shows the figure of an unparalleled genius.
Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894)
Lajos Kossuth, from the highlands and evangelical, was born in the village of Monok on the border of Abaúj and Zemplén. Lajos Kossuth, who was gifted and blessed with significant oratorical skills, legal, economic and historical knowledge, started in the 1830s on a public career moving national public opinion. He used his practical political skills in 1831, when he peacefully put down the rebellion that broke out as a result of the cholera epidemic in the highlands. Among other things, thanks to this, he received the trust of some county lords to participate in the Bratislava Diet on their behalf.
The 1832-1836. due to his political role at the Diet in 1837, he was arrested and sentenced to three years in prison in 1837. It was after his release that he gained a bigger role, when he became the editor-in-chief of the Pesti Hírlap from January 1841. The brilliant journalist, taking advantage of the great opportunity, discussed the burning questions of the time in his newspaper, which was published in an unprecedentedly large number of copies. It is true that the Court deprived Kossuth of the paper in 1844, the leader of the reforms could no longer be stopped. Kossuth founded the Protection Association and organized industrial exhibitions, because he knew that there is no development without a well-functioning economic life. This is confirmed by his famous slogan: "Without industry, the nation is a one-armed giant!" He stood up for the development of cities, and of course agriculture remained at the center of his policy. Because he knew that the desired reforms could only be achieved with the country as a whole due to the reluctance of a part of the nobility. Széchenyi had already shown and paved the way before him, but he did not want to be separated from Vienna. This caused irresolvable antagonisms between the two leaders.
Miklós Wesselényi (1796-1850)
Born in Zsibo in Transylvania, baron Miklós Wesselényi, like his good friend count István Széchenyi, possessed the intellectual and political heritage of the family and was a man of reforms. His father, the elder Miklós Wesselényi, who had great physical strength, is also referred to by the catchy name of the "Zibo bison" in historiography. The younger Miklós resembled his father in this quality as well. Being a Transylvanian nobleman, he could only participate in the sessions of the Diet in Bratislava as a "student". However, when he acquired a small estate in Szatmár, he threw himself into the mainstream of Hungarian political life with great enthusiasm.
Together with his friend István Széchenyi, Wesselényi visited England in 1822 on a study trip, from which both of them returned home with rich experiences and many plans. Wesselényi contributed to the improvement of Hungarian public life with significant intellectual and sports activities. The Academy elected him an honorary member in 1831, and then he became one of the leaders of the Grand Order.
With his bold statements attacking the court, his book Balítéletek, which was also published in Hungary in 1833 - after the foreign one - earned Metternich's personal anger. Although Széchenyi defended and supported his friend's ideas, Wesselényi soon came face to face with the count, who was guarding his court loyalty. In 1835, he was put on trial for insulting his majesty. Although Wesselényi only attacked the Viennese government, Ferenc Kölcsey took care of his defense.
The fact that he organized defenses in Pest during the great ice flood of 1838 did not protect him from the wrath of Vienna either, saving the lives of many people and the property of families. That's why he got the honorary name "flood boat".
Despite all this, the baron was sentenced to three years in prison. Due to his eye disease, he was released thanks to Ferenc Deák's strong action, and he was able to have his eye problem treated in a hospital in Moravia. He returned home from there in 1843, and lived in Zsibo until 1848 as the deputy lord of Cluj County. He was ill, but he still played a big role in the fact that the parliament of Cluj-Napoca proclaimed the union of Transylvania with Hungary. Previously, he achieved merits in the domestication of domestic silkworm breeding, the development of Hungarian small-scale breeding and many other things. His illness did not go away, and when he was traveling from Zsibo to Pest, he died at his home in Pest. His body was placed in the Kálvin tér Reformed Church until it could be transported home to his birthplace, Zsibo.
Lajos Batthyány (1807-1849)
Gróf Lajos Batthyány was born in Bratislava on February 10, 1807.
The first name of the ancient noble family is Németújvár, which refers to the ancient nest of the Batthyánys. Lajos had an older sister, Amália Batthyány (1806-1866), with whom he had a good relationship throughout his life. In the father's will, he left all the family's assets to Lajos, but his daughter received a significant amount of money every year through the will. He owed his historical role to his wife, Count Antónia Zichy. Their acquaintance was romantic. Lajos Batthyány only traveled to Bratislava by chance, he was about to go to Turkey. He saw Antónia Zichy at a party. Eight days later, he asked for her hand in marriage, and a year later, in December 1834, they were married in Bratislava's Szent Márton Cathedral.
It should be known about Lajos Batthyány that he stayed in Hungary for only two years until he came of age. He did not deal with politics, the fate of his country, or the values of Hungarian culture. He spoke Hungarian only weakly. His wife Antónia Zichy made up for all these shortcomings with conscious and patient work. The countess held salon evenings, to which she invited the best of the Hungarian nobility and intelligentsia. They spent most of their time at the family estate, Ikervár, which Antónia renovated in the 1840s based on the designs of Miklós Ybl.
Mrs. Batthyány built a beautiful park around the castle. The castle's value and attractions were increased by the count's rich library and collection of excellent wines. The first half of Batthyány's life, his youth, ended when he was 23-24 years old. (Although he could not have known, he could not have thought that he would have to die a tragic death at the age of 42.)
The political career of Count Lajos Batthyány
The great reformers of the era all came to Bratislava from different circumstances in terms of their origins, family relationships, place of birth, and financial status. It was here that Batthyány realized that a nobleman is a good farmer who takes care of the farm himself and can modernize his estates. This is how it happened that in 1839 Péterfán founded a sugar factory. He expanded this endeavor when he established and managed the Vas county sugar factory association in 1843. With the help of his wife, he got to know the Hungarian language thoroughly and used it confidently. In 1830, he already became a member of the noble house. At first, he did not assume any political role, but he was present at many national events, such as the coronation parliament. The gentlemen's salons in Bratislava, Pest, Ikervár, Fertőd, Győr and many other places in the country not only hosted culture, education and entertainment, but also politics.
Antónia Zichy gave birth to five children between 1835 and 1847, three girls and two boys.
Batthyány, the reform politician
Lajos Batthyány played his first major political role in 1839-1840. he filled it at the Diet in Bratislava in 2008, when he acted as the leader of the opposition in the Főrendiház. In the beginning, he shared István Széchenyi's political and economic views. Among other things, he was the initiator of horse racing, horse breeding, and silkworm breeding. In order to set a good example, he planted 50,000 mulberry trees on his property. He initiated the recording of the events of the Upper House in shorthand from 1840. It is also thanks to this that we have detailed knowledge of the history of diets.
At first, he also agreed with Széchenyi that the reform movement should be led by the nobles. However, seeing the heroic struggle of Kossuth, and with it the continuously advancing role and strength of the commoners, he distanced himself from Széchenyi and his aristocratic companions. He did not take part in the dispute between Széchenyi and Kossuth, which intensified from 1841. However, in 1843, as the president of the Industrial Association, he could no longer avoid the personal political relationship with Kossuth. Among other things, Széchenyi was referring to this later when he noted in his diary that "the two Louis are ruining Hungary".
The 1843-1844. Count József Pálffy's speech in the Upper House of the Parliament in 2011 became memorable. He made a radical proposal, according to which the upper board should be abolished. The sentences of the otherwise excellent orator caused great indignation.
The diet convened by Ferdinand V got off to a good start because the monarch himself put forward several proposals that pointed in the direction of reforms. The court spy network observed all representatives of both the lower and upper tables. The deputies were placed on a seven-week scale according to how dangerous they were to the Viennese government and how well they met the court's expectations. József Pálffy, Lajos Batthyány, and even Széchenyi were ranked among the most radical politicians. According to the records, Lajos Batthyány spoke about two hundred times. However, the undisputed leader of the nobility was Lajos Kossuth.
Leader of the opposition
Lajos Batthyány's activity and political scope were at their peak in 1845. In 1845, like so many, he moved from Bratislava to Pest, where the opposition elected him president of the committee. Batthyány supported economic associations, took part in the organization of the Defense Association, whose president was his already mentioned relative, Kázmér Batthyány, and director was Lajos Kossuth.
Let's not forget Palatine József, a famous personality of the time. He is regarded in Hungarian historical writing and public consciousness as the fact that, although he was the brother of Emperor Francis I, he was rightly called the "most Hungarian Habsburg" because of his love and help for the Hungarians. Without him, the country, especially the city of Pest, would have achieved considerably more modest results in terms of the struggles of the reform era, especially in terms of buildings. József Habsburg, born in 1776, held the title of Palatine for 52 years. His Viennese connections, authority, and financial assistance were needed in order to build the National Museum, the Széchény Library, the Ludovika, the City Park, the railway lines, the Chain Bridge, Margaret Island, the construction of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the alleviation of the flood damage in Pest, the persecuted Reformation the protection of politicians, the support of theaters, public education institutions, museums, associations, and salons, advance the cause of our country. He spoke Hungarian, traveled in fancy Hungary, settled in Buda and Alcsúton.
Count Batthyány's main goal is to unite the opposition. After a year of work, he succeeded, when the Opposition Party was founded on March 15, 1847. Lajos Batthyány was elected as its president.
Count Lajos Batthyány, the Prime Minister
On March 17, 1848, King Ferdinand V appointed Lajos Batthyány as the president of the first independent Hungarian government, who invited prominent and talented politicians of the time to be members of his government.
Between 1848 and 2023, Hungary had about 70 prime ministers, and there are those who held office for shorter or longer periods under a wide variety of political systems. We wouldn't be able to recall them, especially not the members of the government.
The only exception is the government led by Lajos Batthyány, all members of which are known to Hungarians with average historical knowledge. After all, its members are almost without exception among the outstanding personalities of Hungarian history.
The prime minister continued his previous activities, when he placed great emphasis on the organization of the national guard and the army, and on filling the economic gaps. He always looked for a peaceful solution between the court and the Hungarian government, and did everything to maintain the constitutional order. Many people therefore considered him a compromiser, a traitor, not seeing that he did everything for his country.
He did not contradict himself and his policy when Jellasics attacked Hungary on September 11, 1848, with the support of Vienna.
Batthyány resigned as Prime Minister. Seeing the failure, Batthyány also resigned from his parliamentary mandate and retired to his Ikervár estate on October 3, 1848. However, a few days after his retreat, he reported to the insurgents of Vas county that he wanted to fight. In a skirmish, he fell from his horse and suffered an arm injury.
The imperial court tried to come to an agreement after the defeat at Pákozd. The Hungarian delegation, which arrived in Bicske on January 3, 1849, was received by Major General Windischgratz. However, it turned out that the Austrian General Staff could not accept Batthyány as the former Prime Minister of the rebel Hungarians. Ferenc Deák and his colleagues decided to negotiate with the plenipotentiary despite this. No results were achieved, Vienna demanded unconditional surrender from the Hungarians.
Not listening to Deák's admonitions and his friends' concerns to run away, Batthyány only said: "After a few miserable years in prison, I won't be a fugitive." Batthyány was staying with his brother-in-law in Pest, in the Károlyi Palace, when he was arrested by the Austrian military police on the night of January 8, 1849. From there it was taken to the Buda Castle to the building of the Governor's Council, where it was kept until April 23, 1849.
Count Lajos Batthyány, the first freely elected and independent Hungarian Prime Minister, spent the entire period of the War of Independence in Austrian captivity. Royal prosecutor Péter Hegyesy compiled the trumped-up charges. It is typical of the vile methods of the Viennese apparatus that Batthyány had to appear ten times in front of some bureaucrats between February 12 and March 26, 1849 to negotiate the charges.
The execution of Count Lajos Batthyány
The protagonists of the execution, the irreconcilable protagonists of the death of the first Hungarian prime minister: József Ferenc, Haynau, Schwarzenberg, Kempen.
After the "testimonies" and interrogations, the court-martial met in Olmütz on August 16, 1849, where the count was sentenced to confiscation of his property and imprisonment. Felix Schwarzenberg, the German-Czech aristocrat who was prime minister and foreign minister of the Austrian Empire between 1848-1852, thought otherwise. Together with the Viennese court, the prime minister decided on the execution by rope, but the final decision was left in the hands of Ferenc József. The emperor, hungry for revenge, showed no mercy. Batthyány was transported back to Pest, where the right of decision passed from the emperor to Haynau. The executioner, knowing the emperor's will, did not ponder much. On October 3, 1849, he approved the death sentence.
Knowing the verdict, Batthyány's wife was able to visit him in prison. Antónia Zichy smuggled a small dagger to her husband, who inflicted serious wounds on his neck, but did not die. Due to the injuries to his neck, the judges were forced to change death by rope to death by bullet. As befits a military officer, and not the hanging that is used against common law criminals, as a sign of humiliation. The military commander of the district, Lieutenant General Johann Kempen von Fichtenstamm, decided on the execution, even though he could have suspended the execution under the circumstances. This man was elected honorary citizen of the city of Pest in 1863.
The family hid the body from the New Building in the crypt of the Franciscan church in Pest. From there, on June 9, 1870, but at that time accompanied by the mourning of the nation, he was transferred to the Kerepesi cemetery. A decorative monument was erected over the temporary grave in 1874, which can still be seen today, next to the mausoleums of Kossuth, Deák and many other famous reformers.
Ferenc Deák (1803-1876)
The "wise man of the country", as most Hungarians know the Minister of Justice of the Batthyány government. The roots of the Deák family can be traced back to Zsitkóc, which is now part of Slovenia. The family got its first estates in the southwestern region of the country, in the neighborhood of today's Zala County. Ferenc Deák was born in Söjtör, Zala county, on March 23, 1803, and died in Budapest on October 17, 1876, at the age of 72. However, his heart always drew him to Zala, and he always emphasized his attachment to Zala. Besides Söjtör, the other village in Zala, where he lived part of his life, is Kehida. Ferenc Deák was an outstanding lawyer, he cultivated the science of law at the highest level, which is why he was also called the "proctor of the nation".
His father, Ferenc Deák, was a landowner from Kehida, a chief district magistrate, and then a county court judge. His mother, Erzsébet Sibrik, came from a landowning family in Vas County. When Ferenc Antal was born on October 17, 1803, his mother died shortly after giving birth. The father could not process his wife's death. He buried his mother, Anna Hertelendy, a few days earlier. He and his family left the house in Söjtör and moved to Kehida. He didn't take little Ferenc with him, because when he looked at him, he thought of his wife's death. The child was born to József Deák, id. Ferenc Deák's younger brother took him in, who undertook to raise the child.
Little Ferenc spent the first five years of his life alone in harsh conditions. He didn't know a mother's love, his father didn't even look at him. It was then that woodcarving became a part of his life, with which he filled his time. Little Deák started his high school studies at the age of eight in Keszthely, at the Premontrean order. He completed the 1812/13 school year in Pápán, in the high school of the Benedictine order. His teachers described Deák as careless and disobedient, and his changes of school can also be attributed to this. However, his abilities became more apparent every year. Deák's versatile talent was predicted by one of his teachers that "he will be a great man one day".
An important stop in Deák's life was Győr, where he graduated from the law academy. Here, most of his fellow students were native German speakers, but the young law student did not know a word of German. Once, his fellow students noticed that Deák spoke their language fluently. He learned the German language just by hearing his companions talk among themselves. Public legal debates began at the Győr Law Academy, in which Deák was unbeatable. After a short time, he came out victorious with his arguments even against the famous jurists of the county.
After obtaining his law degree, he took the bar exam. He graduated from the Royal Academy of Law in Győr in 1821 and then began his legal career in the service of the County of Zala. His journey from Győr led to Kehida, the family estate. Here, he and his older brother, Antal Deák, lived with their older sister, who loved them almost like a mother. Klára Deák married József Ozterhueber in 1821, with whom Ferenc Deák also had a good relationship. In the fall of 1822, he moved to Pest, where he began his jurat years. He was driven by the desire to learn, and he did not participate in the often loud and late-night parties of his peers. However, he became involved in the intellectual life of Pest, becoming a member of the Aurora circle gathered around Károly Kisfaludy. He made many valuable and good friends. Among other things, he made a lifelong friendship with Mihály Vörösmarty.
On December 19, 1823, Deák passed the bar exam with excellent results. He was an excellent orator, learned the ins and outs of the Hungarian legal system, spoke Latin fluently, and had above-average education. He had no family, and if there was an attempt to get married, only one name comes to mind, Karolina Inkey. However, let's not think that he avoided the company of ladies, and was even a favorite of girls and women on occasion, due to his excellent talent for entertaining and telling anecdotes.
He went home from Pest to Zala. At the beginning of his career, he declared that he would not accept any office for money or salary, because he would not commit himself to anyone. His independence was ensured by the modest income of the Kehida estate. He did not strive for political or official laurels, but his knowledge and irreplaceable expertise raised him to a high level.
His political career - like that of so many other heads of state - began at the Bratislava diet of 1832-1836. János Horváth Zalabéri was the first deputy mayor of Zala county, and while he was in Bratislava, he commissioned Deák to replace him in the deputy mayor's seat in his absence. His brother, Antal Deák, was also Zala's ambassador, but he fell ill in 1833 and therefore resigned from his position as ambassador. On April 15, 1833, his younger brother, Ferenc Deák, was elected Zala county representative. He gave his first speech already on May 6, and soon after that he became the recognized leader of the House of Envoys. The orderly opposition counted on his abilities, and he became a good friend of Miklós Wesselényi, Ferenc Kölcsey, and Gábor Klauzál. He became an equal member of the nobility in the House of Representatives. No one envied him because of his modesty, his knowledge, and his commitment to the homeland, they did not see him as a careerist. He didn't want to be a leader, a diplomat, or a writer, he just wanted to serve his country. The text engraved on the Deák Mausoleum also confirms this: "We can risk everything for the Homeland, but the Homeland must not be risked for anything."
Deák's politics lay solely in the power of the word, he was not willing to use any other means either in politics or in civil lawsuits. At the Diets, he argued in favor of reforms using the tools of the order-harm policy. And in civilian life, he also took on a trial that, it is true, ultimately ended in the death penalty, but he wanted to demonstrate that a judgment cannot be passed without conclusive evidence.
On all important issues that preoccupied the reform national assemblies, he spoke out and earned the recognition of his colleagues with his speeches that moved matters forward. He spoke about religion, the serf issue, the Hungarian language, the religious commissions, Transylvania, freedom of speech, the lord's fee laws, the limitation of the lord's seat, property security, and everything else that pertained to the matter of reforms. If necessary, he defended Wesselényi, who was brought to trial, but ordinary commoners, if the verdict against him was not proven. The abusive inscription written by Deák was rejected 17 times by the upper board, but it was not given up.
Deák had a major role in the drafting of the April Laws issued on April 11, 1848. Together with Batthyányi, he also resigned, but remained a member of the Parliament. He formulated the brave inscription addressed to Vienna, which stated that as long as the enemy is on Hungarian soil, the laws of 1848 cannot be changed. It was approved by the king (Ferdinánd V) by reference.
When he led a delegation to Bicské in January 1849, where he negotiated with the Austrian general staff about the observance of the laws, and nothing came of it, he withdrew from politics. He first went to Pest and then to Kehida. He tried several times to get to the new capital, Debrecen, but the Austrian military prevented him in every case. In 1849, he was also summoned before the court-martial, but then released. After that, he rejected all Viennese initiatives when the Habsburgs wanted to include him in the legislation.
Another significant phase of his life's work was the compromise established in 1867, in which Deák played a key role, but this is already another chapter of Hungarian history.
Author: historian Ferenc Bánhegyi
The parts of the series published so far can be read here: 1., 2., 3., 4., 5., 6., 7., 8., 9., 10., 11., 12., 13., 14., 15., 16., 17., 18., 19., 20., 21., 22., 23., 24,, 25., 26., 27., 28., 29/1.,29/2., 30., 31., 32., 33., 34., 35., 36., 37., 38., 39., 40., 41., 42., 43., 44., 45., 46., 47., 48., 49., 50., 51., 52., 53., 54., 55., 56., 57.
